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JAPAN
Oct 15, 2000

Ministries at odds on greenhouse gas

The Environment Agency and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry are at odds on how to handle junked automobile air conditioners and the ozone-depleting greenhouse gases they contain, sources said.
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Oct 15, 2000

Rexroth revolution comes home to Japan

Yokohama-based essayist and poet Morgan Gibson has been and continues to be one of the most prolific contributors to Japan's English literary scene. Of his own work he had poems published in the 1970s in pioneering journals like One Mind and Kyoto Review and later, in the '80s, in publications like Blue...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2000

Where do the Japanese stand today?

A malaise is abroad in Japan and that malaise is apathy and hopelessness. Ever since the Meiji era -- 1868-1912 -- when the modern state of Japan was established and developed, the one thing that the Japanese people imbued their national effort, their prodigious diligence, with was a sense of hope: that...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2000

Japan 'has never apologized': Zhu

Visiting Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji stated Saturday that Japan has never officially apologized to the Chinese people for its wartime aggression and said he wants the Japanese people to consider that fact.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Oct 14, 2000

Bringing simple beauty from the inside out

Hot fun in the summertime has slowly segued into the cool cultural events of autumn, which is popularly known as "bunka no kisetsu (the cultural season)." Autumn not only brings delightful weather but also a slew of exhibitions and festivals to keep anyone's schedule topped off. Rest your weary overworked...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Oct 13, 2000

Tomorrow today

Predicting the future is always a risky business, but the uncertainties seem to be magnified when it comes to information technologies. Blame it on "tipping points," unstable equilibriums, systems analysis, whatever, but planning ahead has never been a more hazardous exercise.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Oct 12, 2000

What bulging waistline? Let's talk about cheese

When your 8-year-old son suddenly starts thumping your belly gleefully like a bongo drum, chances are it means you've put on some weight. I confess that I've added 2-3 kg to my 190-cm frame since arriving more than a year ago in Belgium, a gastronomic paradise blessed with a tremendous variety of wines,...
EDITORIALS
Oct 9, 2000

What's in a symbol?

"Symbolism," according to Edward N. West in "Outward Signs," his classic study of Christian symbols, "is so powerful that the message conveyed, regardless of origin or context, is perfectly clear."
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2000

Palestinians fight decades of injustice

AL-BIREH, West Bank -- Areen, my 6-year-old daughter, has been unusually quiet. This normally energetic, very talkative child could not fully understand why school was canceled on Saturday after she was dressed and ready to go. On Sunday, during the news broadcast of the death of 12-year-old Mohammed...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2000

Taiwan's 'experiment in government' fails

TAIPEI -- The ground heaved and shook in Taiwan's turbulent political landscape last Tuesday, and by the time the dust had cleared after the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Tang Fei, President Chen Shui-bian's 5 month-old model for government -- in his words, "a government for all the people" --...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 9, 2000

From nothingness, a celebration of life

A DREAM LIKE THIS WORLD: One Hundred Haiku, by Nagata Koi, translated by Naruto Nana and Margaret Mitsutani. Tokyo: Todosha Publishers, 2000, 147 pp., 2,381 yen (cloth). Dream and waking life. Reality and illusion. Where does one begin and the other end? This question radiates at the heart of Nagata...
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2000

Tokyo poised to lift ban on exterior train ads

How can Tokyo buses and streetcars make more money without attracting more passengers? One answer: advertising.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 8, 2000

Plenty to get antsy about at your local bank

Today we will examine something I refer to as Anthill Economics. The other day when I entered the local anthill, i.e., the bank, the usual staff of 33 employees greeted me. The most customers I've ever seen inside the bank is 10, but that's not the point. The anthill employs as many ants as possible...
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2000

Agency to target whale poaching with revised rules

The Fisheries Agency will clamp down on the possession and sale of illegal whale meat by revising regulations to impose fines and prison sentences amid criticism that poached whale meat is being sold in Japan, sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2000

Taiwan shift away from reactors may deal blow to Japanese firms

Taiwan's Economics Ministry has taken a step toward loosening the island's reliance on nuclear power in a move that could be a major blow to Japanese firms in the atomic power industry.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 6, 2000

'Exodus' to a country of hope?

In recent years Murakami Ryu has received much attention for his uncanny knack of writing novels taking up themes, such as teen crime and hikikomori (withdrawing from the world and shutting oneself up in one's room), just before they come to public awareness as social problems. Now Murakami's new novel...
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2000

Siblings arrested after five adults starve to death

OSAKA -- Osaka Prefectural Police on Wednesday arrested a 66-year-old man and his 64-year-old sister for allegedly allowing her five adult offspring to starve to death.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Oct 5, 2000

Japan must build on Takahashi's golden moment

She arrived in Sydney an athlete and returned to Japan an icon.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2000

Banks must get better, not just bigger

The official debut last week of the Mizuho financial group is a fresh reminder of the large-scale bank mergers and tie-ups now in the works in Japan. The group brings together Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Fuji Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan under the umbrella of Mizuho Holdings Inc. Two years from now,...
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2000

Experiments on humans outpacing ethics, WMA chief warns

The incoming head of an international physicians' association says excessive experiments involving human subjects should be curbed amid the growing range of experiments in this age of advanced medical science.
LIFE / Travel
Oct 4, 2000

Step back in time to Sado Island

There is something about ferries that puts you in a frame of mind to think back in time.
COMMENTARY
Oct 2, 2000

Japan's ills threaten the world

Japan's Naoko Takahashi won the gold medal in the women's marathon in the Sydney Olympics Sept. 24. In winning the tough race on a difficult, up-and-down course, she established an Olympic record and became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic marathon gold medal. She also gave Japan its first...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2000

The right WTO strategy for the wrong reasons

U.S. President Bill Clinton's victory in getting Congress in line on the WTO question was capped by a triumphant New York Times Op-Ed piece by him about why China should be in the World Trade Organization. There are many good reasons why, but Clinton's argument that this will "save" China and make it...
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2000

Shelter plan for park's homeless hit

OSAKA -- A municipal government plan to build temporary shelters for homeless people living in a park that will host next year's East Asian Games has received heated criticism from area residents, who have gathered over 22,000 signatures in protest.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2000

KDDI aims to stay solid No. 2

A new stage of competition will begin Sunday in the telecom industry when three major firms merge into KDDI, a long-awaited rival to the behemoth telecom group led by NTT Corp.
BUSINESS
Sep 28, 2000

Mori vows to urge oil producers to stabilize prices

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori promised Wednesday to call on oil producers to make efforts to stabilize crude prices, saying the recent surge in the prices could have a negative impact on the global economy.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 27, 2000

Japanese scientists question mineral-accretion technique

A Japanese researcher who conducted a project in Okinawa to explore the effectiveness of growing reefs via mineral accretion in 1989, says he remains unsure of the effectiveness of the technique.
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 27, 2000

The jade vine's home away from home

Tsukuba National Botanic Gardens in Ibaraki, part of the Tokyo National Museum, were opened to the public in October 1983. The garden, which covers 14 hectares, was constructed primarily for experimental research and for botanical education. Divided into 14 different plant zones, it contains approximately...

Longform

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