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JAPAN
May 31, 1999

Finance cool to Keidanren's extra budget call

Top Finance Ministry officials on Monday raised doubts over the need for a supplementary budget to help alleviate the recession during a meeting with the nation's most powerful business lobby.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 1999

Trade must extend to poorer countries

Prosperous countries in the North, such as the United States, can no longer rely on trade between developed countries led by Fortune 500 corporations alone. Trade must increase in developing countries and transitional economies if all are to benefit from a growing world economy. Policymakers and businesses...
EDITORIALS
May 29, 1999

Wiretapping is a two-edged tool

The threat to public safety posed by rising rates of organized crime requires new tools and techniques in the hands of the police. On that there is scant disagreement, except possibly among lawbreakers and potential lawbreakers themselves. It is not so clear, however, that the answer to growing public...
COMMENTARY
May 28, 1999

A step in the right direction

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi agreed with U.S. and South Korean officials in Tokyo Monday on the need to continue trilateral cooperation in their policies toward North Korea. It is highly significant that Obuchi's agreement with U.S. policy coordinator William Perry and South Korean Unification Minister...
JAPAN
May 28, 1999

Lower House panel passes wiretap bills, snubs opposition

The Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee ignored an opposition boycott and approved a package of controversial bills Friday evening that would allow law enforcement authorities to wiretap private communications during investigations into organized crime.
LIFE / Travel
May 27, 1999

Up, up and away in clear Saipan

A Japan Airlines Boeing 747 passed in front of me as I was taxiing to the runway in my rented Cessna 172. "Saipan Tower. 230. Request takeoff clearance," I said, trying to sound as if I had been doing this all my life.
JAPAN
May 27, 1999

Hotline to hear gripes on smoking

OSAKA -- Prior to World No-Smoking Day on Monday, a citizens' group here will open a one-day telephone hotline Saturday for people troubled by tobacco smoke.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
May 27, 1999

Old and new blended perfectly at Otani

A pebble's throw away from the Akasaka Mitsuke subway station, the Hotel New Otani (which happens to be in the midst of celebrating 35 years as one of Tokyo's premier hotels) might just offer the solution to savvy travelers' "been there, done that" blues.
JAPAN
May 26, 1999

Foley defends Yokota base in meeting with Ishihara

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Foley stressed the importance of the U.S. Yokota Air Base in a meeting with Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara Wednesday, saying the base is "an essential part of U.S. forces' operations in Japan" and "a major hub of our transportation and supply services in East Asia."
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
May 26, 1999

Privacy? Get over it

In one of those snide comments that only people worth hundreds of millions of dollars are capable of making with any credibility, Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, dismissed the whole privacy controversy with: "Get over it.
EDITORIALS
May 25, 1999

Security not served by vagueness

The controversial bills for implementing the Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines finally cleared the Upper House Monday with some key issues remaining unresolved or vague: at least they seem so to ordinary people. One such issue is the emergency condition that requires Japan to mobilize the Self-Defense...
JAPAN
May 25, 1999

Tokyo Telemessage seeks protection from creditors

Plagued by a plummeting number of subscribers and intense competition with cellular phone operators, Tokyo Telemessage Inc., a leading pager service, sought court protection from creditors' claims on its assets Tuesday, company officials said.
JAPAN
May 25, 1999

Some wary as pension plight casts 401(k) in rosy light

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 24, 1999

Diet enacts defense bills, but doubts on alliance linger

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 24, 1999

Obuchi, Perry go over Pyongyang policy

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Monday told William Perry, U.S. policy coordinator for North Korea, that Japan strongly supports the comprehensive approach to Pyongyang that Perry is putting together and expressed hope Perry's visit there this week will prove successful.
COMMUNITY
May 23, 1999

Osaka fashion school has French leg up

OSAKA -- Carine Zeppelini, a French fashion designer, did not want to return to France at the end of her contract because she enjoyed teaching at ESMOD Osaka, a branch of the famous Paris-based international school of fashion.
EDITORIALS
May 22, 1999

Red alert for the Loonies

There was gloomy news last week in the sphere of international politics -- so gloomy, in fact, that had it not been for Israel's spirited rejection of its most unhelpful prime minister ever, Benjamin ("Turn-the-clock-back Bibi") Netanyahu, monitors of social progress everywhere would now be inconsolable....
JAPAN
May 21, 1999

Indonesia reform assistance pledged

Visiting Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura reaffirmed their commitment Friday to assist democratic reforms in Indonesia by closely watching its general elections next month and a presidential election in November.
JAPAN
May 21, 1999

New runway to come up short; soccer deadline eyed

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 21, 1999

New bill aims for sexual equality

The Upper House voted unanimously Friday in favor of a government-proposed bill to create a society in which both men and women can participate equally.
JAPAN
May 20, 1999

Kawasaki pollution lawsuit settled by pledge to improve

One of Japan's largest pollution suits ended Thursday when about 400 Kawasaki residents signed an agreement to drop all claims, including for compensation, in exchange for a vow from the state and the Metropolitan Expressway Public Corp. to "seriously work" on improving air quality along highways.
EDITORIALS
May 20, 1999

Workers in the new Japan

The change of leadership last week at Nikkeiren, the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations, comes as Japan's worst post-World War II recession is pushing unemployment to an all-time high. It is only natural, therefore, that in his inaugural address, Chairman Hiroshi Okuda, president of Toyota Motor...
COMMENTARY
May 20, 1999

Ever optimistic Mr. Blair

LONDON -- There seem to be two unstoppable trends on the current British scene -- the unending rise in the London stock market and the still rising popularity of Tony Blair, the prime minister.
CULTURE / Art
May 20, 1999

Holland's top designer defies conformists

His comfortable tubs made reading in the bath fashionable again. His bold couches, like giant velvet butter-dishes, brought humor and flair to the living room. When he suggested yellow interiors make the home look sunny, the whole of Holland got out their paint brushes.
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 1999

Kosovo refugees need the world's help

Less than four months after the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a major human tragedy continues to unfold near the heart of Europe.
JAPAN
May 19, 1999

Seattle execs gauge economy, hit local third-sector projects

KOBE -- The Japanese economy is still at least two years away from recovering and there are some signs things are bottoming out. But local governments that continue to push third-sector projects mired in red ink and a lack of leadership remain major problems.
JAPAN
May 19, 1999

Peru requests loans totaling $300 million

Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori asked Japan on Wednesday to provide $300 million in untied loans via the Export-Import Bank of Japan to help his nation's ailing financial institutions combat the region's financial crisis.
JAPAN
May 19, 1999

Pollution sparks action to halt Universal Japan

OSAKA -- Three people living near the construction site of the Universal Studios Japan theme park in Konohana Ward here filed a petition Wednesday with the Osaka District Court, seeking a court order against USJ Co. and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. to suspend the ongoing project.
JAPAN
May 19, 1999

Ramsar signatories aim to extend treaty's scope

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 19, 1999

Once more, Chiang Mai

I had a mission in Chiang Mai. Many years ago I bought a reclining black lacquer Burmese Buddha there. It had been gilded but much of the gold had been worn off, probably by the hands of the faithful seeking some special blessing. It has a remarkable face. It changes expression as the viewer moves even...

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan