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ENVIRONMENT
Mar 18, 2000

GMO foe sees standards as WTO lever

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- If the international community can set up strict safety standards on genetically modified foods, it would give countries a tool to stop the import of such foods to protect their people, said Jean Halloran, a representative of Consumers International.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 18, 2000

Japanese legend's sweetest hero

Kintaro was the childhood name of Heian Period samurai Sakata no Kintoki, who was said to have defeated a bear in sumo wrestling as a child. Toy representations of Kintaro riding a bear have come to symbolize strong and healthy boys, and are often displayed on Children's Day, May 5 (formerly Boys' Day)....
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2000

Lawyers for top Aum lieutenant ask for clemency

Defense lawyers for senior Aum Shinrikyo figure Kiyohide Hayakawa asked the Tokyo District Court on Friday not to issue a death sentence for their client, citing what they called Hayakawa's sincere attitude in telling the truth.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2000

Embattled triumvirate seeks to rally the public before polls

Although Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi encountered little difficulty in securing Diet passage of the fiscal 2000 budget Friday, the likelihood of him dissolving the Lower House for general elections in the near future seems more distant than ever.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

Former minister gets prison term

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Labor Minister Toshio Yamaguchi to four years in prison Thursday in connection with illicit loans involving two failed Tokyo credit unions.
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2000

Fueling Angola's war machine

Angola's savage civil war has lasted for a quarter of a century, has claimed 1 million lives (almost 10 percent of the population) and forced many more from their homes. International arbitration has yielded truces and peace agreements, but each has collapsed and the fighting resumed. The United Nations...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Foreign draftees may receive payout

A Liberal Democratic Party panel has drawn up a plan to provide 3 million yen per person for Koreans and Taiwanese living in Japan who were drafted by the Imperial Japanese Army and disabled by war injuries, panel officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Olympic gold medalist to aid education reform

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi will appoint Olympic gold medalist Yasuhiro Yamashita and 25 others to his advisory panel on education reform to be launched this month, Obuchi's adviser on education issues said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2000

Inflation scare won't loosen purse strings

Most of Japan's modern economic history consists of a long series of achievements pronounced impossible by the outside world. Japan was building the foundations of world-beating steel and electronics industries while Occupation officials urged that scarce resources be devoted to "suitable" exports such...
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 2000

Spain's right on a roll

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar stunned observers with a landslide win in parliamentary elections held last weekend. The Popular Party victory marks the first time since the death of Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975 that the left has not had a majority in the Spanish Parliament. The outcome is a...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Man held over fatal stabbing that mimicked Kyoto killing

OSAKA -- A 23-year-old unemployed man has been arrested on suspicion of randomly stabbing to death a passerby on a street in Moriguchi, Osaka Prefecture, police said Wednesday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 16, 2000

NBA meets 'The Truman Show'

"And for tonight's halftime entertainment, Marv, let's go to the Blazers locker room and catch a glimpse of Detlef Schrempf undressing."
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2000

Beauty oases in the big city

I have a confession to make: I love to be slathered with mud. I also love to be rubbed with Dead Sea salts and mummified with seaweed. And there's nothing I find more exhilarating than knowing that I have just emerged victorious from a hair-raising bikini-wax session, ready to look my finest at the beach....
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 16, 2000

Want to know your fortune? Go fish

In the West you might scan your tea leaves for a peek at what the future may hold, but in Japan you are more likely to grab your chopsticks (OK, mouse) for the latest craze -- sushi fortunetelling.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 16, 2000

Sweet indulgences without the calories

Sugar and spice and everything nice . . . this column and the next will be dedicated to all those readers with a sweet tooth. There is a virtual candy store of recipes for health and beauty which make good use of sugar and other sweets. Honey, sugar and molasses may all be put to the service of your...
COMMUNITY
Mar 15, 2000

More than a pit stop in the Hita of the moment

It may not be on the typical tourist itineraries, and its name may sound almost like a home appliance, but Hita is a lovely town. It sprawls between two highland rivers in a lush valley at the back of Oita Prefecture, surrounded by forests and fruit trees. Hita is just 70 minutes from Fukuoka, and easily...
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Returnee sues Japan for assault

Nearly six years after he was deported, an Iranian man has returned to Japan to testify in court for his damages suit against the state.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Afghan heads in Tokyo for peace talks

In a move that marks the resumption of Japan's mediation efforts in the civil war in Afghanistan, leaders of the country's two rival factions have been in Tokyo for secret talks with Japanese officials, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Tokyo hails progress in North Korea talks

Japanese leaders welcomed on Tuesday the results of a meeting Monday between representatives of the Red Cross societies of Japan and North Korea in which Pyongyang agreed to take appropriate steps if it locates any missing Japanese nationals.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Mar 15, 2000

Living the easy, or at least convenient, life

"Life ain't easy for a foreigner in Japan."
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Trains kept running despite flaws

Despite irregularities found last year in subway trains operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, officials kept the trains in service and "saw no need" to report the irregularities to the Transport Ministry, officials admitted Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2000

Predictions cautious on economic recovery

The gross domestic product data for October-December released Monday sent mixed signals, with higher plant and equipment investment coupled with dismal consumer spending.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2000

Bank industry slams tax plan anew

The chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association on Monday again criticized a Tokyo draft ordinance that aims to tax the gross profits of large banks in the metropolis as "unfair and undemocratic."
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2000

Tokyo budget sidesteps asbestos

After having recently provoked outrage in the trucking industry over a controversial plan to regulate diesel cars, "environmentally friendly" Gov. Shintaro Ishihara has just submitted a budget proposal to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly that has one less allocation for green initiatives: that for asbestos...
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 12, 2000

Worries balanced with hope in 'State of the World 2000'

Attempting to evaluate the state of our world is an absurdly complex task. Nevertheless, that is what the Worldwatch Institute has done every year since 1984, and has done once again this year with "The State of the World 2000."
CULTURE / Art
Mar 12, 2000

'50 Masters' help to retune the eye

Compelling textures, mysterious forms and incredible skill: These are the vivid impressions of a visit to the exhibition "50 Masters of Contemporary Japanese Crafts," at Mitsukoshi's Nihonbashi store. Here are a hundred works in ceramics, textiles, lacquer, metal, wood, bamboo and the newer field of...

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.