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COMMENTARY
May 16, 1999

Does NATO really have justice on its side?

Tokyo is urging Beijing to accept U.S. explanations that the bombing of its Belgrade embassy was a genuine mistake. Maybe it was. But why automatically rule out the possibility it was a devious scheme by rogue hawks in the powerful U.S. military/intelligence machine to encourage China to veto any U.N.-backed...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 16, 1999

Hate is a many-booted creature that bites

The word in Japanese politics these days is reform. Japan is faced with an aging population, a weakened yen and a less-than-thriving economy.
COMMENTARY
May 16, 1999

Enhancing regional security

In recent months, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi have separately called for the creation of a formal, governmental Northeast Asia Security Forum, to bring key regional states together to discuss common security interests and concerns. Russian President Boris Yeltsin...
JAPAN
May 14, 1999

First heart recipient under '97 law goes home

OSAKA -- The patient who received a heart from a brain-dead donor in February left Osaka University Hospital Friday, 75 days after the operation -- the first such transplant under the Organ Transplant Law of 1997.
JAPAN
May 14, 1999

APEC to address crisis prevention

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 14, 1999

Honda posts record sales, profits for fiscal '98

Thanks to growing sales in the North American market, Honda Motor Co. set new record highs both in consolidated sales and profits in fiscal 1998, despite dwindling sales at home, Honda officials said Friday.
EDITORIALS
May 13, 1999

President Kim takes up the challenge

Among Asia's crisis-hit economies struggling for recovery and reform, South Korea may well claim it leads on both counts. Interest rates, the currency and equity prices have markedly improved from the depths of a year and half ago. A return of market confidence is also in evidence as foreign capital...
CULTURE / Art
May 13, 1999

Smithsonian celebrates culture, history of Ainu

WASHINGTON -- An unprecedented, in-depth look at the culture of the Ainu is being offered in the U.S. capital.
JAPAN
May 13, 1999

U.N. police call 'koban' model key for strife-hit communities

Staff writer
CULTURE / Books
May 13, 1999

Miyazawa comes to life for young English readers

GAUCHE THE CELLIST; SNOW CROSSING; THE STORY OF THE ZASHIKI BOKKO and Three Poems; THE RESTAURANT OF MANY ORDERS (4 vols. with four CDs and read-along booklet in English and Japanese), by Kenji Miyazawa, translated by Roger Pulvers, illustrated by Osamu Tsukasa. Tokyo: Labo Teaching Information Center,...
LIFE / Travel
May 13, 1999

The 'red, green and white lines': rubies, jade and heroin

Like most things connected to money and profit in Myanmar, there is a sinister side to the north's resurgent economy, a subtext that generally eludes visitors' attention. Still, at least one travel book, Nicholas Greenwood's original and often very funny "Bradt Guide to Burma," has picked up on it. Not...
EDITORIALS
May 11, 1999

First breach in the government wall

After two decades of on-and-off arguments, the Diet finally passed a freedom of information bill into law last Friday. For the first time in Japan's history, a law stipulates that the government "has the duty to explain to the nation" the way government ministries and agencies run their affairs. To be...
JAPAN
May 11, 1999

Matsushita ups retirement age to 65

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. on Tuesday said it will ostensibly extend its de facto mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 by re-employing some of its retirees.
JAPAN
May 11, 1999

Smithsonian celebrates culture, history of Ainu

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 11, 1999

Philippine activists protest dam project

Three activists from the Philippines called on the Export-Import Bank of Japan and a group of Japanese banks to withdraw support for a controversial dam project that the activists say will destroy the lives of riverside residents.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Assembly rejects Ishihara's vice governor nominee

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's attempt to appoint his right-hand man vice governor was blocked Monday by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, casting a shadow over his relations with the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito-controlled body.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Kofuku Bank to seek 60 billion yen replenishment

OSAKA -- Kofuku Bank, a second-tier regional bank, said Monday that it will request about 60 billion yen in public funds under the government recapitalization program as its capital-to-asset ratio was about 0.5 percent as of the end of March.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Toyota insists bid not only factor in selling IDC stake

Hiroshi Okuda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., said Monday that a higher bid would not be the only element it will consider in a sale of its stake in International Digital Communications Inc.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

MITI chief Yosano meets Canadian counterpart Marchi

Kaoru Yosano, minister of international trade and industry, told Canadian counterpart Sergio Marchi on Monday that Tokyo is ready to deal flexibly with other World Trade Organization members on an approach to the upcoming round of multilateral free trade talks in 2000, according to ministry officials....
COMMENTARY
May 8, 1999

Japan remains a military laughingstock

After much political wrangling, the House of Representatives has passed the bills relating to the new defense guidelines between Japan and the United States. Deliberations in the House of Councilors got under way April 28. With the full cooperation of the Liberal Party and Komeito, and with the partial...
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 1999

Beethoven's global harmony ballet

Ludwig van Beethoven is not the composer that springs to mind when trawling the classics for a composition to accompany dance, but in "The Ninth Symphony" choreographed by Maurice Bejart, the doughty chords are given a vivid and fresh life with mid-century choreography.
EDITORIALS
May 7, 1999

A brush with history

Mallory, Hillary.... The airwaves have been buzzing this week with two of the best-known names in mountain-climbing history. Some people even reportedly got confused, thinking the body found near the summit of Mount Everest May 1 was that of Sir Edmund Hillary (who is very much alive in New Zealand)...
JAPAN
May 7, 1999

Ishihara's old secretary unlikely to get position

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly is likely to shelve or vote down Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's nomination of his former secretary as vice governor, political sources said Friday.
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Record debut has R&B diva, 16, rolling in the dough

R&B artist Hikaru Utada's debut album "First Love" has sold a record-breaking 5.24 million copies in the two months since its release, surpassing the 5.11 million CDs sold by rock duo B'z.
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 1999

India rightly resists the Chinese model

India has often been advised to follow the path of China in public investment in human capital. China has done well in the last decade, but it would be a disaster if India were to follow her example. China's approach can be called "two quick steps forward, one slow step back." India's approach, in contrast,...
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Dioxin: Proximity to Tokyo dooms Tokorozawa

Second in a seriesStaff writer
CULTURE / Books
May 4, 1999

Artistry lost in translation

WHITE LETTER POEMS, by Fumi Saito, translated by Hatsue Kawamura and Jane Reichhold. AHA Books, 1998, 110 pp., $10. The title of this well-produced selection of tanka by the venerable poet Fumi Saito is taken from the first tanka in the book's first section, which contains work from "Gyo ka" (Songs...
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Ready for 2000?: Japan's efforts overlooked when not in English

Sixth in an occasional series on Japan's Y2K preparedness
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Constitution's anniversary sparks debate on revision

With last month's Lower House passage of bills covering the updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines as a backdrop, the nation on Monday celebrated the 52nd anniversary of the postwar Constitution with heated debate over the document itself.
COMMUNITY
May 2, 1999

Relaxation therapy for busy people

Shiatsu, acupuncture and moxibustion are for older men -- at least, that's what was believed.

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