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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 29, 2000

Marriage guide for men begs the question, 'Et tu, Brutus?'

In the cultural wars secular liberalism continues its slow, laborious march toward victory (two steps forward, one step back), but one bastion of male-centered tradition remains inviolate: the marriage proposal. Men do the asking, and women wait for them to ask. The vector indicated by this dynamic mimics...
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Jun 28, 2000

Star cafe keeps the customers beaming

Catwoman is back. This time, though, she isn't wearing a black spandex body suit. No mask, no whip and no sexy purr in her voice. In fact, at 67, she's not quite as lithe as she used to be.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jun 24, 2000

An unknown craftsman from Mashiko

Many of you are familiar with the name and works of Shoji Hamada (1894-1977), arguably the most widely famed of all Japanese potters. When he settled in the backwater potting town of Mashiko, Tochigi Prefecture, in Taisho 13 (1924), no one imagined that he would turn the conservative potters' world upside...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2000

Thailand refuses to face its bloody past

BANGKOK -- The Thai Ministry of Defense recently released a 605-page report of a team that investigated a May 1992 uprising in which soldiers shot dead dozens of prodemocracy demonstrators. To people abroad, the news headlines may make it appear as if Thailand finally is coming to terms with political...
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2000

Expansion of whale sanctuary proposed

Australia and New Zealand have proposed that the International Whaling Commission designate a wide area of water between Australia and Chile as a whale sanctuary, Japanese Fisheries Agency sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 19, 2000

Defining issues for Japan

The June 25 Lower House election will be critical for Japan, since it will mark the first step in charting the nation's course for the 21st century. The most important campaign issue is the makeup of the next government. These alternatives are possible: the existing tripartite coalition of the Liberal...
COMMUNITY
Jun 18, 2000

So, uh, what century did you say this is?

Whisper it softly but these are bad times we live in, literally.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 14, 2000

How Japan's JET program got off the ground

IMPORTING DIVERSITY: Inside Japan's JET Program, by David L. McConnell. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000, 328 pp. (paper). Stung by international criticism that Japan was too insular, the government decided in August of 1987 to initiate "one of the largest educational programs in the...
CULTURE / Music
Jun 10, 2000

A thick Kyoto sound, with all the right elements

"Thick," "intense," "heavy." These are the words people use to describe the new "Kyoto sound." The Kyoto band Elements is at the forefront of this movement, shown by the sellout sales of their latest recording, "Singular Sky," upon its release last month.
EDITORIALS
Jun 7, 2000

Looking for balance

U.S. President Bill Clinton has just concluded his fifth and probably last visit to Moscow. There he held a summit with his Russian counterpart, Mr. Vladimir Putin. As in all such recent meetings, the disparities between the two countries hung over the summit. Leadership dynamics have been added to the...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 7, 2000

A beginning

A recent column question dealt with a problem that faces many parents today: Their children have completely lost interest in school. These are often bright, motivated students who are dissatisfied with the system. Foreigners tend to feel that Japanese kids are too occupied, that something is planned...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2000

Rethinking strategic partnerships in Asia

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Some cliches keep resurfacing in strategic jargon: Japan and the United States share the most important bilateral relationship in the world; stability in Asia-Pacific; harmony in the triangular interactions among Japan, China and the U.S. But these concepts are facing challenges....
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2000

Hospital staff error leaves patient in coma

A surgery patient fell into a coma in mid-May at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Hospital due to suspected malpractice, informed sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2000

Lower House dissolved for June 25 poll

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori dissolved the Lower House on Friday and called a general election for June 25, placing the fate of his leadership in the hands of voters.
JAPAN
May 31, 2000

Osaka lawmakers pass bill to tax banks

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Assembly approved a controversial bill Tuesday to impose a 3 percent tax on the gross profits of major banks operating in the prefecture.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2000

Dollar likely to weaken against yen this week

Kyodo News The U.S. dollar is likely to weaken against the yen this week, helped by the return of market bulls expecting a stronger Japanese economy.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2000

Whose Constitution is it?

At a recent meeting of the Diet's Constitutional Review Council, Americans who participated in the drafting of the Japanese Constitution 54 years ago during the Occupation gave testimony. Their statements provided valuable clues to an understanding of the circum- stances that led up to the establishment...
MORE SPORTS
May 28, 2000

Japanese soccer finished, or glory days still ahead?

This past week the lists of the top income taxpayers in Japan were announced and bantered about in all the media. And, as this country loves youth like just about no other, 17-year-old singing sensation Hikaru Utada and 19-year-old Seibu Lions pitching phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka garnered more attention...
BUSINESS
May 26, 2000

Osaka approves bank tax but decision rests with Ota

OSAKA -- The Osaka Prefectural Assembly's General Affairs Committee gave its approval Thursday to a controversial bill to impose a 3 percent tax on the gross profits of large banks operating in the prefecture.
COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2000

Japan's national security policy ignores public sentiment

The impression that one gets when looking at the evolution of Japan's security policy in recent years is that the Japanese public has consented to steps taken by Tokyo. After all, that is the fundamental expectation that democracies nurture. Following this reasoning, Tokyo should be developing a security...
JAPAN
May 24, 2000

Constitution divisive: survey

Politicians are split almost evenly on revising the Constitution, according to a survey on six controversial issues that was released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
May 22, 2000

Tough challenges for the LDP

The death of former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, coming in the wake of the retirement of his mentor, former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, marks the end of the "Takeshita politics" that wielded considerable clout within the Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN
May 21, 2000

Cult used Unzen to solicit followers in Nagasaki

The founder of the Honohana Sanpogyo religious group met with the governor of Nagasaki Prefecture in the spring of 1992 and maintained that a "voice from heaven" said the eruption of Mount Unzen would stop by the year's end if prefectural residents "awaken to the real way of life," it was learned Saturday....
BUSINESS
May 20, 2000

End to deflation fears nearing, BOJ chief says

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami said Friday that an end to deflationary fears is nearing -- which may mean an end to the zero-interest rate policy -- amid a brightening picture for the Japanese economy.
BUSINESS
May 16, 2000

M2 indicator grew 2.9% in April

Japan's key indicator of money supply grew 2.9 percent in April from a year before, an acceleration from the 1.9 percent gain in March, the Bank of Japan said Monday in a preliminary report.
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2000

Japan drifts without goals

This last decade of the 20th century has been labeled a "lost decade" for Japan. The Heisei recession that began in May 1991 bottomed out in October 1993. In subsequent years, however, Japan's economy continued to stagnate, contrary to general expectations. A decade of economic drift has created a sense...
CULTURE / Art
May 7, 2000

Jewels of the printmaker's art

"I call these my jewels," said Joanna H. Schoff, as we bent to catch a gleam of silver in the softly lit museum. Treasures indeed, but instead of the brilliance of diamonds we were looking at far gentler beauties: rare gems of Japanese printmaking from the 1800s.
LIFE / Travel
May 7, 2000

Hayama, Kanagawa: A spring abound with vermillion azaleas

Hayama is a picturesque seaside town located about 4 km south of Kamakura. Favored with a mild climate and scenic coasts, it sports a neighborhood of upscale houses and sophisticated restaurants facing a small yacht harbor. A chain of quiet beaches stretches south along the rock-strewn coast; inland,...
JAPAN
May 4, 2000

Bureaucracy had large role in political power play

Kyodo News On the night of April 2, when then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi suffered a stroke and fell into a coma, Teijiro Furukawa was one of the few people immediately informed, and he promptly busied himself arranging for a smooth transfer of power.

Longform

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