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BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2000

S&P warns local governments about debts

In its first report on the general credit status of local governments in Japan, Standard & Poor's on Wednesday reported strong credit quality, but warned of high debts increasing the burdens on such local bodies.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2000

Business leaders agree NTT fees too high

The Japan-U.S. Business Conference ended Tuesday, with business leaders from the two nations adopting a statement urging a "substantial and prompt reduction in interconnection rates" charged by the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 9, 2000

The bright dwelling-place of dreams

French philosopher Gaston Bachelard (1884-1962) wrote, "The house is one of the greatest powers of integration for the thoughts, memories and dreams of mankind. Through dreams, the various dwelling-places in our lives copenetrate and retain the treasures of former days."
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2000

Construction chief says Wakachiku never favored despite alleged bribes

The number and value of government construction projects won by Wakachiku Construction Co. were roughly equivalent to the same figures for other authorized bidders both before and after Eiichi Nakao became construction minister in 1996, the current construction minister said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2000

Tokyo to push new WTO talks

Japan will push initiatives in the international community to realize the early launch of a round of trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization, Minister of International Trade and Industry Takeo Hiranuma said.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2000

Cabinet proves widely unpopular

The disapproval rate for the Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is at 62 percent, a record high for a newly launched Cabinet, with support at 27 percent, a Kyodo News poll showed Thursday.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jul 7, 2000

Save the last dance for Yokota

Susumu Yokota's career has been mercurial enough to warrant the many pseudonyms under which he has released his work. Flitting from house to techno and back again, Yokota has brought his musical curiosity and energy to every genre he's chosen to embrace.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2000

Man arrested for allegedly conspiring to sell fake cigarettes

Police have arrested a 66-year-old real estate company employee for allegedly conspiring to sell counterfeit Mild Seven Lights and Seven Stars, both popular cigarette brands sold by Japan Tobacco Inc., police said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2000

Miyazawa open to IT-aimed supplementary budget

The government should draw up, if necessary, an extra budget focused on information technology and new public projects later this year, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 6, 2000

Law inhibits election coverage and debate

Prior to the Lower House elections June 25, commentators both here and abroad complained that the parties weren't putting forth concrete proposals, but instead only vague assurances that they would rebuild the economy and return Japan to its former glory as the world's last bastion of civility.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2000

Mori Cabinet not necessarily his own

In an effort to assert his leadership and bolster his sagging political fortunes, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori elected for a mix of the old and new in Tuesday's Cabinet reshuffle.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 5, 2000

The tyranny of the square

When talking to Ted Nelson, strap in tight. It's quite a ride. Trained as a philosopher and film director, he is equal parts visionary and crank. Many consider him to be one of the fathers of the World Wide Web. He coined the word "hypertext" in 1965, but he has become a scathing critic of the Web and...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 4, 2000

Reinterpreting an American classic

Summertime, and the listenin' is easy. No, I don't mean "easy listening"; I mean jazz.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 4, 2000

Japan searches for itself and finds 'Genji'

YOSANO AKIKO AND "THE TALE OF THE GENJI," by G.G. Rowley. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan, 2000, 222 pp., $32.95. There seems to be something of a "Genji" frenzy going on right now. Liza Dalby has the author writing her memoirs in her new book, "The Tale of Murasaki"; Ichinohe Saeko has a full-length...
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2000

Election results mean Diet must heed fickle workforce

The tripartite coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party have managed to win an "absolute comfortable" majority that will enable them to control all standing committees in the powerful Lower House and chair them as well.
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2000

Dumb and dumber

There is a wonderful anecdote about Oscar Wilde in Richard Ellmann's monumental biography of the Victorian wit, aesthete and playwright. In 1882-3, Wilde undertook a North American lecture tour, with the aim of bringing the gospel of beauty to the New World. A highlight of the tour was his stopover in...
CULTURE / Art
Jul 2, 2000

Prime: color and form again the norm

"Prime" at Tokyo Opera City is a magnificent demonstration of color, form and size. Sparse yet well displayed, this exhibition breathes freely and expressively in the high open space, which in Tokyo is a rare and valuable experience. Each artist is chosen to develop various aspects of curator Santo Oshima's...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2000

LDP works out city merger strategy

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has decided on a plan to encourage towns and villages across the country to merge into cities, party sources said Saturday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jul 2, 2000

Remembrance

"Sensei." Along with "sayonara," that is one of the first words most of us learn when we come to Japan. Though the image has been somewhat tarnished in these recent years of school disorders and juvenile delinquency, traditionally the word sensei, or teacher, has been one of the most honorific terms...
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2000

1,040 illegal immigrants rounded up around Tokyo

The Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau booked 1,040 foreigners in the metropolitan area for allegedly violating the immigration control law during an intensive crackdown between May 15 and June 2, the bureau announced Wednesday.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2000

Take the sunset road to Fukuoka's natural lifestyle zone

"Everyone wants to head west," an architect friend told me recently. "It's natural. That's where the sun sets, and where thoughts of relaxation turn to at the end of the day."
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2000

Japan's voters call for change

Voters apparently called for a change in the nation's politics in Sunday's elections for the House of Representatives. The Democratic Party of Japan consolidated its position as the No. 1 opposition party by winning an additional 35 seats, although it failed to win enough votes to allow it to establish...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 29, 2000

Marriage guide for men begs the question, 'Et tu, Brutus?'

In the cultural wars secular liberalism continues its slow, laborious march toward victory (two steps forward, one step back), but one bastion of male-centered tradition remains inviolate: the marriage proposal. Men do the asking, and women wait for them to ask. The vector indicated by this dynamic mimics...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2000

Coalition holds on to power

The Liberal Democratic Party had dubbed Sunday's election a "battle in mourning," in hopes that the untimely death of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi would get out the "sympathy vote." As it turned out, the LDP and its coalition partners suffered a major set- back, contrary to the wishes of Prime...
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2000

Signs of generational change

The voters' real message in Sunday's elections for the House of Representatives is ambiguous at best. It can be interpreted in several important ways. In terms of the sheer number of seats won, it means a victory for the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the Conservative...
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2000

Prayers held at Empress Dowager tomb site

A ground-breaking ceremony was held Monday at the Musashino Imperial Mausoleum in Hachioji, in the western suburbs of Tokyo, where a mausoleum for the Empress Dowager will be built, the Imperial Household Agency said.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 27, 2000

Art, enlightenment and empire

THE IDEALS OF THE EAST, by Okakura Kakuzo. Tokyo: ICG Muse Inc., 2000, 250 pp., 1,300 yen.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2000

Voters sided with unpopular status quo

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's nonstop gaffes and his administration's staggering unpopularity were ultimately tolerated by the voters who preferred the status quo to gambling on the opposition.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 25, 2000

Again and again

A part of this is from a column written in 1993 about "ijime" (bullying). It was not the first, and today I can't even recall that specific case. There have been so many. At the time I objected to the newspaper comment that ijime had been a serious problem for a decade. Brutal discrimination against...

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