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November 19, 2025
 

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COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2000

Only education reform can save Japan

The National Conference on Educational Reforms, an advisory body to the prime minister, held its first meeting in late March. The panel plans to meet twice a month and have a final report in two years; an interim report will be published in six months. It should expedite its discussions, and publish...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2000

Kim Dae Jung faces a crucial election

If South Korean parliamentary elections were to be held tomorrow instead of April 13, the party of President Kim Dae Jung would suffer a rude defeat, according to opinion polls.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2000

Tokyo approves tax plan for big banks

Less than two months after the plan was first announced, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly voted almost unanimously Thursday to levy a controversial size-based corporate tax on major banks operating within the metropolis.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2000

Liberals' place in triumvirate shaky

Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa indicated Wednesday that a final decision on whether he will take the party out of the ruling coalition will be made after he receives word from the Liberal Democratic Party on the possibility of further electoral cooperation.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 30, 2000

American arrogance rears its head

Over the years, the United States has gained a reputation for arrogance and self-centeredness. A couple of opinions expressed in The New York Times last week did nothing to dispel this perception.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2000

DoCoMo ordered to pay 11 billion yen for tax dodge

Tax authorities have said NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. (NTT DoCoMo) and its group failed to properly declare a 26 billion yen-plus taxable investment in equipment for its personal handy-phone system over a one-year period beginning in April 1998, NTT DoCoMo announced Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 29, 2000

Cut red tape to boost business

LONDON -- Consumers everywhere are demanding deregulation. Most competitive businesses also want red tape and unnecessary regulation eliminated. Only the inefficient and uncompetitive, who believe that they are protected by rules restricting competition, are against the deregulation of their businesses....
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2000

Subverting campaign-finance reform

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been busy setting up new chapters across the country. If the move was aimed at expanding party activities to put politicians, not bureaucrats, in the driver's seat, or to improve its local programs in tandem with devolution, it would be fine. But the new chapters...
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2000

Election reform isn't the cure

The ruling coalition and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan have worked out a bill to correct defects in the existing election system. If approved by the current Diet, the proposed changes to the Public Office Election Law will apply to the next Lower House.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 26, 2000

Once around again

Except for a few well-seasoned apartment buildings, the street I moved to 10 years ago was lined with old-style houses. Now only one remains. It is still a quiet street in an upscale neighborhood, but nearby are several small industry suppliers engaged in cutting, shaping and shipping metal forms. They...
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.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 23, 2000

Troussier: Will he stay or will he go?

It wasn't the greatest 0-0 draw in the world but last Wednesday's game in Kobe meant more to Japan and Japanese soccer fans than such exercises in futility as the nine-goal win over Brunei in the Asian Cup qualifiers last month.
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

How the IMF got its man

Now that the curtain has finally fallen on the lengthy drama of former IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus' succession, the time has come to distribute grades to the players on stage.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 19, 2000

Royal Concertgebouw does its own thing, which is anything

The orchestras of America are headed by the "Big Five," after which come all the others. They are so well known that just the names of the cities get a nod of affirmation: Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York and Philadelphia.
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...
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.
COMMUNITY
Mar 17, 2000

Lighting life's gloom with the gem of joy

While sitting in the shadow of death, which one does daily amid the troubles and tribulations of this world, I mused anew upon some phases of human life. In my ponderings, I seemed to hear a voice within declare, "Life is simply a mauvais quart d'heure (wretched quarter of an hour) made up of exquisite...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

British nuclear activist fights for disarmament

A 48-year-old British antinuclear activist proved that direct action by citizens can contribute to global disarmament and even prevent potential mass murder when, in a landmark ruling, she was acquitted for vandalizing a British warplane and a nuclear submarine research facility.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2000

If only Greenpeace told the truth about whaling

On Nov. 9, 1999, Japan's whale research fleet departed for the Antarctic to begin the 13th year of its research program. The research program involves both a sighting survey whose primary purpose is the estimation of trends in abundance, and a sampling component that involves the take of up to 440 minke...
COMMENTARY
Mar 15, 2000

The task of policing the police

Sections of the Japanese police force have recently been sharply and justifiably criticized, as have police in other countries from time to time. The maintenance of high ethical standards in police forces worldwide should be a high priority for all governments. Yet it is not an easy thing to achieve....
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...
EDITORIALS
Mar 10, 2000

Not quite as planned

The results of "Super Tuesday" are in, and by all appearances, all is as it should be. The U.S. presidential campaign looks just as it did before the race officially started. Vice President Al Gore will be squaring off against Texas Gov. George W. Bush. But appearances are deceiving. The election dynamics...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2000

India debates killing killers

NEW DELHI -- The recent execution of serial husband-killer Betty Lou Beets in Texas has been condemned by human rights institutions in many countries. They find it strange that the United States, which calls itself a champion of human rights, should resort to something as barbaric as capital punishment....
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2000

Fall in Obuchi's popularity blamed on recent scandals

Public support for Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet has fallen to 41 percent, down 4.6 percentage points from December, an indication of discontent over scandals involving government officials, according to a Kyodo News public opinion survey.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 9, 2000

Sometimes it's best to follow your toe

If it's possible to have a "green thumb," as some grape growers fortunately do, can one also possess a "golden toe" -- a knack for stumbling onto serendipitous discoveries? I've begun to think so. In fact, I'm keeping notes for what could be titled "The Little Book of Serendipitous Slip-Ups," "Glorious...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2000

High time Japan said 'No'

More than a decade ago, the current governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, and the late Sony Chairman Akio Morita wrote a best-seller urging their fellow Japanese to just say "No" to the Americans. This was in the context of a wide-ranging trade dispute in which the U.S. was pressuring Japan to curb its...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2000

Diplomacy without guideposts

Ten years after the Cold War ended, we are moving toward the 21st century. In the past decade, the international community has been trying to catch up with fast changes and to establish a viable theory for creating a new order. However, drastic changes in the world have made it impossible for human wisdom...
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2000

Parents sue to learn truth of son's death

The parents of a 14-year-old boy who was killed in what a family court deemed to have been a one-on-one fight with another boy are to file a damages suit next week against the state and Ibaraki Prefecture, claiming the investigation was unfair, it was learned Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2000

U.K. activist seeks testimony in quest to ban nuclear arms

A British antinuclear activist acquitted by a Scottish court in October of criminal responsibility for damage she inflicted on a British nuclear submarine facility called for Japanese citizens to support her efforts to outlaw atomic weapons.
A beloved Tokyo penguin’s end presages Suica’s shift to payments giant
JR East is retiring the beloved Suica penguin as part of a rebrand to transform the contactless payment platform, used for both transit and retail, into a mobile fintech powerhouse.
Japan sends senior official to China to cool boiling tensions
A Chinese tour group in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo on Sunday. China has advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, following a diplomatic feud sparked by remarks from Tokyo's new prime minister about a hypothetical attack on Taiwan.
More Japanese firms relax rules in tussle for workers
Hinako Mori, 22, arranges products at a Don Quijote outlet in Tokyo in October. The Japanese retailer, which relaxed its rules concerning hair and nail polish three years ago, says nearly a quarter of its employees sport brightly colored hair.
What you need to know about the shift to My Number health insurance cards
With the government's integration of health insurance with My Number cards, conventional health insurance cards will no longer be accepted at clinics and hospitals across Japan from Dec. 2.
Bears attacks and sightings continue in northern Japan
A bear walks in front of a box trap set up at a park in the city of Akita on Nov. 2.
How Band-Maid brought anime energy into the hard-rock sound of ‘Scooooop’
Members of Band-Maid combine heavy riffs and maid-inspired visuals in their latest project, "Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty."
Japan uses series against South Korea to prep for World Baseball Classic title defense
Japan's Ryuhei Sotani pitches against South Korea at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
Who is cricket’s Shohei Ohtani?
South African cricket legend Jacques Kallis plays a shot during the final day of a cricket test match against India in Johannesburg in December 2013.
Good fortune, wrapped in fried tofu
Golden "age-fukuburo," a culinary take on Japan's new year "lucky bags," can be served on their own.
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Located near the Imperial Palace, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan prides itself on the accessibility of its events and the support it offers to budding and established journalists. The club is currently headed by Dan Sloan, a former reporter for Reuters.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

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