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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2000

Ethnic Chinese see school plan as ploy to erode their identity

SINGAPORE -- Chinese education authorities in multiracial Malaysia have rejected a government pilot project to merge the country's three different kinds of vernacular schools -- Malay, Chinese and Tamil -- into a single national institution, dubbed "Vision Schools," that would embody Malaysian identity....
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2000

Young people called on to help end exploitation of children

The active participation of young people is key to the successful global effort to fight sexual exploitation of children, according to an adviser to an international conference on the issue scheduled next year in Yokohama.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 23, 2000

A night at the culinary opera

Let it be stated unequivocably and from the outset: The Food File is not a great fan of gastrodomes and flashy new mega-restaurants where style outweighs substance and quality is sacrificed at the altar of fleeting fashion. Nor are we enamored of restaurant chains, where menus -- no matter how titillatingly...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2000

Two countries, one system?

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Last week, Willy Wo-Lap Lam lost his job as the China correspondent on the South China Morning Post. That technically he resigned rather than be "promoted" to a non-China-related job is irrelevant, as it was clear that he was not going to be allowed to continue writing his weekly...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2000

Is Pyongyang coming in from the cold?

The Huichon Children's Hospital is cold and damp. It is the only hospital in this city 200 kilometers north of Pyongyang. It has had no heating since floods in 1995 ruined the boiler. Along with no heat, there is no medicine and no food. Huddled listlessly in the small communal rooms that serve as wards...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 19, 2000

Chris Ishikawa

A new cookbook has recently been published by the Yokohama International Women's Club. Titled "Food for Furoshiki," it has been compiled from an unusual and interesting angle.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2000

Rich and poor have stake in cleaner planet

Supermarket shelves offer a choice of two light bulbs: the standard incandescent type and the compact fluorescent type. In Bangladesh, the price difference is 20 taka compared to 450 taka. The fluorescent type will last at least 10 times as long and consume one-fifth of the energy. Overall, savings from...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 18, 2000

Loochie Brothers rock out for Amnesty

At the close of the millennium, it is a sad fact that torture continues to be carried out in over 150 countries worldwide. "Rock Against Torture," an Amnesty International benefit concert to be held Nov. 19 at What the Dickens in Ebisu, aims to raise funds for the human-rights watchdog and publicize...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

Small classes but big ideas at new multicultural school

MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. -- A new international school here may be starting off small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in aspirations.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 15, 2000

Textbooks in the service of the state

CENSORING HISTORY: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany and the United States, edited by Laura Hein and Mark Selden. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2000, 301 pp., $24.95. History loomed over the recent visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji like a threatening storm cloud. But other than some scattered...
CULTURE / Art
Nov 15, 2000

Taking inspiration where you find it

TOKUSHIMA -- Californian furniture maker Cynthia Kingsbury works in a 100-year-old timber storage building at the foot of a lushly forested mountain in Tokushima Prefecture. Dried sticks are piled like kindling beneath her worktable. Her dog Tingi, a black Labrador-Doberman mix, is sprawled across a...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 15, 2000

Settle for a least bad worst-case scenario in Korea

AVOIDING THE APOCALYPSE: The Future of the Two Koreas, by Marcus Noland. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 2000, 431 pp., $22 (paper). The thaw on the Korean Peninsula continues. Every week, history is made: a meeting between Korean officials, a diplomatic breakthrough for North...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 15, 2000

The secretive rabbits of Amami

Hunting rabbits is something I have only ever done on one island. When I say hunting, I don't mean with a gun; I mean armed with a spotlight, binoculars and notebook. The rabbits I hunt stay alive. That's rather crucial, because I am talking about the rabbits to be found marooned on an isolated island...
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2000

Kono, Downer agree on policy

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN -- Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, agreed Saturday to continue working to bring North Korea into the international fold, a Japanese official said.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 12, 2000

Investing in life beyond the grave

The Museum of the University of Tokyo has changed and modernized in recent years, emphasizing particularly the use of up-to-date information technology. It is no longer an ivory tower but is reaching out beyond the university community to the general public. Its exhibitions have received favorable attention...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2000

APEC gearing up for the New Economy

WASHINGTON -- Laying the groundwork for a secure, stable and prosperous Asia-Pacific region is not the kind of work that generates dramatic headlines. But that is the work the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum does day in and day out, with significant benefits for business, workers, investors and...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 12, 2000

On taking the eightfold path to environmental awareness

Environmentalists are a hard breed to pin down, much less to classify. They come in all shapes and sizes, and some even reject the name.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2000

Women give each other boost at business forum

SASEBO, Nagasaki Pref. -- Female business leaders from 10 countries shared their experiences Friday and encouraged each other with the knowledge that their roles in business and society will be more important in the coming century.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 8, 2000

Cracked earth: A journey through Thailand's arid and impoverished Northeast

"In a bad year, it is not only the plows that break, but the hearts too." -- Pira Sudham, "People of Isan"
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2000

Parking lot protest leader found hanged

A man spearheading a local citizens' effort to stop construction on a controversial parking lot entrance proposed by Tokyo's Shibuya Ward was found hanged at his residence early Monday, police said.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 5, 2000

Redefining to rescue Kyoto

KYOTO -- When people talk about traditional Kyoto culture, all the "a" verbs come out -- everyone appreciates it, everyone admires it, many adore it. So why is it disappearing so rapidly?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 5, 2000

Norman Tolman

A household name, not only in Japan, amongst print artists, painters and art collectors, Norman Tolman appreciates art in realms beyond his own strict specialties. Japanese architecture, pots and fabrics naturally fall within his orbit. He can rearrange the interiors of other people's homes to delight...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2000

Tax evasion vs. official misbehavior

Globalization is widely seen as contributing to clear increases in economic growth. Yet many governments view this development as a poisoned chalice. Politicians and bureaucrats fear that eliminating exchange controls and removing barriers to capital flows will lead to extensive revenue losses from tax...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Web site gets volcano evacuees online and in touch

Hiroyuki Noda never imagined that he would become a messenger for fellow Miyake Island residents when he bought a personal computer six years ago to keep books for his inn and diving shop.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2000

Mori hails Khatami's efforts to reform, build new ties

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, in an informal meeting with visiting Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Wednesday morning, expressed support for Iran's domestic reform efforts and improved ties with the international community.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2000

Lawmaker reveals Mori made rice vow

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori secretly promised North Korea 500,000 tons of rice aid in 1997 when he visited Pyongyang as the head of a delegation composed of Japan's three then-ruling parties, the head of a small opposition party told Kyodo News on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2000

West Papua: Indonesia's next East Timor?

LONDON -- The biggest single taxpayer in Indonesia is the U.S. firm Freeport McMoran. The money comes mostly from its Grasberg mine in the mountains of West Papua, which sits on the largest gold deposit in the world. That is why Jakarta, which used every dirty trick in the book to hang onto East Timor...

Longform

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