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Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2003

Governor wannabes shunning parties

The gubernatorial election campaigns that kicked off Thursday could trigger a major change in the political scene if strong, reform-minded candidates challenging the highly centralized system emerge victorious.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 28, 2003

Afternoon Tea Baker and Diner: More than just a pour

What's in a name? Since last year, and especially over the past month, the most in-demand dining spot in Ginza has been the one with the most unwieldy misnomer. Afternoon Tea Baker and Diner hardly trips off the tongue. It also disguises the fact this is no mere tea room: It's a proper restaurant, contemporary...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 27, 2003

Black salamander

* Japanese name: Kuro sansho uo * Scientific name: Hynobius nigrescens * Description: Salamanders are considered primitive amphibians in comparison to frogs and toads. Like all amphibians, however, salamanders spend their lives in two entirely different states. The larvae are aquatic, breathing water...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2003

Songwriting lawmaker blazes maverick policy trail

On Feb. 18, the day before his latest CD was set to hit store shelves, lawmaker Ichita Yamamoto met Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at his official residence in order to hand him a copy of "Kaikaku no Uta" ("Song for Reform").
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2003

Lower House seeks Sakai's resignation

The House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday calling for Takanori Sakai, a Lower House member arrested earlier this month for allegedly falsifying political funds reports, to resign.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Mar 25, 2003

The Rules of Clout: the whens and hows of granting favors safely

The story has passed its first blush now, and has faded in public memory into just another head-shaker about the apparently out-of-control lifestyles of CEOs. But the saga of how a star stock analyst, Jack Grubman, allegedly upgraded a stock as a favor for Sandy Weill of Citigroup, who in turn pressured...
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2003

The war of words

Every war breeds its own vocabulary, and the second Persian Gulf conflict has proved no exception. One thing does seem new, though. As this invasion (aka liberation) plays out 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in the world's living rooms, its singular lingo has circled the globe with unprecedented speed....
MORE SPORTS
Mar 25, 2003

Shintani to resume training in April

World silver medalist Midori Shintani, who seriously injured her right knee at the Asian Games in South Korea last fall, is expected to resume training from April, All Japan Judo Federation women's coach Kazuo Yoshimura said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 2003

ICC takes another step forward

The world's first permanent international court of criminal justice opened for business earlier this month when the first 18 judges were sworn in. While the establishment of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, is a milestone, attention on March 11 was focused as much on the parties who were absent...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 24, 2003

Don't write off U.N. just yet

EDMONTON, Alberta-- The hawks in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush finally got what they wanted -- in New York, as well as in the Middle East. The U.N. Security Council is deeply divided, the U.N. system itself seems paralyzed and a preemptive war is about to win "regime change" in...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Mar 23, 2003

The secret life of Marc Romance

Marc Romance is my favorite alias for the master of Pousse Cafe, a stylish wine bar hidden away in Jiyugaoka. He has used many names, including Mac, Kota and the unlikely Alien J. Perkins -- most adopted for the convenience of his foreign friends but some, like the latter, as a nom de plume for writing...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 23, 2003

Lawyers: they're not all out for themselves

HUMAN RIGHTS IN JAPAN, South Korea and Taiwan, by Ian Neary. London, Routledge, 2002, 297 pp., $95 (cloth) It's not easy being a lawyer these days -- putting up with nasty jokes, scant respect and widespread suspicions that the public interest is way down on the list of priorities. Ian Neary reminds...
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2003

A new kind of war

Now that the war has begun, the world hopes it will end swiftly with minimal casualties. But wars are almost always unpredictable. As U.S. President George W. Bush himself has warned, the conflict could be "longer and more difficult than some predict." There is also the possibility that, even if it ends...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 22, 2003

Painter enhances nature to give ikebana new life

About to spend four days in Tokyo curating her students' work for an exhibition -- "Collaboration with Nature" -- at Sogetsu Kaikan in Akasaka, Liga Pang juggles cooking lunch and packing bags as we talk.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 22, 2003

The next taste treat is just a little bit fishy

When Julia Child retired in 2001, someone asked what she thought would be the next great taste treat to take the Western world by storm.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2003

Ministries gear up to counter terror threat

Government ministries agreed Friday to prepare for possible terrorist attacks and offer security information to the public as things continue to heat up in Iraq.
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 2003

China's smooth change of power

The People's Republic of China has completed its first smooth transition of power since its founding more than half a century ago. The National People's Congress, the Parliament, ended its two-week session on Tuesday after electing Mr. Hu Jintao as president and Mr. Wen Jiabao as premier. The two men...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2003

Rash of theme park failures blamed on lack of vision, poor management

As large theme parks go bust across Japan, Tokyo Disneyland and its affiliate, Tokyo DisneySea, are exceptions, attracting more than 20 million visitors every year with the help of their innovative business strategy.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Mar 20, 2003

"Coraline," "Frankenstella and the Video Shop Monster"

"Coraline," Neil Gaiman, Bloomsbury; 2002; 171 pp.     "We are small, we are many     We are many, we are small     We were here before you rose,     We will be here when you fall."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 20, 2003

Happiness and how to achieve it

We are all in search of it, and while some have it, many don't. The pursuit of it was even written into the American Declaration of Independence. We're talking about happiness, surely an ancient and universal human desire, a desire that arose in our brains when we arose on the Ethiopian savanna. But...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2003

Market intervention not the right solution

GUATEMALA CITY -- Japan's Nikkei average is below 8,000 for the first time in 20 years, putting it 80 percent below its 1989 high. A fall in the Nikkei below 7,500 could mean that some Japanese banks would not meet their international capital adequacy requirements.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2003

Hamburger chains trying new ways to lure back customers

Hamburger chains are shifting away from low-price strategies after cheap burgers failed to lure back customers following the outbreak of mad cow disease 1 1/2 years ago.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 18, 2003

Tokyo's immigration bureau gets makeover at new location

"Are you sure this is the place?" our driver inquired.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2003

China shows little worry of U.S. squeeze

HONG KONG -- One figure that emerged from the current session of the National People's Congress in Beijing has intrigued China-watchers -- the 9.6 percent scheduled growth in defense spending this year, far less than the 17.6 percent increase of last year.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2003

U.S. risks danger of 'global overstretch'

SINGAPORE -- Although U.S. President George W. Bush appears determined to rid Iraq of President Saddam Hussein, the world is deeply divided. On one hand, Hussein has been ruthless, even with his own people, and may have hidden weapons of mass destruction and sponsored al-Qaeda terrorists. On the other...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2003

Yoji Yamada

A director since 1961, with 77 films to his credit, Yoji Yamada, 71, is a Japanese film industry icon. His "Tora-san" series, about a wandering peddler who is forever falling in love, but never gets the girl, generated 48 hit installments -- and made Yamada the most successful Japanese director of his...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2003

Decontrols to bring in more foreign doctors

Life in Japan as a foreigner is not always easy, especially if you become sick and don't speak the same language as your doctor.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2003

An order of unpalatable patriotism

The United States may or may not be going to war with Iraq this month, but it is already at war with France. In case there was any lingering doubt about that, this week saw two developments that brought the erstwhile allies' mutual hostility out into the open.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami