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COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2000

Ethanol: a green opportunity for Japan

Bad things can sometimes yield good. Loss of the Saudi Arabian oil-producing contract and the rise in the price of oil from $10 to $30 a barrel in the past year should therefore be a wakeup call to Japan to follow the United States' lead in investing in research and development of alternatives to petroleum-based...
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2000

Daiwa's rogue trader dreams of a return

ATLANTA -- The culprit in a financial scandal that rocked Japan nearly five years ago now has his eye on a second shot at the financial arena from a most unlikely place -- a small town some 60 km northeast of Atlanta.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2000

Allies urge Japan to be Asian leader

As a regional and global power, could Tokyo have halted '97 crisis? The meltdown that started in Thailand in 1997 nearly brought the economies of East Asia to their knees. Why did it happen and how might a similar crisis be averted in the future? These and other questions were the focus of the March...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2000

Haneda's role could grow as its third runway opens

The roar of jet engines christened the new 2,500-meter runway at Haneda airport in Tokyo's Ota Ward on Thursday as an All Nippon Airways plane took off on a ceremonial flight to Wakkanai, on the northernmost tip of Hokkaido.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 24, 2000

Tony Bennett: a true master of the fine art of sincerity

Hyperbole becomes Tony Bennett. His effusiveness is all-encompassing, gathering his audience, his musicians, the people who wrote the songs he sings, and even the singers who covered those songs before him into a warm, gushing embrace. Performing more than 90 minutes' worth of material at Suntory Hall...
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 2000

On speaking to a tulip in the garden

Late in the autumn I dug up a spot of earth in my small garden and planted a tulip bulb. Several days later, frost fell and before long snow covered the garden. When spring arrived the next year and the snow had all but disappeared, the tulip broke through the earth, sending out its sturdy stem and green...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 24, 2000

Election aftershocks rocking Taiwan

TAIPEI -- Taiwan continues to feel the aftershocks of the political earthquake that hit last Saturday, when Democratic Progressive Party leader Chen Shui-bian's presidential victory rocked the foundations of party politics on an island that has been ruled by the same party for more than half a century....
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2000

Tobacco-curbing target up in smoke

Up in smoke -- that is the simplest way to describe the fate of an ambitious Health and Welfare Ministry plan to drastically cut the number of smokers as well as overall tobacco consumption in Japan by 2010.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2000

DaimlerChrysler to acquire controlling stake in MMC

DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's fifth-largest automaker, has agreed with Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to take a controlling stake in the Japanese automaker, MMC sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2000

Monju ruling infuriates plaintiffs

OSAKA -- Antinuclear activists expressed shock and outrage Wednesday over the Fukui District Court's ruling against local residents' efforts to permanently close the Monju fast-breeder reactor, and both plaintiffs and their lawyers vowed their nearly 15-year battle was not over.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2000

Breaking down the doors of Japan's discriminatory press clubs

In May 1993, David Butts, then Tokyo bureau chief of Bloomberg Business News, was fed up. After years of unsuccessful efforts to penetrate Japan's press clubs through polite negotiation, the tall Texan chose a more direct approach. On the day annual company reports were released, Butts, with other foreign...
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2000

When bankrupt is better

Rarely does good news come so poorly packaged. Thailand's biggest corporate debtor, Thai Petrochemical Industry, was declared insolvent last week by a Thai bankruptcy court. Oddly enough, that is a welcome development. The decision allows creditors to take over the company, restructure it and get back...
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2000

Palm pilots into Japanese market

The head of a new Japanese subsidiary of California-based Palm Inc. sees Japan as a potentially lucrative market for its hand-held computers.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2000

Nursing-care plan to get simplified start

The new state-run, nursing-care insurance system for the elderly that takes effect April 1 will begin with simplified "care plans" because the full-fledged programs are not ready, Health and Welfare Ministry officials said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2000

Snazz sizzles at the heart of underground

This is my first time in Ogikubo, a hole just left of the heart of Tokyo, and hopefully my last. There is nothing here but grayness and cold. I see no beer, hear no talk of beer and, worst of all, taste no beer!
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2000

Japan Telecom on road to survival

With e-commerce blooming and cut-throat competition intensifying in the telephone business, Japan Telecom Co. is shifting its focus from voice to data transmission and enlisting the help of foreign partners, says Haruo Murakami, president of the firm.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2000

Beijing resorts to rattling its saber again

In Washington, politicians and pundits alike are debating how to understand and react to the white paper released on Feb. 21 by Beijing. And even in China, there seems to be some discussion on how to interpret the verbal missile lobbed at the United States, Taiwan and Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2000

Time to chase 'two hares'

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, citing a popular proverb, says his administration will not "run after two hares": It will first achieve economic recovery and then tackle fiscal reform. The official scenario is that the economy will pick up soon. The question is what will happen next. Without fiscal props,...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 20, 2000

Valuable guide through the legal thicket in Japan

JAPANESE LAW (second edition), by Hiroshi Oda. Oxford University Press, 1999, 16,900 yen. First and foremost, this is a book about the commercial law of Japan. Initially published in 1992, the second edition endeavors to reflect the many changes that have occurred in Japanese law in the years since...
COMMUNITY
Mar 19, 2000

Illegal worker in catch-22 for love of daughter

"Ram Sharma" and I talked long about the wisdom of doing this piece. He wanted to share his isolation and humiliation with another human being and possibly get some help in extricating himself from his situation. Regarding an interview, he said I should decide. No, I replied; he was the one at risk....
COMMUNITY
Mar 19, 2000

She walks! She talks! She dances!

The Hello Kitty logo is ubiquitous. She is everywhere, on everything, from pencil cases and T-shirts to cellular phones and suitcases. Without a doubt, Hello Kitty is a globally recognized icon, but in a musical revue directed by Amon Miyamoto, she becomes more than just a logo. She is given life. She...
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 19, 2000

Getting away

A gentleman asks about shipping a four-wheel-drive car to Namibia on the southwest coast of Africa. The most appealing way would be to ship it first to Cape Town and then drive it to Namibia. I remember a visit to Cape Town a number of years ago, where a former Tokyo resident told me of the elephants...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 19, 2000

Found language and fragmented identity

Yuriya Julia Kumagai's first volume of poetry, "Her Space-Time Continuum," originally written in English and published in 1994, used text layout, language "found" in everyday life, as well as literary theory and language poetry techniques to shape her own idiom. This hybrid approach reflected the speaker's...
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2000

Out of step on executions

Japanese judges appear ready to remain out of step with much of the rest of the civilized world by continuing to impose the death penalty. Some officials responsible for the administration of justice in this country compound the issue by the apparent avidity with which they defend and support capital...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2000

Taiwan goes to the polls at a critical time

Four years ago, Taiwanese cast votes in the island's first ever direct presidential election as China lobbed missiles into the Taiwan Strait. This time around, the fireworks are coming not from the Chinese mainland, but from a three-way, neck-and-neck race that has Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party (KMT)...
CULTURE / Music
Mar 18, 2000

Shakuhachi tips and tunes to welcome in the spring season

If you want to learn more about the shakuhachi and various performance techniques, observe a variety of instruments for sale and hear a selection of original pieces played by young performers, then I recommend the Senshu Kobo Sunday Clinic and Open Lesson.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 18, 2000

Rules said key to easing modified-food fear

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- As the trade in biotechnology-derived foods increases, consumer concerns over the safety of such foods are growing.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji