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Jan 9, 2001

Kunimi captures high school crown

Japan under-19 international Yoshito Okubo scored twice Monday as Kunimi of Nagasaki Prefecture beat Shiga's Kusatsu Higashi 3-0 in the final to win its fourth national high school soccer championship.
EDITORIALS
Jan 7, 2001

Road safety requires enforcement

Rational observers of the chaotic traffic conditions on Japan's crowded highways and busy urban areas long ago concluded that improvements were overdue. So the surprise yearend announcement by the National Police Agency that it is proposing stricter penalties for drunken driving, hit-and-run accidents,...
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2001

Ford to get new batteries from Sanyo

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. will exclusively supply battery systems for Ford Motor Co.'s first hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), which will appear on roads in 2003, the two firms announced Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2001

For freedom to work, we need fairness

Globalization is breaking down frontiers around the world. For the first time in centuries, freedom is a reality for most people in most countries. But freedom -- both political and economic -- can only serve all citizens when exercised responsibly and fairly. Disappearing borders for business, in an...
LIFE / Travel
Jan 3, 2001

Japan in miniature: Edo Period stroll gardens were the original amusement parks

The Japanese tourist, unlike the overseas visitor, may be only mildly astonished to find himself transported to the upper part of a castle donjon by means of a newly installed elevator. Convenience, the Western visitor notes with some bemusement, does not seem to detract from the enjoyment, let alone...
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2001

State-backed Internet expo kicks off

The government-sponsored virtual Internet exposition, an event for the new millennium, went online Sunday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 1, 2001

Life? Martian meteorite keeps its cool

"X-Files," eat your heart out. Supporters of the theory that life on Earth was "seeded" by organisms from deep space got a boost recently, as analysis of the famous Martian meteorite ALH84001 indicated that it was transferred from Mars to Earth without being heated above 40 degrees Celsius. This relatively...
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2000

BSC to take on 'Voice of the Andes'

The newly established digital radio broadcasting station BSC will take over the broadcasting of "Voice of the Andes" after the Ecuador-based Japanese-language radio service goes off air today.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2000

Cabinet approves 2001 budget

The Cabinet on Sunday approved an 82.65 trillion yen general-account budget for fiscal 2001 that is aimed at ensuring the nation's recovery from the prolonged economic slump.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2000

Flexibility the key to success of alliance

Foreign policy focuses on change. New leaders, new technologies, new conditions -- all create the need for new policies. Experts are always planning for contingencies -- the crisis to come -- and when they hit it's usually because governments failed to recognize the new realities that created them. ...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 24, 2000

Rene Lalique: the magic of design

"Siren and Frogs" carafe by Rene Lalique Some of the best window shopping this Christmas season is being enjoyed at an exhibition of jewelry and glassware by Rene Lalique (1860-1945), currently on display at Tokyo's most elegant art gallery, the Teien. Held in the Art Deco building that was once the...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 23, 2000

Freshly packaged desires on sale at Parco's "Point of Purchase"

Visually speaking, "Point of Purchase" has to be the busiest art exhibition in Tokyo at the moment. The pageantry of graffiti tags-cum-advertising signs is a lot of things: a throwback to yesterday's dorky company logos; a reminder that advertising is far more insidious these days; and a warning that...
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Dec 22, 2000

The Captain reaches down deep into his inner funk

Funk usually brings to mind a heaving beat, thick, slapping bass lines and fashions straight out of "Shaft."
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2000

Taking it easy on tax reform

A basic agreement reached earlier this month by the three ruling parties on fiscal 2001 tax code changes is a case of being unable to see the forest for the trees. Their myopia distorts an overall tax review and undermines the basic principles of taxation: fairness, neutrality and simplicity.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2000

Members of new economic advisory panel named

The government on Tuesday unveiled the lineup of a soon-to-be-launched advisory panel that is hoped to play a key role in setting the direction of economic and fiscal policies.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Dec 20, 2000

Glaciers prove ecological succession

That powerful forces have shaped the world we live in is somehow easier to grasp when one lives in a country wracked by earthquakes, dotted with calderas and pocked with active volcanoes.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2000

Violent movie opens despite protest

A controversial Japanese movie that features a series of fights to the death between junior high school students opened Saturday at cinemas nationwide.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2000

Tokyo to open parks and zoos for New Year's holiday season

The New Year's holiday season is one of the rare occasions when the hustle and bustle of Tokyo comes to a temporary halt as dwellers of the metropolis leave in droves.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2000

25 trillion yen budgeted for SDF expenditures

The government's Security Council on Friday approved a new five-year procurement plan for the Self-Defense Forces totaling 25.16 trillion yen.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 16, 2000

Letting the genie of art out of its bottle

It was 112 years ago when Vincent van Gogh sat down to paint his bedroom in the famous yellow house at Arles. After a few hours of frantic work, the three-dimensional room had been transformed into a two-dimensional masterpiece.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2000

LDP, partners hope tax relief fires economy

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partners reached a basic agreement Wednesday on a final draft of their annual tax code revisions for fiscal 2001 that features steps to support the nation's fragile economic recovery through tax breaks totaling some 177 billion yen.
LIFE / Digital
Dec 13, 2000

Deck the halls with boughs of games

Video games used to be the No. 1 gift request of preteen boys alone, but not anymore. With the release of sophisticated hardware such as Sony's PlayStation 2 console, the audience for games has expanded to include older gamers, both male and female.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 13, 2000

Television as a pillar of the state

BROADCASTING POLITICS IN JAPAN: NHK and Television News, by Ellis Krauss. Cornell University Press, 2000, 278 pp., $35 (cloth). Many of us know NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai) for its film documentaries, its cultural programs -- stunning or plodding, depending on your perspective -- or its Sunday morning singalongs....
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Dec 13, 2000

Techno and tea

www.thump-radio.com If Napster is a community of listeners, Thump Radio is a legal-hassle-free community of clubbers, artists and labels, all neatly pulled together by streaming audio shared by all. Lots of opportunities to check out new DJs or established DJs' new stuff, then tell your friends about...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Dec 13, 2000

Next stop Wirelessland

A funny thing happened on the way to work . .
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Dec 12, 2000

The best of the year that was

The concert scene in Japan tends to slow down a bit in the winter months, so this week I'll present my pick of this year's Japanese releases, and in my next column, releases from around the world.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Auto-parts makers report improved earnings in first half

Japanese auto-parts makers registered improved earnings in the first half of fiscal 2000 as their sales grew both at home and abroad, the Japan Auto-Parts Industries Association said in a report released Thursday.
COMMUNITY
Dec 7, 2000

Cosmic wonders in Minami Aoyama

How about closing the century with a spectacular astronomical adventure? Special planetarium shows using cutting-edge technology will be held Dec. 13-30 at Spiral Garden, Minami Aoyama.

Longform

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