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EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 1999

Jitters in Central Asia

The information is sketchy, but this much is certain: Islamic guerrillas have taken hostages, including four Japanese, in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan. The number of hostages, the number of guerrillas, their nationality and their demands are uncertain. This incident set the stage for the Central...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

Educators seek funds for computerization

The Education Ministry will ask for nearly double its previous share of tax money in fiscal 2000 to put more of the nation's schools online, according to its draft budget request for next year, released Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

Day laborers slam plans for tent city

OSAKA -- A group of local day laborers slammed the Osaka Municipal Government's plans to erect a tent village to provide evening shelter for the city's growing homeless population, citing insufficient conditions and limited capacity, it was learned Friday.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 1999

The beat keeps getting stronger for music personality Barakan

"Being on the radio was always what I had wanted to do," a sleepy Peter Barakan told me while sitting in the InterFM lobby. It was 11 a.m. on a Sunday. He had just finished his show, "The Barakan Beat," and after offering me coffee, we sat and talked about what brought him to Japan and his success here....
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

Budget requests likely to expand by 2%

Budget requests from government ministries and agencies for fiscal 2000 will total 83.54 trillion yen, 2 percent higher than the initial budget for the current year, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

IOC warns Osaka over bidding conduct

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Earthquake concerns Turkish restaurateur

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Ward funds residents in suit against cultists

Tokyo's Toshima Ward has extended 3.8 million yen in loans to a group of residents who are preparing a lawsuit to have members of Aum Shinrikyo evicted from an apartment complex, ward officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Hatoyama declares entry into DPJ presidential race

Yukio Hatoyama, deputy secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, officially declared his candidacy Thursday for the DPJ's presidential election next month, seriously clouding the prospect of incumbent leader Naoto Kan's re-election.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Chiba car spotted in abduction case

A car with Chiba Prefecture license plates was seen parked in front of Aum Shinrikyo's Nagoya chapter building about 12 hours after a woman was set free in the city after being abducted in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, investigative sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

East Timor monitor urges a bigger global presence

A member of the U.N. volunteer team to monitor the referendum in East Timor next week called for a stronger international presence in the violence-ridden territory as the historic poll approaches.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Testing of genetically modified food on rise

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 1999

The hidden war against Iraq

Last December, the United States and Britain launched Operation Desert Fox, a four-day bombing campaign on Iraq that effectively ended the inspections regime established by the United Nations after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The U.N. Security Council had been divided over the meaning and implementation...
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Kobe airport foes mull last-ditch options

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Students call for halt to child conscription

Twenty students on Wednesday called on the government to take concrete steps to outlaw the recruitment of child soldiers.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Exec nabbed in armored car holdup

Police apprehended a man Tuesday night after he allegedly assaulted three armored car guards who were picking up between 6 million yen and 7 million yen from an electrical appliance shop in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

NPOs hit ambiguous application procedure

More than 80 percent of nonprofit groups that have applied for corporate status under a new law said regulators asked them to make changes to their application documents, with some instructions criticized as being ambiguous, according to a survey by NPO support organizations released Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 1999

Headstones mark Yokohama haunt for the unknown

Staff writer
CULTURE / Music
Aug 25, 1999

Drumming up interest in traditional music

Your buddy asks if you're up for a night of dancing and you're likely to think: crowded, sweaty hall, vibrating with a booming backbeat.
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 1999

Steps to stop the AIDS threat

With no advance warning, a team from the Health and Welfare Ministry has announced that a large-scale infection of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is a far greater threat in this country than the public has been led to believe. After what seems like a long ministry silence on the issue, the team estimates...
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 1999

Japan's false sense of security

During a recent TV talk show, in which high school- and university-age people were participating, the coordinator asked, "Do you love Japan or do you hate Japan?" Most participants answered they love Japan. If I remember correctly, only a few said they hate this country.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 1999

Brazil to extend cut-rate tariff on auto imports to year's end

Staff writer
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 24, 1999

Lively National Noh Theater possessed by colorful spirit

Noh has a disorientating history. It emerged from folk rites, developed into the most popular art of its day, and has since been refined out of all recognition. Devotees maintain its accessibility, but modern Japanese are far more likely to head for Tokyo Disneyland than any of the 60-odd principal stages....
CULTURE / Music
Aug 24, 1999

Songs of destiny and nostalgia at Konda Lota Music festival

One of the most reliable musical dates on the Tokyo calendar is Festival Konda Lota, now in its 10th year.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 1999

Rudderless retirees require coaching on how to enjoy life

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 23, 1999

Vignaud urges FAO streamlining

In response to North Korea's famine issue, Argentina's ambassador to Sweden, Juan Carlos Vignaud, said on Monday in Tokyo that the Food and Agriculture Organization should go wherever it is needed.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 1999

Camping tragedy spurs safety campaign

To prevent another tragedy like the recent flash-flood fatalities on the Kurokura River in Kanagawa Prefecture, the Japan Auto Camping Federation called on campers Monday to camp only at designated campsites and pack equipment for emergency situations.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 1999

Nursing care death may be murder

An 89-year-old woman was found dead in her room at a nursing care institution Monday with a sleeveless shirt wrapped around her neck, local police said.
COMMENTARY
Aug 21, 1999

Mr. Robertson's agenda

LONDON -- The appointment of George Robertson, formerly the British secretary of state for defense, as secretary general of NATO has rekindled discussion on a number of important defense issues facing Europe. Robertson should be able to influence the outcome, but decisions will largely rest with the...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 1999

No mystery to doing business in China

It seems that many so-called China experts try to enhance the value of their services by attributing a certain amount of "inscrutability" to the Chinese that only they can decipher. Besides being a patently offensive assertion, this is also grossly misleading.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it