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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 1999

In the wake of the spy boats

Two North Korean spy boats disguised as trawlers recently intruded deep into Japanese territorial waters in the Sea of Japan. This was the second incident to have heightened tension between Tokyo and Pyongyang since last August, when a Taepodong ballistic missile test-fired by North Korea flew over northern...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 7, 1999

Fading hopes for faltering Japan

JAPAN TODAY, by Roger Buckley. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1999, (3rd edition), 233 pp. This is a succinct and reliable introductory survey of post-World War II Japanese history. This third edition is substantially rewritten and updated by the inclusion of recent material and analysis....
JAPAN
Apr 7, 1999

Experts air views on defense bills

Further military cooperation with the United States is vital to maintain a bilateral security alliance the nation cannot do without, former Ambassador Hirohisa Okazaki told a Diet committee Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 1999

Enact new child sex laws now

A rare example of political unity occurred in the Diet last week. Twelve lawmakers from seven political parties and groups put aside their usual differences and together submitted to the Upper House a long-anticipated bill to strengthen the legal protection of minors from sexual exploitation. In doing...
CULTURE / Art / ARTS AND ARTISANS
Apr 3, 1999

Block-printed paper beauty

Chiyogami is colorful handmade paper printed with Japanese traditional patterns or designs, and is usually used by girls for making kimono-clad dolls, small boxes, or bookmarks.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 1999

Rethinking joint strategy on North Korea

North Korea continues to confound the world. The country's economy is on the rocks; it is estimated to have shrunk by more than 50 percent between 1992 and 1996. The government is unable to feed its own people; hundreds of thousands are thought to have died as a result of malnutrition-related diseases...
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 1999

In praise of Irish 'fudge'

This year, British and Irish people alike are feeling a good deal more somber than they did on Good Friday last year. Then, Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland found common ground for a peace agreement designed to end 30 years of sectarian violence that had claimed more than 3,200 lives. Today,...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 1999

New faces fail to make an impression

It is more than a little strange to be greeted at the entranceway to an art exhibition by a sign which warns that the work on the walls inside might be better appreciated if visitors lowered their expectations. But the text posted outside the NTT Intercommunication Center's current "New Media New Face...
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1999

Suu Kyi backers gather to mourn Aris

More than 50 people gathered at a hall Friday in Tokyo's Toshima Ward to mourn the death of Michael Aris, who was married to Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

UNICEF issues plea for Kosovo refugees

The Japan Committee for the United Nations Children's Fund is calling for emergency aid for the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Kosovo.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

Local Elections '99: Akashi vows to revive Tokyo

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

Colombia urges more trade transparency

Colombia will join Japan in a comprehensive and collective approach to the coming round of global free-trade talks, but Tokyo must make efforts to abolish agricultural subsidies and improve the transparency of its farm trade rules, Colombian Foreign Trade Minister Martha Ramirez said Thursday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 1, 1999

Can the education escalator be derailed?

There's a debate going on in government and in the media about revising the Japanese system of education. The forces for change want to do away with rote, test-based instruction, which they blame for all the youth-related problems we read about now, and replace it with something more individual-oriented...
EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 1999

A token gesture ...

Here is an apt symbol for our era. At a news conference in New York earlier this month -- actually, on the very day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly bested the 10,000 mark for the first time -- the U.S. toy and game maker Hasbro Inc. announced the results of a campaign to choose a new token...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1999

HLAC, RCB merger creates powerful collection agency

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1999

New equal opportunity law called a start

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Mar 30, 1999

Prodi steps into the breach

Wasting no time, the leaders of the 15 members of the European Union last week nominated former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to be the new president of the European Commission. Mr. Prodi replaces Mr. Jacques San ter, who resigned March 15 along with the 19 other commission ers after an independent...
JAPAN
Mar 30, 1999

Unemployment hits record high of 4.6%

The nation's unemployment rate hit a record high of 4.6 percent in February, rising 0.2 percentage point higher than the rate recorded the previous month, the Management and Coordination Agency said on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 1999

Child sex laws to be tightened

A group of lawmakers is stepping beyond party lines to submit a bill to the House of Councilors that will toughen laws against the sexual exploitation of minors at home and abroad.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 1999

Kakizawa's goals hinge on unaffiliated voters

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 29, 1999

Teacher faces charges of attempted murder

A 42-year-old Tokyo schoolteacher who allegedly planted a handmade bomb in a high school in Tokyo's Minato Ward earlier this month was served a fresh arrest warrant Monday on charges of attempted murder and violation of the explosives control law, police sources said.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Daihatsu told to fix faulty cars promptly

Daihatsu Motor Co. received a Transport Ministry recommendation Friday to take prompt action on defective cars that should have been subject to a recall.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Japan says it 'understands' use of force

Japan "understands" the use of force NATO undertook against Yugoslavia to prevent a further humanitarian catastrophe, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Thursday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Mar 25, 1999

Cornucopia's savory memories

Spring is here, hard on the heels of Foodex '99, the food-and-beverage spectacular I mentioned two weeks ago during its four-day run at Makuhari Messe.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Tokorozawa produce not a health threat: ministries

The level of dioxin in produce grown in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, is not substantially above the national average and does not pose any threat to human health, according to a set of emergency government studies released Thursday.
COMMUNITY / CROSSING CULTURES
Mar 25, 1999

Glacial change hard for people more used to avalanche speed

Japan can't change. Change in Japan is glacial. Japanese are stuck in their ways. In Japan, disappointment is what you can expect if you expect change.
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 1999

Fingerprints on cyberspace

Now, more than ever before, knowledge is power. The information society puts such a premium on sorting the wheat from the chaff, that relevant facts -- real knowledge -- are invaluable. There is a less recognized corollary of that truism: Data represent profit. Virtual mountains of data are accumulating...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Local Elections: Megaprojects now nightmare to explain

Staff writer
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 24, 1999

Degrees of separation

You could say they have an affliction. You've probably bumped into them on the street. That is, they bump into you, because they often walk with their eyes fixated on their task, oblivious to any obstacles in their path. You've definitely overheard them chatting on trains, in coffee shops, perhaps even...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 24, 1999

Martin and the king of Siam

A RESOUNDING FAILURE: Martin and the French in Siam, 1672-1693, by Michael Smithies. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1998, 156 pp., 395 baht. Of the many mercantile adventures that marked European exploitations of Asia, one of the most entertaining is that of the French in Siam. This is a well-known...

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes