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JAPAN
Jan 28, 2000

Miyazawa says government spending spree must continue

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Friday called for swift passage of the 84.99 trillion yen fiscal 2000 state budget in an attempt to achieve a full economic recovery. In a fiscal policy speech before the House of Representatives plenary session, Miyazawa said the worst is over for the economy thanks...
COMMUNITY
Jan 27, 2000

Overcoming blind discrimination

In the past 10 years, 71-year-old Atsuko Yasumoto has fulfilled many lifelong dreams. She has swum with dolphins in Hawaii, climbed mountaintops in Japan, traveled to the United States, and won first prize in a ballroom dance contest in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2000

A challenge for the next century

The coming months will probably see one policy proposal after another, both official and private, for Japan in the 21st century, in the wake of a challenging report last week from a private advisory council to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. A review of Japan's options titled "Japan's Goals for the 21st...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 25, 2000

Women pay for Asia's successes

WOMEN IN THE NEW ASIA, by Yayori Matsui. London: Zed Books, 1999, 194 pp., $19.95 (paper). THE SEX SECTOR: The Economic and Social Bases of Prostitution in Southeast Asia, edited by Linda Lean Lim. Geneva: International Labor Office, 1998, 232 pp., SFR35. Yayori Matsui, author of "Women in the New...
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2000

'20s Industry Club faces wrecking ball

The 80-year-old Industry Club of Japan building in Tokyo's Marunouchi district, which has served as a hub for Japan's business circles, will next month undergo reconstruction.
COMMENTARY
Jan 24, 2000

Homage to a mass murderer

I was shocked to see a photograph in The Japan Times last month of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka laying a wreath at the statue of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang. They looked rather sheepish. They should, in fact, have looked...
COMMUNITY
Jan 23, 2000

U.S. lawyer set to solve your immigration woes

Being a quietly spoken, modest-sounding soul, immigration lawyer Mark Ivener, of the California-based law practice Ivener & Holt, may not like the following revelation. But the fact is he gives a good part of his professional time for free by giving immigration lectures and seminars.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 22, 2000

Veteran of Hagi continues rediscovery

Most of the great potters who rediscovered and revived old potting styles in the early to mid years of the 20th century have passed on into the great kiln in the sky. Yet there is one legend who is still potting: Hagi ceramist Kyusetsu Miwa XI.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2000

Tough times require radical measures

This year's spring wage-bargaining season has barely started and a sense of confrontation is already in the air. The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) has called for a 2 percent increase in the "regular pay hike" plus at least a 1 percent increase in basic pay. The Japan Federation of Employers'...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2000

G-7 expected to hold low-stress meeting

Staff writer Policy coordination over the yen's rise against the dollar will be the biggest issue for Japan at Saturday's financial meeting of the Group of Seven industrial countries in Tokyo. Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa hopes the G-7 will share Japan's concern about the yen's appreciation; the...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2000

Tokyo invests more to protect nuclear jobs in Russia

Japan will contribute an additional $20 million to a science and technology center established in Moscow six years ago to help curb the proliferation of nuclear weapons by creating jobs for Russian scientists and engineers, Foreign Ministry sources said Thursday.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 18, 2000

Book Bites

Japan 00: An International Comparison. Tokyo, Keizai Koho Center 2000, 120 pp., 900 yen. The cost of living in Japan weighs heavily on everyone, but those of us who have come from other countries feel it more acutely -- we remember apples so cheap you'd think they grew on trees.
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2000

Will the Japanese trade surplus continue its downward ways?

Japan's trade surplus on a balance of payments basis was estimated at 14.8 trillion yen in 1999, significantly lower than the 16 trillion yen posted in 1998 after two consecutive years of sharp increase.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2000

The buzz is all about Vladimir Putin, too

Talk at the Balalaika restaurant in Tokyo's Kanda district these evenings, as at the 27 other restaurants specializing in Russian cuisine in the Japanese capital, is focused on Vladimir Putin.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2000

Austrian ambassador aims for mature ties

Austria's new ambassador to Japan, Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, said Wednesday he hopes to work for a more matured partnership between his country and Japan, which last year marked the 130th anniversary of bilateral relations. In order to expand ties, the two countries will have to develop more mutual trade...
SOCCER / World cup
Jan 9, 2000

Troussier has high expectations for 2000

Following his achievements at the World Youth Championship (runnerup) and in the Olympic qualifiers (qualified with 12 out of 12 wins) in 1999, Japan manager Philippe Troussier is aiming to make 2000 even more successful.
COMMUNITY
Jan 9, 2000

Good I-house innkeeper still making world news

Meet my first man of the 2000s after last Sunday's press holiday. Hiroshi Matsumoto may be 70, and a "banto," but a more civilized and forward-thinking innkeeper you are unlikely to meet in the next 99 years (or 999 years, for that matter).
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2000

Pessimism, ambivalence about future sum up state of the nation

Staff writer
BUSINESS
Jan 4, 2000

Domestic banks embrace information technology

Domestic banks, lagging behind their American counterparts in the use of information technology, are stepping up their Internet banking operations and expanding services available to retail customers via the Net.
BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2000

Wake-up call for the private sector

As the New Year begins, many corporate leaders and economic experts will be holding their breath to see what the Japanese economy will do -- work its way to a self-sustained recovery, or be pulled along by the steamroller of government spending.
EDITORIALS
Jan 1, 2000

Let's make a new start

People around the world are celebrating the arrival of a new century and the start of a new millennium. We all feel we are in a new age, and few are willing to wait another year, as the purists insist, before we close out the 20th century.This is particularly true for Japan, where the last 10 years have...
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2000

Public must face higher tax burden: Imai

Japan must act on its deteriorating financial health by launching discussions on fiscal reform and revealing the results to the public, said Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren).
JAPAN
Dec 31, 1999

2000 'pivotal' in ties with Pyongyang

Staff writer For better or worse, future historians may characterize 2000 as a pivotal point in Japan's foreign policy toward its hermetic neighbor, North Korea. This is mainly because one of Japan's long-standing diplomatic issues -- normalization talks with Pyongyang -- is likely to enter a critical...
COMMUNITY / JAPAN LITE
Dec 26, 1999

Forget this year, and the last 999 as well

At the end of the year now, Japan is in the throes of "bonenkai," or "forget the year" parties. I wonder, though -- shouldn't we be having "forget the millennium" parties?
JAPAN
Dec 24, 1999

Asylum said in short supply here

Staff writer The number of people granted asylum by Japan in 1999 edged into double digits for the second straight year, but lawyers say some seeking to stay are being deported in an inhumane manner. This year, 11 people have been granted refugee status, down from 16 last year. On Nov. 22, an Iranian...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 1999

State to bring back hazardous waste in Manila

The government will ship 122 containers of hazardous medical and household waste to Japan from the Philippines early next month by securing ships in cooperation with the Transport Ministry, trade chief Takashi Fukaya said Friday. The move will be the first time the government has accepted the return...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 23, 1999

A gift for appraising in Washington

WASHINGTON -- She was an appraiser for the White House on gifts Ronald Reagan and George Bush received from Japan and is the owner of a reputable gallery in Washington, D.C.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 1999

Nishimura urges military upgrade, carrier fleet

Former Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense Shingo Nishimura urged Japan on Wednesday to adopt a more positive role for the security of East Asia through such steps as forming its own legitimate military forces and introducing its own aircraft carriers. Nishimura, who resigned in October after suggesting...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Art group attempts to heal those ravaged by war

Staff writer In these days of "Pokemon" mania, who wouldn't want a personal note from Pikachu? Hector Sierra, 34, a fine arts doctoral student from Colombia, might not seem like the most likely recipient. But the filmmaker and NGO coordinator was as tickled as any kid. Arriving days before Sierra was...
JAPAN
Dec 13, 1999

KEDO agrees to start work on Pyongyang reactor

A multilateral consortium charged with providing North Korea with two nuclear power reactors decided Monday to proceed with the construction work, paving the way for a deal to be signed with the main contractor Wednesday. The executive board of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization agreed...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji