Search - about-us

 
 
EDITORIALS
May 13, 2000

A first step in electoral reform

With the passage of a bill amending the flawed Public Offices Election Law, the next Lower House election -- which most likely will be held late in June -- promises to be a fairer one. The current system, which was used for the first time in the 1996 Lower House election, is a combination of single-member...
JAPAN
May 13, 2000

EPA slightly upgrades economic assessment

The Economic Planning Agency on Friday slightly upgraded its assessment of the domestic economy, saying it is continuing to improve moderately due largely to increased corporate activity.
JAPAN
May 13, 2000

Yearlong campaign to showcase Italy

Hoping to increase awareness that Italy is more than just a tourist destination, a yearlong promotion comprising various exhibitions across Japan will be launched next March, the promoters announced Friday.
JAPAN
May 13, 2000

Mori reports assets totaling 130 million yen

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori owned some 130 million yen in personal and family assets as of April 5, the day his Cabinet was launched, according to government data released Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2000

A layman's view of the ADB meeting

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- A high-profile meeting of ministers, financiers and bankers at a venue known as the cultural capital of Thailand represented quite a change here last week. The 33rd annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank's Board of Governors was not only a novelty for exotic Chiang Mai,...
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2000

Era of abundance sparks religious revival

WASHINGTON -- American history abounds with apparent contradictions, but few loom as large as this: We are a people wedded simultaneously to materialism and spirituality, mostly (though not exclusively) religious. In a recent Gallup poll, 61 percent of Americans said religion is "very important" in their...
JAPAN
May 13, 2000

Diet passes new laws designed to protect victims of crime

The Diet enacted a package of legislation Friday to protect for the first time the rights of people victimized by crime in Japan.
CULTURE / Art
May 13, 2000

Tate residency builds a cultural bridge

Johnnie Walker, a self-declared champion of the avant-garde, has made big strides through the Tokyo art scene. For many years Walker, through his foundation Za Moca, has made it his purpose to support artists in various ways, from monthly parties to celebrate artists exhibiting in Tokyo, through accommodation...
JAPAN
May 13, 2000

Cyclist on 11-year 'peace tour'

Pushker Shah knows the road to peace is not a smooth one.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2000

NEC drags itself back into the black

NEC Corp. is back in the black after posting 30.2 billion yen in consolidated pretax profit for the business year that ended March 31, the major computer and chip manufacturer reported Friday.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 13, 2000

Celebrating the cream of Japanese pottery

Believe it or not, a new museum has opened in Japan. In the midst of hearing about this or that institution shutting its doors for good it's refreshing to hear of one opening its doors for the first time, especially one entirely devoted to pottery.
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2000

Sierra Leone, and the U.N., at risk

Sierra Leone is once again about to dissolve in violence. This time, however, it threatens to take the United Nations with it. A rebel leader bent on undermining a peace agreement faces a poorly organized, ill-equipped peacekeeping force that has been denied the political support that is critical to...
JAPAN
May 12, 2000

Usui backs lowering age limit for adult trials

Justice Minister Hideo Usui indicated Thursday that he supports lowering the minimum age at which people can be penalized for crimes as adults, which currently stands at 16.
JAPAN
May 12, 2000

Canine training dogged by amateurs

Tomoe Yazawa knows about the particular needs of her clients. The service-dog trainer, who raised Japan's first four-legged helper for the physically disabled, worked as a home care-giver before she took up her current position.
JAPAN
May 12, 2000

Tokyo Sowa execs held for fixing books

Police on Thursday arrested six former executives of the failed Tokyo Sowa Bank on suspicion they conspired to falsify accounts to hide the company's capital inadequacy.
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2000

LDP members pass the baton

The general election to be held in June will provide an opportunity for the rejuvenation of the Lower House. About 30 Lower House members have already announced -- or are moving to announce before the election -- their retirement from politics. They cite old age, illness and family reasons for retiring....
JAPAN
May 12, 2000

Panel wants driver license rules relaxed

An advisory panel of the National Police Agency on Thursday recommended easing rules governing the renewal of drivers' licenses, including allowing renewal applications to be filed in places other than the driver's place of residence.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2000

Rival steel companies agree to leave sectors of the market to each other

Nippon Steel Corp. and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. will cease production of certain steel products that are unprofitable for each while increasing production of the other's discontinued item, company officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
May 12, 2000

Giving opinions on candidates might violate election laws: Mori

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Thursday he was not amused by a civic group's campaign to target certain politicians for removal from the Diet and vowed to look into the case.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2000

Japan Telecom to unify Nissan info networks

Nissan Motor Co. announced Thursday that its group will start receiving total information network services from Japan Telecom Co. next month in an effort to cut telecommunications costs and establish seamless global networks.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
May 12, 2000

Ascendancy of ska-core captured on compilation

With the latest releases by Kemuri, Snailramp and Potshot turning up in the record charts, ska-core has emerged from the underground. Ska-core has thrived through a network of small clubs and indie record labels across Japan much like its musical cousin, mellowcore. (Members of Snailramp run one of the...
BUSINESS
May 12, 2000

GDP revised down to minus 5.6% for October-December quarter

Japan's gross domestic product for the October-December quarter showed an annualized contraction of 5.6 percent in real terms, instead of the 5.5 percent contraction announced in March, the Economic Planning Agency said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2000

Malaysia's Islamists counting on Chinese to tip balance of power

KOTA BAHRU, Malaysia -- Malaysia's opposition theocratic Islamic Party (PAS) sees Chinese support as crucial to its bid to head an alternative broad-based multiracial coalition party capable of taking over the federal government of Malaysia in future, and is working very hard to dispel their fears of...
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2000

Keeping your money alive and kicking

Because I come from a family whose men are confirmed gamblers, I grew up thinking that a chronic shortage of o-kane (money) was the normal state in any household. The grownups didn't even call it o-kane but o-ashi (honorable legs), which accounted for the attack of wanderlust money seemed to get when...
BUSINESS
May 12, 2000

Firms downplay fall in their share prices

Japan's business community on Thursday generally downplayed the Nikkei Stock Average's precipitous plunge, saying the dive is merely a reaction to irrational buying of high-tech shares in recent months.
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2000

After the tour, the real work begins

During his nine-day whirlwind trip of seven major nations that ended last weekend, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori laid the groundwork for a G8 summit scheduled for July in Okinawa, a meeting that he will chair as head of the host government. His main purpose, of course, was to get acquainted with leaders...
JAPAN
May 11, 2000

Lowest-ever percentage of graduates found jobs

A record-low 88.2 percent of job-seeking high school graduates found full-time employment this spring, down 1.7 percentage points from a year earlier, according to an Education Ministry survey released Wednesday.

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