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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 1999

Foreign policy to the fore in Washington

WASHINGTON -- After a year that was unusual, peculiar and unbelievable enough to qualify as one long April Fool's Day, the U.S. government is finally back doing governmental work. It isn't boring, but it is less colorful than the year of Monica et al. We have lost some of our more entertaining characters...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Apr 6, 1999

Dub hemperors go bongkers

Masa, the head honcho of Japanese dub emperors Audio Active, doesn't beat about the bush. In fact, he's probably smoked the damn thing.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 1999

Narita landowners rattle March 2000 runway target

Landowners battling plans for a second runway at New Tokyo International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, apparently forced Vice Transport Minister Masahiko Kurono on Monday to suggest scrapping the March 2001 construction deadline if the current impasse cannot be broken.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 1999

Ishihara leading the pack week before Tokyo poll

With one week to go before the Tokyo gubernatorial election, a poll by Kyodo News had former Transport Minister Shintaro Ishihara in front by a head.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 1999

EPA indicators forecast contraction, 5.2% jobless rate

The Economic Planning Agency said Monday its key economic forecasting gauge for February stayed below the boom-or-bust line of 50 percent for the third straight month.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 1999

Hopes for Pyongyang pinned on Murayama mission

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka expressed hope Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will meet with former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama for talks during his visit to Pyongyang.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 1999

NPA adopts strict policy on waste-related crime

Amid an increase in industrial waste-related crimes, the National Police Agency Monday set a policy of strictly prosecuting the illegal disposal of industrial waste and other acts that damage the environment.
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 1999

Lunchtime in Lotus-land

Is nothing sacred? Even though we live in a place famous for its workaholic habits and stressful schedules, there has always been the comforting thought that in other, warmer countries people do things differently. In these Lotus-lands of the imagination, or so we believed, workers hardly merit the name:...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Apr 4, 1999

Many paths to follow

There are lots of ways to have fun, some centering on the Yamanote, Tokyo's more-or-less circular commuter line. Few remember that not so long ago it was known as the Yamate Line and there was great consternation when the name was changed. From the beginning, people tended to speak of inside and outside...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 4, 1999

A hare-raising interview with the Easter bunny

Happy Easter. This morning, I bring you this exclusive interview excerpted from my unpublished book, "The Unauthorized Biography of Peter Cottontail."
CULTURE / Art / ARTS AND ARTISANS
Apr 3, 1999

Block-printed paper beauty

Chiyogami is colorful handmade paper printed with Japanese traditional patterns or designs, and is usually used by girls for making kimono-clad dolls, small boxes, or bookmarks.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 1999

Rethinking joint strategy on North Korea

North Korea continues to confound the world. The country's economy is on the rocks; it is estimated to have shrunk by more than 50 percent between 1992 and 1996. The government is unable to feed its own people; hundreds of thousands are thought to have died as a result of malnutrition-related diseases...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 1999

Home sweet home discovered between public and private

Returning to Tokyo after living and working in Europe for some years, artist Tadashi Kawamata was struck by a unique characteristic of the megalopolitan Tokyo: It appears to be an unusually orderly and clean city, despite its population. Brightly lit vending machines line the streets at almost regular...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 1999

The autonomy imperative

In these post-Cold War days, the governments of the United States and its allies still routinely expose their citizens to the risks of death and destruction in the name of national security. The people of northern Italy complained for years about low-flying U.S. military aircraft, but Rome simply ignored...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Apr 3, 1999

Shamisen ballads bridge the musical and spiritual

Kioi Hall's large hall will be used for a concert of classical Japanese music April 6, for the first time since its opening in 1995.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 1999

New faces fail to make an impression

It is more than a little strange to be greeted at the entranceway to an art exhibition by a sign which warns that the work on the walls inside might be better appreciated if visitors lowered their expectations. But the text posted outside the NTT Intercommunication Center's current "New Media New Face...
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 2, 1999

Spellbound by Decoufle's grand illusion

Wit, magic and illusion took over the stage at Kanagawa Kenmin Hall on March 26-28 when Philippe Decoufle and his Compagnie D.C.A. closed the Contemporary Arts Series with "SHAZAM!" The opening filmed sequence of performers vanishing and reappearing through a series of frames, laid the tone of the piece:...
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 1999

A warning to tyrants everywhere

In a landmark decision, Britain's Law Lords last week ruled 6-1 that Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the former Chilean dictator, could be extradited to Spain on charges of human-rights abuses during his rule. The vote was even more decisive than the earlier 3-2 ruling that dismissed Mr. Pinochet's immunity claim...
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

Japan, U.S. vow efforts against North Korea missiles

Japan and the United States reaffirmed their resolve Thursday to closely cooperate to discourage North Korea from work on its missile programs.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

Local Elections '99: Akashi vows to revive Tokyo

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

New Komeito limits support for Akashi

In a last-minute compromise, New Komeito said Thursday it would support former U.N. Undersecretary General Yasushi Akashi, who is being fielded by the Liberal Democratic Party, for the Tokyo gubernatorial election -- but just "at the local level."
JAPAN
Apr 1, 1999

Marubeni reverses earnings outlook, airs reform plan

Major trading house Marubeni Corp. lowered its earnings projection for fiscal 1998 on Thursday and announced a restructuring program to consolidate its 701 group firms into about 500 by March 31, 2001.
COMMUNITY
Apr 1, 1999

Study shows boiled rice main cause of cancer

April Fool! In Japan, April 1 is a day of beginnings and renewals, a sort of second New Year's. It's the first day of a new school year; and the start of careers for newly hired graduates. It's also the start of a new fiscal year in business. For Japanese baseball fans, April 1 is the first day of regular...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 1, 1999

Can the education escalator be derailed?

There's a debate going on in government and in the media about revising the Japanese system of education. The forces for change want to do away with rote, test-based instruction, which they blame for all the youth-related problems we read about now, and replace it with something more individual-oriented...
COMMUNITY
Apr 1, 1999

Strike a pose, posing questions -- Klein's vogue

We've all seen the sexy, sultry, precarious, provocative and often preposterous poses of fashion models in fashion magazines. But rarely do we think about the person at the other end of the camera -- the fashion photographer. In the world of fashion, he (and they are mostly men) has become an icon on...
COMMUNITY
Apr 1, 1999

All that glitters, and more at Tiffany

What's blue and white and guaranteed to cure a mean case of the reds?
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Apr 1, 1999

Russia's new paranoia

If one nation is totally infuriated by the current bombing of Serbia, it's Russia. After numerous assaults by angry crowds, the imposing building of the U.S. Embassy in downtown Moscow now looks like an expensive piece of furniture despoiled by a wild party, its walls covered with ketchup and ink. It...
LIFE / Style & Design / SIMPLY DIVINE
Apr 1, 1999

Pint-sized polygraph

Forget the millions of dollars spent on impeachment hearings and Kenneth Starr-type harassment.
EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 1999

A token gesture ...

Here is an apt symbol for our era. At a news conference in New York earlier this month -- actually, on the very day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly bested the 10,000 mark for the first time -- the U.S. toy and game maker Hasbro Inc. announced the results of a campaign to choose a new token...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 31, 1999

It's a poor workman ...

Readers probably haven't noticed, but The Japan Times has a new computer system. It's a lot like our old one, although it is speedier and it integrates a whole host of functions in one terminal; no longer do we have to leave our desk to accomplish different tasks.

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