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EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2003

Doubts linger as Iraq bill passes

The controversial bill to send Japanese troops to Iraq for humanitarian and security assistance passed the Upper House early Saturday morning despite a last-ditch attempt by the opposition parties to block the procedure. Final approval of the ad hoc measure followed a special committee vote Friday evening....
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2003

A Tibetan history lesson for China

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- With India's recognition of the Tibet Autonomous Region as a part of China -- a corollary result of the recent talks in Beijing between Chinese and Indian leaders -- the region has ceased to be viewed as a historical buffer state between two Asian giants. This is of tremendous...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2003

SDF troops will 'definitely' be dispatched to Iraq: Yamasaki

Japan will "definitely" send Self-Defense Forces to Iraq to take part in reconstruction efforts there, Taku Yamasaki, the ruling LDP's No. 2 official, said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 28, 2003

More transparency needed in investigations of suspects

Little progress is reported in Japan-U.S. talks on legal proceedings in the alleged rape of an Okinawan woman by a U.S. serviceman. A hitch has developed over the demand by U.S. authorities for greater protection of the suspect's rights.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2003

Political reformers of Japan unite!

The new buzzword in Japanese politics these days is "manifesto." The Japanese language does not use capital letters, but if it did, you can be sure "manifesto" would be written with a capital M to convey the weighty tone with which it is pronounced by those who believe it is the answer to Japan's political...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 28, 2003

Commodore Perry's legacy of curiosity

NEW YORK -- In the sesquicentennial of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry's visit to Japan, I am happy to imagine that I must be one of the few owners of the original edition of his report: "Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, Performed in the Years 1852, 1853,...
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2003

Chinese currency system must face step-by-step liberalization

We recently hear a lot about the need for China to adjust the exchange rate of its currency, the yuan. In fact, Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan, during the U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing July 16, said it is "increasingly evident" that China should allow its currency to trade freely...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2003

Japanese in Manila hotel free: ministry

The Foreign Ministry said Sunday afternoon that all Japanese who were staying at hotels inside the commercial complex in Manila at the center of rebellion there have been safely evacuated.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2003

Crystals for lasers to be made in space

In a move that could lead to the realization of "space factories," Japan's space agency said Saturday it will make the world's first attempt to manufacture in space photonic crystals to be used in commercial laser equipment.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2003

Rainy season ends later in west

The rainy season has apparently ended in the northern Kyushu, Chugoku, Shikoku, Kinki and Tokai regions six to nine days later than usual and between five and six days later than last year, the Meteorological Agency said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2003

Koizumi vows to consider timing of SDF dispatch to Iraq carefully

The Diet on Saturday enacted controversial legislation to dispatch the Self-Defense Forces to help rebuild Iraq, with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledging to carefully study the timing for the deployment to help guarantee the troops' safety.
EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 2003

Demystifying the meow

So, the geniuses at Takara Co. Ltd. who last year gave this country the "Bowlingual," the gadget that supposedly translates dogs' thoughts into human language, have now announced a November launch for "Meowlingual," which is touted as doing the same for cats. (One sign that the inventors might actually...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2003

Time, place of dispatch still hazy

Despite Diet approval of a bill to allow the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces personnel to Iraq on Saturday, the government continued to wrestle with exactly when and where the SDF should be sent.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 27, 2003

Fabrics for summer fun

MATSURI: Japanese Festival Arts, by Gloria Granz Gonick. University of Washington Press, 2003, 256 pp., $40 (paper). The UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History has published eight books on Asian textiles in the past 14 years, and it seems particularly proud of this latest addition "Matsuri," which focuses...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 27, 2003

Brands vie for your thirst

"Advertising," as it's often defined, "is the creation of wants."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 27, 2003

The art of redemption

YOSHIMASA AND THE SILVER PAVILION: The Creation of the Soul of Japan, by Donald Keene. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003, 10 illustrations, 224 pp., $29.95 (paper). In the appropriate volume of his monumental history of Japanese literature, Donald Keene only once mentions the eighth Ashikaga...
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2003

Quakes of last 20 years

The following is a chronology of major earthquakes in Japan since May 1983. As well as a magnitude reading, Japan operates a seismic intensity scale that ranges from 1 to 7. Levels 5 and 6 have had "lower" and "upper" categories since 1996.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jul 27, 2003

Yet another reason to head to Roppongi

Home is where the heart is, as they say. Well, the hottest new home for the after-office crowd in Roppongi, it would seem, is Heartland bar in the Roppongi Hills complex. This is where, as every evening unfolds, you will find a steady flow of both foreign and Japanese coworkers and friends dropping by...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 27, 2003

Bottlers ride a 'purity' wave

Japanese people have for generations believed that whatever the times have in store, life's essentials such as water and safety would always be theirs for free.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 27, 2003

So much to soak up in Yamagata

OK, let me put this out there: Yamagata-ken, just like any sensible prefecture in Japan, loves tourists. But you get the feeling that Yamagata Prefecture Tourist Division tries a little harder to promote its treasures. They even occasionally invite journalists up for a spin around the countryside.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past