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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 1, 2001

Let us now praise famous men's mothers

It's spring and time for the networks to start rolling out their latest batch of series.
COMMENTARY
Mar 30, 2001

Jockeying to replace Mori

Executives of the governing Liberal Democratic Party have reportedly decided to hold the party's presidential election around April 20, although Prime Minister and LDP President Yoshiro Mori claims he has never expressed his intention to resign. Mori and the LDP are totally irresponsible.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2001

Bar president says citizens should be involved in trials

The head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations said Thursday that opening the Japanese trial system to participation by citizens will be inevitable because society is moving toward civic authority.
EDITORIALS
Mar 30, 2001

Chiba sends a signal to the parties

Vernacular papers report that the governing Liberal Democratic Party will elect its new party president on April 22. The winner of that vote will become prime minister and will then launch his or her Cabinet on the following day. These reports are attributed to multiple -- but all unidentified -- sources...
COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2001

Understanding 'leadership' in Japan

An American scholar who recently proposed writing a book about leadership in Japan was told by his colleagues, "A book? You'll be lucky to find enough material to write a chapter, or more likely a newspaper article, on the subject!"
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2001

New global financial products require careful tax treatment

During my time as a Diet member, I often raised the importance of using the Advanced Ruling System.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2001

Musician turns cosmopolitan ideal on its head

Hideki Togi's definition of what makes a person truly cosmopolitan might appear somewhat anachronistic in light of the "borderless world" concept that has become popular today.
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 2001

Direct elections are not the cure

The view that the prime minister should be elected by popular vote is gaining ground. Ironically, it is Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori himself -- one of the most unpopular prime ministers in memory -- that is contributing to this groundswell of opinion. It is not just ordinary citizens, academics and business...
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2001

The long view on the Kurils

Can Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori stage a political comeback via his March 25 talks in Irkutsk with Russian President Vladimir Putin? Aides have hinted that he favors the "two-island" compromise solution to Japan's long-festering dispute with Russia over ownership of the so-called Northern Territories....
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2001

Book, CD prices to stay fixed

The Fair Trade Commission concluded Friday that the current fixed-price system for copyrighted items such as books, newspapers and CDs should continue.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 23, 2001

The Ichiro effect: What will star's departure mean for Japan baseball?

Much has been made over the past few months of former Orix BlueWave superstar Ichiro Suzuki leaving Japan and going to play for the Seattle Mariners. However, one aspect of Ichiro's big move has drawn little attention -- how will it affect Japanese baseball?
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2001

No winner in France's vote

PARIS -- A year before the 2002 general and presidential elections, the results of the municipal and local elections that took place the last two Sundays represent a major development in French politics. They will not ease the relationship between President Jacques Chirac and his likely rival next year,...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 20, 2001

Globalization does its work on Japan

GLOBALIZATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN, edited by J.S. Eades, Tom Gill and Harumi Befu. Trans Pacific Press, Melbourne, 2000. 295 pp., 3,250 yen (paper). The word "globalization" is used with increasing frequency these days. It is variously employed to describe the increasing degrees...
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2001

Mr. Sharon goes to work

After nearly a month of negotiations, Israel's new prime minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, has cobbled together his "unity Cabinet." It may represent a broad spectrum of political opinion, but it is unlikely to be united for long. Once Mr. Sharon gets down to resuming peace talks with the Palestinians -- his...
COMMUNITY
Mar 18, 2001

For top U.K. ceramics, no need to see Cornwall

Koichiro Isaka was traveling with his wife in the south of England when he first became aware of a ceramic tradition. Like many Japanese, he knew the name Bernard Leach, who studied with Shoji Hamada in the early 1900s as part of Japan's folkloric revivalist movement and helped establish Mashiko as a...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2001

Has cycle of peace begun?

NEW DELHI -- Sri Lanka's 18-year-old bloody ethnic crisis between Tamils demanding an independent homeland and the government has always been marked by hope. Even during some of the darkest days of the strife a little over a decade ago, there was always a glimmer of light. Then, New Delhi interfered...
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2001

Public should have role in court, Justice panel says

A Justice Ministry advisory panel contemplating wide-reaching changes to the country's judicial system agreed Tuesday that the authority citizens have in court procedures for criminal cases should equal that of judges.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2001

The anti-Buddhist fury in Afghanistan

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Indignation at the ongoing destructive fury of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia has been unanimous, with protests coming from the Muslim as well as the non-Muslim world. In fact, the recent destruction of the unique Buddhist monuments in Bamiyan prompts reflection on the huge...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2001

What women can do for the environment

The growing worldwide demand for resources is threatening the world's environmental health to an unprecedented extent. Unless new policies are set in place, this situation could have devastating implications for human develop- ment. Significant among the possible options are massive campaigns, both at...
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 9, 2001

Bad days are over, but J. League must change with the times

When the J. League was launched on May 13, 1993, it had 10 teams in a single-division format. Since then, the league has grown and now consists of 28 teams in two divisions.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 9, 2001

They might be giants -- or 10 players who should be

Still don't know who's got what to offer in the J. League? Here's a quick guide to some of the players who should pique your interest in the coming season.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Mar 5, 2001

Nanjing Massacre evidence twisted at historian's whim

A publisher asks me to make excerpts from Judge Radhabinod Pal's "dissentient judgment" and write an introduction to the selection. The Indian jurist Pal was one of 11 judges who sat on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (the Tokyo Trial). He found Japan not guilty, the only one to...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2001

South Korea's media and transparency

SEOUL -- As so often, one opinion stands against another: South Korea's opposition party has leveled an accusation against the government that by launching a tax investigation of the media it is in effect waging a war against the press. The government retorts that the tax investigation is a routine matter,...
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2001

Vote on Mori set for Monday

The opposition camp agreed Friday to jointly submit a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet on Monday morning, in the hope of securing the upper hand in the ongoing battle to remove the unpopular leader.
COMMENTARY
Mar 2, 2001

Mori's time is running out

There is an increasing likelihood that Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, lambasted at home and abroad as a symbol of political incompetence, will announce a decision sometime this month to step down to end the leadership crisis. This is hardly surprising, given Mori's abysmal performance since he was appointed...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2001

Fear, obsession hold back Japan-China ties

In recent years, Japan-China relations have been marked by almost incessant friction over issues ranging from historical questions to more mundane problems.
COMMUNITY
Mar 1, 2001

Spreading the word of Zen

They don't hold formal conferences or seek out media coverage of their more than 20 years of charitable work in Myanmar. Rather, members of the Asian Buddhist Association put their time into the project itself and traversing Japan drumming up interest among grassroots Buddhist groups, nongovernmental...

Longform

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