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CULTURE / Art
Apr 2, 2000

Parisian revolution in graphic art

Fashionable and pretty, a shapely young woman lifts her long skirts above the pavement, stranded by puddles of rain. In 1893 it was irresistible, and on the strength of this one print alone a hundred middle-class Parisians bought the first issue of l'Estampe originale. This was a novel project by the...
COMMENTARY
Mar 31, 2000

Obuchi heading for trouble

The sun may be setting on the administration of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. Recent polls indicate that the Obuchi Cabinet's approval ratings have fallen sharply while its disapproval ratings have risen. The phenomenon is generally blamed on the continuing recession, a growing public-debt burden stemming...
COMMENTARY
Mar 30, 2000

For Taiwan and China, patience is key

BEIJING -- Now what? Since Taiwan has elected Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party as its next president, despite heavy-handed Chinese efforts to discourage this outcome, what does Beijing do next?
LIFE
Mar 30, 2000

A gathering of cultures and characters

Surrounded by trees, birdsong and a riot of cherry blossoms as you head up the hill into the nature preserve surrounding Tokurinji Temple, you can easily forget that a moment ago you were in the middle of Nagoya, one of Japan's largest cities. When you enter the temple grounds during the annual Hana...
JAPAN / Media
Mar 30, 2000

Medium is the message, no matter the language

The government's recent proposal to make English Japan's official second language has generally been met with approval. The proposal takes on quixotic overtones, however, when you consider the fact that almost no one in the government itself can actually speak English.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2000

Keidanren wants private sector in postal services

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) proposed Tuesday that private entities be allowed to get involved in state-run postal services early in order to accelerate the system's streamlining.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2000

Science agency takes away JCO's license

The Science and Technology Agency formally notified JCO Co. on Tuesday that it will revoke the firm's business license because it is responsible for causing Japan's worst nuclear accident at its uranium-processing plant in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2000

NTT to offer early warning to allergy-sufferers via phone

Come next spring, your cell phone may tell you how runny your nose and how itchy your eyes will be the next day -- a warning of what might happen if you walk outside.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2000

Dioxin in Fujisawa river 16 times official standard

Samples taken from the Hikichi River in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, late last year showed dioxin levels up to 16 times the recently-set environmental standard, the Environment Agency announced on Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2000

State slow in Tokai fiasco, report notes

The government reacted slowly last year to the nuclear disaster in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, which resulted in the first fatality from radiation exposure in postwar Japanese history, according to a government report obtained by Kyodo News.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 26, 2000

Impressions of an overlooked artist

In February 1866, three young artists tramped along the frosty paths of Fontainebleau, declaring that nature would ever be their muse. One, handsome, rich and carefree, would follow that muse until he lost everything except the respect of his friends. He died in poverty, in a home stacked with unsold...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 26, 2000

Vast private collection housed in London's 'unofficial attic'

LONDON -- Museums in Britain are nervously awaiting the results of the Internet publication of an official inventory of 350 works of art in British national collections whose provenance in the period between 1933 and 1945 is unclear. More than half belong to the National Gallery and the Tate, 109 and...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2000

Ethanol: a green opportunity for Japan

Bad things can sometimes yield good. Loss of the Saudi Arabian oil-producing contract and the rise in the price of oil from $10 to $30 a barrel in the past year should therefore be a wakeup call to Japan to follow the United States' lead in investing in research and development of alternatives to petroleum-based...
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2000

Daiwa's rogue trader dreams of a return

ATLANTA -- The culprit in a financial scandal that rocked Japan nearly five years ago now has his eye on a second shot at the financial arena from a most unlikely place -- a small town some 60 km northeast of Atlanta.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 23, 2000

Housing for human beings: Let natural harmony prevail

Akinori Sagane is a man with a mission, an architect with an idealistic vision of how humans can live in greater harmony with the natural environment.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2000

Haneda eyed for nighttime international flights

The Transport Ministry set up an internal panel Tuesday to study the possibility of late-night and early-morning international flights at Tokyo's Haneda airport, Transport Minister Toshihiro Nikai said.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2000

Power industry to get a jolt of competition

Competition emerging from ongoing market reforms ranging from the financial "Big Bang" to telecommunications deregulation is taking many of Japan's industrial dinosaurs to the verge of extinction.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2000

Beijing resorts to rattling its saber again

In Washington, politicians and pundits alike are debating how to understand and react to the white paper released on Feb. 21 by Beijing. And even in China, there seems to be some discussion on how to interpret the verbal missile lobbed at the United States, Taiwan and Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2000

Time to chase 'two hares'

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, citing a popular proverb, says his administration will not "run after two hares": It will first achieve economic recovery and then tackle fiscal reform. The official scenario is that the economy will pick up soon. The question is what will happen next. Without fiscal props,...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 20, 2000

Built on a foundation of fear

THE SHOGUN'S PAINTED CULTURE: Fear and Creativity in the Japanese States -- 1760-1829, by Timon Screech. London: Reaktion Books, 2000, 312 pp., with 33 color plates and 111 b/w photos, 19.95 British pounds. The argument of this prodigiously detailed study is that Japan as we now know it did not exist...
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2000

Class size cut too costly, panel says

The government should not reduce the legal ceiling on class sizes at elementary and junior high schools from 40 students to the proposed 30 to 35 because it would be too costly, according to a draft report compiled by an Education Ministry advisory panel.
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2000

JAMA targets 60% cut in diesel emissions by '05

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association announced Thursday that it will implement a scheme to reduce by 60 percent harmful emissions from diesel-powered vehicles in 2005, two years ahead of its original schedule of 2007.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 17, 2000

Catching up with pop auteur Shuntaro Okino

Pastoral retreats generally do not seem conducive to the production of great pop music. Even the Band's extended stays in Woodstock were more about bacchanalian revelry than quiet contemplation. Sensuous hooks and driving beats seem to relate more to the rough and tumble urban world than to any serene...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2000

U.S. to give back Kadena base radar

Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and Japanese leaders agreed Thursday on the return of control of the radar system at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture to Japan and to resolve an air pollution problem at a U.S. military base in Kanagawa Prefecture, according to Japanese officials.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 16, 2000

Want to know your fortune? Go fish

In the West you might scan your tea leaves for a peek at what the future may hold, but in Japan you are more likely to grab your chopsticks (OK, mouse) for the latest craze -- sushi fortunetelling.

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