Ko Hirano - The Japan Times

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Ko Hirano

For Ko Hirano's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

BUSINESS

Jan 1, 2003

Tokyo stock market faces tough year, say analysts and investors

After a year that saw share prices dive to 19-year lows, the Tokyo stock market is likely to see further turbulence in 2003, with some market watchers suspecting the Nikkei average could slip below 8,000.

JAPAN

Dec 28, 2001

Nation urged to take measures to deal with mad cow disease

Animal and food safety experts say Japan must take radical steps to deal with mad cow disease.

JAPAN

Apr 7, 2001

Maestros offer tribute to dead train-rescue heroes

Two top musicians from Japan and South Korea are poised to help bring people from the two countries a step closer together when they play a concert later this month in tribute to a South Korean student and a Japanese photographer killed while trying to save a man who fell onto the tracks at a Tokyo railway station.

JAPAN

Mar 10, 2001

Group questions motive behind North Korean aid

A leading international humanitarian organization has questioned whether Japan's food donations to North Korea are reaching the most vulnerable people in the famine-hit country.

JAPAN

Oct 5, 2000

Japanese studies in Czech Republic flourishing as further ties develop

Petr Holy was a 16-year-old high school student when he first heard the Japanese language on the radio and television in what was then Czechoslovakia during the final phase of the Cold War. His interest in Japan grew as he read modern Japanese novels by writers such as Yasunari Kawabata and Yukio Mishima.

JAPAN

Mar 29, 2000

Firms diversify to tap nursing care system

As the government is preparing to introduce a new insurance system to deal with Japan's rapidly aging population, major companies are gearing up to partake in the potentially lucrative market of caring for the elderly.

JAPAN

Mar 28, 2000

Health-care plan to benefit middle class

Many corporate employees, self-employed people and civil servants can expect to enjoy better and inexpensive welfare services under a new insurance system set to begin April 1 to deal with the nation's rapidly aging population, according to a leading economist.

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

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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