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JAPAN
Oct 3, 2000

Groups demand explanation of plan to help North Korea

Citizens' groups seeking the return of Japanese nationals allegedly abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s demanded Monday that Japan explain its reported plan to provide food aid to North Korea at a time when there is no visible improvement in the communist country's efforts to resolve...
EDITORIALS
Oct 2, 2000

Indonesia's justice on trial

Indonesia's wobbly democracy is being sorely tested as the government attempts to bring former President Suharto and his children to justice. At the same time, it must cope with escalating violence both in the capital of Jakarta and in the provinces. Ominously, the two problems appear to overlap: President...
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2000

Woman hired as vehicle inspector

The Transport Ministry on Sunday named a woman for the first time as a motor vehicle inspector, whose job it is to oversee vehicles allowed to run on public roads.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2000

Japan open to return of two disputed isles

The government is leaning closer to accepting a two-stage accord over four disputed islands off Hokkaido in which Russia would hand over two of them with assurances that the remaining two will also eventually be returned, government sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2000

Suspect cop handed to prosecutors

Police on Sunday handed to prosecutors a 52-year-old Tokyo policeman suspected of passing confidential information, including criminal records, to a detective agency run by his former chief.
OLYMPICS
Oct 2, 2000

Olympics draw to a close

SYDNEY -- They came, they saw and some even conquered, but Sydney was the undisputed winner as the Games drew to a close Sunday and the last medals were being decided. These Olympics will be exalted as the best Games ever.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2000

Japan must commence nuclear reforms

On Sept. 30, Japan commemorated the first anniversary of its worst nuclear disaster since the inception of its nuclear power industry. Tokaimura, approximately 150 km northwest of Tokyo, experienced a criticality accident around 10:30 a.m. when employees of JCO Co., a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining...
COMMENTARY
Oct 2, 2000

Is drug-price cure worse than the disease?

WASHINGTON -- Election years in the United States are good for political consultants but bad for everyone else. Especially the average citizen who bears the brunt of Washington-style "reform."
COMMENTARY
Oct 2, 2000

Japan's ills threaten the world

Japan's Naoko Takahashi won the gold medal in the women's marathon in the Sydney Olympics Sept. 24. In winning the tough race on a difficult, up-and-down course, she established an Olympic record and became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic marathon gold medal. She also gave Japan its first...
EDITORIALS
Oct 1, 2000

Life after the Olympics

What do we do now with our evenings and weekends? For two happy, mindless weeks, we have flopped down in front of the TV any spare minute we had, just to get our daily fix of the big show going on in Sydney. Cynicism, the pre-Games attitude du jour, went out the window the second the teams entered the...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2000

Collective houses pushed for seniors living alone

KOBE -- With the Japanese population aging rapidly and lifestyle changes sweeping the country, more and more elderly people are finding themselves without family support.
SOCCER / World cup
Oct 1, 2000

2002 Cup ticket sales hit last-minute snag

Just three days prior to the launch of 2002 World Cup ticket sales for residents of Japan, the Japanese World Cup Organizing Committee on Friday announced the postponement of the start of sales due to technical failures related to the Internet sales system as well as misprints on the application forms....
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2000

Police officer arrested for leaking secret data

A 52-year-old Tokyo policeman has been arrested for allegedly leaking confidential information, including criminal records, to a private detective agency run by a former high-ranking police officer.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2000

Census forms collected today

Census workers from across Japan will begin collecting forms from households today to determine the nation's population and their occupations.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 1, 2000

African artists hold display, classes to boost awareness

OSAKA -- Anthony Monda has been living here for six years and he cannot help but wonder at how little Japanese people know about Africa.
COMMUNITY
Oct 1, 2000

A life spent on the edge

It's not entirely clear which of his visits to Japan Jim Whittaker remembers the most. The latest, earlier this year, was to promote his autobiography and attend the opening of the first overseas branch of Recreation Equipment Inc., the outdoor goods cooperative he helped set up in Seattle in 1950.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 1, 2000

Tryouts at NHK Symphony: Some work, and some don't

The NHK Symphony Orchestra boasts the largest complement of musicians (113), the most subscription concerts (60), the healthiest annual budget (3 billion yen), the highest visibility (over NHK radio and television) and the most interesting programs of any of the 30 professional symphony orchestras in...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 1, 2000

The art of losing isn't that hard to master

Once foreigners move to Japan, they take on a new image -- that of international traveler. Friends back home start describing you as "worldly," and suddenly you are an authority on all things global.
COMMENTARY
Oct 1, 2000

Log on to network politics

Events can act often as an illuminating light. Predictions, warnings and expert forecasts of which no one took much notice suddenly become obvious to everyone.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2000

The right WTO strategy for the wrong reasons

U.S. President Bill Clinton's victory in getting Congress in line on the WTO question was capped by a triumphant New York Times Op-Ed piece by him about why China should be in the World Trade Organization. There are many good reasons why, but Clinton's argument that this will "save" China and make it...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 1, 2000

Elizabeth Handover

Elizabeth Handover explains that when in 1989 she was instrumental in helping establish the Tokyo Actors Repertory Company, she was undertaking a commitment. That was to promote women's theater, and to work toward bicultural understanding. With clear guiding principles, the company makes its presentations...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2000

Shelter plan for park's homeless hit

OSAKA -- A municipal government plan to build temporary shelters for homeless people living in a park that will host next year's East Asian Games has received heated criticism from area residents, who have gathered over 22,000 signatures in protest.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 1, 2000

Stringing a line through fashion and art

The 21st century in Tokyo is seeing a great migration of disciplines from one sphere into another. Fashion designers are collaborating with artists and exhibiting in galleries. Artists are collaborating with designers and exhibiting in shops.
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2000

Denmark says 'No, thank you'

The Danish people voted this week against adopting the euro. With nearly 90 percent of eligible voters going to the polls, Denmark rejected the European Union's single currency by a narrow 53-47 margin. The result is a bitter disappointment for the country's political and business establishment, which...
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2000

MSDF officer indicted for passing defense info

Prosecutors on Friday indicted a senior officer in the Maritime Self-Defense Force on charges of passing defense secrets to a Russian military attache in Tokyo.
JAPAN / History
Sep 30, 2000

MacArthur Honor Guard to fete his exit

In March 1951, at the age of 21, U.S. soldier David Valley was ordered to immediately leave the Korean Peninsula -- where the war was raging -- and go to Tokyo to serve on the Honor Guard of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander of the allied powers.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan