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COMMUNITY
Mar 19, 2000

Illegal worker in catch-22 for love of daughter

"Ram Sharma" and I talked long about the wisdom of doing this piece. He wanted to share his isolation and humiliation with another human being and possibly get some help in extricating himself from his situation. Regarding an interview, he said I should decide. No, I replied; he was the one at risk....
COMMUNITY
Mar 19, 2000

She walks! She talks! She dances!

The Hello Kitty logo is ubiquitous. She is everywhere, on everything, from pencil cases and T-shirts to cellular phones and suitcases. Without a doubt, Hello Kitty is a globally recognized icon, but in a musical revue directed by Amon Miyamoto, she becomes more than just a logo. She is given life. She...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 19, 2000

Found language and fragmented identity

Yuriya Julia Kumagai's first volume of poetry, "Her Space-Time Continuum," originally written in English and published in 1994, used text layout, language "found" in everyday life, as well as literary theory and language poetry techniques to shape her own idiom. This hybrid approach reflected the speaker's...
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2000

G8 to take up food tech aid for developing nations

Japan plans to propose technical assistance on genetically modified foods to developing countries at an annual summit of the Group of Eight major nations in July in Okinawa Prefecture, government sources said Saturday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 19, 2000

Tsutomu Yoshioka

Tsutomu Yoshioka's life has come full circle. In the early 1940s, he was a teenage student at Jiyugakuen, the Freedom School founded in 1921 by Yoshikazu and Motoko Hani. Now he is director of Myonichikan, Jiyugakuen's original buildings, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The American architect said at...
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2000

Out of step on executions

Japanese judges appear ready to remain out of step with much of the rest of the civilized world by continuing to impose the death penalty. Some officials responsible for the administration of justice in this country compound the issue by the apparent avidity with which they defend and support capital...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2000

Japan, human rights and the WTO

The 135-member World Trade Organization has announced that it will start global negotiations on trade in agriculture beginning March 20. There is yet to be agreement on the negotiating format, scope of discussions and time frame. But we do know the talks will take years -- and that they will be very...
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2000

Finance Ministry strips Minami Securities' registration over bogus bonds

The Finance Ministry on Friday canceled the business registration of Minami Securities Co. for its allegedly fraudulent sales of corporate bonds and dubious asset management, saying the local brokerage violated the Securities and Exchange Law.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2000

Embattled triumvirate seeks to rally the public before polls

Although Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi encountered little difficulty in securing Diet passage of the fiscal 2000 budget Friday, the likelihood of him dissolving the Lower House for general elections in the near future seems more distant than ever.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

Aoki urged to start reform of police

Representatives of the three ruling parties on Thursday requested that Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki begin efforts in the Cabinet to reform the nation's police system.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

Reformer calls for overhaul of scandal-hit police system

The scandal-tainted police system must be overhauled, believes Kohei Nakabo, a lawyer who has just been appointed to a new government panel established to advise on police reform.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

British nuclear activist fights for disarmament

A 48-year-old British antinuclear activist proved that direct action by citizens can contribute to global disarmament and even prevent potential mass murder when, in a landmark ruling, she was acquitted for vandalizing a British warplane and a nuclear submarine research facility.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Japan, Brazil tie up on aid to developing world

Japan and Brazil have agreed on a "partnership program" for bilateral cooperation in providing technical assistance for developing countries, government sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2000

Joint computer system worries regional banks

The chief of the Regional Banks Association of Japan expressed caution Wednesday about calls from the alliance between Sanwa Bank, Tokai Bank and Asahi Bank for regional banks to join a planned integrated computer system.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Panel proposes updated law on defense, peacekeeping

The ruling coalition's panel on national security agreed Tuesday to put in place emergency defense legislation and to allow the Self-Defense Forces and civilians to fully participate in United Nations-led peacekeeping operations.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Returnee sues Japan for assault

Nearly six years after he was deported, an Iranian man has returned to Japan to testify in court for his damages suit against the state.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

GMO standards talks kick off amid protests

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- A four-day conference opened here Tuesday to discuss international standards for genetically modified organisms and foods, bringing together some 300 participants from 36 countries.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Death-row inmates can hang if retrial unlikely, Usui says

Justice Minister Hideo Usui said Tuesday that death-row convicts seeking retrials could be executed if their demands for retrials are deemed highly likely to be rejected.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2000

Global rules for GM foods to be debated

Members of an international commission on food standards are expected to clash on safety standards for genetically modified foods during a four-day meeting beginning today in Chiba Prefecture, government sources said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 14, 2000

In praise of market heretics

During the 1980s and 1990s, waves of neoconservatism swept the world. The movement was sparked by two politicians: Margaret Thatcher, who became the prime minister of Britain in 1979, and Ronald Reagan, who became president of the United States in 1981. In Japan, a neoconservative administration headed...
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2000

Bank industry slams tax plan anew

The chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association on Monday again criticized a Tokyo draft ordinance that aims to tax the gross profits of large banks in the metropolis as "unfair and undemocratic."
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2000

LDP leaders concur on post-G8 election

OSAKA -- Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi should wait at least until after the Group of Eight summit to dissolve the Lower House for a general election, senior Liberal Democratic Party leaders appeared to have agreed over the weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 14, 2000

Celtic music takes a sure-footed stand in Tokyo

For anyone interested in "world music," gigs in Japan have been comparatively thin on the ground during the last five years or so, compared to the first years of the '90s. This is a situation that is perhaps set to change.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2000

Upkeep eyed in wreck

The wheels of the last car of a subway train and the track it was running on may have been improperly shaved and polished, possibly contributing to Wednesday's deadly accident, informed sources said Thursday.
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2000

Getting to the belly of the matter

In the West, the heart is the seat of the emotions. Here it's the hara (stomach).
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2000

NPSC panel eyes reforms of police system

The National Public Safety Commission, Japan's highest institution on internal security, announced Thursday it will set up a panel to review the nation's police system following a series of high-profile scandals.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat