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EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2000

Budget does Japan a disservice

The Finance Ministry's budget for fiscal 2001, which was announced last week, falls far short of expectations, particularly because it does not lay out a road map for fiscal reform. It seems as if the ministry is marking time along with the stagnant economy. Critical issues, such as spending cuts, deficit...
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2000

Demise of IT bubble compares with '80s Japan

Signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy are growing, and the most symbolic of them is the decline of the technology-laden Nasdaq index. The Nasdaq composite index, which stood at 3,700 points at the end of last year, shot up into the 5,000 range in May. But its plunge has also been quick, and it recently...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2000

'Open source' forums search for new models in post-IT era

KYOTO -- "Open source," a now familiar term on the Internet, originates from a method of developing computer software that has enabled the creation and continuous improvement of the successful Linux system.
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."
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Dec 20, 2000

Real democracy, anyone?

Have we learned our lesson in democracy? God forbid anyone should ever weasel out of voting again with the claim that their ballot doesn't count, that it doesn't make a difference. There is almost no way the margin in the U.S. vote could have been narrower, and with the divisions elsewhere in the country,...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 19, 2000

K-beat knocking on Japan doors

Within moments of taking the stage of the Pasha Club in the downtown Tokyo district of Nishi-Azabu, Drunken Tiger, a hip-hop duo from South Korea, had the trendy club-goers dancing frantically to its beat-heavy sound.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2000

Words in their best order

Whereas this editorial leader is at least in part calculated to obfuscate momentous contemporary issues, the better to emerge astonishingly prescient after the fact, it will deliberately adopt a stance of maximum evenhandedness, indeed obliquity, and trust an indefatigable readership to plumb, if not...
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2000

Efforts afoot to boost foreign students' career opportunities

KOBE -- In an ongoing effort to forge stronger ties between Japan and her home country of Myanmar, Kobe University graduate student Thin Aye Aye Ko has spent recent years working as a translator, interpreter and even tour guide.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2000

IT sectors lead machinery orders to 11th month of increase

Core machinery orders to Japanese manufacturers in October rose a seasonally adjusted 8.3 percent from the previous month to 1.088 trillion yen on the back of brisk demand from information technology-related sectors, the Economic Planning Agency said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2000

Mori again outlines his IT dreams

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori once again pledged Thursday to carry out drastic reforms of the nation's economy by supporting the development of information technology.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2000

Getting real on the Net

The Gallic gall. A French court has done the unthinkable. It has ruled that the French government has jurisdiction over cyberspace, or at least that part of the digital universe that overlaps with its physical borders.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2000

2002 World Cup: Soccer without fear?

BRUSSELS -- The first world cup of the new millennium is to be staged in Japan and South Korea in the summer of 2002. Both countries want to use this billion-dollar sporting showpiece as a global shop window allowing those watching, both in the stadiums and on TV, to see the real Japan and the real South...
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

Public-sector efficiency plan OK'd

The Cabinet on Friday approved an action plan to streamline and increase efficiency in the public sector and promote deregulation for implementation through 2005 following the reorganization in January of central government ministries and agencies, officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

UA accident laid to crew miscommunication

Poor communication between crew members triggered panic aboard a United Airlines jumbo jet involved in an accident in 1998 at Narita airport that injured 24 people, according to a Transport Ministry report released Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

Easier entry to Japan urged for participants in big events

An advisory panel to the Transport Ministry on Friday urged the government to introduce a "preclearance" system for customs, immigration and quarantine procedures for foreign participants in major international events, such as the planned soccer World Cup in 2002.
EDITORIALS
Dec 1, 2000

ASEAN eclipsed?

There is no rest for the weary. That is the lesson that Southeast Asian leaders must draw after their annual summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, held last week in Singapore. While their economies are -- for the most part -- recovering from the economic crisis of 1997-98, they...
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2000

Infected people unaware they are killers, AIDS activist says

1988, World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 has been observed as a time to display compassion, hope, solidarity and understanding about the deadly disease. This year's theme is "AIDS: Men Make a Difference." More than 70 percent of HIV infections worldwide occur through sex between men and women, with a further 10...
JAPAN / FREEDOM OF PRESS IN THE BALANCE
Nov 29, 2000

Media considering best way to handle public's loss of faith

An amendment in June to Japan's 54-year-old Canon of Journalism apparently reflects the sense of crisis within the nation's news organizations over the apparent growing public dissatisfaction with the industry.
JAPAN / FREEDOM OF PRESS IN THE BALANCE
Nov 28, 2000

Media 'self-discipline' lacking: politicians

It was like a kangaroo court when the House of Representatives Communications Committee in March 1999 grilled the president and chief news editor of Asahi National Broadcasting Network about the contents of a popular news show, said Taizo Fukudomea, who was on the committee.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 26, 2000

Barry Duell

Last year Barry Duell published a book that he wrote in Japanese. This year he is putting it out in English. Its title indicates its unusual content: "The Other Potato: Sweet Potato in the U.S.A." Duell said that when he was considering the book he found few sources of information. "The biggest source...
CULTURE / Art
Nov 24, 2000

Exhibit showcases U.K. sound design

"Sound Design: U.K. Music and Graphic Design," an event organized by the British Council, will present an overview of music industry design in Britain from the '60s to the present day.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2000

Transparency crucial to corporate survival

Most companies will face a crisis at one point, but it's not necessarily the crisis itself that will dictate that company's future, but rather how it is handled.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2000

APEC grapples with relevance

The recent summit meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum is proof of the value of low expectations. Growing concern about the group's relevance and doubts about its will to act lowered the bar for defining this year's meeting as a success. The final communique's call for a new round of...
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2000

Three nabbed for stock manipulation

Three investors in Chinese restaurant chain Totenko Co. were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly trying to manipulate the price of its shares by spreading unfounded news that it would be the target of a takeover bid.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2000

IT strategy bill clears first hurdle in the Diet

The House of Representatives approved a government-proposed bill Thursday to set forth a national strategy to cope with quick and radical socioeconomic structural changes driven by the global information technology revolution.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 9, 2000

More the merrier at Shinjuku's Zonbun

Shinjuku can be daunting, to say the least. Especially when you are in a group, looking for a place to hang and eat and drink. Where to begin looking can be as problematic as finding a place the whole group can fit. Add the prospect of everyone enjoying good sake, and you might as well throw in the o-shibori....
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2000

Fiber-optic network viewed as road to economic revival

Japan should create one of the world's most advanced information technology infrastructures in the next five years so that far more than 60 percent of the public will have Internet access by then, a government advisory panel said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2000

Tax evasion vs. official misbehavior

Globalization is widely seen as contributing to clear increases in economic growth. Yet many governments view this development as a poisoned chalice. Politicians and bureaucrats fear that eliminating exchange controls and removing barriers to capital flows will lead to extensive revenue losses from tax...

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go