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JAPAN
Mar 20, 2001

Japan braces for green mandate

Given Japan's acute shortage of landfill sites, the introduction of the Home Appliances Recycling Law on April 1 heralds a new era in the nation's efforts to promote recycling.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2001

Takeout that fails to deliver

The first Japanese filmmakers, like first filmmakers almost everywhere, thought of their new medium as an extension of still photography: a way of recording reality. Thus the early films of kabuki plays, in which the camera was planted squarely in front of the stage and left there, with pauses only to...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2001

U.S.-ROK ties show new signs of strain

SEOUL -- It is difficult not to compare the Seoul summit between South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and its sequel in Washington between Kim and U.S. President George W. Bush, given both countries' long history and deep involvement in Korean affairs. The stark...
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2001

Midday shooting in Shinjuku hotel leaves gangster dead, cop injured

Two gunmen opened fire Monday on gangsters and police meeting in the lobby of a Shinjuku hotel, killing a gangster and injuring a policeman and one other man.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2001

Miyake students graduate from junior high

Thirty-nine junior high school students evacuated from Miyake Island in September in the wake of volcanic eruptions attended a graduation ceremony Monday at a boarding school in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2001

U.K. rail museum gets bullet train

FUKUOKA -- A bullet train locomotive has been shipped to Britain for permanent display at the National Railway Museum in York, northern England, according to officials of West Japan Railway Co.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 20, 2001

Drop in on Kanemura's Tokyo

SPIDER'S STRATEGY: Photographs by Osamu Kanemura, with a text by Arata Isozaki. Tokyo: Osiris Co. Ltd., 102 pp., 80 b/w plates, 3,780 yen. In his text accompanying this portfolio of photographs of Tokyo, architect Arata Isozaki writes of the difficulty of deciphering this city. Paris was finally properly...
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2001

Dini helps launch Italian cultural extravaganza

"Italy in Japan 2001" kicked off Monday with visiting Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini urging Japanese to learn not only about Italy's art, fashion and food, but also its advanced technology.
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Mar 20, 2001

Garage kings step on the gas

Gan is the chubbiest and cuddliest rock 'n' roll star around. Just look at him, almost passed out in a backstage corner with a huge cheesy grin across his fat chops like a big cartoon teddy bear, his paws clutching a jumbo bottle of beer, a reward after successfully pulling off another terrific live...
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2001

Mr. Sharon goes to work

After nearly a month of negotiations, Israel's new prime minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, has cobbled together his "unity Cabinet." It may represent a broad spectrum of political opinion, but it is unlikely to be united for long. Once Mr. Sharon gets down to resuming peace talks with the Palestinians -- his...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2001

Good signs for Japan-U.S. alliance

Since the end of the Cold War, Japan-U.S. relations have been in turmoil. A highly significant development was a 1996 Japan-U.S. summit, in which Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and President Bill Clinton redefined the terms of the bilateral security system. The 50-year-old alliance will continue into...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2001

Indonesia's future is visible in Kalimantan

HONG KONG -- As the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan has been effectively cleansed of its Madurese minority, it has been another forceful reminder that communal conflict can be a terrifying reality that requires a quick and firm response if its effects are to be minimized and national unity...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2001

An African win in the war against AIDS

LONDON -- Half of all teenage boys in South Africa will eventually die of AIDS, predicted a United Nations report last year. "The world has never before experienced death rates of this magnitude across young adults of both sexes across all social strata," it added -- and noted that 70 percent of all...
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2001

Technological advances pose challenge for 21st century

Progress and technological innovation bring economic prosperity, as everyone knows. The advent of the steam engine brought about the Industrial Revolution, and the information technology revolution has reinvigorated the U.S. economy today. It is only natural for us to expect technology to continue contributing...
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 19, 2001

Volunteers for World Cup can apply in April

The Japanese organizing committee for next year's World Cup finals (JAWOC) will accept volunteer applications from April 16 to June 15 for soccer's showcase event to be cohosted by Japan and South Korea.
COMMENTARY
Mar 19, 2001

U.S.-South Korea summit a good start

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's Washington summit meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush was not the unqualified success Kim had hoped for, but he did accomplish his primary objectives. As expected and desired, Bush endorsed Kim's Sunshine Policy of reconciliation and cooperation with North...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 19, 2001

Earthlings, meet your parent

The four planets closest to the sun are siblings of a sort. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars have similar core properties and densities, suggesting that they probably formed from the same dust cloud in the early solar system, but they have very different surfaces and atmospheres. Mercury is hot, has low...
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2001

Japan to push ties with Latin America

East Asia and Latin America should shore up their cooperation and exchanges across the Pacific not only in politics and economics, but also in social areas, according to a report compiled by the Japanese government.
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2001

A hole in the sky

Sometime this week, space station Mir -- the brightest star in the once mighty Soviet and Russian space program -- will flicker out. After circling the planet for 15 years, at least three times its planned life span, the massive, aging station is scheduled to finally "deorbit" on Tuesday, "give or take...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2001

'Zapatour' gives hope to Mexico's poor

Seven years after stunning the world, the leaders of the Zapatista rebels have come out of hiding in the Lacandon jungle and traveled to the concrete jungle of Mexico City to promote indigenous rights and work toward a just and peaceful resolution to the simmering conflict in Chiapas state.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 18, 2001

Donald Richie: being inside and outside Japanese cinema

In his five decades as a writer, Donald Richie has investigated everything from the glories of noh to the mysteries of the Japanese tattoo, while attempting everything from the travel narrative ("The Inland Sea") to the historical novel (the meticulously researched, wittily engaging "Kumagai"). He is...
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2001

Kansai mulls ways to attract U.S. cash

OSAKA -- Discussion on America's relationship with the Kansai region generally centers on business investment or the lack thereof.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 18, 2001

Corey Paul: King of the Eastern League

Hoping to make the Seibu Lions' opening day roster is Corey Paul, a third-year-in-Japan American outfielder who also happens to be the third foreign position player on the team's roster. He's competing with teammates Alex Cabrera and Scott McClain in a system where non-Japanese player quotas allow each...
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2001

OPEC formalizes oil production cut

VIENNA -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ended a two-day general meeting Saturday in Vienna by formalizing a plan to reduce oil output by about one million barrels per day from April 1.

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’