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COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 1999

A testing summit for the EU

PARIS -- In many respects, the main body of the European Union is the European Commission, the mass resignation of which was announced last week. The commission's president and its 19 other members are appointed for five years by the European Council, which consists of the heads of state or of government...
LIFE / Travel
Mar 24, 1999

Adventures in suspended reality

Porto Europa, just outside of Wakayama City, is without doubt a playful place to visit and offers a wide range of entertainment, action rides, cuisines and new technology games, but don't expect it to duplicate your last sojourn overseas.
COMMENTARY
Mar 23, 1999

Strategies for a secure Japan

Diet has finally begun debating the enabling bills for the Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines, almost a year after the government sent them to the legislature last April. How the debate will develop in the weeks ahead has an important bearing on the security environment of Asia, including the...
JAPAN
Mar 22, 1999

Roadbed cave-in delays Chuo Line runs

Some 82 trains running on the JR Chuo Line were canceled Monday morning because the roadbed on a section running through the Namikicho area of Hachioji, western Tokyo, was found to have fallen away, according to East Japan Railway Co.
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 1999

Much ado about doing nothing

In tiny news items inspiring ideas may lurk. Last week, for example, it was reported in the U.S. state of Minnesota that the wife of Gov. Jesse ("The Body") Ventura was ill and had been told by her doctor "to do nothing for a month." The nature of Ms. Ventura's illness was not disclosed, although the...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 1999

Learning on the job can be a good idea

The value of education has become a cliche. But few people seem to realize that school-based education can often prove a liability. Consider the views of Ram Mohan, a young farmer from the Indian state of Rajasthan, who refused to go to school. "My father wanted me to go," he said, "but I didn't. My...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 1999

U.S. apologists for China disregard reality

"China apologists," mainly representing newspapers and academic haunts in Los Angeles, New York and Boston, claim that the rest of us are beating up on China merely because Beijing is into heavy-duty spying on the United States, stealing high-tech secrets and deploying enough missiles opposite Taiwan...
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1999

Kobe airport foes submit petitions

KOBE -- A group of Kobe citizens opposed to the construction of Kobe airport presented two petitions to two government agencies in Tokyo, urging that the city's request to reclaim land for the project not be approved.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1999

Enterprise Spirit: New camera sells on nostalgia

27th in an occasional series
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1999

Osaka Web site lists bilingual medical info

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Government opened a bilingual medical information Web site for foreigners Friday so they can find hospitals or clinics where they can receive medical treatment in their native language.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1999

Diet begins full debate on defense cooperation bills

Full debate kicked off Thursday on bills covering updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines with Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi stressing that the legislation will contribute to Japan's peace and security.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1999

Draft stresses shift to practical language classes

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 1999

Beleaguered China stays on course

China was caught up last year in a convergence of slower growth, rising unemployment and the bankruptcies of some regional financial institutions. It chose to fight these dangerous trends by sharply expanding infrastructure investment and financial support to deficit-ridden state-owned enterprises long...
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 17, 1999

Become a friend of the Kurilsky Reserve

"It isn't in Japan, so why should I care?" is the reaction of some Japanese to the issue of conservation in the Northern Territories. Yet there are plenty of good reasons why it is in Japan's interest to take a leadership role in protecting wildlife on the islands:
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 1999

What real bank reform means

Japan seems to like the new and shiny. Tack the word "shin" (new) onto the name of a product -- anything from a detergent to a political party -- and automatically you gain an edge over the opposition.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Mar 17, 1999

'Managing' marine mammals to death

Part two of two parts
EDITORIALS
Mar 16, 1999

A good day for NATO

After the Cold War came to an end in 1989, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization expanded much faster than many people expected it to. Barely a decade on, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic last week formally joined the 16-member alliance. Adding significance to the event is the fact that all three...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 16, 1999

XTC colors songs with earthy palette

Since they don't tour or make videos, XTC gives interviews. Lots of them. Colin Moulding, the group's soft-spoken bassist reckons he and his partner, guitarist Andy Partridge, have done something like a million since they began promoting their new album, "Apple Venus, Vol. 1," last fall.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 1999

To cure Asia's ills, get the diagnosis right

On a recent whirlwind tour of Asian capitals, peripatetic U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Larry Summers offered some advice on how to cure the region's economic ills. Despite his stature as an economist, he sounded more like a politician spouting protectionist platitudes. Implicit in his commentary was...
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

Experts disagree on bank recapitalization impact

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

Osaka resolution would let minorities vote, run for office

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Assembly adopted a resolution early Friday urging the central government to grant long-term foreign residents in the country the right to run and vote in local elections.
EDITORIALS
Mar 12, 1999

Defensive about missile defense

China's relations with the United States are at their lowest point since the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1996. Beijing has a lengthening list of grievances against Washington: harsh criticism in the State Department's annual human-rights report and the prospect of a resolution censoring Chinese behavior...
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 1999

Kochi tests nation's nuclear principles

The long-standing controversy over whether U.S. warships calling at Japanese ports carry nuclear weapons is taking a new twist. The Kochi prefectural government is seeking to obtain "certificates" from the central government showing that U.S. naval vessels visiting ports in the prefecture are not nuclear-armed....
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Ishihara enters Tokyo race, splits LDP further

Prize-winning novelist and former Transport Minister Shintaro Ishihara formally declared Wednesday that he will run as an independent in the April 11 Tokyo gubernatorial election.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Flag, anthem bill eyed for this Diet session

The government hopes to submit a bill during the current Diet session to officially recognize the Hinomaru as the national flag and "Kimigayo" as Japan's anthem, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Mar 10, 1999

Winners and losers

People in the food industry look to Foodex to find out how best to cater to their Japanese and foreign customers. What they see at Makuhari Messe are often more fantasy than fact, things that might be exported to Japan if the proper arrangements can be made. And that's what the foreigners are there for,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 1999

Clouds looming on the Diet's horizon

The situation in the Diet looks calm for now. The debate on the fiscal 1999 government budget, the most important item before the Diet, is proceeding smoothly. The budget bill has already cleared the Lower House and is expected to pass the Upper House around March 20, well before the start of the new...
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Mar 10, 1999

Garden weathers stormy decades

The Kyoto Botanic Gardens were first opened to the public on Jan. 11, 1924. Located in Sakyo Ward in northern Kyoto City along the banks of the scenic Kamo River, they are run by Kyoto's prefectural government.
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 1999

The limits of Hun Sen's power

Ta Mok, the infamous one-legged military leader of the Khmer Rouge, was arrested last weekend in Cambodia. "The Butcher," as he is known, was one of the last holdouts from the guerrilla group. An unrepentant hardliner, Ta Mok commanded the loyalty of a dwindling band of insurgents, who were troublesome,...
JAPAN
Mar 9, 1999

Kobe urged to woo foreign investment

Staff writer

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