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EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 1999

A token gesture ...

Here is an apt symbol for our era. At a news conference in New York earlier this month -- actually, on the very day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly bested the 10,000 mark for the first time -- the U.S. toy and game maker Hasbro Inc. announced the results of a campaign to choose a new token...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1999

HLAC, RCB merger creates powerful collection agency

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1999

New equal opportunity law called a start

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Mar 30, 1999

Prodi steps into the breach

Wasting no time, the leaders of the 15 members of the European Union last week nominated former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to be the new president of the European Commission. Mr. Prodi replaces Mr. Jacques San ter, who resigned March 15 along with the 19 other commission ers after an independent...
JAPAN
Mar 30, 1999

Unemployment hits record high of 4.6%

The nation's unemployment rate hit a record high of 4.6 percent in February, rising 0.2 percentage point higher than the rate recorded the previous month, the Management and Coordination Agency said on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 1999

Child sex laws to be tightened

A group of lawmakers is stepping beyond party lines to submit a bill to the House of Councilors that will toughen laws against the sexual exploitation of minors at home and abroad.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 1999

Kakizawa's goals hinge on unaffiliated voters

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 29, 1999

Teacher faces charges of attempted murder

A 42-year-old Tokyo schoolteacher who allegedly planted a handmade bomb in a high school in Tokyo's Minato Ward earlier this month was served a fresh arrest warrant Monday on charges of attempted murder and violation of the explosives control law, police sources said.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Daihatsu told to fix faulty cars promptly

Daihatsu Motor Co. received a Transport Ministry recommendation Friday to take prompt action on defective cars that should have been subject to a recall.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Japan says it 'understands' use of force

Japan "understands" the use of force NATO undertook against Yugoslavia to prevent a further humanitarian catastrophe, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Thursday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Mar 25, 1999

Cornucopia's savory memories

Spring is here, hard on the heels of Foodex '99, the food-and-beverage spectacular I mentioned two weeks ago during its four-day run at Makuhari Messe.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Tokorozawa produce not a health threat: ministries

The level of dioxin in produce grown in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, is not substantially above the national average and does not pose any threat to human health, according to a set of emergency government studies released Thursday.
COMMUNITY / CROSSING CULTURES
Mar 25, 1999

Glacial change hard for people more used to avalanche speed

Japan can't change. Change in Japan is glacial. Japanese are stuck in their ways. In Japan, disappointment is what you can expect if you expect change.
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 1999

Fingerprints on cyberspace

Now, more than ever before, knowledge is power. The information society puts such a premium on sorting the wheat from the chaff, that relevant facts -- real knowledge -- are invaluable. There is a less recognized corollary of that truism: Data represent profit. Virtual mountains of data are accumulating...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Local Elections: Megaprojects now nightmare to explain

Staff writer
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 24, 1999

Degrees of separation

You could say they have an affliction. You've probably bumped into them on the street. That is, they bump into you, because they often walk with their eyes fixated on their task, oblivious to any obstacles in their path. You've definitely overheard them chatting on trains, in coffee shops, perhaps even...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 24, 1999

Martin and the king of Siam

A RESOUNDING FAILURE: Martin and the French in Siam, 1672-1693, by Michael Smithies. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1998, 156 pp., 395 baht. Of the many mercantile adventures that marked European exploitations of Asia, one of the most entertaining is that of the French in Siam. This is a well-known...
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 1999

A testing summit for the EU

PARIS -- In many respects, the main body of the European Union is the European Commission, the mass resignation of which was announced last week. The commission's president and its 19 other members are appointed for five years by the European Council, which consists of the heads of state or of government...
LIFE / Travel
Mar 24, 1999

Adventures in suspended reality

Porto Europa, just outside of Wakayama City, is without doubt a playful place to visit and offers a wide range of entertainment, action rides, cuisines and new technology games, but don't expect it to duplicate your last sojourn overseas.
COMMENTARY
Mar 23, 1999

Strategies for a secure Japan

Diet has finally begun debating the enabling bills for the Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines, almost a year after the government sent them to the legislature last April. How the debate will develop in the weeks ahead has an important bearing on the security environment of Asia, including the...
JAPAN
Mar 22, 1999

Roadbed cave-in delays Chuo Line runs

Some 82 trains running on the JR Chuo Line were canceled Monday morning because the roadbed on a section running through the Namikicho area of Hachioji, western Tokyo, was found to have fallen away, according to East Japan Railway Co.
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 1999

Much ado about doing nothing

In tiny news items inspiring ideas may lurk. Last week, for example, it was reported in the U.S. state of Minnesota that the wife of Gov. Jesse ("The Body") Ventura was ill and had been told by her doctor "to do nothing for a month." The nature of Ms. Ventura's illness was not disclosed, although the...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 1999

Learning on the job can be a good idea

The value of education has become a cliche. But few people seem to realize that school-based education can often prove a liability. Consider the views of Ram Mohan, a young farmer from the Indian state of Rajasthan, who refused to go to school. "My father wanted me to go," he said, "but I didn't. My...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 1999

U.S. apologists for China disregard reality

"China apologists," mainly representing newspapers and academic haunts in Los Angeles, New York and Boston, claim that the rest of us are beating up on China merely because Beijing is into heavy-duty spying on the United States, stealing high-tech secrets and deploying enough missiles opposite Taiwan...
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1999

Kobe airport foes submit petitions

KOBE -- A group of Kobe citizens opposed to the construction of Kobe airport presented two petitions to two government agencies in Tokyo, urging that the city's request to reclaim land for the project not be approved.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1999

Enterprise Spirit: New camera sells on nostalgia

27th in an occasional series
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1999

Osaka Web site lists bilingual medical info

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Government opened a bilingual medical information Web site for foreigners Friday so they can find hospitals or clinics where they can receive medical treatment in their native language.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1999

Diet begins full debate on defense cooperation bills

Full debate kicked off Thursday on bills covering updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines with Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi stressing that the legislation will contribute to Japan's peace and security.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1999

Draft stresses shift to practical language classes

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 1999

Beleaguered China stays on course

China was caught up last year in a convergence of slower growth, rising unemployment and the bankruptcies of some regional financial institutions. It chose to fight these dangerous trends by sharply expanding infrastructure investment and financial support to deficit-ridden state-owned enterprises long...

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