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COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2002

One step up, two steps sideways in Nago

WASHINGTON -- On Dec. 27, Japanese central government officials and leaders from Okinawa Prefecture announced agreement on a basic plan for the proposed construction of a joint civil-military use airport on the reef off eastern Nago City. The announcement by the Futenma Relocation Committee ("Daitai...
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2002

New Year's show wows crowds with fire drills, acrobatics

Tokyo firefighters conducted disaster drills and performed traditional acrobatics on ladders Sunday in a ceremony in Koto Ward to mark the beginning of the new year.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2002

More troubling than another spy boat

SEOUL -- Pyongyang surely can be said to have stepped over the line once it is confirmed that the suspected spy boat that played tag with the Japanese Coast Guard last month was indeed from North Korea. The incident has led Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his administration to perform an...
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2002

Mad cow solution remains elusive

On Sept. 22, the Japanese government announced what had been suspected for more than a month: that a dairy cow raised in Chiba Prefecture had indeed been infected with a brain-wasting disease.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 7, 2002

Suntory, Steelers reach rugby final

Suntory and Kobe Steel will contest the 54th National Company Championship rugby final next Sunday at Hanazono Stadium, Osaka, following two very contrasting semifinals.
COMMENTARY
Jan 6, 2002

Pakistan needs trade, not aid

WASHINGTON -- The United States has assembled a dubious collection of allies over the years. Washington long has had to emphasize the vices of its adversaries rather than the virtues of its friends. Instead of tying itself to morally putrefying regimes through aid programs and military alliances, the...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2002

Architect blames Japan cityscapes on obsession with wealth

Japan's cities have been criticized for lacking the harmony and consistence felt in other countries, especially in Europe. But that's not a result of poor city planning; the disarray of structures in Tokyo and Osaka simply mirror the country's postwar obsession with material wealth, according to architect...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2002

Falun Gong follower deported from China

A Japanese Falun Gong follower has said that he was deported from China after protesting Beijing's ban on the group.
COMMUNITY
Jan 6, 2002

A.I. shows new signs life

The so-called handicapped are only a special case of human imperfection -- all humans are handicapped by nature, without being aware of it.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jan 6, 2002

Daybreak in the garden of Any and Yappy . . .

By the time you read this, Tokyo will be back to business after the New Year's break and the people and traffic will have returned to choke the city's streets. But the pollution that hangs like a lid over the greater metropolis will take a few days longer to return. Blue is the color of the New Year...
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2002

State bonds to be sold via Internet

The Ministry of Finance plans to directly sell 10-year government bonds to individuals through the Internet from as early as fiscal 2003, which begins in March next year, ministry officials said Saturday.
COMMUNITY
Jan 6, 2002

Life in the new year: Que sera sera

What joys and sorrows will the coming year bring for Japan? Fast forward to Jan. 1, 2003, apply tongue firmly to cheek and enjoy the benefit of hindsight by reading the alternative futures contained in the 2002 diaries of long-suffering Tokyo banker Gamansuruzo Nostrodoomus, and go-getting Kansai career...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jan 6, 2002

Fuzz Log: (rock)stardate, 2001

2001 was great for music, with rock 'n' roll at last being rescued from the clutches of tired nu-metal (Limp Bizkit, etc.), boring nu-acoustic rock (Coldplay, etc.) and punk-lite (Blink-182, etc.) by exciting new bands like The Strokes, The Toes and The White Stripes.
COMMUNITY
Jan 6, 2002

Change: Now new and improved!

Whether through genetically modified foods, the mapping of the human genome or global climate change, technology and science are changing our lives, often much faster than we might like. Things are moving so fast that it is difficult to imagine our lives 20 years from now, let alone what's in store for...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jan 6, 2002

Uncorking the bubbly, Nihon-style

Happy New Year to all Japan Times readers. May 2002 be a year of health and prosperity for all.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2002

Meteorological agency plans to offer improved forecasts

The Japan Meteorological Agency will introduce the so-called four-dimensional variation method in March to increase the accuracy of its six-hour rain forecasts, agency officials said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 6, 2002

Dewi Sukarno: 'Miss Ambition' who's done it her way

Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno has become a well-known Japanese media figure in recent years and has just raised some $90,000 for victims of terrorist attacks in the United States.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 6, 2002

A fresh look at a familiar subject

A SNAKE IN THE SHRINE: Journeys With Nobby Through Middle Japan, by David Geraghty. University of Otago Press, 2001, 222 pp., $29.95 (paper) Perhaps there's something about coming to Japan that brings out the writer in a person -- the peculiarities of the culture, the rarity of the experience, the seemingly...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 6, 2002

The challenges and rewards of bicultural marriage

LOOKING BEYOND THE MASK: When American Women Marry Japanese Men, by Nancy Brown Diggs. State University of New York, 2001, 231 pp., $19.95 (paper). Finally, here is a book that explains the ramifications of a decision I made 24 years ago when I married my Japanese husband in the United States. Although...
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2002

Back to work, back to 'normal'

On the one hand, 2001 zoomed by, didn't it? It seems just an eye-blink since we were last cleaning up after New Year's feasts and fireworks, sitting in traffic jams to get back home and gearing up for the Monday-after return to work. It is a well-established fact that the older we get, the more often...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 6, 2002

Faces of 2001: who's hot and who's not

Media Personality of the Year: Ichiro Suzuki or Junichiro Koizumi
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jan 6, 2002

Starting at the root of Japanese cooking

A samurai party — pungent as daikon radish their conversation! — Matsuo Basho (1644-1694)
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2002

Poor politics brought on Argentine crisis

NEW YORK -- Argentina is a country under siege. The attackers, however, are not foreign armies. They are corrupt and incompetent politicians, who are responsible for the dire state the country is in. The resignation of four presidents -- three of them interim caretakers -- in less than two weeks is proof...
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2002

Koizumi hints at more public funds for banks

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has pledged to take every possible step to avert financial crisis, hinting at yet another injection of public money into banks suffering from bad loans.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji