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Russell Working

For Russell Working's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 20, 2001

War 'back home' divides Jordan's Chechen community

ZARQA, Jordan -- When the wounded Chechen fighters arrived in Jordan in 1994, everything changed for Younis Ashab.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 3, 2001

EU overtures to Cyprus rattle Turkey

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- When you cross the "green line" between the Cypriot and Turkish-occupied parts of the city, you enter a zone that has frozen in time since war stopped on this eastern Mediterranean island 27 years ago.

Japan Times

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 6, 2001

Fighting for independence in the shadow of a Goliath

ALMATY, Kazakstan -- The phone calls started last May, after the body of an ethnic Uighur activist was found strangled and dumped in a water reservoir.

COMMUNITY

Oct 28, 2001

Plunder in a land of plenty

KYZYK-SUU, Kyrgyzstan -- When Canadian mining giant Cameco Corp. opened the Kumtor gold mine in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan in 1996, logistics were considered to be the greatest obstacle.

LIFE / Travel

Sep 17, 2001

Riding the Silk Road up to the sky

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- Throughout the former Soviet Union, the architectural barbarities of communist civilization have inflicted a dreadful sameness on disparate lands and peoples.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 16, 2001

Numerous problems slow efforts to safely scrap retired Russian nuclear submarines

BOLSHOI KAMEN, Russia -- Propped up onshore amid heaps of scrap metal at the Zvezda shipyard is one of the largest vehicles ever to cruise the planet -- the five-story hulk of a submarine that once carried intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the United States.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 14, 2001

Pyongyang's Chinese connection to the global economy

DANDONG, China -- When managers at a North Korean metal works began dreaming that foreigners' suits and blouses might one day be draped on the company's aluminum coat-hangers, there was no way to pursue international markets directly.

COMMENTARY / World

Jun 5, 2001

The trial of Unit 731

KHABAROVSK, Russia -- Late in December 1949, Soviet Communist Party leaders began distributing tickets in factories and institutes for an upcoming trial. Twelve Japanese physicians and military officers -- former researchers at a secret facility near Harbin, China known as Unit 731 -- stood accused of manufacturing biological and chemical weapons following experiments on human guinea pigs. And somewhere it was decided that the masses should hear firsthand what had gone on at the sprawling complex, which had been dynamited by the Japanese as Soviet troops advanced at the end of World War II.

ENVIRONMENT

Feb 14, 2001

Sakhalin oil sparks hopes and fears

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia -- Sakhalin Island is a remote former penal colony where the sea freezes for up to six months a year and villagers have been known to sleep in tents pitched in their bedrooms when the central heating fails.

LIFE / Travel

Jan 31, 2001

A chaotic Southeast Asian haven

CEBU, Philippines -- Denis is a purple-nosed ex-con with yellow teeth, asterisk eyes receded deep in their sockets and tattoos covering his arms and knuckles.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 24, 2001

Russia can teach California a few things about blackouts

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- When blackouts hit the residential districts of Russia's largest Pacific seaport, as they have for up to 20 hours a day and even more this week, people learn to cope.

COMMENTARY / World

Jan 13, 2001

Fates of Estrada, Philippines hang on trial

MANILA -- President Joseph "Erap" Estrada is in the battle of his political life as his lawyers fight corruption charges in an impeachment trial.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 21, 2000

Time once again for Russia's perennial heating crisis

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- The communist central planners who designed modern Russia's infrastructure devised a system of boiling water kilometers from where it is needed, running it through aboveground pipes across a region where temperatures can drop as low as minus 40 C -- and expected this to warm the radiators of Russia's drafty apartments.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 30, 2000

The Russian Far East reaps peace dividend

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Bunkered in a hillside above the port city where Russia's Pacific Fleet anchors, Slavyansky Khleb may be one of the most secure bakeries on the planet.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 1, 2000

Russia's back window onto North Korea

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- In the Davydova neighborhood in the northern part of town, one apartment block after another has been under construction for years. Thus, there are always North Korean laborers around.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 22, 2000

Rebirth of Sino-Russian alliance unlikely

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Chinese Premier Li Peng was having the time of his life. First, academics at Far Eastern State University bestowed a doctorate of law on him. Then women dressed in white and beaded caps like boyars' daughters on their wedding day danced to traditional music. And Yevgeny Nazdratenko, governor of the far eastern province of Primorye, praised his "comrade" and echoed Li's calls for "strategic cooperation" between the countries.

COMMENTARY / World

Sep 9, 2000

Nationalism before the national interest

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- If you ever chance to fly in the wintertime to the disputed Northern Territories -- a cluster of volcanic islets claimed by both Russia and Japan, and known as the southern Kuril Islands to Russians -- be prepared to be stranded.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 31, 2000

Russia lies between Korea and the world

SEOUL -- The demilitarized zone that stretches between North and South Korea separates one of the world's most heavily fortified borders, bristling with artillery, tanks and troops.

COMMENTARY / World

Aug 7, 2000

Muslims under fire in Russian Far East

PETROPAVLOSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia -- When Usman Usmanov laid the cornerstone of the first mosque in the Russian Far East last summer, he was thrilled to see the start of a spiritual center for 30,000 Muslims in the Kamchatka region.

COMMENTARY / World

Jul 31, 2000

Russians cheer thaw with Pyongyang

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Until recently, the leader of North Korea's Stalinist state had never been known to meet a noncommunist, travel abroad as head of state or publicly utter more than a single slogan at a military parade.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

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