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JAPAN
Jul 30, 2000

Summer nights and transient beauty

For many Japanese, summer just isn't summer without fireworks. The popularity of the displays can be attributed to the transient nature of their beauty, the same reason the short-lived cherry blossom is so appreciated.
COMMENTARY
Jul 30, 2000

Summit's worth questionable

LONDON — The Japanese government spent huge amounts of money in an attempt to ensure that the Okinawa summit and related events in Fukuoka and Miyazaki was a success, but was the money well spent and did the summit increase Japan's prestige in the world? The answer to both questions that I as a generally...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 30, 2000

Music for repressed romantics

Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku Opera
EDITORIALS
Jul 29, 2000

Fujimori's last chance

Peru's president, Mr. Alberto Fujimori, was sworn in to begin his third term Friday. It was a bittersweet occasion for the president. The festivities were marred by massive protests against an election tainted by charges of fraud. Mr. Fujimori, a combative man who never backs down from a challenge, has...
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Government eyes more big spending

Leaders of the government and the ruling coalition parties effectively agreed Friday that policy-related spending in the fiscal 2001 budget should at least be as expansionary as this year's 48 trillion yen, to help achieve a full-fledged economic recovery.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Debt-hit Kansai airport sinking fast

OSAKA -- Without a 20 billion yen reconstruction effort, those who land at Kansai International Airport may find themselves having to swim to the passenger terminal.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2000

FRC chief defends payments, benefits from Mitsubishi Trust

A scandal involving the chairman of the Financial Reconstruction Commission erupted Friday when it was reported that he had received millions of yen in advisory fees as well as money to cover the rental of offices and staff from Mitsubishi Trust & Banking Corp. over a seven-year period.
COMMUNITY
Jul 29, 2000

The miracle of life awaits at the end of a long, hard road

Organ donation is not something most of us have to think much about. But for Fernando, a Peruvian with a life-threatening kidney condition residing in Tokyo, the only option that offers any hope for the future is a kidney transplant.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2000

China continues to bully ARF

At this week's meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Bangkok, China will seek support for its opposition to U.S. plans to develop a theater missile defense. That is consistent with China's use of ARF as a forum for undermining support for the U.S. alliance structure in East Asia. China demands a free...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 29, 2000

Kiwi music offers delicious alternatives

For a nation with a population barely equal to that of an international metropolis, New Zealand's vibrant and diverse music scene commands respect for its innovative yet self-effacing approach. From the melodic pop-meisters of the pioneering indie label Flying Nun to the operatic grandeur of Kiri Te...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 29, 2000

Play revives old debate over Nazi A-bomb

"Absence of A-bomb: Were the Nazis duped -- or simply dumb?" So asks the weekly U.S. News & World Report in a piece for its July 24-31 cover story, "Mysteries of History." The question is being revisited now perhaps because of a recent Broadway import from London: Michael Frayn's "Copenhagen."
COMMENTARY
Jul 29, 2000

Putin the big winner at G8 summit

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin, both attending a summit of major industrial powers for the first time, played markedly different roles at the Group of Eight Okinawa summit that ended July 23.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2000

Foreigners are key to economic reform

There are several indications that the Japanese economy is recovering from a serious depression. It seems that a large number of people share the opinion that structural reform is necessary to continue this recovery and put the economy on a steady and sustainable growth path.
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2000

Tough choices for ASEAN

ASEAN is back. That is the message coming from Bangkok this week as foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations hold their annual get-together. North Korea's debut at the ASEAN Regional Forum, which follows the foreign ministers' meeting, has contributed to the optimism, as has...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2000

Crew safe after boat hijacked off Solomons

All 34 crew members of a Japanese bonito boat hijacked Wednesday in the Solomon Sea are safe, and the three hijackers have been detained, the vessel's operator announced Thursday morning.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2000

JR Bon holiday travelers up 11%

The number of reserved train seats for the Bon holiday season in mid-August totaled 3.06 million as of Wednesday, up 11 percent from the same period last year, the Japan Railway group said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2000

Quick-change teens strut 'visual music'

When Naoko Kamui leaves home on Sunday mornings, her parents have little idea of how their 14-year-old daughter will spend the day. Certainly, they would not recognize her among the hundreds of youth who flock to Tokyo's Harajuku every Sunday.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2000

China tourism pact welcomed

Kyodo News Japan's travel industry is hoping that this year will see an official agreement to allow Chinese from selected areas to visit Japan on package tours, and that more than 1 million Chinese tourists will visit in less than a decade.
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2000

Chuo Mitsui to invest in asset venture

Chuo Mitsui Trust & Banking Co. announced Thursday that it will invest in an asset management joint venture formed last month by Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. and Daiwa Bank.
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2000

Sogo factor dampening optimism, yen

Having moved in the 104-109 yen range in June and July, the dollar appears poised to break 110 yen. The greenback last surpassed that level on May 11, when it touched 110.08 yen.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2000

Transport Ministry to beef up defect-inquiry system

The Transport Ministry will launch investigations after directly gathering information from users on defective motor vehicles, Vice Transport Minister Hisashi Umezaki said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2000

Pessimists in the mist: Japanese still mired in crisis of confidence

It's hard to find a word that has so traumatized a generation as has "globalization." The term has become a convenient shorthand for all the uncertainties and unknowns of daily life, a catch-all for the problems that tug at economies and threaten to unravel traditional social structures.

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’