Search - about-us

 
 
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 20, 1999

All it takes is a miracle to save the Earth

Last weekend I attended the 55th All Japan UNESCO conference in Okayama, where together we solved Japan's environmental problems. It's easy for everybody to do their part to help the environment. But it's surprising how many people don't do anything. So many people are environmentally unconscious --...
EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 1999

Scary home companion

Just a couple of weeks after R2D2 and C3PO clicked and whirred their way back into public consciousness with the release of the latest "Star Wars" movie, Sony Corp. unveiled a rich person's toy that may be the best preview humanity has yet had of real-life "droids" to come. It was an instant hit, too....
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 1999

Between rock and a warm place

Having never been pregnant myself, I'm not sure what it is obstetricians are recommending these days for expectant mothers. As little excitement as possible, or business as usual?
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 19, 1999

Exploring tropical forests of poetry

Stephen Forster has released a new volume of poetry titled "The Good Mouth." In this collection of poems, Forster takes the reader on an imaginative journey to distant lands where conquistadors in tropical forests meet their savage doom, or to places where the omniscient voice of a child uttering the...
COMMUNITY
Jun 19, 1999

Making the case for quality

They say, "The clothes make the man," but a briefcase is just as important for a salaryman. It is not only a symbol of his profession but also an indispensable part of his accouterments, something he can't leave home without.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 19, 1999

A little madness goes a long way

Madness sells.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 1999

13% of Japanese tapped into Internet in '98

More and more Japanese are using the Internet, with the number reaching about 17 million, or 13.4 percent of the population, in fiscal 1998, according to the 1999 White Paper on Communications in Japan released Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 1999

Miyazawa pleased by New Komeito tax-for-welfare scheme

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa expressed his appreciation Friday for the recent decision by New Komeito, a de facto ally of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to push for applying consumption tax revenues only for welfare purposes.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 1999

Report paves way for state to sell land to reduce deficit

The government should be more flexible in leasing or selling state property to help reduce huge fiscal deficits, an advisory panel to the finance minister proposed Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1999

Prudential to step into Japanese pension market

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1999

War currency need not be honored, court rules

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday rejected reimbursement and compensation demands by 17 Hong Kong residents who had been forced during World War II to exchange their money for Japanese military currency, which became worthless when the war ended.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1999

Ainu women exhibit traditional handicrafts

An art exhibit put on by Ainu women opened this week in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, offering a rare opportunity for the public to see, touch and even buy some 500 traditional handicrafts of the indigenous Hokkaido minority.
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Jun 17, 1999

Do you have that not-so-fresh feeling?

After writing the column on flowers and flowery teas and all things bloomingly lovely and springlike, I came across an article about the current trend for all things "fresh." The feeling of now, it seems, is freshness. The millennium approaches, and with it the newness of the year 2000, and the 21st...
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1999

DPJ slumping in face of alliance

In sharp contrast to the governing Liberal Democratic Party, which is flexing more political muscle as it woos New Komeito to join the ruling coalition, the Democratic Party of Japan seems to be at a loss on how to find a way to shore up its sagging position in national politics.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1999

Japan to give China $3 million to preserve cultural assets

Japan will provide China between $2.5 million and $3 million in fresh financial assistance to help preserve important cultural assets along the ancient Silk Road, government sources said Thursday.
COMMUNITY
Jun 17, 1999

Trials and triumphs of black beauty

"Black is beautiful" was one of the most culturally charged American political slogans of the 1960s. Thirty years later, former model and educator Barbara Summers proves just how true those words are in her coffee-table book titled "Skin Deep: Inside the World of Black Fashion Models."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 17, 1999

Regular publicity necessary for healthy marketing

To: Buena Vista Prunes, Inc. Attn: Mr. John Murray, vice president in charge of communications From: Takeshi Ebihara Tokyo Senden Services Re: Public relations progress and proposals
JAPAN
Jun 17, 1999

Fukui OKs use of MOX fuel at Takahama plant

FUKUI — Fukui Prefecture gave the final go-ahead Thursday for Kansai Electric Power Co.'s plan to use mixed plutonium-uranium oxide fuel at its Takahama nuclear plant.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1999

Health Ministry gives the pill official OK

The Health and Welfare Ministry officially approved the low-dosage oral contraceptive pill Wednesday, nine years after receiving the first applications.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1999

Kyoto money-lender held in drug bust

Ishikawa and Kyoto prefectural police arrested a 50-year-old Kyoto woman on suspicion of drug possession and confiscated roughly 180 kg of stimulants, authorities said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1999

Amnesty slams Japan for prison abuses

Amnesty International criticized Japan for mistreating prison inmates and suspects under police custody and in detention houses in its annual report on worldwide human rights concerns released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1999

Leaders agree to extend Diet by 57 days

Leaders of the government and Liberal Democratic Party-Liberal Party coalition formally decided Wednesday to extend the Diet session by 57 days until Aug. 13 to pass legislation on jobs creation and reviving industrial competitiveness.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1999

Stimulant seizures top 1-ton level; NPA alarmed

Police have confiscated 1,132.8 kg of stimulant drugs in the first six months of 1999, surpassing the 1-ton level for the first time in any year, the National Police Agency said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 1999

C&W secures 97.69% stake in IDC

Cable and Wireless PLC of Britain announced Wednesday that it has secured a 97.69 percent stake in International Digital Communications Inc., claiming victory over NTT Corp. for control of the Tokyo-based international telecommunications carrier.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

Dream school shuns educational norms

ONNA, Okinawa Pref. — A healthy techno beat pounds against the walls of the studio where dancers groove, their motions sharp as they study their moves critically in the mirror.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

Ethnic Korean says alien card law should be replaced

A permanent resident of Tokyo who refused to be fingerprinted in 1980 and triggered an antifingerprinting movement on the basis of discrimination, called on the Justice Ministry Tuesday to create a new law for ethnic Koreans that supersedes the Alien Registration Law.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

Glass talks end with U.S. calls for better access

The United States on Tuesday urged Japan to rectify relations between domestic flat-glass makers and distributors in order to help U.S. and foreign competitors penetrate the "oligopolistic market," a U.S. government official said in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

South Africa to get fresh yen loans

Japan will extend about $400 million in fresh yen loans over the next five years to help South Africa rebuild its ailing economy under new President Thabo Mbeki, government sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

Suicidal man arrested in stabbing

OSAKA — Police arrested a 34-year-old sanitation worker around dawn Tuesday on suspicion of attempting to murder his female roommate — after they had spent most of the night persuading him not to kill himself.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

Prewar taste of 'awamori' springs anew

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. — It was almost a religious moment for "awamori" aficionados.

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