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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Nov 18, 2000

Russia delights in U.S. electoral confusion

Delightful. This is how many Russians describe the postelection crisis in the United States. For 10 years, Russian elections have been a favorite target of the American media. Finally, Mother Russia is allowed to retaliate. The delicious irony of the moment is that two weeks earlier hardliners in the...
CULTURE / Art
Nov 18, 2000

A peep into Tokugawa Japan

During the almost two and a half centuries when Japan shunned the rest of the world, the one Western country that remained on nodding terms was the Netherlands. This year the two countries are celebrating 400 years of continuous contact in what must be one of the strangest international relationships...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2000

Rich and poor have stake in cleaner planet

Supermarket shelves offer a choice of two light bulbs: the standard incandescent type and the compact fluorescent type. In Bangladesh, the price difference is 20 taka compared to 450 taka. The fluorescent type will last at least 10 times as long and consume one-fifth of the energy. Overall, savings from...
CULTURE / Art
Nov 18, 2000

Hara celebrates new facelift with show of Zhou Teihai

Two developments this autumn serve to illustrate both what is good and what is bad about the current condition of the Japanese contemporary art scene.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 18, 2000

Loochie Brothers rock out for Amnesty

At the close of the millennium, it is a sad fact that torture continues to be carried out in over 150 countries worldwide. "Rock Against Torture," an Amnesty International benefit concert to be held Nov. 19 at What the Dickens in Ebisu, aims to raise funds for the human-rights watchdog and publicize...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2000

A history lesson for the litigants in Florida

HONG KONG -- It was with a sense of sickening dread that one heard, not the result of the U.S. presidential election, but the news that at least 50 high-powered (and highly priced) lawyers were hastening to the state of Florida on behalf of the Democratic Party, quickly followed by a similar squad representing...
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2000

The Austrian disaster

Tragedies and disasters happen somewhere on the planet every day. A plane crash, a train collision, an avalanche, a bombing: These are the routine stuff of headlines, so predictable an element of the news that, unless they happen in one's own back yard, like the Kobe earthquake or the 1996 Hokkaido tunnel...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2000

Lawmaker's ex-aide arrested over loan scam

Prosecutors on Thursday arrested a former secretary of House of Representatives member Koichi Yoshida for allegedly receiving illegal commissions from a loan broker in return for securing debt guarantees from a public corporation, investigative sources said.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2000

Mita ex-president avoids prison sentence

OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court handed down a suspended prison term Thursday to Yoshihiro Mita, 61, former president of failed photocopier maker Mita Industrial Co., for damaging the firm by falsifying financial reports and bribing an auditor.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2000

LDP factions prepared for no-confidence motion

The warring sides within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party appeared ready Thursday to bring their row to the Lower House plenary session, with both indicating they were prepared for a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori submitted by the opposition camp.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2000

Osaka recalls booklet over offensive cartoon

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Government will discard new booklets aimed at raising students' awareness of human rights after a Korean organization and the prefectural board of education complained that a cartoon in it would reinforce Japanese prejudice against Koreans, informed sources said.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 17, 2000

A song that stirred the music of the heart

The season was far advanced when Etoile Nord came to Kyoto to study at a certain university.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 17, 2000

Skirting the gender issue, H.Art excels in the abstract

H.Art Chaos is a clued-up modern dance company of women. The myriad questionnaire forms it distributes after every performance help it to read prevailing audience moods well enough to know that you can never generate as much enthusiasm for a full-length work as for two short snappy pieces bisected by...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2000

Deadly defoliant continues to take a toll

BOSTON -- U.S. President Bill Clinton's historic visit to Vietnam this week conjures up troubling memories from the past, but it also draws attention to a Vietnam War-related public-health disaster that continues to plague both Vietnamese and Americans: Agent Orange contamination.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2000

Generosity toward China faces tough test

The first sweeping review of Japan's generous official development assistance for China is under way within the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, amid growing domestic criticism of such aid.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

Small classes but big ideas at new multicultural school

MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. -- A new international school here may be starting off small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in aspirations.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

1 billion yen in ODA wasted on failed Indonesia project

A roughly 1 billion yen technical assistance project in Indonesia launched in the late 1980s, in which dairy cows were bred using artificial insemination, faltered after six seed bulls sent from Japan died, it was learned Wednesday through a report by the Board of Audit.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

Nurses admit malpractice in poll

More than 90 percent of nurses surveyed said they have been involved, or nearly involved, in cases of medical malpractice, according to an interim report by a nationwide medical union released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

LDP may sack Mori to stay intact

Koichi Kato's revolt against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has fueled growing sentiment within the Liberal Democratic Party that the unpopular Mori should step down to avert a crisis that could severely split the ruling party.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 16, 2000

Social guilt: putting the blame on Mom

Though the media agrees with the government that Japan's flagging birthrate is a bad thing, they seem determined to make potential parents dread the prospect of raising kids in a world where every wrong choice, major or minor, could turn their offspring into criminals, deviants, or just plain miserable...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

Kato eyes power via the party

Koichi Kato, who has stirred up a power struggle within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said he will do "everything possible" short of quitting the party to bring about the downfall of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 16, 2000

FIFA boss wraps up Tokyo trip

FIFA president Sepp Blatter breezed through Tokyo Tuesday and Wednesday for a series of meetings aimed at resolving a number of issues concerning the 2002 World Cup and next year's Confederations Cup.
COMMENTARY
Nov 16, 2000

In all but economics, Kato makes sense

Koichi Kato, head of a large faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, now aims openly to be Japan's next prime minister. He has credentials. A former diplomat with good English skills and wide international contacts, he would do much to improve Japan's bland global image. He is also one of the few LDP...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

Halls of power resound with ouster speculation

The corridors of power in Tokyo's Nagato-cho district on Wednesday resounded with speculation on the possible replacement of embattled Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, currently in Brunei for a two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2000

Mori tells opposition he won't quit despite pressure from within LDP

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Tuesday rejected an opposition demand that he step down, despite similar calls from among his Liberal Democratic Party colleagues.

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’