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EDITORIALS
May 5, 1999

Yugoslavia's real hostages

Yugoslavia has released the three U.S. soldiers captured in the first days of the NATO military campaign. The Rev. Jesse Jackson is to be thanked for winning the freedom of the three servicemen, another success for the charismatic civil-rights leader. The release of the three men is welcome, but it does...
EDITORIALS
May 5, 1999

All smiles at the summit

Judging from the mood at this week's summit between Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and U.S. President Bill Clinton, the bilateral relationship is on its best footing in years. The Japanese economy appears poised for a rebound, and the security alliance has been strengthened. It is a reassuring...
COMMENTARY
May 5, 1999

Hold off on U.S.-style layoffs

Japan's big businesses once had a reputation for not firing workers even in hard times. Not anymore. Now major corporations are going full blast to restructure, with older workers bearing the brunt of the austerity drive. The lifetime employment system, once touted as a symbol of corporate Japan, is...
COMMUNITY
May 5, 1999

Immune system research pays off, paves way to AIDS cure

In 1987, American molecular biologists Jack Strominger and Don Wiley shocked the scientific world with a supreme example of the adage "A picture is worth a thousand words."
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
May 5, 1999

Looking for something?

Run a Web search and what do you get? Often it's a lot more than you bargained for. I'm not talking about the reams of irrelevant, redundant and irretrievable data that often gets tangled in your throw net. (You should know by now that you're bound to get a certain amount of this stuff no matter how...
COMMENTARY
May 5, 1999

A game plan for Ishihara

I was not surprised at all by Shintaro Ishihara's overwhelming victory in the April 11 Tokyo gubernatorial election. Several journalist friends of mine and I had correctly predicted the election results, including the order of all the major candidates by the number of votes. More than anything else,...
COMMUNITY
May 5, 1999

Allies' 'fair' tribunal betrayed ignorance of wartime politics

A former court interpreter at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East said he believes the Allied trial was fair and legitimate, but the proceedings reflected their ignorance of Japan's wartime politics.
EDITORIALS
May 4, 1999

A shrinking pool of jobs

The latest employment figures confirm that Japan's job market is continuing to contract. The number of unemployed hit a record 3.39 million in March, as the jobless rate rose 0.2 points to 4.8 percent. Both figures mark the worst-ever downturn since the government began keeping such records in 1953.
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Purse-snatch leader Osaka sees fall

OSAKA -- Purse-snatchings in Osaka Prefecture have drastically declined in the first quarter of this year, but the prefecture maintains its 23-year reign at the top of the list in terms of incidence of such crimes, police said Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Manufacturers reduce workforce, production

The protracted economic slowdown has forced most domestic materials manufacturers to step up restructuring efforts and keep their heads bent low in the hope that the biting winds of recession will eventually die down.
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Record debut has R&B diva, 16, rolling in the dough

R&B artist Hikaru Utada's debut album "First Love" has sold a record-breaking 5.24 million copies in the two months since its release, surpassing the 5.11 million CDs sold by rock duo B'z.
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Daiei says aloha to Ala Moana for $810 million

Debt-ridden supermarket chain Daiei Inc. has finished negotiations to sell the upscale Ala Moana Center mall in Hawaii to major U.S. shopping mall operator General Growth Properties Limited Partnership, company officials said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 1999

India rightly resists the Chinese model

India has often been advised to follow the path of China in public investment in human capital. China has done well in the last decade, but it would be a disaster if India were to follow her example. China's approach can be called "two quick steps forward, one slow step back." India's approach, in contrast,...
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Dioxin: Proximity to Tokyo dooms Tokorozawa

Second in a seriesStaff writer
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 4, 1999

Childhood memories of Calcutta under the Raj

CHILDHOOD DAYS: A Memoir, by Satyajit Ray, translated by Bijoya Ray. New Delhi: Penguin Books (India), 174 pp., with b/w photos and pen drawings by Satyajit Ray, Rs 200. The memoirs of film directors are often confined to early memories. Ingmar Bergman writes of his childhood, Akira Kurosawa gets up...
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Allies' 'fair' tribunal betrayed ignorance of wartime politics

Staff writer
CULTURE / Books
May 4, 1999

A dose of reality for Asia's high-flyers

TIGERS TAMED: The End of the Asian Miracle, by Robert Garran. Allen Unwin, 1998, 228 pp. (paper). "Tigers Tamed," "The Trouble with Tigers," "Asian Contagion." It's hard to miss a touch of what seems like gloating in the attempts to chronicle Asia's recent misfortunes.
CULTURE / Books
May 4, 1999

Artistry lost in translation

WHITE LETTER POEMS, by Fumi Saito, translated by Hatsue Kawamura and Jane Reichhold. AHA Books, 1998, 110 pp., $10. The title of this well-produced selection of tanka by the venerable poet Fumi Saito is taken from the first tanka in the book's first section, which contains work from "Gyo ka" (Songs...
EDITORIALS
May 3, 1999

Hope in East Timor

The people of East Timor have been given the chance to choose their own destiny. Indonesian President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie decided last week to hold a referendum on independence in the province. On Aug. 8, East Timorese will vote for independence or autonomy within the Indonesian state under an...
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Reforms mean more than a new name, banking leader says

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Financial sector new link in environment chain

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Prize-winning immunologists paved way for AIDS cure

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Ready for 2000?: Japan's efforts overlooked when not in English

Sixth in an occasional series on Japan's Y2K preparedness
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Dioxin: Flawed report stirred policymakers' interest

First in a series
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Kan's policy quest undeterred despite party's slump

Staff writer
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 1999

Balkans destroy old certainties

BY SARAH BENTON LONDON -- The consequences of the war in Kosovo are almost unimaginable. But whatever they turn out to be, one is already clear: the rough fashioning of the 19 members of NATO into a cohesive fighting force.
JAPAN
May 3, 1999

Constitution's anniversary sparks debate on revision

With last month's Lower House passage of bills covering the updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines as a backdrop, the nation on Monday celebrated the 52nd anniversary of the postwar Constitution with heated debate over the document itself.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 1999

Cultural understanding holds the key

In a recent article in The Japan Times, former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa dealt with a topic rather unusual for a politician: the importance of culture and the awareness of it in post-1970s Japan. I endorse his view wholeheartedly. A few years ago I wrote similar thoughts in one of the first articles...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 2, 1999

Everybody knows when the heat's on Frankie

They say "kids" grow up fast but you should see my kitten -- 6 months going on "sweet 16." This was my first experience with a cat going through puberty. I warn you never to come within 100 meters of any cat going through puberty, or you just may become the cat's object of desire.
COMMUNITY
May 2, 1999

Seed money no problem at Flower Bank

MIYASHIRO, Saitama Pref. -- While many Japanese banks are struggling to overcome their tainted image, at least one is enjoying an increasingly favorable reputation.

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