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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2000

World's eyes on Australia

SYDNEY -- With the Sydney 2000 Olympics in full swing, the country is getting used to having 3.5 billion TV viewers around the world watching our every move. This city's 4 million citizens are positively basking in the glory of staging the world's best Games yet. And to the south, Melbourne is just as...
COMMUNITY
Sep 17, 2000

Fusing technology, arts in fabulous future shocks

Omote-sando's cafe-restaurant Las Chicas needs no introduction. But few realize that the two-floor building in which it is situated was once a consulate, designed to wrap around the central courtyard -- one of the nicest places to eat in town. Under the umbrella organization Vision Network, the complex...
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2000

Japan firms optimistic over Sakhalin

Japanese firms investing in Sakhalin, an island off the easternmost coast of Russia, are finally expressing optimism over the business climate in the region.
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2000

An equal value for every vote

In every democratic state, equality of voting rights is taken for granted, in principle, if not always in practice. There is no question that every vote should have the same value, or at least a nearly equal value, regardless of who casts it or where it is cast. In Japan's case, however, there are wide...
OLYMPICS
Sep 16, 2000

Japan hoping to kickstart Games with first-day gold

SYDNEY -- The first day of competition may be crucial to Japan's prospects at the Sydney Olympics. Japan has three gold medal prospects competing Saturday: judoka Ryoko Tamura and Tadahiro Nomura, and swimmer Yasuko Tajima.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2000

Dentist patents false teeth with chip identifying wearer

OSAKA -- An Osaka dentist has received Japanese and U.S. patents for a set of false teeth containing a tiny microchip that identifies its wearer.
OLYMPICS
Sep 16, 2000

Olympic rings and the color of money

Just about everybody in the world knows it is happening, but exactly what is it?
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2000

Young people play key role in IT ventures

Young people are increasingly playing a key role in Internet-related ventures amid the information-technology revolution in Japan.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 16, 2000

Pointing a laser at a detached future

Marcel Duchamp, the supreme artist's artist, was often asked about his role in the making of art. The line of inquiry was inspired largely by the enigmatic Frenchman's series of "ready-mades," store-bought objects such as shovels or coat racks he exhibited under his name.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2000

Shining a light on global 'Big Brother'

Perhaps more appropriately to the world of James Bond than to the European Union, Echelon -- an international spying network in which governments covertly cooperate to intercept global communications -- is causing a stir in the European Parliament.
OLYMPICS
Sep 16, 2000

Two Koreas make history during opening ceremony

SYDNEY -- While Japan kicked off its Sydney Olympic campaign without many of its star athletes at the opening ceremony, it was the country's Asian neighbors who grabbed the spotlight in the four-hour spectacular on Friday night.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 16, 2000

A gentler, softer Dairakudakan

It is tempting to look at the new Dairakudakan production, "Kanzen-naru Hitobito (Complete People)," as being in some way connected to the title. Searching for meaning in butoh performances has always been a mad sport, though, and the premiere by the largest butoh company extant, at Tokyo's Art Sphere...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2000

OECD calls for life-long learning

Academic achievement was the goal of Japan's exam-oriented education system when life-time employment was intact.
COMMENTARY
Sep 16, 2000

Public TV in the digital era

LONDON -- The British Broadcasting Corporation was a pioneer of public-service broadcasting when it was established in the 1920s. It built up a strong reputation in its early years under its first director, General Lord Reith, although it also earned the nick-name of "Auntie" because it was regarded...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Japanese-made tatami to give judoka footing

Judo competitions at the Sydney Olympics will be played out on tatami mats made in Japan, marking their debut in overseas competitions and lending the Japanese team confidence in its footing.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2000

Market closely watching euro movements

All eyes remain on the beleaguered euro.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2000

Minolta to acquire U.S. printer unit

OSAKA -- Minolta Co., a leading camera and photocopier maker, said Thursday it will acquire all remaining outstanding shares of its U.S. subsidiary Minolta-QMS Inc. in a bid to strengthen its printer business.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Fuji Heavy hid millions in revenues

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. concealed revenues of about 400 million yen over a three-year period ending in March 1999, sources close to tax authorities said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2000

The Olympic love-hate affair

The quadrennial soap opera that is the Summer Olympics gets under way again today in Sydney, inspiring the usual mixed response of blahs and hurrahs. Nobody disputes that the Summer Games have become the world's biggest recurrent spectacle, costing more than some countries' GDP and cornier than Kansas....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 15, 2000

Ever-unfashionable Akutagawa

JAPANESE SHORT STORIES, by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, translated by Takashi Kojima, foreword by John McVittie. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing, 1981, 240 pp. with 15 illustrations, $14.95. THE ESSENTIAL AKUTAGAWA, by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, edited by Seiji Lippit, foreword by Jorge Luis Borges. New York: Marsililio...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Foreigners' crimes slightly down

The number of crimes committed by foreigners in Japan in the first half of 2000 dropped slightly from a year earlier, but thefts and burglaries are on the rise, according to a survey by the National Police Agency released Thursday.

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