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Profiles Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. Why he works with cardboard tubes; Cardboard structures he has created for refugees in Turkey and Rwanda and for victims of the Kobe earthquake in cooperation with the United Nations; Japanese pavilion he created for the EXPO 2000 in Hannover, Germany.

The article presents information on the increasing pollution at Fuji, a small city near Mount Fuji in Japan. It is stated that the city has several smoky factories whose fumes are making Mount Fuji brown in color. Everyday, Fuji's 150 paper mills pour 2,000,000 tons of raw waste into Tagonoura port's waters, due to which Pulp sludge has settled on the floor of the port, reducing the depth of the channel from 30 feet to 18 feet.

The article focuses on the growth of Tokyo, Japan-based "Nikon Keizai Shimbun" journal. It is considered as the Wall Street Journal of Japan's business world which gives most of its editorial space to business and economic affairs. The journal's progress starts after the World War II as there is a growing national interest in business and financial affairs in the country. In 1941, the journal's circulation reaches 120,000.

The article focuses on economic difficulties faced by Japanese newspapers in the 1950s. It states that high degrees of competition among Japanese dailies affected ratios between cost and revenues coupled with low levels of newspaper subscription. It also says that the Japanese no longer served its responsibility to promote or attack any political opinion which is a main characteristic of democracy.

The article reports on a campaign launched by Shimbun Oyobi Shimbunkishi, a trade paper of the newspapermen of Japan, to clean up the advertising of newspapers in Japan in cooperation with the Japanese Institute of Journalists.

The article focuses on the impacts of pollution in Japan after the country reached a high degree industrialization in the 1970s. It states that the Japanese government released an Environmental White Paper which reveals that 4 billion dollars annually is spent by Japan in alleviating the environmental impacts of industries. It also adds that the country produces an annual rate of 35 million tons of garbage and that new pollution-related illnesses such as Minamata disease have emerged.

The article focuses on the Communist-led strike in Hokkaido, Japan headed by Union leader Haruo Yokoyama. It says that the strike started to get worse when Oji Paper Co. Ltd. in Tomakomai persuaded 1,000 strikers to transfer to a company union. Yokoyama organized motor bicycle patrols with the help of 30 hardbitten Communists to ride by the houses of the new union men. It adds that they made a specialty known as the wringer wherein they strip a company man and twist his testicles.

The article focuses on the effects of the lifestyle employment system on the loyalty of workers in several companies in Japan. It states that the famous lifetime employment system in Japan, which unites workers and their bosses, develop the loyalty of workers to companies. It adds that wages and benefits are determined by seniority which resulted to minimum unemployment. It mentions the levels of work in the traditional system including the manual job for junior high school graduates, white collar work for high school graduates, and managerial and professional position for college graduate. Furthermore, it says that the traditional system will cut job opportunities due to the rapid growth of labor force being caused by the continuing rise in birth rate.

The article explores efforts by husband and wife sculptors Isamu Noguchi and Shirley Yamaguchi to help Japan learn to appreciate modern art. The couple has exhibited Western-style abstractions in the city of Kamakura, Japan, wherein over 130 new objects were on display, including paper lanterns, ceramics and abstract sculptures. To help spread his modern ideas, Noguchi, together with his wife, made abstract designs for the railings on two bridges for Hiroshima. A Japanese tradition Noguchi has been reworking is that of the clay statute called haniwa.

The article focuses on the political condition in Japan and the role of the country's press in any social movement. It highlights the protest of thousands of students over the renewal of the U.S. mutual security treaty and the trip of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato to Vietnam. Issues such unfair coverage by the press and the concept about press solidarity are discussed.

The article reports on the controversy over Russian Ambassador to Japan Victor L. Kopp's speech describing the Japanese-Russian treaty as a scrap of paper. According to some news reports, Kopp said he would work in Japan to promote the Bolshevik cause of world revolution and to utilize Japan as a tool to force U.S. recognition of Russia. The Russian Embassy denied that Kopp ever said such things while Kopp refused to make a statement to clarify his position.

The article focuses on the issue on Fidel Castro's leadership in Cuba. It highlights the Cuban tractor deal, which represents a monumental propaganda setback for Castro, that was hotly debated in the U.S. It cites the statement of Argentine President Arturo Frondizi at a press conference about Castro's move to trade Cubans for tractors. It outlines the move of the publishers of Uruguay's biggest papers in Montevideo as well as the people in Brazil, Japan and Russia concerning the issue in Cuba.

Reports on a pooper scooper developed by 12-year-old Haruka Maruno of Miyakonojo, Japan. Environmental aspects of her invention; How she was able to market the scoopers; Number of pooper scoopers she has sold.

Reports on a pooper scooper developed by 12-year-old Haruka Maruno of Miyakonojo, Japan. Environmental aspects of her invention; How she was able to market the scoopers; Number of pooper scoopers she has sold.

The article focuses on approximately 9,000 small bombs launched into the Pacific jet stream by the Japanese over North America during the World War II from November 1944 to April 1945. It states that the bomb was aimed to create forest fires in the Pacific Northwest that would frighten the U.S. population, which did not happen, as the press censored the bomb news that killed six people. Moreover, Iowa State Historical Museum has launched an exhibit of the bomb fragments and balloons recovered.

Information about the Japan Society's "Tsutsumu: The Art of Japanesse Packaging" 1975 exhibition in New York, which was organized and chosen by the Tokyo designer Hideyuki Oka, is presented. The packaging exhibition is consists of 221 packages, ranging from sake bottles to wrappings for candied papaya, which is considered as the cheapest exhibition. The standards and elegance of the design and the two folds principles behind the work of Oka is discussed.

The article focuses on the suicide pact of the couple Aishinkakura Eisei and Takemichi Okubo, who are students at Gakushuin University in Tokyo, Japan, after Eisei's mother refused on their plan to get married. It mentions that the couple went to Amagi Mountain where Okubo shot Eisei in the temple and then killed himself. It states that the lovers enclosed the trimmings of their hair and fingernails in a paper to serve as mementos for their families.

Relates how 19-year-old Yoko Katoka of Japan wrote the novel 'Hotekura' (Hotel Residence) on her cell phone. How installments of her book appeared on an online electronic mail magazine service called GoodCrew PAFE run by Casio; The eventual publishing of her novel on paper; Comments of Katoka.

Reviews an art exhibit of Japanese artist Hon'ami Koetsu at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His mastery of calligraphy; Details of his art; Biographical information.

Recounts President Bill Clinton's first US-Japanese summit at which Clinton insisted `there are differences still between the Prime Minister (Kiichi Miyazawa) and me.' Miyazawa suggested that a piece of his country's $116 billion stimulus package would end up paying for American-made goods, but stood firm against managed trade. The two leaders agreed to come up with a detailed plan to reduce America's trade deficit with Japan within three months.

The article reports on the lantern-making industry of Japan. It claims that the industry's popularity around the world was credited to Emperor Meiji, the grandfather of Emperor Hirohito. The lanterns are designed to change candlelight into globes of muted color. The uses of the lanterns include during funeral processions, nighttime leisurely walks and advertising displays.

The article discusses the issues surrounding the influence of the Japanese press in stirring the howling rioters in June 1960 in Japan. It states that the attack of the press against Premier Nobuske Kishi and the U.S.-Japanese security treaty has stirred the demonstration. Matsutaro Shoriki of Yomiuri claims that the press activities and influence of its members are not factors to cause an alarm.

The article focuses on the celebration of the 13th anniversary of the A-bomb drop in the Nakajima Park in Hiroshima, Japan. It says that 30,000 Japanese have massed together at the Park wherein they brought wreaths and incense sticks to remember thousandths of unidentified victims. Hiroshima's Mayor Tadao Watanabe has released 800 doves and is hopeful that the events symbolizes that Japan have never forgotten the people who are concerned to the bombing.

The article offers information on the job recruitment for newspaper journalists in Japan. It states that aspiring journalists will must first take examinations similar to the civil service test to be able to be hired in one of the five national and 110 local newspapers. It says that the examinations for Japanese journalism are held every July, wherein failed candidates have been known to kill their selves. It adds that among the national daily newspapers are "Asahi," "Yomiuri," and "Mainichi."

Reveals the traditional secrets of Tokyo, Japan as discovered by architect Peter Marino. How when he is in Japan he seeks out the more traditional and simple sites; His flashy, high-tech designs for the stores of Louis Vuitton, Dior and Chanel; His love of the pilgrims in Japan who don white gowns and large straw hats.

Examines the science that seeks to discover why some people live well past their hundredth year while others age and die more quickly. Examples of some of the eldest residents of the world; How lifestyle outranks genetics as a determining factor for a healthy old age; Number of old people in Okinawa, Japan, and why it is thought they live so long; Role of diet and exercise; Eating habits; Evidence that these healthy, aged people have a reduced incidence of Alzheimer's; Genetic variants that may account for a long life; Advice on how to live well and longer.

Focuses on race relations on Okinawa, Japan, which is the site of several United States military bases, in light of rape allegations against a U.S. airman. Details of the case of Air Force staff sergeant Timothy Woodland; Effect of the case on U.S. and Japan relations; American influence on the culture of the archipelago's 60 tropical islands called Okinawa; Mention of a 'kokujo' subculture fetishizing blacks; Topics of racism and sexism.

The article presents information on environmentalism in Japan. An island nation with limited natural resources, Japan has become one of the most energy-efficient industrial countries in the world, and some of Japan's leading companies, such as Toyota and Sharp, are known for technologies that foster greener lifestyles.

Focuses on the search for the perpetrators of a nerve gas attack in five subway cars in Japan. Investigation of the headquarters of a religious cult; Cult leader Shoko Asahara; Chemicals that were found at the cult's headquarters; The sect known as Aum Shinrikyo; Sarin; Deaths of some subway passengers; Reaction of Aum Shinrikyo's lawyers; Other aspects.

Discusses the advantage of the United States in multimedia and reports that Japan is determined to make up for its lag on the information highway. The Japanese and their involvement with specialized technologies such as flat-panel displays; Cable television in the United States and Japan; More.

Looks at the devastation in Kobe, Japan when a 7.2 earthquake tremor hit the city in January 1995. Estimates on the number of people who died as a result of the quake; The Japanese belief that the country had made itself quakeproof; Injuries and property losses; The ensuing fires that sometimes consumed entire neighborhoods; The confusion of the government; More.

Explores the differences and sameness of the United States and Japan, the odd couple of the free world, who, while they meet on the hard, bright surfaces of consumerism, remain mutually uncomprehending presences. End of the harmony of deference and dependence; Open contempt of Japanese politicians and newspapers; Belief American anti-Japanese sentiment is racist; Official relations good; Negative perception; Central concern of fairness; History of dispute.