search

 
 
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

First 2,000 yen bank note rolls off mint's printers

With a push of a button the first-ever 2,000 yen bill was christened with the serial number "A000001A" on Monday, kicking off printing of the new bank note.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 9, 2000

Kafu's sure but fleeting touch

AMERICAN STORIES, by Nagai Kafu. Translated and with an introduction by Mitsuko Iriye. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000, 240 pp., unpriced. In 1903, the young man who was to become one of Japan's finest writers left for the United States. He did not particularly want to go -- he would have...
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Osu survives with blend of old and new

NAGOYA -- Young people browse through the shirts and jeans at a used clothes store, while an elderly woman picks up some tea at a shop around back. On the street, a young couple eating ice cream pass a man with a computer.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
May 9, 2000

Dr. John carries the torch, while Lenine fans the flames

Dr. John has worn a lot of musical hats during his 45-year career. Born Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. in New Orleans in 1940, he was soon deep in the local music scene, playing guitar with many top R&B acts before switching to piano and forming his own group. Taking the music of the Crescent City...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

AXA Nichidan Life exec eyes challenges

The challenges surrounding the newly launched AXA Nichidan Life Insurance Co. and Japan's insurance industry do not elude Hisashi Ohgaki, the firm's executive director and chief products and marketing officer.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Sumida fireworks face G8 delay

The popular annual Sumida River fireworks in Tokyo will be postponed by one month until Aug. 26 because police will be too busy in July providing security for the Group of Eight summit in Okinawa Prefecture, fireworks organizers said Monday.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

Tokyo court detains acquitted Nepalese man

The Tokyo High Court on Monday decided to allow prosecutors to detain a 33-year-old Nepalese man who was acquitted last month in a 1997 murder case.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

Imai welcomes Keidanren union with Nikkeiren

Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), said Monday that he supports the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations' (Nikkeiren) setting up a committee to consider a possible merger with Keidanren.
CULTURE / Books
May 9, 2000

Testing times for Japan-U.S. alliance

ALLIANCE ADRIFT, by Yoichi Funabashi. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1999, 501 pp., $49.95 (cloth). The jacket of this hefty chronicle of the recent history of Japan-U.S. security relations proclaims that Japan has found its Bob Woodward. Consider yourself warned.
JAPAN
May 9, 2000

City strives to school foreign youth

TOYOTA, Aichi Pref. -- When the bell signals the end of the day at Homi Junior High School here, students run out of the building to play on the grounds.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2000

'Love Bug' virus swamps Japan's firms

More than 84,000 e-mail messages carrying the "Love Bug" computer virus had been detected as of Monday evening in Japan, leading antivirus software provider Trend Micro Inc. said.
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2000

They call it 'avant-pop,' but hum along if you like

Pop aficionados often feel the need to be apologetic. Few would would openly admit to preferring those early bouncy Beatles singles to the Fab Four's more musically adventurous output of later years, or to having danced around the living room to "La Vida Loca." Even the shiny surfaces of Cornelius are...
CULTURE / Books
May 9, 2000

'Shuttered' to the West, Japan opened to the East

CHINA IN THE TOKUGAWA WORLD, by Marius B. Jansen. Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard University Press, 2000, 137 pp., $8.50 (paper). With the 400th anniversary of Japanese-Dutch relations upon us, interest has been rekindled in Japan's foreign relations during the Tokugawa period, and the part played...
EDITORIALS
May 8, 2000

The return of 'Red Ken'

Red is the color of the British Labor Party. Last week, British voters were a little too red for Prime Minister Tony Blair. The election of Mr. Ken Livingstone, known as "Red Ken" for his feisty leftwing politics, as London's first directly elected mayor, left Mr. Blair with a nasty black eye, but that...
SOCCER / J. League
May 8, 2000

Rumors of Troussier sacking roll on

The Japan Football Association will not renew the contract of national coach Philippe Troussier, informed sources said late Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
May 8, 2000

Webb cruises to 9-shot victory in Nichirei golf

Karrie Webb shot an unfashionable 1-over-par 73 in troublesome winds Sunday but still impressed the Japan LPGA field with her dominance in women's golf with a nine-stroke victory at the Nichirei Cup World Ladies tournament.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 8, 2000

Asai slam lifts Carp

Outfielder Itsuki Asai belted a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday to lift the Hiroshima Carp to a 9-5 "sayonara" victory over the Hanshin Tigers at Hiroshima Stadium.
SOCCER / J. League
May 8, 2000

Bellmare, Reds tumble in J2

HIRATSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. -- Shonan Bellmare bowed to Albirex Niigata 2-1 in extra time Sunday in a game that saw two red cards and 10 yellow in a Division Two J. League match. Meanwhile, J2 leaders the Urawa Reds suffered their first loss of the season after falling 1-0 away to Montedio Yamagata.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2000

Tackling sectarian strife in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD -- A volley of gunfire that followed a grenade attack last month in a small village two hours from Islamabad shattered the myth that the government had begun to effectively contain the country's religious extremists.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2000

E-commerce tax under construction

PARIS -- Talk about the information technology revolution is everywhere. Electronic commerce is taking off, financial institutions are trading online, and schools are holding class on the Internet.
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2000

Japan drifts without goals

This last decade of the 20th century has been labeled a "lost decade" for Japan. The Heisei recession that began in May 1991 bottomed out in October 1993. In subsequent years, however, Japan's economy continued to stagnate, contrary to general expectations. A decade of economic drift has created a sense...
JAPAN
May 8, 2000

Carbon tax is needed to cut CO2 levels: panel

A carbon tax is vital for curbing emissions of carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming, according to the draft of a report being compiled by an Environment Agency panel.
SUMO
May 8, 2000

Yokozuna pair win openers

Yokozuna Akebono bounced komusubi Takatoriki into the ringside seats at Ryogoku Kokugikan on Sunday as most of the top wrestlers posted wins on the opening day of the 15-day Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.
JAPAN
May 8, 2000

Cult may have paid to get religious status

The Honohana Sampogyo religious group paid several million yen to a then member of the Fuji city assembly in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1986, one year before the prefectural government certified it as an authorized religious corporation, cult sources said.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 8, 2000

Orangutans smuggled in underwear

You're flying back from a week in Indonesia and the guy next to you seems unusually twitchy. Considering all he's had to drink, he ought to be adequately sedated, but he's just ordered another Scotch.

Longform

The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports