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JAPAN
Jul 16, 2000

Row blazes over merits of parking garage

Near the north end of chic Shibuya shopping street Koen Dori, roughly 50 local residents and construction workers have held a standoff every night for nearly a month.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 16, 2000

Berlin Phil brings greetings: from one capital to another

Political and economic capital of Germany and home of the famed Berlin Philharmonic, Berlin is high on the list of cities Tokyoites most wish to visit and explore, as I did recently. Berlin and Tokyo have much in common, certainly including the quantity and quality of the musical scene.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2000

Okinawans see railway as ticket to ride

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- A middle-aged cabby here says he has never seen a train in his life except on television, much less ridden one. His story, however, does not surprise locals.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jul 15, 2000

Heading into a new century with Shakuhachi 1979 quintet

In 1979, five students of the shakuhachi master Hozan Yamamoto got together and created a performance group. All had extensive training in the classics, but, as students of one of the most innovative shakuhachi players of the 20th century, all wanted to expand the shakuhachi repertoire and create new...
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2000

Japan, by the numbers

Japan's economic statistics are, by and large, rated highly for their diversity and accuracy. So it comes as no surprise that Japanese experts are helping developing countries improve their own statistical systems. Recently, however, that reputation seems to have been somewhat tarnished because of media...
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2000

Heo queried over alleged bribery fund

Heo Young Joong, a former real estate developer on trial in the Itoman case, has recently been questioned by prosecutors over 1 billion yen that he allegedly gave the former chairman of Wakachiku Construction Co. as funds for bribing lawmakers, investigation sources said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 13, 2000

Japan's new Cabinet avoids hard choices

Foreign reaction to the election results and the formation of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's new government can be summed up in one word: "disappointing." Once again it seemed that Japan was missing an opportunity to move forward on the reforms so urgently needed in government and the economy.
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."

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan