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SOCCER / World cup
Jun 28, 2000

Venables likes France's chances at Euro 2000

BRUSSELS -- Former England manager Terry Venables is tipping France to win the European Championship. Venables, who led England to the semifinals of Euro 96 in England, has been impressed by the improvement in the French team since it won the World Cup two years ago.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2000

Coalition holds on to power

The Liberal Democratic Party had dubbed Sunday's election a "battle in mourning," in hopes that the untimely death of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi would get out the "sympathy vote." As it turned out, the LDP and its coalition partners suffered a major set- back, contrary to the wishes of Prime...
LIFE / Digital
Jun 28, 2000

A thinker's journey back to the future

Paul Saffo spends a lot of his time thinking about the past. That might seem a bit odd for a man who makes his living as a futurist, but perspective is critical, argues Saffo, director of the Institute for the Future, a Silicon Valley think tank that contemplates the way things will be.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Miyake Island braces for volcanic eruption

Mount Oyama on Miyake Island in the Izu Island chain is likely to erupt soon, the Meteorological Agency warned Monday, forcing at least two-thirds of the island's 3,850 residents to evacuate.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2000

Amex out to change 'stereotypes' of card users

American Express International is trying to change the widely held perception in Japan that only affluent customers use American Express, and only for overseas travel.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Execs, 'sokaiya' held over extortion

Police arrested a professional "sokaiya" and two businessmen Monday for allegedly attempting to extort 50 million yen from a Fujitsu Ltd. subsidiary.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Defeat of Fukaya, ex-ministers stuns MITI officials

Officials at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry were bewildered Monday in the wake of the defeat of its minister Takashi Fukaya and four of his predecessors in Sunday's general election.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2000

Myanmar's artistic splendors

MYANMAR STYLE: Art, Architecture and Design of Burma. Asia Books, Bangkok. Baht 1,695. About 12 years ago, a coffee-table book titled "Thai Style," with beautiful photos and elegant accompanying text, enjoyed great success in the wide and expanding circles of admirers of Siam.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 27, 2000

Your most valuable briefing paper

DOING BUSINESS WITH THE NEW JAPAN, by James Day Hodgson, Yoshihiro Sano and John L. Graham. Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, 230 pp., $27.95 (cloth). Do we really need another book about doing business in Japan? Probably not -- and not even if this is a "new Japan" or a new era in international capitalism....
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Prayers held at Empress Dowager tomb site

A ground-breaking ceremony was held Monday at the Musashino Imperial Mausoleum in Hachioji, in the western suburbs of Tokyo, where a mausoleum for the Empress Dowager will be built, the Imperial Household Agency said.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 27, 2000

Art, enlightenment and empire

THE IDEALS OF THE EAST, by Okakura Kakuzo. Tokyo: ICG Muse Inc., 2000, 250 pp., 1,300 yen.
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.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes