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JAPAN
Mar 17, 2001

Eight-year English program is first of its kind for children

OSAKA -- In a pioneering move, the city of Osakasayama in Osaka Prefecture will in April begin a program to teach English to children over the eight-year period from nursery school through elementary school.
COMMENTARY
Mar 16, 2001

Pointless summits as Mori clings to power

I have worked as a political journalist for over half a century. I started out covering Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida's Cabinet for a Japanese newspaper. As a rookie reporter, I befriended the late Shintaro Abe, who shared the same beat with me. Later he turned to politics when he became secretary to...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2001

Has cycle of peace begun?

NEW DELHI -- Sri Lanka's 18-year-old bloody ethnic crisis between Tamils demanding an independent homeland and the government has always been marked by hope. Even during some of the darkest days of the strife a little over a decade ago, there was always a glimmer of light. Then, New Delhi interfered...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2001

Rise in shares stems fears of rout

Tokyo share prices rebounded strongly toward the close of trading Thursday, shrugging off worries about a global stock market rout.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2001

Obituary: Mimpei Sugiura

Mimpei Sugiura, a scholar on Italian Renaissance literature, died of a stroke Wednesday evening at a hospital in the town of Tahara, Aichi Prefecture. He was 87.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2001

The choice is North Korea's

WASHINGTON -- The curtain has come down on the first act of the Bush administration's Asia policy, and there are far more questions than answers about U.S. policy after President Kim Dae Jung's visit to Washington. The media feasted on the mixed messages from a skeptical President George W. Bush and...
COMMUNITY
Mar 15, 2001

Queuing for the exclusive

Harajuku, on any given Saturday, is filled with shoppers. On the main streets, the shops see a steady stream of customers move freely through their doors. In the back streets, however, the clientele is made to wait. The young people queue up -- for the privilege of buying basic street clothing off near-empty...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 15, 2001

Soccer lottery: A tax to fund bureaucrats' whims

The worst thing about the new soccer lottery system may be its name. "Toto" is taken from the Italian word totocalcio, which is the name of a similar lottery that has been in place in Italy for more than 50 years.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2001

NEC plans plasma display venture

Leading electronics maker NEC Corp. and Thomson Multimedia SA of France said Wednesday they have agreed to a joint venture to produce plasma display panels.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 15, 2001

Let Tokyo Q be your guide

TOKYO 2001-2002: Annual Guide to the City, by the staff of Tokyo Q with Rick Kennedy. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2001, 160 pp., 130 b/w images, $9.95. Tokyo, the largest city in the world, cornucopia turned upside-down, has always required a guide book. Not only are there competing attractions,...
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2001

New envoy seeks rethink of Venezuela

The new Venezuelan ambassador to Tokyo on Tuesday called for Japan to show greater interest in his country, and in South America in general, in order to achieve closer economic and political ties.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

China warns Japan over towel curbs

A senior Chinese trade official on Tuesday said Japan should not take unilateral actions to curb towel imports from China.
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2001

EC chief urges greater telecom competitiveness

The visiting head of a European Commission delegation on telecommunications issues expressed dissatisfaction Tuesday over the results of a two-day meeting with the government in Tokyo and called on Japan to establish an independent regulator to oversee the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone group.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2001

Our dreams are made of this

Film critics often have a not-so-secret desire to get behind the camera themselves. Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and Peter Bogdanovich are among those who made the leap successfully, though Bogdanovich returned to writing after his directing career faltered in the mid-'70s. Even thumbs-up critic...
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2001

Obituary: Shoko Uemura

Noted Japanese-style painter Shoko Uemura died early Sunday morning of heart failure at a Kyoto hospital, one of his family members said Monday. He was 98.
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2001

'Sakura' tree seedlings to be planted along Nile's banks

The Japan-Egypt Association plans to plant 1,200 "sakura" cherry blossom seedlings on the banks of the river Nile in Egypt later this month as a gesture of friendship between the two countries.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 11, 2001

Consadole stuns Cerezo in opener

Newly promoted J. League first-division side Consadole Sapporo made a dream start to its new life in the top flight Saturday with a priceless 2-1 away win at Cerezo Osaka on the opening day of the 2001 season.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2001

History will affirm Kim's heroism, vision

SEOUL -- A classical drama consists of five acts. Usually, the key part occurs in the third act. In this regard, the North Korea policy of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung may have something in common with classical theater.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2001

Victims of Tokyo air raid recognized on anniversary

Amid growing concern over waning public knowledge of wartime tragedy, a memorial service to mark the 56th anniversary of the Great Tokyo Air Raid was held Saturday at a park in Tokyo's Sumida Ward.
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2001

Global equity markets slip

After starting the year on a positive note, world equity markets slid back into negative territory in February.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2001

SOFA changes mulled to calm Okinawa

Despite persistent demands from Okinawa Prefecture for sweeping revisions to the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, the central government is hoping the most recent surge in anti-American sentiment can be appeased by improvements in the implementation of the pact.
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2001

Towel import curbs opposed

A group of seven Japanese towel makers operating factories in China filed a petition with the government on Friday, urging it not to invoke import restriction measures against towel imports from China.
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2001

Wary in Washington

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung is in Washington this week to coordinate his views with those of U.S. President George W. Bush. There is concern in Seoul that the new administration is not as firmly behind Mr. Kim as was President Bill Clinton. Initial reports from their meetings suggest the fears...

Longform

The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.
The high cost of letting Japan's condos crumble