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BUSINESS
Dec 2, 2000

Jobless rate unchanged at 4.7%

Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 4.7 percent in October, unchanged from September, although the number of jobholders increased for the first time in 33 months from a year earlier, the Management and Coordination Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Court rejects former sex slave's plea

The Tokyo Court upheld a lower court ruling on Thursday and rejected a South Korean woman's demand for an apology and 12 million yen in damages from the Japanese government for the suffering she endured as a wartime "comfort woman."
COMMUNITY
Nov 30, 2000

1,000 yen shops offer customers discount-shopping thrills

In response to the continuing economic slump, 100 yen shops have popped up everywhere in the last few years, but their popularity may soon be overshadowed by the emergence of 1,000 yen shops.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 25, 2000

Jury is back on Mashiko exhibition

Mashiko is a name that many of you are familiar with, I'm sure. It is the name of a town in Tochigi Prefecture, as well as an internationally recognized pottery style made famous by the late Shoji Hamada. Today hundreds of potters reside there, and many come from around the world to study or pay their...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 20, 2000

No, really: morning sickness benefits mothers, babies alike

Most women would find it hard to believe that morning sickness -- vomiting and nausea during pregnancy -- is a good thing, but the evidence is growing that it helps protect the mother and her baby.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Nov 9, 2000

Tummy-warming marc and brandy

Today is the 11th anniversary of the big "Berlin Wall Bash," so let's clink and drink to that momentous event with, if you will, a white wine. I propose something German -- a riesling from Nierstein, a bone-dry Wurzberg Muller-Thurgau, or a sekt from Adolf Schmitt near Trier (excellent also with sushi)....
EDITORIALS
Nov 7, 2000

Falling through the cracks

Twenty-five million people around the world have been forced to leave their homes as a result of conflict or natural disasters. Yet as a result of a legal quirk, these individuals -- unlike the 13 million others whose flight takes them across international boundaries -- have no special status and enjoy...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 7, 2000

No chippie off the old block

WOODBLOCK KUCHI-E PRINTS: Reflections of Meiji Culture, by Helen Merrit and Nanako Yamada. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2000, 284 pp., profusely illustrated, $65. That category of woodblock print called the "kuchi-e" has not been widely investigated. In the large bibliography that concludes...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2000

China refuses to let history be

The recent visit to Japan by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has certainly created a favorable impression among the Japanese -- a contrast with Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit two years ago -- but it has had no significant politi cal impact on public opinion in this country.
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2000

Babes in Gizmoland

It's almost that time of year again. The cold is closing in, the lights are coming on earlier, the leaves are turning and everywhere there are intimations of jingling. Even as early as November you can hear it: the jingle of bells, the jingle of cash registers, and the real or metaphoric jingle of coins...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2000

West Papua: Indonesia's next East Timor?

LONDON -- The biggest single taxpayer in Indonesia is the U.S. firm Freeport McMoran. The money comes mostly from its Grasberg mine in the mountains of West Papua, which sits on the largest gold deposit in the world. That is why Jakarta, which used every dirty trick in the book to hang onto East Timor...
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2000

Glamour in a good cause

There was a gathering at the United Nations in New York last Monday that nobody paid much attention to. The World Series and a high-wattage Senate race were distracting New Yorkers. A murderous flareup in the Middle East and a surreal encounter in Pyongyang were distracting the rest of the world.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2000

Senior officials disciplined over MSDF spy affair

The Defense Agency announced disciplinary measures Friday against 52 senior agency officials over the spy scandal involving Shigehiro Hagisaki, a Maritime Self-Defense Force officer arrested last month for allegedly leaking secret military documents to a Russian Embassy official.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 26, 2000

ASEM fails to live up to hype

The third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Seoul last weekend was long on ceremony and performance, but short on substance. While impeccably hosted by South Korea and held in a glittering new conference center in southern Seoul, the conference lacked "soul." For all the talk of Partnership for Shared...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 15, 2000

Former Carp farmhand making impact with Mets

It's always nice to see a player from Japan make it in the major leagues, whether it be a Japanese pitcher such as Hideo Nomo or Kazuhiro Sasaki, or a foreigner such as Matt Stairs, Rob Ducey or Lee Stevens getting another shot at the Bigs after spending time in the Central or Pacific Leagues in Dai...
COMMUNITY
Oct 12, 2000

Till bedtime do us part

At midnight every night, Shoko Ohara, a 39-year-old construction company employee, drives to the station to pick up her hard-working husband Takeshi, an engineer. The two chat during the 10-minute ride to their suburban home, and while Takeshi takes a bath, Shoko warms up his dinner in the kitchen. She...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 4, 2000

Many life cycles under the moon

A fluttering of powdery wings, silent in the night, and the moon moth came, drawn to the proverbial candle flame. Its guidance system, fine-tuned over millions of years of evolution to a satellite system predating our GPS systems by billions of years, was overwhelmed and confused by a modern source of...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 2000

Japan's nonprofits carve out a space of their own

When the Nature Conservancy's Lori Forman addressed the College Women's Association of Japan at a luncheon earlier this year, the topic was supposed to be nongovernmental organizations in Japan. But instead of providing a nuanced description of Japan's not-for-profit movement, Forman seemed more interested...
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2000

Electronics makers see huge increase in output

Japan's biggest electronics industry body projected on Monday that the combined output of member makers will amount to 25.69 trillion yen in 2000, the second-largest output on record.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 24, 2000

The powerful influence of Japan

Western artists of the mid-19th century were both entranced and distracted by their turbulent times. Many sought fresh ways to see the world around them, "savoir voir" as distinct from "savoir faire."
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2000

EPA leaves assessment of economy unchanged

The Economic Planning Agency on Thursday left intact for the third straight month its view that the economy is gradually moving toward a self-sustaining recovery.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Sep 15, 2000

Pixies' legacy a mixed influence in Japan

If commercial success were a measure of a band's future influence than Rush and Peaches & Herb would be the prevailing inspirations for pop music today.
COMMUNITY
Sep 14, 2000

Part-timers reshaping Japan's work ethic

Yoshinori Ogawa, 27, is a bassist in the rock band Dusty Rose. He considers himself a professional musician, but like many other would-be musicians or thespians, he has not yet reached the point where he can support himself on his music alone.
OLYMPICS
Sep 13, 2000

What's new in Sydney? How about taekwondo, triathlon and keirin

A total of 300 gold medals will be up for grabs in Sydney as athletes from over 30 different sports take to the various arenas, stadiums, diamonds, pools, lakes -- even beaches -- that will play host to Olympic events at the 2000 Summer Games.
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Sep 7, 2000

Tattoos: painful to acquire, but even harder to remove

More and more people are getting tattoos, so perhaps it is not surprising that more and more people are getting tattoos removed.
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2000

Auto sales up 4.1% in August

Domestic sales of cars, trucks and buses -- but excluding minivehicles with engine displacements smaller than 660cc -- rose 4.1 percent year-on-year in August to 243,088 units, the first increase in two months, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Six held for Net fraud since new law enacted

The National Police Agency said Thursday police in Japan have arrested six people on suspicion of Internet fraud since a new law that bans unlawful access to the global online network came into force six months ago.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?