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EDITORIALS
May 25, 1999

Security not served by vagueness

The controversial bills for implementing the Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines finally cleared the Upper House Monday with some key issues remaining unresolved or vague: at least they seem so to ordinary people. One such issue is the emergency condition that requires Japan to mobilize the Self-Defense...
JAPAN
May 25, 1999

New Defense Role: Next step is to free up SDF

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 25, 1999

Some wary as pension plight casts 401(k) in rosy light

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 24, 1999

Diet enacts defense bills, but doubts on alliance linger

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 24, 1999

Obuchi, Perry go over Pyongyang policy

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Monday told William Perry, U.S. policy coordinator for North Korea, that Japan strongly supports the comprehensive approach to Pyongyang that Perry is putting together and expressed hope Perry's visit there this week will prove successful.
JAPAN
May 24, 1999

Obuchi calls defense bills 'truly significant'

Following Diet approval of bills to implement Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi took time to appease international unease.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 1999

Save whales with science, not sentiment

The death of Lennie's pet mouse in John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" conveys the tragedy and guilt that overpowers us all when good intentions produce the exact opposite of what we hoped to accomplish.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 23, 1999

Whoever knows

A few columns ago I wrote about pen pals. A Japanese woman who had spent many years in the United States found readjustment to Japan difficult. She discovered she had little in common with her former Japanese friends; to them, she was a foreigner. Her American friends wanted to communicate by e-mail...
COMMUNITY
May 23, 1999

Whaling town Taiji dreams for miracle IWC reprieve

TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. -- Nestled between clear Pacific waters and richly forested mountains and valleys, Taiji and it's pristine surroundings have remained largely unspoiled thanks to the town's isolation in southeast Wakayama and the community's long-standing relationship with the sea and its resources....
EDITORIALS
May 21, 1999

'New economy' under siege

The U.S. economy's strength has prompted speculation that it is a "new economy," in which information technology boosts productivity and cuts margins, allowing high growth, low unemployment and almost no inflation. Academics are arguing over the validity of the theory, but among its adherents is Mr....
JAPAN
May 21, 1999

Politicians cycle around Diet to raise pollution awareness

Thirty lawmakers pedaled bicycles Friday around the Diet building in a public appeal for the Earth-friendly vehicles.
JAPAN
May 21, 1999

New runway to come up short; soccer deadline eyed

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 21, 1999

Prime minister's quarters to get update

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 20, 1999

Kawasaki pollution lawsuit settled by pledge to improve

One of Japan's largest pollution suits ended Thursday when about 400 Kawasaki residents signed an agreement to drop all claims, including for compensation, in exchange for a vow from the state and the Metropolitan Expressway Public Corp. to "seriously work" on improving air quality along highways.
JAPAN
May 20, 1999

1920s villa razed despite promise of talks

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 20, 1999

Marrow donors in short supply in Japan

Staff writer
COMMENTARY
May 20, 1999

Ever optimistic Mr. Blair

LONDON -- There seem to be two unstoppable trends on the current British scene -- the unending rise in the London stock market and the still rising popularity of Tony Blair, the prime minister.
COMMUNITY
May 20, 1999

Free university opens doors on a place to open your mind

There's a new and unusual place in Tokyo to learn, grow and have fun -- and it's free. Tokyo Jiyu Daigaku, or Tokyo Free University, has opened its doors for its inaugural year onto subjects ranging from Eastern and Western religion, philosophy and literature, third-world development, creative and spiritual...
CULTURE / Art
May 20, 1999

Holland's top designer defies conformists

His comfortable tubs made reading in the bath fashionable again. His bold couches, like giant velvet butter-dishes, brought humor and flair to the living room. When he suggested yellow interiors make the home look sunny, the whole of Holland got out their paint brushes.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 20, 1999

Pinching pennies for a better future — if any

One of the bedrock beliefs that Japanese society has about itself is that everyone belongs to the middle class. This isn't to say pronounced social classes don't exist. A middle-aged woman once expressed to me her fear that her adult daughter would never get married and move out. Since the daughter worked...
EDITORIALS
May 19, 1999

Now, a different Israel

Israel is a divided country. There are long-standing differences between Arabs and Jews, Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, and Labor and Likud supporters -- the last a split that has roughly mirrored the divide between hawks and doves. In recent years, those divisions seem to have intensified. Worse, new...
JAPAN
May 19, 1999

Seattle execs gauge economy, hit local third-sector projects

KOBE -- The Japanese economy is still at least two years away from recovering and there are some signs things are bottoming out. But local governments that continue to push third-sector projects mired in red ink and a lack of leadership remain major problems.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
May 19, 1999

Voices in the machine

In the hyperaccelerated world of "news," my topic -- the Littleton, Colo., massacre -- may seem dated. But in living rooms, classrooms, legislatures and, of course, on the Net, the aftershocks are still reverberating
JAPAN
May 19, 1999

Pollution sparks action to halt Universal Japan

OSAKA -- Three people living near the construction site of the Universal Studios Japan theme park in Konohana Ward here filed a petition Wednesday with the Osaka District Court, seeking a court order against USJ Co. and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. to suspend the ongoing project.
JAPAN
May 19, 1999

Ramsar signatories aim to extend treaty's scope

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 19, 1999

Once more, Chiang Mai

I had a mission in Chiang Mai. Many years ago I bought a reclining black lacquer Burmese Buddha there. It had been gilded but much of the gold had been worn off, probably by the hands of the faithful seeking some special blessing. It has a remarkable face. It changes expression as the viewer moves even...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
May 19, 1999

Back bayous of the Danube Delta

Adrift on a boat, with a wall of freshly leafed willows passing steadily on each side, I could not help thinking of Ratty and Mole's adventures on the river in "The Wind in the Willows." There were fresh mole hills to be found on the banks, and here and there holes in the riverbanks that might just have...
COMMUNITY
May 19, 1999

Redevelopment fiasco leaves locals in limbo

KOFU, Yamanashi Pref. -- The home of Yutaka Endo (not his real name) resembles one in a lesser-developed nation. His living room walls are stained where the rain has leaked through cracks; the wind whistles through warped window and door frames.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
May 19, 1999

Journeying into the valley of death

"Death Valley," noted our guidebook, "is an inhuman environment: barren and monotonous, burning hot and almost entirely without shade or water." In short, the ideal antidote to Japan's rainy season, which is why we went.
COMMUNITY
May 19, 1999

Memories of old Honmoku

This is a story of Honmoku Motomachi, my hometown in Yokohama, a neighborhood on the southwest coast of Tokyo Bay. Not too long ago, the land extended to tidal flatlands that were abundantly endowed with a wide variety of marine life and provided sustenance and a livelihood to generations of fishermen....

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan