60275    The financial services negotiations of the Japan-US Framework for New Economic Partnership in Seattle closed on the 30th with specifics undecided, carrying the end result over to new year's meeting.

60276    It was thought that both sides would rush to conclude the agreement, as Japan gave huge concessions to the US request to open Japan's public pension market to foreign investment advisory companies, the biggest focus of these negotiations.

60277    While the US says, "There was great progress," it wanted to finalize the details of issues like deregulation of the development of new products in the bond market, the corporate market, and deregulation of operation of employees' pension fund, which led to putting off the end result.

60278    Though the date for the next talks has yet to be set, it is likely to be after the 4th, before Murayama's visit to the US, as a senior official of the Finance Ministry says, "We don't have to give up our New Year's vacation to go to the US."

60279    The sculptor Tsuchiya consistently works with hard materials, spanning iron, wood and stone.

60280    He seems to be attracted to the materials' inherent strength, as he does not attempt to create sculpted, carved, exquisite "artistic sculptures".

60281    Tsuchiya himself has said, "I want to create works without having to make up the distance between the material and my image," thus he attempts to directly develop his expression through form while preserving the natural state of the iron, wood or stone.

60282    Guided by the strength of the material, his work conceptually develops expression symbolically through imitative shapes that penetratingly explore an elemental attraction to the phenomena of movement and space.

60283    Tsuchiya's works are imbued with a masculinity devoid of emotion and stripped of the superfluous.

60284    I am the kind of person who must constantly transform or I cannot keep going.

60285    I am highly honored to receive such high praise for work in which I am not so confident.

60286    The conferment of the Mainichi Art Award to Tadanori Yokoo is a clear expression the philosophy behind the prize.

60287    Yokoo is neither a painter nor a designer.

60288    In short, it does not matter either way to him either.

60289    His work possesses a magnificent quality that transcends these distinctions.