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JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Kato would finance welfare with lower sales tax

All revenues from the 5 percent consumption tax should be used for welfare purposes as part of fiscal reforms in the coming decade, and the levy should be lowered for daily necessities, a Liberal Democratic Party faction led by former Secretary General Koichi Kato said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Fiscal woes, controversy stop plan for air raid hall

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to scrap a plan to secure funds for construction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Peace Memorial Hall under next year's budget.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 18, 1999

Yes, there was a Nanjing Massacre

Did the 1937 Nanjing Massacre really happen? This might seem like an absurd question, but then the recently elected governor of Tokyo is on record as having denied that the looting, rape and assembly-line murder reported by eyewitnesses ever took place. The Dr. Feelgoods of Japanese history, Yoshinori...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 18, 1999

You're only as old as you tell

Here is a scenario that happens in the first hour of every single new English conversation class in Japan _ a sort of annual rite of spring.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Japan nears deal to ease Saudi Arabia's WTO entry

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Aug 18, 1999

Another farewell

It was a sad Monday last week when I saw the name Andre Lecomte in the obituary column. He was invited to come to Japan in the '60s to be the head pastry chef at the Okura Hotel. Before Andre, the taste of bread and pastry available for those with a Western preference was always somewhat askew. After...
EDITORIALS
Aug 15, 1999

Richard Nixon's long shadow

John F. Kennedy may have won the heart of mid-century America but no U.S. president of that period cast a longer shadow than his former rival, Richard Milhous Nixon. Facing impeachment and almost certain removal from office for his role in the Watergate scandal -- a string of transgressions bunched under...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 14, 1999

Forging ahead into the new millennium

Summer in Japan is notorious for being hot, humid and unpleasant. If you are a blacksmith, however, even the summer air is probably refreshing.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1999

New school violence trend soars

Random acts of student violence in public schools inflicted on teachers, classmates and school property soared to 29,685 reported incidents in the 1998 school year, representing a 25.7 percent rise from the previous year, according to an Education Ministry summary released Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1999

Ministry vows effort to aid duped emigrants

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura on Friday pledged his effort to provide part of the ministry's fiscal 2000 budget for aged Japanese who emigrated to the Dominican Republic four decades ago.
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 1999

Symbols to unite that divide

The government has finally put the Hinomaru flag and the "Kimigayo" anthem on the statute book. This has hardly put the matter to rest, however. By rushing the flag-and-anthem bill through the Diet Monday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party chose to ignore the feelings of a large segment of the public...
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1999

Japan Return students learn of war and peace

Staff writer
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Aug 12, 1999

Virginia's wines gaining praise with a little help from Valhalla

The day after the Fourth of July, I had the pleasure of visiting two outstanding wineries in Virginia: Rockbridge Vineyard, founded in 1992 in Raphine, near Roanoke; and Valhalla Vineyards, started in 1993 on a mountain within the Roanoke city limits, and the city's first winery.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 12, 1999

Nihonshu's sweet spectrum

Perhaps the best way to buy sake is to have tasted enough to know exactly what you are looking for, and find that label. Advice and recommendations go a long way too. But we all need to foray into the unknown and try new things at times.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Aug 11, 1999

Like it is

Language is enriched by people who don't speak it very well, using phrases made up of words that contain the meaning of what they want to say but not the usual form. The result is sometimes quite effective. How about this one reporting a break in the summer heat: The weather is going down a bit, or this:...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 1999

Utada's album hits 7 million mark

Teenage R&B diva Hikaru Utada's debut album, "First Love," has sold 7.02 million copies, becoming the first record to reach the 7 million mark in the nation's popular music history, music magazine officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 1999

State specifies guidelines for Hinomaru, 'Kimigayo'

Following Monday's approval of legislation legally recognizing the Hinomaru as Japan's national flag and "Kimigayo" as the anthem, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka announced Tuesday guidelines regarding the official symbols for government organizations to follow.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 1999

Nomura, IBJ lead startup of joint 401(k) company

A joint venture between Nomura Securities Co. and the Industrial Bank of Japan announced Monday that it will establish a 401(k)-style pension account management company Wednesday along with 22 other firms.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 1999

Japan makes its mark in U.S.

ALFRED BALITZER Special to The Japan Times The town of Kanab, population 4,500, is located on a two-lane highway between Zion National Park and Lake Powell in southern Utah. The country is filled with breathtaking scenery -- tall, lonesome bluffs, massive rock formations the color of copper, natural...
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
Aug 7, 1999

For the Japanese, the future is now

There has been much soul-searching among the Japanese in recent years, following the collapse of the bubble economy and the recession it triggered. Economic woes aside, a crisis of confidence exists at the most fundamental level. People have come to doubt not only the ability of society as a whole, but...
EDITORIALS
Aug 7, 1999

A summer of new health threats

During what is proving to be one of Japan's hottest summers in recent memory, most people are concentrating on ways to beat the heat. Heat-related ailments pose a great health risk, especially among the very young and very old. It appears, however, that this summer the public should be paying even more...
EDITORIALS
Aug 6, 1999

First a tally, now the trading

Almost two months after voting for the national assembly took place, Indonesia has its election results. Wednesday, President B.J. Habibie endorsed the final tally of the national election commission over the objections of several small parties who claimed ballot fraud. The holdouts represented less...
JAPAN
Aug 6, 1999

Nonaka proposes removing war criminals from Yasukuni

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka on Friday proposed separately enshrining seven hanged class-A war criminals memorialized at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine and stripping it of its religious status to enable the prime minister and Cabinet ministers to pay official visits there to honor Japan's war dead....
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1999

Japan, South Korea hold first joint naval drill

Staff writer
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Aug 5, 1999

Want to be a love goddess? Indulge in a fragrant bath

It should come as no surprise that in almost every culture, the goddesses of beauty have also been the goddesses of love. They are also often goddesses of the arts, and of such essentials to life as mirth, happiness and laughter. These goddesses are not actively worshipped in many parts of the world...
JAPAN
Aug 4, 1999

Ministry pushes labels for 28 genetically altered foods

A total of 28 kinds of food using genetically modified soybeans, corn and potatoes should be subjected to mandated labeling for genetically modified organisms, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry proposed on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 1999

Wiretap legislation enters final debate

The Upper House Judicial Affairs Committee held a first public hearing Wednesday on controversial bills to allow law enforcement authorities to monitor communications during investigations of organized crime.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 1999

Facing the reality of Taiwan

Later this week, government officials I have never used the words "one China." In fact, I have never learned the usage of "one China," and today I have found that this is not my singular experience. One of the distinguished participants from the United States told us that he did not remember having used...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 4, 1999

How to keep the main clause interesting

Many years ago when she was studying for the TOEFL exam, my wife asked me to explain the difference between a main clause and a subordinate one. She somehow had it in her head that as a native speaker I would instinctively know what those words meant.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 4, 1999

Islands of diversity and divergence

Although the islands of New Zealand, which I wrote about last time, are fascinating, we don't need to travel so far to find isolated islands supporting interesting biodiversity. Japan's own southern archipelago, straggling from Kyushu toward Taiwan, known as the Nansei Shoto, is so rich in both flora...

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