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JAPAN
Jun 20, 2000

Forum decries gender inequities in journalism

A director of one of the world's main journalist organizations said Monday the status of female journalists worldwide has improved considerably but the issues of opportunity and gender equality still need to be addressed.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2000

Scandal-tainted kingmaker also a 'caring man'

The political career of the late Noboru Takeshita was rocked by a series of scandals that forced him to largely wield his influence from behind the scenes after he stepped down as prime minister in 1989.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 19, 2000

Project Phoenix: sitting by the phone

The SETI Institute, based in Mountain View, Calif., is currently conducting the world's most sensitive and comprehensive search for extraterrestrial intelligence, Project Phoenix. Phoenix searches for signs of other civilizations by listening for radio signals directly transmitted from other planets,...
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2000

Domestic violence victims demand new law

Ninety-six percent of female victims of life-threatening domestic violence and their supporters say a law to prevent such acts should be drawn up, a survey by a women's group showed Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Jun 18, 2000

Cafe's tempting literary brew

Cafe Independent, a "rattle-bag collection of poetry, art, pearls of prose . . . ," is produced by Oliver Kinghorn and Shannon Smith in Kyoto.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2000

Empress Dowager dies at 97; family at her side

The Empress Dowager, the widow of Emperor Showa, died Friday afternoon, two days after she began experiencing breathing difficulties, the Imperial Household Agency said. She was 97.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2000

Firms expected to raise capital spending 5.2%

Capital spending by major Japanese companies is expected to rise 5.2 percent in fiscal 2000 from a year earlier, the first increase in four years, a government advisory panel said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2000

Softbank unit to open shop in Seoul

Softbank Finance Corp., a Softbank Corp. subsidiary, said Friday it has agreed with its business allies in the United States and South Korea to set up an investment consulting company, Morningstar Korea Ltd., in South Korea in July.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2000

All regional telecoms plan to invest in PNJ

Seven regional telecommunications carriers plan to invest in PNJ Communications, a Tokyo-based data communications services firm, bringing all 10 of the nation's regional carriers on board, industry sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2000

OECD to tell Japan to keep easy-money policy

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will recommend that Japan maintain its easy-credit policy and avoid fiscal tightening to strengthen its fragile economic recovery.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2000

Surveillance is unnecessary as cult poses no danger, Aum leader claims

Aum Shinrikyo chief Tatsuko Muraoka testified during the first hearing of a lawsuit filed against the Public Security Examination Commission that ongoing surveillance of the cult under the anti-Aum law is unnecessary as it no longer poses a threat to society.
EDITORIALS
Jun 15, 2000

No more empty economic promises

The forthcoming Lower House election will test the economic policies of political parties more severely than did previous general elections. The reason is obvious: While industrial restructuring and economic recovery are making only slow progress, the national debt burden has reached a staggering 650...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2000

Stable coalition key for economy, Kanzaki says

New Komeito will campaign for the Lower House election by promising a stable coalition government that will surely bring about a full-fledged economic recovery in Japan, said party leader Takenori Kanzaki.
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2000

MITI to help small firms access giants in Internet age

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry will create a council in July to give all-around support to small office/home office businesses, officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2000

Recognition of 'virtual' universities urged

Course credits and degrees provided by overseas Internet universities should be recognized in the same manner as academic qualifications obtained abroad, says a recommendation announced Wednesday by an advisory panel to the education minister.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2000

Friend of foundation head quizzed over radioactive mail

A man close to the chief of an Education Ministry foundation is being questioned in connection with the mailing of radioactive material to 10 government offices last week, police sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2000

Vision said key to campaign

It's all about the vision thing, or the lack of it, thinks Keio University economics professor Heizo Takenaka about the campaign for the Lower House election.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 14, 2000

Kyogen's hero is Everyman

KYOGEN COMPANION, by Don Kenny, with a brief history by Kazuo Toguchi. Tokyo: National Noh Theater, 1999. 308 pp. with b/w plates. 1,800 yen. Kyogen are short comic plays sometimes a part of, but more often sandwiched between, the longer and often tragic noh dramas. They are spoken in the vernacular...
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 14, 2000

Growing in the shadows and shady corners

Your condominium may have a north- or east-facing balcony, or the building next door may block out the sun for the best part of the day. Even if you are lucky enough to have your own garden, there will always be some corner that is shady. Finding plants that will thrive in these areas can be tricky,...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jun 13, 2000

Beyond the Buena Vista Social Club

Ever felt you missed out on an opportunity? When working as a talent scout for a record company in the U.K., I once stumbled upon U2 in the band's infancy. Somehow negotiations never got started and they were soon snapped up elsewhere. After that, in U2's words, I never did find what I was looking for....
COMMENTARY
Jun 13, 2000

Future rides on this election

The Japanese archipelago will be deafened by the din of election campaigning for the Lower House for about two weeks beginning today. Given the growing public distrust of politics, however, the ranks of voters who claim no party affiliation are swelling. Political parties have repeatedly embraced unprincipled...
COMMUNITY
Jun 11, 2000

Cybird flies big plans for mobile Net future

Kazutomo Robert Hori It came as a very pleasant surprise when an old friend rang from Osaka to tell me that her son's business had taken off like a rocket. The last time I saw Robert was at his wedding seven years ago -- a spectacular if crazy event held on top of a mountain in Hiroshima Prefecture....
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2000

Belief in land as ideal asset is fading fast

"Landholding is everything," the popular credo espoused by many Japanese firms, is losing its appeal as the business world shifts its attention to real earnings rather than latent real-estate profits, according to a fiscal 1999 government white paper on land released Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2000

0.5% '99 growth first rise atop minus line in two years

The economy grew 0.5 percent in fiscal 1999 from the year before, recovering from negative growth logged for the preceding two years but slightly falling short of the government target of 0.6 percent growth for fiscal 1999, the Economic Planning Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2000

Mori unveils IT aid plan to visiting ASEAN leaders

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has unveiled a new assistance program to promote the use of information technology in Southeast Asia as part of Japan's efforts to focus on the IT issue at the Okinawa Group of Eight summit, a Foreign Ministry official said.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 10, 2000

Moments of decision in old Manila

In celebration of the Independence Day of the Republic of the Philippines June 12, British photographer Peter Oxley is presenting an exhibit entitled "Just a Moment" June 12-16 at the City Club of Tokyo. The title is inspired by Henri Cartier-Bresson's advice that the key to taking a truthful photograph...
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jun 9, 2000

Twang with a twist strolls into Tokyo

The early days of country music are a catalog of demon yodelers, drunken banjo pickers and dreamy cowboy poets. It is difficult to find any hint of this raw beginning in country's current offerings. Nashville tends to look toward the Top 40 rather than its own twisted past for inspiration; the Dixie...
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2000

Asian leaders discuss future of the region at symposium

A symposium on the future of Asia got under way Thursday in Tokyo with prominent leaders from East and Southeast Asia participating in the discussions.
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2000

Mori lands in hot water again

Gaffe-prone Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori put his foot in his mouth again, plunging his Cabinet's popularity ratings to record lows just as Japan is gearing up for a June 25 general election.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake