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EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 1999

The North Korean enigma

The two Koreas are talking again. Sort of. Fourteen months after talks between the two governments broke down, diplomats met in Beijing Tuesday to resume discussion about the fate of the 1 million families separated by partition after World War II and by the Korean War. The meeting was delayed one day...
EDITORIALS
Jun 23, 1999

A debt to the United Nations

The agreement that ended the military campaign against Yugoslavia highlights the critical role played by the United Nations in resolving international disputes. NATO made war against Belgrade; the U.N. made the peace. Hopefully, the U.S. Congress will recognize that simple truth this week, as the Senate...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

Judge hopefuls finding system less than just

KYOTO — When lawyer Masaki Kunihiro, 52, applied to become a court judge last year, he didn't fully expect to be accepted.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

Ministry boasts fulfillment of ODA pledge

Japan has already fulfilled an international pledge to provide $3 billion in official development assistance over a seven-year period ending in fiscal 2000 to help developing countries address AIDS and population issues, Foreign Ministry sources said Wednesday.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 23, 1999

On the fringe of the fray

I had dinner with two friends last week and eventually the conversation came around to the Web (I generally try to avoid the topic in polite conversation but what can you do?). Anyone overhearing our conversation might have thought we were a trio of hopeless geeks, or digerati wannabes, but the truth...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

FRC ready to spell out conditions for controlling publicly funded banks

The Financial Reconstruction Commission will soon announce guidelines defining the circumstances under which the state might exert control over some of the banks that have received public funds, FRC Chairman Hakuo Yanagisawa said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

Telecom association seeks end to U.S. pact

A national association of telecommunications equipment suppliers has asked the Japanese and U.S. governments Wednesday not to extend a bilateral pact obligating Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. to procure foreign-made products.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

Emergency contraception is here, but where?

A day after spending the night with her steady boyfriend, Mika roamed the area around her office in Tokyo, desperately looking for an obstetrician or gynecologist who could prescribe the medication she sought — an emergency contraceptive pill.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

Murayama's Pyongyang visit canceled

Former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on Wednesday announced a suprapartisan Diet group he heads will shelve its planned trip to North Korea, saying now is not the best time to visit the Stalinist state.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

Researchers to regain intellectual property rights

The government has decided to hand back intellectual property rights to private- sector researchers who conducted research and development on its behalf, Trade Minister Kaoru Yosano told biotechnology leaders Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

Kobe airport foes vow door-to-door poll

KOBE — Local citizens' groups said Wednesday they will canvass residents door-to-door next month in order to determine once and for all whether people want a Kobe airport.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Jun 23, 1999

A taste of real New York cool in Nishi-Shinjuku

Anyone who has survived a brutal Tokyo summer can testify that roaming the city's narrow lanes in search of a cool refreshment (not from a vending machine) sometimes seems as challenging as walking barefoot across fiery coals.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 23, 1999

Sightseeing for harried business travelers

Most tourists bypass Nagoya en route to Kyoto or the shrines of Ise, but if you're visiting on business and have some free time don't just snooze in your hotel room: Get out and explore.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 23, 1999

Vices and virtues of Pompeii exposed

Imagine if an entire town could disappear yet be preserved intact, sealed timeless in eternity. Then imagine that surprised excavators nearly 1,700 years later uncover this natural time capsule to reveal what life was really like in the ancient world.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 23, 1999

A great connection

Perhaps your readers will be interested, he wrote.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 1999

Bank inspections weak, Miyazawa admits

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Wednesday admitted that the ministry's bank inspections were opaque and ineffective.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Jun 23, 1999

Sapporo garden faces climatic challenge

Sapporo Municipal Botanic Garden, better known as Toyohira Garden, is well off the tourist trail, but highly recommended. The garden is situated in Toyohira-ku, approximately 3 km south of Sapporo Station, just across the wide Toyohira River.
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 1999

No strong message from Cologne

The leaders of the world's eight major powers, in their annual three-day summit that ended Sunday in Cologne, Germany, pledged to strengthen and broaden their close partnership in settling the exigent issues that are unsettling the international community. Because it came in the wake of the Kosovo conflict...
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Top IDC execs clear out for new C&W team

The three top executives of International Digital Communications Inc., an international telecommunications carrier, have resigned following its takeover by Cable and Wireless PLC of Britain, IDC announced on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Dam plebiscite worries still run deep

TOKUSHIMA — The Tokushima Municipal Assembly's passage of an ordinance Monday to hold a plebiscite on the controversial Yoshino River dam project was realized after three groups in the assembly in favor of the vote reached a compromise with New Komeito.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Miyazawa puts official spin on BOJ dollar-buying

Monetary authorities were not trying to prop up exports in their repeated sales of yen for dollars in the past few weeks, Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Mobster gets life for smuggling drugs

A former underworld leader was sentenced to life imprisonment Tuesday for smuggling about 50 kg of stimulant drugs into Japan from China.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

The Japan Times to hold seminar

"The 1st Japan Times Special Seminar" will be held on July 8, featuring speeches exploring the enjoyment of reading English newspapers and introducing The Japan Times' operations.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Disabled train air crews to handle with care

To help handle the increasing number of physically disabled people flying overseas, two support groups for the handicapped held class Tuesday for airline crews at Narita Airport to show them how their flights can be made more comfortable.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Sanwa to sell off trust bank unit to ally Toyo

Sanwa Bank will sell its trust bank subsidiary to Toyo Trust & Banking Co. in mid-July, officials of the two banks announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Foreign motorists sought for turnpike monitors

The Metropolitan Expressway Public Corp. is now inviting non-Japanese motorists to serve as one-year monitors to advise officials on how to improve Tokyo expressways.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

East Timor to get radios for polls

The government will send 2,000 radios to East Timor to help U.N.-supervised polls on the area's independence to be held as early as August, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Kanzaki slams bill to cut Diet seats

New Komeito chief Takenori Kanzaki on Tuesday opposed plans by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Liberal Party, to submit to the Diet today a bill seeking to cut 50 Lower House seats.
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 1999

Mr. Mandela's mixed legacy

With a wave of his hand and a few humble words, South African President Nelson Mandela bid farewell to his nation Wednesday but left behind a rich legacy of democracy and racial reconciliation. His successor, Mr. Thabo Mbeki, sworn into office immediately following Mr. Mandela's retirement, now faces...
JAPAN
Jun 21, 1999

Fall-prone builders get air bag option

The high number of fatal falls at construction sites has prompted a firm to produce a human version of the automobile air bag.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals