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JAPAN
Oct 13, 2000

Arrested man also suspect in Blackman case

A 48-year-old Tokyo man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of molesting a Canadian woman three years ago and will also be questioned in connection with the recent disappearance of a British bar hostess, police said.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2000

1.39 million petition for court reform

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations submitted petitions to the government Wednesday signed by some 1.39 million people, calling for reform of the country's judicial system to reflect public opinion.
JAPAN
Oct 12, 2000

New law means marching orders for bad tenants

Motokazu Miyama's big fear is one probably shared by hundreds of thousands of other property-owners in Japan: What if unwelcome tenants refuse to leave after the apartment lease expires?
COMMUNITY
Oct 11, 2000

A perfect picture of a garden in Shimane

The Adachi Museum and its Japanese garden in Shimane Prefecture, part of the beautiful San'in district in western Honshu, is near historic Matsue with its castle and the home of writer Lafcadio Hearn.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 9, 2000

Japan shattered stereotypes in the '60s

ANGURA: Posters of the Japanese Avant-Garde, by David G. Goodman, with a foreword by Ellen Lupton. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999, 92 pp., 90 color plates, 17 b/w, $19.95. The 1960s was a time of extraordinary creativity in the arts in Tokyo. As Alexandra Munroe has said, it was "undoubtedly...
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2000

Metro government targets 'illegal light oil' mix

The chances of drivers being pulled over on Tokyo's main arteries will increase in upcoming months, but drunk drivers and speed demons will not be roadside enforcers' main targets.
EDITORIALS
Oct 7, 2000

The U.S. gets a real choice

There are complaints aplenty about U.S. politics, but the first debate between this year's presidential candidates was a reminder of what is right with the system. Rarely do voters anywhere have the opportunity to see their candidates square off and discuss issues in an intelligent and direct manner....
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2000

Ex-JICA chief volunteers for the trenches

Upon retiring after a 38-year career with the Foreign Ministry followed by six years as head of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Kimio Fujita was naturally expected to accept an honorary post, such as on a government panel.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2000

Banks must get better, not just bigger

The official debut last week of the Mizuho financial group is a fresh reminder of the large-scale bank mergers and tie-ups now in the works in Japan. The group brings together Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan under the umbrella of Mizuho Holdings Inc. Two years from now,...
LIFE / Travel
Oct 4, 2000

Close-up and personal with Peak District scenery

On Friday morning I was a point, press and hope-to-get-a-good-one sort of photographer; by Sunday evening I knew the raison d'e^tre of an f-stop and could talk solarization, ambient lighting and reversals.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Oct 4, 2000

Who's your buddy?

Last week, AOL and DoCoMo announced a major strategic alliance, but few techno-journos were blindsided by the news. Rumors had been floating since early summer, and the potential benefits were fairly easy to digest. Savvy scribes had probably already put together rough drafts. It was just a matter of...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Oct 3, 2000

We've got a personality crisis

If you go to a live event you don't just want to listen to music, you want to witness a show, right? You want the people on stage to be rock stars for the night. And you want to be swept away on a flood of shared adrenalin.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 1, 2000

Tryouts at NHK Symphony: Some work, and some don't

The NHK Symphony Orchestra boasts the largest complement of musicians (113), the most subscription concerts (60), the healthiest annual budget (3 billion yen), the highest visibility (over NHK radio and television) and the most interesting programs of any of the 30 professional symphony orchestras in...
CULTURE / Art
Sep 30, 2000

Korean folk traditions come alive on porcelain

Folk art motifs on the painted plates of Kim So Sun In our contemporary world, where art is commissioned for anything from airplanes to automobiles, the transposition of 17th-century Korean folk art to modern porcelain dishes should not prove too surprising. In a wonderful burst of innovation, artistKim...
EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2000

Mr. Mori's missing road map

Six months after he took office, what is Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori aiming to achieve? Equally important, what does the opposition have to say about his policy -- or the lack thereof? These questions went largely unanswered during the Lower House debates that took place this week. The exchanges proved...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2000

Japan's nonprofits carve out a space of their own

When the Nature Conservancy's Lori Forman addressed the College Women's Association of Japan at a luncheon earlier this year, the topic was supposed to be nongovernmental organizations in Japan. But instead of providing a nuanced description of Japan's not-for-profit movement, Forman seemed more interested...
COMMUNITY
Sep 28, 2000

Birth of a new generation

Turn on the television or flip through any popular magazine, and you're sure to come across gyarumama (gal mamas) -- teenage moms with tanned skin, trendy clothes and towering platform shoes.
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2000

Tokyo International Film Festival to screen 16 films by new directors

Sixteen films by new directors will be screened in competition at the 13th Tokyo International Film Festival, which will begin Oct. 28, according to event organizers.
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2000

A feminist ties the knot

A lot of fun has been had this month at the expense of longtime American feminist icon Gloria Steinem. After decades of pointing out the drawbacks of marriage, the 66-year-old Ms. Steinem recently surprised and titillated the world by going off and getting married.
COMMUNITY
Sep 24, 2000

Creative outsider paints orderly inside of chaos

Yuji Oki lives in a big house and paints increasingly large paintings -- by Japanese standards at least.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2000

Mori, Cohen agree to keep watch on Pyongyang

Japan, the United States and South Korea must still closely watch North Korea despite Pyongyang's recent gestures of detente, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen agreed Friday.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Sep 23, 2000

Stopped in my flippin' tracks by a Shino tea bowl

I'm lucky enough to live only five minutes away from one of my favorite Mino potters -- and I don't even live near the Mino area. That's in Gifu Prefecture, whereas I reside in the potting wasteland of Numazu. I'm always asked about how I ended up here and I can only say that it was the will of something...
CULTURE / Art
Sep 23, 2000

Artists heed the call of the cat

"I don't feel that I decide to carve the cats," Makoto Nishi says. "The cats call on me to carve them."
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2000

Mori starts extra Diet with 'e-Japan' pitch

Employing a new catchword, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori opened the 72-day extra Diet session Thursday pledging to create an "e-Japan" that would enrich people's lives and make the nation's industries more competitive.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2000

Chairman of Osaka city arrested over bid-rigging

OSAKA -- Osaka Prefectural Police on Thursday arrested the chairman of the Osaka City Assembly and two others for allegedly disrupting the smooth execution of bidding for contracts for city-ordered public works projects in 1997.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan