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COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 7, 2000

A beginning

A recent column question dealt with a problem that faces many parents today: Their children have completely lost interest in school. These are often bright, motivated students who are dissatisfied with the system. Foreigners tend to feel that Japanese kids are too occupied, that something is planned...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jun 7, 2000

Fathers just wanna be loved

The pressure builds. Feel it? I sure do. An annual tension that visits late each June and -- for a day at least -- smothers me with stress. The day? Why, the most anxious moment of the year -- Father's Day. What else?
LIFE / Travel
Jun 7, 2000

A magical world of wonder on the urban fringes

Hotaru (fireflies) are one of nature's smaller, yet sublime occurrences. The tiny, 15-mm-long bugs live only two weeks after hatching, but are blessed with phosphorescent rear ends which make clusters of them a captivating sight on summer nights. Their almost-fluorescent glow also ensures the continuation...
BUSINESS
Jun 6, 2000

Leading index falls following surge in January

Japan's key economic index for forecasting economic activity six to nine months ahead plunged below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent in April for the first time in 14 months, the Economic Planning Agency said Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2000

Graduates' job prospects getting better

The percentage of businesses planning to increase recruitment of college and high school graduates topped that of those planning cuts for the first time in three years, according to a Labor Ministry report released Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2000

Beyond the 'divine comedy'

Election campaigning is already gathering real heat, even before the June 25 general election is officially announced on June 13. This electoral schedule had been regarded in recent weeks as a de facto political timetable, but, in the event, the opposition parties' imminent filing of a no-confidence...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jun 6, 2000

Super Furries, Eels, Bentley signed up for summer of fun

Super Furry Animals -- "Mwng" (Placid Casual) Their warped imaginations proffer a bent reality, a Dali-like melting pot of madness; they adorn their album covers with exotic monstrosities that are both cute and menacing. They are totally fuzzy. They are the Super Furry Animals, they don't play by the...
COMMENTARY
Jun 6, 2000

Korean challenges for Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung agreed in their talks in Seoul May 29 that the two nations should coordinate their policies toward North Korea. Mori and Kim also concurred that the North-South Korea summit in Pyongyang, which begins June 12, and the ongoing...
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 6, 2000

Inspecting society's 'little people'

Ever since the first performance of Nikolai Gogol's "The Inspector" took place on April 19, 1836, Russia and the world have been fascinated by Khlestakov, a character in the play who poses as a government inspector and gets away with murder.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2000

More in U.S. support Japan: poll

Fewer Americans see economic and trade issues as major problems with Japan, with a record number expressing overall positive views on bilateral ties, especially in security, an opinion poll released Sunday by the Foreign Ministry indicates.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 4, 2000

It's the season for cool drinks and hot talk

Right now it's 28 degrees, sunny with a light breeze. It couldn't be a more perfect day on the island. Yet when I went to the post office this morning, Mr. Saito said, "It's hot!" When I stopped by the supermarket, Mrs. Amano, the store owner said, "It's hot!" When I stopped by the ferry port, Mrs. Amano,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 4, 2000

Songs to be sung

Some of the world's most beautiful poems were sung in Japan well before the introduction of writing to record them. The writing came from China some 1,200 years ago, the songs are an even older oral tradition that was not recorded in words and preserved until the 8th century. The poems demonstrate the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2000

An alignment with India? Think again

According to recent reports, some Japanese officials are attracted by the idea of an alignment with India against China. India, they say, occupies an important position astride Japan's sea routes to the Persian Gulf. They note that India is the world's largest democracy, so Japan can work with it on...
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2000

Hospital staff error leaves patient in coma

A surgery patient fell into a coma in mid-May at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital due to suspected malpractice, informed sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2000

Usu victims to get cheap loans

The government will grant zero- and low-interest loans to aid small business owners in Hokkaido who have been adversely affected by the eruption of Mount Usu, Ministry of International Trade and Industry chief Takashi Fukaya said Friday.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2000
Jun 3, 2000

Opposition plans to shake up ruling bloc

Following Friday's dissolution of the Lower House, opposition leaders began talking up their plans for a takeover of the Cabinet in the June 25 general election.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 3, 2000

Japanese ceramics on auction block

Contemporary Japanese ceramics took center stage in New York recently, when Phillips, the world's number three auction house, lifted the hammer on a sale titled "20th Century Japanese Ceramics and Design."
JAPAN / ELECTION 2000
Jun 3, 2000

Public spending unproductive, economist says

Masaru Kaneko, an economics professor at Hosei University, is harshly critical of the way the Liberal Democratic Party has been spending taxpayers' money on public works projects and to bail out big banks.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2000

Firms plead not guilty in rigging of oil bids

Three leading oil firms pleaded not guilty while eight others admitted to charges of violating the Antimonopoly Law by rigging bids on fuel-supply contracts with the Defense Agency in 1998.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2000

The siren song of 'the China market'

Businessmen around the world continue to be fascinated with the prospect of making a fortune doing business with China.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2000

NCB deficit grows 50.7 billion yen to 3.24 trillion yen

The capital deficit of Nippon Credit Bank, which is currently under state control, for the year that ended in March increased by some 50.7 billion yen over levels reported in September, the bank's earnings report showed Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2000

New JAMA chief wants taxes untangled

Hiroshi Okuda, new chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, is determined to push the government into rectifying the vehicle tax system and reducing the burden on car owners.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2000

Foreign investment hits new high

Spurred by increased capital participation in telecommunications and other companies, direct investment in Japan by foreign companies hit an all-time high of 2.399 trillion yen in fiscal 1999, nearly double the year-before level, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2000

Doctor removed healthy breasts

OSAKA — Two women had their breasts removed by a surgeon at a hospital in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, in 1996 and 1998 even though pathological tests showed that their tumors were not cancerous, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2000

Repayment plan eases load on disaster victims

The Health and Welfare Ministry will introduce a flexible repayment policy for the 132.5 billion yen in government loans issued to victims of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, it was announced Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2000

Myanmar family sues to stay here

A Myanmar family who overstayed their visas and whose application for resident status was rejected filed a suit Wednesday demanding the justice minister withdraw the rejection so they can continue to stay in Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2000

Pyramid scheme bosses receive prison sentences

The Tokyo District Court sentenced Ichiro Yamamoto, 59, former chairman of the now-bankrupt investment group Keizai Kakumei Club, to eight years in prison Wednesday for defrauding 36 investors out of 177 million yen.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

Tokyo Sowa execs indicted for fraud

Prosecutors on Wednesday indicted five former executives of the failed Tokyo Sowa Bank on charges of conspiring to falsely show the bank had adequate capital reserves.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2000

Daihyaku Life told to cease operations

The Financial Supervisory Agency announced Wednesday that it has ordered Daihyaku Mutual Life Insurance Co. to suspend operations -- the third collapse in the nation's life insurance sector.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’