Search - information

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2001

IT helping doctors keep tabs on asthma patients

Leaps in information technology are making it possible for doctors and nurses to use telephone lines and mobile phones to monitor the condition of asthma patients in their homes.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2000

Real reform is just beginning

The central government will be reorganized Jan. 6, 2001 with the number of ministries and agencies to be cut almost in half to 13 from the present 22. The shakeup is based on a program worked out with great difficulty by the Adminis trative Reform Council, an ad hoc panel created under the Hashimoto...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2000

Japan to give tsunami info to neighbors

Japan will start in January providing South Korea, North Korea and Russia with information on tsunamis originating in the Sea of Japan, the Meteorological Agency said.
EDITORIALS
Dec 20, 2000

English for the 21st century

One thing that is almost certain not to change in the new century is Japan's long love-hate relationship with the English language. What might change is the degree of interest in learning English among younger Japanese, eager to tap the wealth of information available on the Internet. In fact, much about...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 15, 2000

The Choir of St. John's currently touring Japan

Choral music is something of a specialty in Britain, which leads the world in the number of professional-level choral groups. This strength is rooted in Britain's many collegiate and cathedral choirs, which provide a steady supply of trained and experienced singers to groups like the Hilliard Ensemble...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 13, 2000

Television as a pillar of the state

BROADCASTING POLITICS IN JAPAN: NHK and Television News, by Ellis Krauss. Cornell University Press, 2000, 278 pp., $35 (cloth). Many of us know NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) for its film documentaries, its cultural programs -- stunning or plodding, depending on your perspective -- or its Sunday morning singalongs....
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2000

Police raid Osaka assembly over construction bid scam

OSAKA -- Investigators raided the Osaka Prefectural Assembly's secretariat Monday in connection with the arrest of an assembly member on suspicion of leaking bid-related information to a construction company.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2000

Diet passes bill to promote IT

The Diet enacted legislation Wednesday that stipulates ways to deal with quick and radical structural changes driven by the global information technology revolution.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Nov 14, 2000

The last of the best from Cuba

Even after 10 years, I still find it difficult to predict what actually turns Japanese world-music fans on.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2000

Money-strapped NPOs must learn to use Internet: expert

KYOTO -- The proliferation of the Internet is spurring many groups to aggressively try to keep up with sweeping changes, and nonprofit organizations are no exception.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Nov 4, 2000

Yamada-style koto master performs song-suite classics

The autumn performance season reaches its peak during the final months of the year, and an array of hogaku performances, including rare koto pieces, gagaku and dance, will be presented this November.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2000

Nakagawa resigns; Fukuda steps in

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa resigned Friday over scandals involving rightist connections and an extramarital affair, dealing a fresh political blow to embattled Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's administration.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2000

NPA to put road accident info online

The National Police Agency plans to develop a database on traffic accidents that will provide drivers comprehensive accident information over the Internet starting in January 2002, NPA officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2000

Train crash laid to many factors

The March subway collision in Tokyo that killed five passengers and injured 63 others was caused by a combination of factors, including a wheel load imbalance and improperly ground rail surfaces, a Transport Ministry investigative panel concluded Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2000

South Korea grapples with rapprochement

SEOUL -- Some days ago I received an e-mail from a friend I hadn't heard from for a while, who teaches North Korean affairs at one of the major universities in Seoul. "I am worried," he wrote. "This is not a good time for South Korean scholars dealing with North Korea to express their views freely."...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Oct 13, 2000

Tomorrow today

Predicting the future is always a risky business, but the uncertainties seem to be magnified when it comes to information technologies. Blame it on "tipping points," unstable equilibriums, systems analysis, whatever, but planning ahead has never been a more hazardous exercise.
COMMENTARY
Oct 1, 2000

Log on to network politics

Events can act often as an illuminating light. Predictions, warnings and expert forecasts of which no one took much notice suddenly become obvious to everyone.
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2000

Global competitors face tough decisions

Although monetary policy has been tightened, the U.S. economy is still on a steady growth path, propelled by the expansion of its information technology industry, which is said to be far ahead of its counterparts in the European Union and Japan.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 15, 2000

The periphery vs. the center

LOCAL VOICES, NATIONAL ISSUES: The Impact of Local Initiative in Japanese Policy-making, edited by Sheila A. Smith. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2000, 136 pp., $32.95 (cloth). For students of power and politics in Japan, Tokyo is where the action is. Important decisions are made in...
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2000

Toshiba transforms for IT revolution

Back in the 1960s, a TV set, a refrigerator and a washing machine symbolized affluence for Japanese households. They were dubbed the "three sacred treasures" -- an analogy to the sword, mirror and sacred bead treasured by the Imperial Household.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 31, 2000

Covering the fine arts: Frank Stella speaks

Frank Stella As part of the celebration of the art collection at the U.S. ambassador's residence, Ambassador Foley invited celebrated artist Frank Stella to take part in the reception and media tour. The day after the media tour, The Japan Times interviewed Stella at the residence. Following are excerpts...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2000

MMC may face charges over defect coverup

The Transport Ministry is considering filing a criminal complaint against Mitsubishi Motors Corp. for violating the Road Vehicle Law by concealing information on defective vehicles, a Transport Minister Hajime Morita said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2000

Phones to give location-specific data

Cellular operator J-Phone Tokyo Co. said Wednesday that the J-Phone group will launch a new service in October that automatically sends geographically specific information to the screen of smart phones.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Aug 22, 2000

Shang Shang Typhoon blowing back in to devastate main islands

At the start of the 1990s, when "world music" became a generally accepted term, some Japanese started to look at themselves and wonder what their own country had to offer -- not only in Japan but to the rest of the world.
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2000

NTT urged to sell DoCoMo stake to promote competition

A trade ministry advisory panel has released a draft report Thursday that calls for terminating Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.'s monopoly on local telephone networks.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2000

Summit highlights need for new diplomacy

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — In an era of great change, diplomacy, like many other disciplines, must adapt and innovate. Some changes are already visible.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Aug 8, 2000

Keepers of the flame take Gypsy sounds to the world

Under Soviet communism, the ethnic and folk music of Eastern Europe was often hijacked as a form of propaganda. Words were changed to express patriotic sentiments and slogans of peace. In Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, the country's dictator for 25 years, would bus out thousands of peasants to sing such...
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2000

Mori stresses IT as path to self-sustained recovery

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori opened a 13-day extraordinary Diet session Friday by renewing pledges to exert leadership to put the economy on a self-sustained recovery track. He also pledged to work on structural reforms by promoting the development of information technology.

Longform

It's back to the classroom for some residents as municipal governments across the country conduct lessons to learn how to use new technologies.
Can aging Japan go digital without leaving anyone behind?