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JAPAN
Sep 15, 1999

Office Depot tinkering to get it right

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 14, 1999

Ford to focus on image rather than numbers

In a move to change its marketing strategy, Ford Japan Ltd. will concentrate on building its brand image rather than pursuing numerical sales targets, senior officials of the company announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 1999

Airlines prove Y2K-compliance with test flights

Test flights conducted at midnight Monday proved Japan's major airlines and aviation control systems can cope with the Year 2000 computer problem, Transport Minister Jiro Kawasaki said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 9, 1999

An end run in Okinawa

The long-stalled government attempt to find a new home for the U.S. Marine Futenma Air Station in Okinawa is coming back to life. The Okinawa Prefectural Government has apparently narrowed down the candidate sites to a couple of locations on the eastern shores of the main island. The government of Prime...
JAPAN
Sep 8, 1999

Diplomat said to have made secret '95 visit to Taiwan

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 1, 1999

Komura, Khristenko set protocols for visiting disputed isles

Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and visiting Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko agreed Wednesday on protocols for visa-free visits to a chain of Russian-held islands off Hokkaido by former Japanese residents and their families.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Sep 1, 1999

Defying changes

Volunteer organizations come and go, often depending on who runs them. Many times a group will cease to exist when the person who held it together leaves Japan. Fortunately, there are still many people who give their time to volunteer organizations. Their number, however, has decreased as more professional...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

New coast guard unit sought against intruders

The Defense Agency plans to set up a coast guard unit separate from the Maritime Safety Agency that would use high-speed patrol boats, according to papers submitted to a Liberal Democratic Party meeting Friday.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 1999

The beat keeps getting stronger for music personality Barakan

"Being on the radio was always what I had wanted to do," a sleepy Peter Barakan told me while sitting in the InterFM lobby. It was 11 a.m. on a Sunday. He had just finished his show, "The Barakan Beat," and after offering me coffee, we sat and talked about what brought him to Japan and his success here....
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Aug 20, 1999

Meanies: '10% weird,' 90 percent addictive

There are certain shambolic punk rock moments, usually involving beer or hard spirits, when an otherwise imbecilic song becomes an anthem. In a drunken haze, the driving force of the Buzzcocks' "Orgasm Addict," G.G. Allin's "Expose Yourself to Kids" or anything by the Ramones rises to the level of "The...
JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Transport plans 'green tax' as bait for cleaner cars

Staff writer
CULTURE / Books
Aug 18, 1999

Yes, there was a Nanjing Massacre

Did the 1937 Nanjing Massacre really happen? This might seem like an absurd question, but then the recently elected governor of Tokyo is on record as having denied that the looting, rape and assembly-line murder reported by eyewitnesses ever took place. The Dr. Feelgoods of Japanese history, Yoshinori...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Aug 18, 1999

Another farewell

It was a sad Monday last week when I saw the name Andre Lecomte in the obituary column. He was invited to come to Japan in the '60s to be the head pastry chef at the Okura Hotel. Before Andre, the taste of bread and pastry available for those with a Western preference was always somewhat askew. After...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 17, 1999

Latino culture bursts onto scene

Fans of Latin American culture, especially salsa dancing, will definitely not want to miss Isla de Salsa '99, which takes place in Fukuoka Aug. 22.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Aug 14, 1999

More than a humble piece of clay

Japan is a ceramic paradise, plain and simple.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1999

Emigrants gypped on 'paradise' sue

Staff writer
LIFE / Travel
Aug 12, 1999

Making a pilgrimage to an expo

KUMANO, Wakayama Pref. -- Ordinarily, I am not an "expo" kind of person.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 1999

Kicking butt, collecting cards -- it's Magic

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 11, 1999

Thailand may allow extradition of Red Army fugitive

Thai prosecutors apparently have decided not to appeal a fraud conspiracy case against a Japanese Red Army fugitive wanted by Japan for the 1970 hijacking of a Japan Airlines jet, paving the way for his extradition, it was learned Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 1999

BT touts venture as 'family of alliances'

British Telecommunications PLC's recent agreement on capital participation in Japan Telecom Co. is part of its strategy to form a "family of alliances" that will help it become the most successful carrier in the global market, BT chief executive Sir Peter Bonfield said Wednesday in Tokyo.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Aug 11, 1999

Nopporo's wild north woods

Nopporo Woodland Park, located approximately 15 km east of central Sapporo in Hokkaido, is huge, with a total area of 2,051 hectares. It is rare to find such a large and wonderful park so close to a major city in Japan. The citizens of Sapporo, Ebetsu and Hiroshimacho are privileged to have this natural...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 1999

ODA to be governed by national interests

The government intends to put greater emphasis on national and diplomatic interests in doling out official development assistance, according to a medium-term ODA policy guideline released Tuesday.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Aug 10, 1999

Exotic rhythms spice up world-music scene

Exotic and tropical are words that are overused in the descriptions of music from foreign cultures -- they are more appropriate for tourist brochures. However, with musicians set to tour Japan from Hawaii, Bali and Congo, those descriptions are actually fairly fitting, and should provide the perfect...
EDITORIALS
Aug 9, 1999

Rethink North Korea policy

The four-way Korea peace talks are again in the news as negotiators from North and South Korea, the United States and China return to the table in Geneva. Few people are holding their breath, and no one should. Diplomacy has hit a bind as Pyongyang keeps the world guessing about its intentions to develop...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 1999

Nationalism to the rescue

LONDON -- A French philosopher remarked some years ago that national politics had become "a secondary activity." What he meant was that, with the globalization of finance and economic forces, and with the citizens of the world linking up across borders (700 million people will be linked to the Internet...
EDITORIALS
Aug 7, 1999

A summer of new health threats

During what is proving to be one of Japan's hottest summers in recent memory, most people are concentrating on ways to beat the heat. Heat-related ailments pose a great health risk, especially among the very young and very old. It appears, however, that this summer the public should be paying even more...
JAPAN
Aug 6, 1999

Nonaka proposes removing war criminals from Yasukuni

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka on Friday proposed separately enshrining seven hanged class-A war criminals memorialized at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine and stripping it of its religious status to enable the prime minister and Cabinet ministers to pay official visits there to honor Japan's war dead....
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1999

Public favors flag over anthem, poll shows

Roughly 90 out of 100 residents polled by The Japan Times in Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima this week said they recognize the Hinomaru flag as a national symbol, but almost 40 opposed "Kimigayo" as the national anthem.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1999

General Motors looking for another nation to run

General Motors Corp., the world's largest auto manufacturer, is considering going into production in Japan, the Asia-Pacific head office of the company said on Thursday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 5, 1999

Emperors, journalists, critics and other influential people

Several weeks ago Time Magazine's Tokyo bureau asked Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to nominate someone for the magazine's series of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, and Obuchi chose Emperor Showa.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’