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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2000

A sea of troubles for Russia

While many questions remain unanswered about the recent sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, the disaster has exposed some of the grave problems that afflict Russia today. It attracted much attention worldwide because it caused many people to ponder the life-or-death situation that the Kursk...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 5, 2000

Asia takes capitalism on its own terms

ASIAN VALUES, WESTERN DREAMS: Understanding the New Asia, by Greg Sheridan. Allen & Unwin, 1999, 326 pp., 14.99 British pounds (paper). A lot of people thought -- hoped, really -- that the Asian economic crisis would end all that nonsense about "Asian values." The region's stumbles were supposed to...
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2000

Miyake schoolchildren get fresh start in western Tokyo

Schoolchildren from Miyake Island began the new school term Monday at Akikawa High School in Akiruno, western Tokyo, where all 356 of the young evacuees are staying in dorms.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2000

Groups back after trips to disputed north isles

Former Japanese residents of four Russian-held islands near Hokkaido bid farewell Sunday to their hosts at Etorofu Island. NEMURO, Hokkaido (Kyodo) Two groups of Japanese -- comprising 107 people in all -- returned to Nemuro port in eastern Hokkaido on Monday from separate visa-free trips to Russian-held...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 5, 2000

Making love is making freedom

TABOU: Scenario, by Nagisa Oshima. Traduit du japonais par Nathalie Cazier et Katsuko Tsuchiya. Paris: Petite bibliotheque des Cahiers du Cinema, 2000, 144 pp., FFr69. This is a bilingual edition (French and Japanese, printed back to back) of Nagisa Oshima's scenario for the film "Gohatto," which was...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 5, 2000

Rock 'n' roll high school back in session

The music of the Donnas is cleverer and more enjoyable than most of the retro-pop I've heard lately. Though it's high-school kids who compose the group's fan base, it's boomer music critics who've become their champions. They like these girls from Palo Alto, Calif., because they say they're the first...
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 5, 2000

JFA, Troussier closer to contract

The Japan Football Association has reached agreement on the conditions of re-signing its contract with Japan manager Philippe Troussier and is likely to complete the signing later this week before the Frenchman leaves for Sydney with the Japan Olympic team, JFA secretary general Kenji Mori said Monday...
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2000

Ministry to up 'zaito' rate to 2%

The Finance Ministry said Monday it will raise the rate charged on lending to governmental financial institutions under the "zaito" fiscal investment and loan program from 1.9 percent to 2 percent.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2000

Students turn tables on employers

Takashi Okubo, a student at Ibaraki Prefecture's University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences, gives a presentation to a corporate recruiter Monday in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. In a reverse of conventional recruitment practices by Japanese businesses, a group of college students hosted an event Monday...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Sep 5, 2000

Guilty of goodness in the first degree but always in control

Pop star Bonnie Pink is sick of being a "goodie-goodie" girl. She wants to be a bad girl. But does she know how?
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2000

Japanese seen embracing a risky future

At 30, Tetsushi Nakamura is a seasoned stock investor. The system engineer from Hibarigaoka, Saitama Prefecture, got his hands on stocks when he was in his fourth year of elementary school, buying shares of a construction company on his dad's advice.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2000

Police raid Mitsubishi a second time

Police raided the headquarters of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. again Sunday and searched the president's office for evidence of a coverup involving customer complaints.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 4, 2000

Hawks catch a 'Wave with five HRs

The Daiei Hawks hammered five homers, including two by Sydney-bound Nobuhiko Matsunaka, to defeat the Orix BlueWave 11-5 at the Fukuoka Dome on Sunday and stake a claim to first place in the Pacific League standings.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2000

Disaster drill brings troops into Tokyo

A massive disaster drill was held Sunday in 10 locations throughout Tokyo, with the nation's Self-Defense Forces participating on an unprecedented scale.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2000

Gov. Ishihara tells troops to take heart

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who led the charge for expanding the participation of Self-Defense Force troops in Sunday's disaster drill by the metropolitan government, urged SDF personnel to take pride and retain confidence as a military force.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2000

Russian intransigence led to U.S. missile delay

WASHINGTON -- Russia's refusal to negotiate changes in its 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the United States played a key role in President Clinton's decision to delay the initial phases of construction for a national missile defense system, leading U.S. newspapers reported Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 4, 2000

Budget reform, not budget tricks

The government budget for fiscal 2001 is shaping up now that the Finance Ministry has received requests from all ministries and agencies. Their estimates, which include debt payments and revenue transfers to local governments, total about 84.8 trillion yen, down 0.2 percent from the initial budget for...
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2000

Police have no record Blackman got out of Japan

Police said Sunday that there is no record of a missing British woman leaving Japan, after the British Broadcasting Corp. reported Saturday she was witnessed at a cash machine in Hong Kong following her disappearance from a Tokyo apartment in July.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2000

Legal action group decries weak victims rights

OSAKA -- Some 300 people gathered at a symposium Sunday to discuss and raise public awareness of the plight of crime victims, criticizing police inaction, excessive media coverage and lack of access to information about their own cases.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2000

Putin arrives for isle talks with Mori

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tokyo Sunday afternoon, just hours after rejecting Japan's demand that a group of disputed islands off the northeastern island of Hokkaido be returned.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2000

Japan fails its universities, which in turn fail industry

Japan's economic doldrums in recent years have triggered an outcry over the declining technological competitiveness of its industries, and the government has taken technology-promotion steps that would lead to the creation of new businesses or markets.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 4, 2000

Eat your beans and drink your beer

There is nothing better than thirst-quenching cold beer on hot summer evenings, and many Japanese would probably agree that one of the best snacks to match with beer is young green soybeans, known as edamame in Japanese.
COMMENTARY
Sep 4, 2000

Japan flounders without goals

The disturbing thing about Japan today is that it lacks a clear sense of national purpose even though the 21st century is close at hand. The economic slump of the 1990s is often described as a "lost decade" or a "second surrender" (after the defeat in World War II). But it is not just the stagnant economy...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2000

Bloody birth of multicultural Europe

LONDON -- "What are you doing here in Germany," asked the three drunken youths when they ran into Alberto Adriano in Dessau one Saturday night in June. "I live here," Adriano might have replied, but he didn't get the chance. The three were still rhythmically kicking and stamping on his head with their...
OLYMPICS
Sep 4, 2000

Japan wakes up for second half to crush Kuwait

OSAKA -- The Japan Olympic team overcame a sluggish first half to beat Kuwait's Olympic team 6-0 in a friendly tuneup ahead of the Sydney Games at Osaka's Nagai Stadium on Saturday night.
EDITORIALS
Sep 3, 2000

Canberra's unsightly pique

The United Nations is making enemies again. Last week, yet another government has announced that it is ready to reassess relations with the world body after being criticized for domestic human-rights policies. This time, however, the complainant is not one of the usual offenders -- China, Sudan, Iraq,...

Longform

Capsule hotels were created as a way to deal with the amount of overwork employees tend to do in Japan. Can't commute home? Then spend the night in an tiny, affordable sleeping space.
Japan wakes up to the market for a proper sleep