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JAPAN
Jun 11, 1999

Business, labor groups elated

The nation's five major business and labor organizations expressed appreciation Friday for the government's package to boost the job market and improve industrial competitiveness, according to government officials.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jun 11, 1999

When did originality go out of focus?

Hiromix, the person credited with the current popularity of "girl" photographers, has thus far lived a charmed life: After stints as a "serious" artist, a band leader and, most recently, a mayonnaise spokeswoman, she has restyled herself as a singer-songwriter with the release of her new record "Hiromix...
JAPAN
Jun 10, 1999

Sri Lankans find way to share the scholarship

In the small southern Sri Lankan town of Kataragama, high school student Gamini Nawaratne eagerly awaits his monthly mail from Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 1999

C&W wins IDC stakes

Toyota Motor Corp. and Itochu Corp. on Wednesday announced their decisions to sell their 17.7 percent stakes in International Digital Communications Inc. to Britain's Cable and Wireless PLC.
EDITORIALS
Jun 8, 1999

Help for battered wives is overdue

With a series of shootings apparently related to an underworld gang battle taking place in various parts of the Kanto area and a constantly rising volume of illegal stimulant drugs to deal with, Japan's police forces would seem to have a busy enough summer ahead of them. That may be why some observers...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 8, 1999

The darkest shores of the soul

SHIPWRECKS, by Akira Yoshimura, translated by Mark Ealey. New York: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1996, 180 pp., $21. Though Akira Yoshimura, born in 1927, is the author of some 20 novels, this is the first to be translated into English. Perhaps the reason for the delay is that he is better known as a historian...
JAPAN
Jun 7, 1999

Ozawa sees Liberal-LDP bloc ending society's 'fast decline'

The Liberal Party has to work harder to structurally reform society now that it is a governing partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, Ichiro Ozawa, head of the Liberal Party, said Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 1999

Cost, doubts mean rousing reception unlikely for pill

and MAYUMI NEGISHI Staff writers
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 2, 1999

Island life a short cut to evolution

Japan is not just an island; it is an archipelago.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 1999

Sega announces new global strategies

Can Sega make a comeback? Which company will come up with the key digital home electronic appliance of the future?
JAPAN
Jun 1, 1999

Bills formed, driven by international pressure

A package of bills allowing investigators to wiretap private communications resulted from pressure from the global community calling on Japan to provide a legal framework to help efforts to crack down on international organized crime.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
May 27, 1999

Old and new blended perfectly at Otani

A pebble's throw away from the Akasaka Mitsuke subway station, the Hotel New Otani (which happens to be in the midst of celebrating 35 years as one of Tokyo's premier hotels) might just offer the solution to savvy travelers' "been there, done that" blues.
JAPAN
May 24, 1999

Obuchi, Perry go over Pyongyang policy

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Monday told William Perry, U.S. policy coordinator for North Korea, that Japan strongly supports the comprehensive approach to Pyongyang that Perry is putting together and expressed hope Perry's visit there this week will prove successful.
JAPAN
May 24, 1999

Obuchi calls defense bills 'truly significant'

Following Diet approval of bills to implement Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi took time to appease international unease.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 1999

Save whales with science, not sentiment

The death of Lennie's pet mouse in John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" conveys the tragedy and guilt that overpowers us all when good intentions produce the exact opposite of what we hoped to accomplish.
COMMUNITY
May 19, 1999

Memories of old Honmoku

This is a story of Honmoku Motomachi, my hometown in Yokohama, a neighborhood on the southwest coast of Tokyo Bay. Not too long ago, the land extended to tidal flatlands that were abundantly endowed with a wide variety of marine life and provided sustenance and a livelihood to generations of fishermen....
JAPAN
May 18, 1999

Third brain-death transplants conducted in Osaka, Kyoto

Heart and liver transplants from a brain-dead donor got under way in Osaka and Kyoto prefectures Monday in the third case since Japan legalized the procedure in 1997.
JAPAN
May 12, 1999

Quad ministers back China's WTO bid

Trade ministers from the European Union, Canada, Japan and the United States endorsed a statement Wednesday calling for China's accession to the World Trade Organization by November.
JAPAN
May 11, 1999

Smithsonian celebrates culture, history of Ainu

Staff writer
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
May 11, 1999

Got those Irish, Delta, Okinawan blues

CELTIC CHARM -- The Chieftains and fiddler Eileen Ivers will perform together and separately in Tokyo this month.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Asian 'understanding' sought for defense bills

An Upper House special committee began full-scale debate Monday on bills to implement the updated Japan-U.S. defense guidelines with Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi calling for renewed efforts to seek the understanding of Asian neighbors.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 1999

All smiles at the summit

Judging from the mood at this week's summit between Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and U.S. President Bill Clinton, the bilateral relationship is on its best footing in years. The Japanese economy appears poised for a rebound, and the security alliance has been strengthened. It is a reassuring...
COMMUNITY
May 5, 1999

Allies' 'fair' tribunal betrayed ignorance of wartime politics

A former court interpreter at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East said he believes the Allied trial was fair and legitimate, but the proceedings reflected their ignorance of Japan's wartime politics.
EDITORIALS
May 4, 1999

A shrinking pool of jobs

The latest employment figures confirm that Japan's job market is continuing to contract. The number of unemployed hit a record 3.39 million in March, as the jobless rate rose 0.2 points to 4.8 percent. Both figures mark the worst-ever downturn since the government began keeping such records in 1953....
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Allies' 'fair' tribunal betrayed ignorance of wartime politics

Staff writer
CULTURE / Books
May 4, 1999

A dose of reality for Asia's high-flyers

TIGERS TAMED: The End of the Asian Miracle, by Robert Garran. Allen Unwin, 1998, 228 pp. (paper). "Tigers Tamed," "The Trouble with Tigers," "Asian Contagion." It's hard to miss a touch of what seems like gloating in the attempts to chronicle Asia's recent misfortunes.
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Dioxin: Flawed report stirred policymakers' interest

First in a series
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Kan's policy quest undeterred despite party's slump

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Constitution's anniversary sparks debate on revision

With last month's Lower House passage of bills covering the updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines as a backdrop, the nation on Monday celebrated the 52nd anniversary of the postwar Constitution with heated debate over the document itself.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 1999

A promise of change for women

It sometimes seems that the government chooses vague-sounding titles and odd release times for white papers and other official documents that contain information likely to embarrass Japanese officials when dealing with their foreign counterparts. This was the case when the Prime Minister's Office issued...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb