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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...
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2000

Mori relieved at hostages' release, hopes for safe return

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Sunday he wishes a safe return to Japan for a group of Japanese tourists freed unharmed Saturday after a nearly nine-hour hijacking ordeal in Greece.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2000

Kato goes on the offensive as storm swirls around Mori

Koichi Kato, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, has stepped up his criticism of the embattled Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, saying that he has "no intention at all" of accepting a possible request from Mori to join his Cabinet.
SUMO
Nov 5, 2000

Big guns head for Kyushu tourney

This year's Kyushu Basho gets under way in Fukuoka today with all three yokozuna and all five ozeki ready to compete.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 5, 2000

Redefining to rescue Kyoto

KYOTO -- When people talk about traditional Kyoto culture, all the "a" verbs come out -- everyone appreciates it, everyone admires it, many adore it. So why is it disappearing so rapidly?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 5, 2000

Norman Tolman

A household name, not only in Japan, amongst print artists, painters and art collectors, Norman Tolman appreciates art in realms beyond his own strict specialties. Japanese architecture, pots and fabrics naturally fall within his orbit. He can rearrange the interiors of other people's homes to delight...
COMMENTARY
Nov 5, 2000

Mori administration reeling

The administration of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is in crisis, visibly weakened by the resignation of Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa over a drug-related extramarital affair.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 4, 2000

The good, the bad and the confusing

"No. 7 Needles" (1975) oil on canvas Like many of his paintings, Luc Tuymans is a man easily misunderstood. At first glance, the tall and hulking Belgian seems more like the president of a stodgy old European corporation than the internationally acclaimed avant-garde artist that he is. Tuymans, 42,...
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2000

Six receive honor from Emperor

Nobel laureate Hideki Shirakawa and five others were awarded this year's Order of Culture by the Emperor at the Imperial Palace on Culture Day on Friday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2000

Getting beyond gridlock

LONDON -- The recent rail crash near Hatfield, north of London, that resulted in the deaths of four people was caused by a cracked rail. The crash occurred almost a year after the even more serious crash near London's Paddington Station. These accidents have once again highlighted the need for higher...
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2000

Mori fumbles, Japan drifts

The government of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori faces another political crisis after a furor over a controversial electoral-reform bill died down with the Diet passage of the legislation. The law introduces a new voting system in the proportional-representation section of Upper House polls.
EDITORIALS
Nov 3, 2000

Amazon flows into Japan

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has declared that he wants to build an "e-Japan." He may find that his wish comes true sooner than he thinks. This week's launch of Amazon.com's Japanese Web site will push the electronic envelope as much as any government initiative. But the Amazon.com venture also highlights...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Mori, Khatami unite on trade

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and visiting Iranian President Mohammad Khatami have agreed to expand economic cooperation in a wide range of areas and to increase dialogue.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Khatami urges people of Japan, Iran to be closer

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Thursday urged the people of Japan and Iran to draw closer by overcoming differences in culture, language and mentality.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 3, 2000

Throwing out complication to embrace simple life

Reflecting the downbeat mood in Japan, book sales continue to be sluggish, especially of hardcover books and serious fiction.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2000

Secrecy and greed behind BSE tragedy

LONDON --I am stunned at the awfulness of being British at the moment. A report written by Lord Phillips into the BSE tragedy has just been published. Though it does not roar with horror or screech with condemnation, its quiet steady tone fills me with anger and horror at Britain's farming, veterinary...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2000

Behind the rush to Pyongyang

SEOUL -- Some journalists profess to know more than they ought to. While President Bill Clinton insists a decision regarding a possible visit to North Korea has not been taken, some media have already published details of the president's itinerary. According to one report, Clinton's two-day visit to...
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2000

Mori hails Khatami's efforts to reform, build new ties

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, in an informal meeting with visiting Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Wednesday morning, expressed support for Iran's domestic reform efforts and improved ties with the international community.
EDITORIALS
Nov 2, 2000

When the people rise up

It has been an extraordinary year for people power. Mass protests have overturned governments round the world, checked blatant abuses of power and offered hope that the 21st century may prove to be an era of genuine democracy. In each case, however, the government that was turned out had already ridden...
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2000

Khatami meets Kono in Tokyo

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami expressed his desire to expand bilateral ties with Japan in the areas of economics, politics and culture on Tuesday, the first day of his four-day visit.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2000

Russia's back window onto North Korea

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- In the Davydova neighborhood in the northern part of town, one apartment block after another has been under construction for years. Thus, there are always North Korean laborers around.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 1, 2000

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who has changed most of all?

When I look in the mirror each morning, I pretty much see what I expect . . .
EDITORIALS
Oct 31, 2000

A medical advance fails in its promise

Some desperately ill children in Japan are dying because the smaller organs they require for transplant surgery are unavailable here. When their families can afford it, children needing such operations must travel to the United States or other countries where the use of organs from brain-dead donors...
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 31, 2000

Japan edges Saudi Arabia to become Asian champion

BEIRUT -- Japan survived a hostile "away" crowd, an early penalty and a second-half barrage by Saudi Arabia on Sunday to win the Asian Cup final 1-0 on a neatly taken goal from Kyoto midfielder Shigeyoshi Mochizuki.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 31, 2000

Hard lessons Japan failed to learn

JAPAN'S FINANCIAL CRISIS AND ITS PARALLELS TO U.S. EXPERIENCE, edited by Ryoichi Mikitani and Adam S. Posen. Washington: Institute for International Economics, Special Report 13, Sept. 2000, 228 pp., $20. There's an old joke about a politician's plea for a one-handed economist, one who can't say, "but...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 31, 2000

Speechless, but never silent

JAPANESE BEYOND WORDS: How to Walk and Talk like a Native Speaker, by Andrew Horvat. Foreword by Jan Walls. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2000, 176 pp., $14.95. As Jan Walls says in his foreword to this instructive and entertaining book, Andrew Horvat provides "a new way of looking at language . ....

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