Search - 2000

 
 
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 19, 2000

Wowed by the Lao and Siam

A DIPLOMAT IN SIAM, by Ernest Satow. Introduced and edited by Nigel Brailey. Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2000, 206 pp., with maps and line drawings, $23. In the spring of 1886, Ernest Satow wrote to his friend W.G. Aston in Japan that his recent journey to the Lao states had been "on the whole a pleasant...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 19, 2000

Ordinary life made transcendent

EVENING CLOUDS: A Novel, by Junzo Shono, translated by Wayne P. Lammers. Stone Bridge Press, 2000, 222 pp., $12.95. I remember being startled when I read Wayne Lammers' translation for the first time. That was when, back in 1985, I was reading for review the two-volume "Showa Anthology," a collection...
BUSINESS
Dec 18, 2000

Popularity polls belie Mori's 'reform plans'

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori launched his new Cabinet on Dec. 5, reshuffling his team to prepare for the reorganization of government ministries and agencies in January.
COMMENTARY
Dec 18, 2000

Bush's role on the Korean Peninsula

HONOLULU -- South Koreans are openly nervous about what the election of George W. Bush portends for the Korean peace process. Many also seem privately hopeful that the incoming president might, as one security analyst put it, "save us from ourselves."
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2000

LDP moves step closer to cutting China's ODA

The Liberal Democratic Party's top foreign policy planners approved a panel report Friday proposing that Japan's official development assistance to China should be reduced in the light of the domestic economic situation.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 16, 2000

Op-ting out of the conventional frame

"Yellow-Green Spiral" by Jun Fujita, 2000, acrylic on board Op Art, pioneered by Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely in the '60s, creates the impression of swirling movement and tricks the eye into perceiving three dimensions. Optical discrepancy is achieved by placing the geometric shapes precisely onthe...
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2000

Nissan now switching focus to domestic competitiveness

Looking back on a year in which Nissan Motor Co. appears to have finally stemmed its downward slide, President Carlos Ghosn said that regaining competitiveness in the domestic market will be the automaker's priority for the coming year.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2000

Bankruptcies rise 22.7%, but liabilities up 200%

The number of corporate bankruptcies in November rose 22.7 percent from a year earlier to 1,683 for the 13th straight monthly increase, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2000

Suspensions for school violence rise

Eighty-four students were suspended from publicly run junior high schools for violence in the 1999 school year to March 31, 2000, the Education Ministry said Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 14, 2000

Fighters re-sign three foreigners

The Nippon Ham Fighters have re-signed sluggers Sherman Obando, Nigel Wilson and southpaw Kevin Ohme at baseball's winter meetings in Dallas, officials of the Pacific League club said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2000

Researchers develop cancer-promoting agent

A Japanese research team has succeeded in developing an efficient cancer-promoting agent and will announce its findings at an international conference in Honolulu that starts Thursday, according to a member of the group.
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2000

NEC, Toshiba to tackle space market together

NEC Corp. and Toshiba Corp. announced Wednesday that they have agreed to integrate their space business operations by establishing a joint venture in April in an effort to boost their presence in the global aerospace market.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2000

1,549 people died in fires in first nine months of 2000

A total of 1,549 people died in fires in Japan in the first nine months of the year, one less than during the same period last year, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2000

Growth forecast; correction to run its course

The higher they go, the farther they'll fall.
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2000

Isuzu Motors names Ida as new president

Isuzu Motors Ltd. said Tuesday it will appoint Yoshinori Ida, 57, as its new president and chief operating officer, effective Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2000

Japan considering 3% cut in aid to developing nations

The government and the ruling coalition are considering a reduction of roughly 3 percent in Japan's official development assistance to developing countries for fiscal 2001, sources involved in ODA revision talks said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 13, 2000

Okinawa's Ota makes a case for redress

ESSAYS ON OKINAWA PROBLEMS, by Masahide Ota. Gushikawa City, Okinawa: Yui Shuppan Co., 2000, 302 pp., 1,600 yen (paper). Okinawa's history is essentially that of a poor ethnic group at Japan's southern extremity. The island has been continually exploited and abused for the interest and convenience of...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 13, 2000

The willow world stripped bare

GEISHA: The Secret History of a Vanishing World, by Lesley Downer. London: Headline Books, 2000, 370 pp., 20 British pounds. A common question asked about geisha is: Do they or don't they? Their attraction seems balanced between artistic prowess and sex appeal, but just how often is the latter properly...
CULTURE / Books
Dec 13, 2000

Book bites

MANGEKYO/KALEIDOSCOPE: Modern Senryu with English Versions, translated by Okada Hideo and Adrian Pinnington, boxed cards, XYLO Co. Ltd., 2000, 3,150 yen (+200 yen postage). This is a most unusual and attractive publication, consisting of four dozen short poems printed in Japanese on separate cards, with...
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....
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2000

Fujimori's citizenship about to be delivered

The government has confirmed that deposed Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who is currently staying in Japan, has Japanese citizenship, government sources said Monday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 10, 2000

Japanese players strike: believe it when you see it

A number of articles appeared in the press this past week, leading us to think there may be a players strike on the horizon in Japan pro baseball. To my thinking, however, a work stoppage by the players here is about as unlikely as a no-hitter being pitched on opening day or Yomiuri selling the Giants....
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

Coalition group urges ODA paring

A study group set up by the ruling coalition agreed Friday on the need to reduce the amount of Japan's official development assistance to developing countries in the fiscal 2001 budget, members of the group said.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2000

Environment Agency rises a rank

In less than a month, the Environment Agency will -- at least in theory -- get its hands on a bigger piece of the administrative pie.
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

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.

Longform

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