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JAPAN
May 13, 1999

Bill could enlarge temp workforce, magnify woes

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 13, 1999

U.S. to urge elimination of farm tariffs at WTO

In the new round of global trade negotiations starting in 2000 under the auspices of the World Trade Organization, the United States will call for total elimination of agricultural tariffs and subsidies on farm products and exports, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said Thursday.
JAPAN
May 13, 1999

Diet members pick June for Pyongyang mission

A suprapartisan Diet group headed by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama will visit North Korea in the second week of June to seek a breakthrough in stalled normalization talks between the two nations, sources close to the group said Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
May 13, 1999

A miniature blending of landscapes

In Tokyo, there are quite a number of historic gardens that were built by the daimyo during the long Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1867). The designers of many of these gardens were greatly influenced by the Chinese style of landscaping, and by the eagerness of the owners to have famous scenic sights from...
JAPAN
May 13, 1999

U.N. police call 'koban' model key for strife-hit communities

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 12, 1999

PC shipments up 10% in '98

Domestic shipments of personal computers hit a record-high 7.54 million units in fiscal 1998, up 10 percent from the previous year, an industry association said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Quad talks begin today in Tokyo

Trade ministers from the United States, the European Union, Canada and Japan will begin two days of talks in Tokyo today centered on preparations for the next global trade liberalization negotiations to be held under the auspices of the World Trade Organization.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Landowners delay second Narita runway

The Transport Ministry officially dropped plans Monday to build a second runway at Narita airport by March 2001 after failing to break an impasse with landowners opposed to the expansion.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 8, 1999

Kawai exhibit shows grace under fire

The term mingei (folk art) was coined by Soetsu Yanagi in 1926 to refer to common crafts that had been brushed aside and overlooked by the industrial revolution.
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 1999

The tip top of a beautiful craft

At the corner of a room in their house in Iriya, Tokyo, Isamu Sase and his wife Hatsue work day and night making glass pens. They have had a surge of orders from shops all over Tokyo such as Tokyu Hands, Matsuya department store and Itoya in Ginza, which will keep them busy straight until June.
COMMUNITY
May 5, 1999

Immune system research pays off, paves way to AIDS cure

In 1987, American molecular biologists Jack Strominger and Don Wiley shocked the scientific world with a supreme example of the adage "A picture is worth a thousand words."
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Reforms mean more than a new name, banking leader says

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Prize-winning immunologists paved way for AIDS cure

Staff writer
COMMENTARY
May 1, 1999

Obuchi confounds the skeptics

The Lower House on Tuesday approved a legislative package for implementing the updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines and sent it immediately to the Upper House. The action came after agreement among the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party (the LDP's junior coalition partner)...
CULTURE / Music
May 1, 1999

Playing the oldies but goodies

Real classical Japanese music is a rare thing today. There is a wide-ranging repertoire for Japanese traditional instruments, but there are few performers who specialize in the classics of these genres, or whose musical education focused on those classics.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 1999

Ready for 2000?: Shinkansen on track for Y2K compliance

Fifth in an occasional series on Japan's Y2K preparedness
EDITORIALS
Apr 29, 1999

Break the stalemate with Russia

During a recent meeting in Moscow, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and Russian President Boris Yeltsin reaffirmed a 1997 Russo-Japanese agreement that the two nations will do their utmost to sign a long-pending peace treaty by 2000. Mr. Hashimoto, who enjoys a close personal relationship with...
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

State-employed Sony candidate upset with civil servant law

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

Nago to host G8; Fukuoka, Miyazaki get ministers

After weeks of heated debate and lobbying, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi decided Thursday that Japan will hold the 2000 summit of the Group of Eight major powers in the city of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

Nago's selection seen as peace offering from state

The surprise decision by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to hold the main event of next year's Group of Eight summit in Okinawa apparently reflects the desire of the central government to improve ties with the prefecture under Gov. Keiichi Inamine.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

MSDF tries out new sea patrol tactics

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 28, 1999

Upper House clears porn, info bills

Two key bills -- one aimed at allowing public access to records of government ministries and agencies, and the other seeking to ban prostitution and pornography involving minors -- were approved Wednesday by the full Upper House.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 27, 1999

The Tokyo guide for Tokyo-lovers

A View of the City, by Donald Richie, with photographs by Joel Sackett. London: Reaktion Books, 143 pp. No one is indifferent to Tokyo. Most people dislike it. It's huge, it's ugly, it's loud, the water's metallic, and movies arrive six months late. But a few people like Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 1999

Victims in their own homes

One of Japan's best-kept secrets is the extent to which many of its children are subjected to violence or other abuse inside their own homes. The results, announced this week, of a survey conducted earlier this year by the Tokyo-based Center for Child Abuse Prevention among 500 young mothers of children...
JAPAN
Apr 26, 1999

MITI defends trade practices

A senior trade ministry official said Monday that Japan has no trade practices that need to be placed on an upcoming U.S. list of items subject to unilateral trade sanctions under its "Super 301" trade law provision.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 1999

Ready for 2000?: Expert questions official Y2K stats

Fourth in an occasional series on Japan's Y2K preparedness
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 1999

Big hopes for small business

The latest government annual report on small enterprises bears out an important fact that is often overlooked amid news-breaking moves by big businesses: Small corporations continue to play a vital role in the Japanese economy. The report, submitted this week to the Cabinet by the Ministry of International...
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 24, 1999

Royal Ballet showcases core repertory

The Royal Ballet is currently touring Japan with the productions "Swan Lake," "Manon" and "La Fille Mal Gardee," showcasing the lyrical Royal Ballet style.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 1999

Finance panel urges redesign of Asia forex system

Japan should actively participate in designing new foreign exchange systems for crisis-hit Asian countries, an advisory panel to the finance minister said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 20, 1999

Soseki's deep well of sadness

CHAOS AND ORDER IN THE WORKS OF NATSUME SOSEKI, by Angela Yiu. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1998, 251 pp., $42 (cloth). This, the first full-length study of Soseki in English, is based upon the proposition that "beneath the emphasis on order, responsibility and a clear sense of morality, [there]...

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan