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JAPAN
Mar 11, 1999

Obuchi pins hopes on guidelines, other matters

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Thursday restated his determination to strengthen the Japan-U.S. relationship by quickly pushing through bills related to updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation during the current Diet session.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 10, 1999

And the winners aren't ...

A stunned Webmaster rises from his seat, shaking his head in disbelief. As he makes his way to the aisle, fellow programmers and designers pat him heartily on the back and shake his hand. After accepting his trophy from a cybercelebrity, he stands there speechless, and finally says with a trembling voice,...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Ishihara enters Tokyo race, splits LDP further

Prize-winning novelist and former Transport Minister Shintaro Ishihara formally declared Wednesday that he will run as an independent in the April 11 Tokyo gubernatorial election.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Japan, U.S. to consult on antidumping law

Staff writer
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 1999

A delicious way to pork out with family

There is only one more recipe left before this column ends, so I tried to think of some important Japanese dish which I have not written about in the last three years. Then I realized that my favorites -- tonkatsu and tempura -- were still on the waiting list. Both are dishes we eat about once a month....
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Mar 10, 1999

Winners and losers

People in the food industry look to Foodex to find out how best to cater to their Japanese and foreign customers. What they see at Makuhari Messe are often more fantasy than fact, things that might be exported to Japan if the proper arrangements can be made. And that's what the foreigners are there for,...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 1999

Taiwan's strategic options

Following the return of Hong Kong in July 1997 and the return of Macau in December 1999, Beijing's attention will logically turn to Taiwan. The island's survival depends on preserving its technically advanced air force and enlisting the help of the United States.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 10, 1999

Idyllic island makes blissful escape

Azure fish, blue-tailed lizards, turquoise waves -- Rota is full of the refreshing colors of life.
COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 1999

Clouds looming on the Diet's horizon

The situation in the Diet looks calm for now. The debate on the fiscal 1999 government budget, the most important item before the Diet, is proceeding smoothly. The budget bill has already cleared the Lower House and is expected to pass the Upper House around March 20, well before the start of the new...
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO
Mar 10, 1999

The seductive stench of Yurakucho

"Shall We Meet in Yurakucho (Yurakucho de Aimasho)" was the title of a 1958 megahit number, sung by the king of Japanese blues, Frank Nagai. As Frank described it, Yurakucho was always misty with fog and the collective sighs of hundreds of lovers, the streets were damp with just-fallen rain and lined...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Organ donation more than a signature

Staff writer
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Mar 10, 1999

Garden weathers stormy decades

The Kyoto Botanic Gardens were first opened to the public on Jan. 11, 1924. Located in Sakyo Ward in northern Kyoto City along the banks of the scenic Kamo River, they are run by Kyoto's prefectural government.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 1999

Nippon Life exec details Finance Ministry pressure

The Finance Ministry strongly urged Nippon Life Insurance Co. to provide financial support to Nippon Credit Bank, currently under state control, in the spring of 1997, Nippon Life Vice President Tsuyoshi Nahara said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 1999

Kobe urged to woo foreign investment

Staff writer
CULTURE / Books
Mar 9, 1999

Building a nation in time and space

REINVENTING JAPAN: Time, Space, Nation, by Tessa Morris-Suzuki. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1998, 236 pp., $19.95. Every country exists in time and in space. This is a simple fact that is often taken for granted.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 9, 1999

A love affair with the elephant

THE ELEPHANT IN THAI LIFE AND LEGEND, main text by William Warren, main photography by Pin Amranand. Bangkok: Monsoon Editions, 249 pp., 1,495 baht. William Warren has written the texts of a number of illustrated books: "Legendary Thailand," "Thai Style," "The Chao Phraya River" and "Thai Garden Style."...
JAPAN
Mar 8, 1999

Groups seek to help victims of violence

Staff writer
CULTURE / Books
Mar 8, 1999

The view from the 20th floor

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS IN JAPAN, edited by Charles Pomeroy, Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1998, 367 pp., 3,700 yen (cloth). The image Japan projects abroad comes not only from the government or big business; it also arises from a certain private club occupying the 20th floor of a building overlooking the...
JAPAN
Mar 8, 1999

State moves to draft stronger consumer protection law

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 7, 1999

Nothing like goulash when you're feeling Hungary

This week I write you from Budapest, where I sit immersed in Hungarian goulash. There is more Hungarian goulash per square kilometer in Budapest than there are McDonald's hamburgers per square kilometer in the United States. You'll see restaurants full of tourists, all of them eating Hungarian goulash....
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 7, 1999

Is patience a Russian virtue?

Amid the apocalyptic news about Russian pensioners being unable to afford any medicines beyond traditional folk remedies, Russian workers not paid salaries for months and Russian children in the on the verge of starvation, one piece of news is conspicuously missing: reports of mass protests. It is true...
EDITORIALS
Mar 6, 1999

Old men and bad dreams

Two unrelated news stories that have been gathering momentum in the United States in the past few weeks have focused attention all over again on the touchy issue of old crimes and delayed punishments. The conflicts involved are not novel -- they surfaced as recently as last year, when Spain attempted...
JAPAN
Mar 5, 1999

J.League 1999 Preview: Big pack takes aim at Antlers

Special to The Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 5, 1999

Panel targets creation of 770,000 jobs

Alarmed by the nation's rising unemployment rate, the government on Friday set a goal of creating 770,000 jobs in four sectors during the next two years.
JAPAN
Mar 5, 1999

Airport, deficit likely top issues for Kobe voters

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 1999

Dispel illusions in Sino-U.S. relations

The last few weeks have been difficult ones for Sino-U.S. relations. The U.S. canceled the planned sale of a satellite to a Chinese-led consortium, the annual State Department human-rights report released last week slammed Beijing's policies and the Pentagon has warned of an ominous Chinese missile buildup...
JAPAN
Mar 5, 1999

Smashups costed 3.45 trillion yen in '96

Economic losses directly caused by traffic accidents in fiscal 1996 ran to about 3.45 trillion yen, nearly half of which stemmed from accidents involving drivers between the ages of 16 and 29, a national insurance association said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 1999

Younger politicians demand firm stand on Pyongyang

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 4, 1999

Japan should foster risk-takers, MIT president says

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 4, 1999

BOJ's ultra-easy policy pushes yen lower

The yen hit a three-month intraday low of 122.78 to the dollar in Tokyo interbank trading Thursday, compared with 121.17-20 late Wednesday.

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