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JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Policeman's death caused by overwork

OSAKA — The Osaka District Court on Monday recognized the death of a policeman as having resulted from work, overturning a decision by the Osaka branch of an accident compensation body for public servants that his father was not eligible to receive compensation.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2000

For domestic help, it's the same old world order

HOME AND HEGEMONY: Domestic Service and Identity Politics in South and Southeast Asia, edited by Kathleen M. Adams and Sara Dickey. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 2000, 307 pp., $49.50 (cloth). Dirty? Maybe. Degrading and dangerous? Certainly not what you'd expect to be part of a servant's...
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2000

How healthy is 'healthiest'?

How healthy is 'healthiest'?
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Rain-aided coalition cruises toward victory

Amid lower-than-expected voter turnout, the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling triumvirate appeared to have secured at least a simple majority in the Lower House in the general election held Sunday, exit polls show.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Ruling coalition secures majority

The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling triumvirate suffered a major setback but secured a majority in the Lower House in the general election held Sunday.
COMMUNITY
Jun 26, 2000

It's true! Chocolate is good for you!

The academic name for cacao beans is Theobroma cacao, which means "God's food." They are said to have first been found in pre-Columbian Mexico, where they were valued as an elixir of life among the royalty. The native Mexicans believed that with one block of crushed chocolate, one could work five to...
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Coalition wins a stable majority

The Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling triumvirate suffered a major setback but managed to secure a comfortable majority in the Lower House in Sunday's general election.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2000

China between a rock and a hard place

OXFORD, England -- There has been much discussion recently about whether China is heading for a soft landing or hard landing. My first reaction to such discussions is always to ask landing from what? In this case the answer is relatively easy, the Asian financial crisis of 1997, from which China allegedly...
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2000

English is not the answer

Earlier this year, the Forum on 21st Century Japan, a private panel to the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, proposed a national debate on whether English should be used in Japan as a second official language. That proposal has added fuel to the long-standing discussions on English education in this...
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2000

Unbinding the ties

There is news from the Western fashion front this month that will make men breathe a little easier, especially as the days grow hotter. The tie, after having had its victims by the throat for several centuries, may finally be seeing its grip loosened.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Santen blackmail suspect questioned

OSAKA — Police questioning a 56-year-old man arrested Friday afternoon for alleged attempted blackmail of Santen Pharmaceutical Co. found the suspect had no personal ties to the leading eyewash maker.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Aum-staffed PC shop opens after week delay

A personal computer shop run by two human rights activists and staffed by eight followers of Aum Shinrikyo opened for business Saturday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, one week after the scheduled opening.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

800 campaign workers to be grilled by police

But violations down significantly from 1996 general election Police will question about 800 campaign workers on suspicion of buying votes and other violations of the Public Offices Election Law after polls close for the Lower House elections tonight, the National Police Agency said Saturday.
COMMUNITY
Jun 25, 2000

Don't run for cover, go Zurich Insurance!

Sitting on the swishest sofa ever -- an L-shaped signature design in scarlet leather -- in the lobby of Zurich Insurance, I picked up a book from the sea-green plate-glass coffee table and began reading up on "The Swiss." What should I expect of the president of such a company? Having met any number...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Osaka seen as new way station for illegal aliens

OSAKA — In the back streets beside Osaka's Kyobashi Station, pachinko parlors, massage parlors, or "soap lands" (brothels), restaurants and karaoke rooms are packed together in an area not more than two square blocks.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Blanket-toting 'Knock' denies intent to grope

OSAKA — Former Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama's molestation trial will be concluded Thursday with the defense's final statement, following prosecutors' demand last Tuesday for an 18-month prison term.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2000

Bread Man not quite off his loaf

Tatsumi Orimoto, otherwise known as the "Bread Man," has finally cracked the Japanese art scene with "Art Mama + Bread Man," an extraordinary exhibition of photos, videos and live performances at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art. Street performance is in the house and Orimoto will nevermore be a "dirty,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 25, 2000

The do's and don'ts of business card etiquette

Please don't tell Mr. Watanabe that his business card is now in a million pieces strewn among the bras and underwear in my washing machine. This is just the latest faux pas in my history of malicious treatment of business cards.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2000

Operational advice for New York's finest

NEW YORK -- New York's mayor, a man so relentless that he won't let prostate cancer get in the way of his horniness, feels sorry for the cops. "It seems like the cops just can't win no matter what they do," Rudolph Giuliani complained to a caller to his weekly radio show.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2000

Is elitism such a bad thing?

LONDON -- Gordon Brown, the British chancellor of the Exchequer, has been stirring up media attention by attacking the way in which Oxford and other British universities recruit students. He launched his diatribe against the universities by condemning Magdalen College Oxford (where Prince Chichibu and...
CULTURE / Art
Jun 25, 2000

The phoenix from the end of time

When the great Heian Period statesman Fujiwara no Michinaga died in 1027, he left his comfortable suburban retreat on the banks of the Uji River to his son Yorimichi (along with a good deal else).
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 25, 2000

Again and again

A part of this is from a column written in 1993 about "ijime" (bullying). It was not the first, and today I can't even recall that specific case. There have been so many. At the time I objected to the newspaper comment that ijime had been a serious problem for a decade. Brutal discrimination against...
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Team gives small firms help in environment management

KYOTO — Although major companies are accelerating efforts to obtain international recognition of their environmental management systems, few small and medium-size firms are following suit due to the high cost of certification and a lack of knowledge.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2000

Political volume up before vote

Closing the official 12-day campaign period, political party leaders on Saturday made their final appeals before today's general election for the Lower House.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 25, 2000

A humbling experience in the Himalayas

"We have to focus. This is going to suck. We're going to hate it. It's going to be 12 hours of misery worse than we ever imagined."
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2000

Nissho Iwai, Samsung to share overseas units

Japanese trading company Nissho Iwai Corp. said Friday that it has agreed with South Korean trader Samsung Corp. to share overseas outlets.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2000

London to get first overseas Uniqlo store

Fast Retailing Co., operator of the rapidly growing Uniqlo chain of clothing stores, said Friday it will open its first overseas outlet in London in autumn 2001.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji