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EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2002

Nation-building vs. military goals

Half a year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, President George W. Bush's war on terrorism appears to be entering a more complex and difficult phase. U.S. troops have mounted a major ground offensive in Afghanistan, while a special forces team is helping fight Muslim militants...
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2002

Hiranuma, Yeo agree to bolster ASEAN ties

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma and his Singaporean counterpart, George Yeo, agreed Monday to enhance cooperation for establishing a broad economic partnership between Japan and Southeast Asia.
EDITORIALS
Mar 18, 2002

Steeling for a fight

During the Vietnam War, a peculiar strand of U.S. logic was revealed when an official argued that a village had to be destroyed to save it from the North Vietnamese. A version of that tortured thinking has been resurrected recently as U.S. officials have struggled to justify President George W. Bush's...
SOCCER / World cup / EXCERPTS FROM PHILIPPE TROUSSIER'S BOOK
Mar 18, 2002

Leading my troops into battle

"Passion" is the story of Japan soccer team coach Philippe Troussier, his struggle to make it as a player and manager and his travels around France, Africa and Japan. In the book, Troussier also details his philosophy and thinking as he prepares for the World Cup in June.The book has been published...
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 18, 2002

Jubilo whips Consadole, goes top of table

Toshiya Fujita bagged a goal in each half and Brazilian striker Gral came off the bench to score on his debut as Jubilo Iwata whipped 10-man Consadole Sapporo 4-0 to move to the top of the J. League first division Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 17, 2002

The Steiff of teddy-bear legend

Cute. In Japan, there's cuteness wherever you look -- Hello Kitty, Tare Panda, The Dog, etc., etc. But from next month to September 2003, Japanese people will be able to glimpse the creativity behind the cuteness of that cuddliest of all cuddlies -- the teddy bear -- when Germany-based Margarete Steiff...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2002

Roles of the main Asia-Pacific groups

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- It may be presumptuous to review Asia-Pacific regional organizations in a single column, but there seems to be so much confusion about them that certain points need to be clarified and properly addressed. The main groups are the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC),...
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2002

Tough talk preludes steel meeting

Japan may retaliate against proposed U.S. curbs on steel imports if bilateral talks fail to resolve the issue, a senior trade bureaucrat said Thursday. Katsusada Hirose, vice minister for economy, trade and industry, made the comments ahead of bilateral negotiations scheduled to begin Thursday in Washington....
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2002

METI reviews R&D, investment incentives

A trade ministry study panel on Wednesday began considering revisions to tax incentives on corporate research and development and capital investment.
EDITORIALS
Mar 13, 2002

An inconclusive testimony

Diet testimony given Monday by Liberal Democratic Party legislator Muneo Suzuki proved to be inconclusive. It failed to lift the heavy cloud of doubt hanging over his alleged abuse of power. The central question -- how he used his political clout to favor his friends in government and business -- was...
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Mar 12, 2002

JFA introduces new status for experienced refs

The Japan Football Association has this season introduced a new status for its top referees, called "S.R."
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2002

Time to fasten the seat belt

The Lower House passage of the fiscal 2002 government budget on Wednesday represents a sort of victory for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration. The vote ensures, by virtue of a constitutional provision giving priority to Lower House budget decisions, that the 81-trillion yen package clears...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2002

Bush-league diplomacy mars Asian tour

They have taken the Stars and Strips down in Tiananmen Square. Meanwhile, in the Great Hall of the People, U.S. President George W. Bush's visit is almost forgotten as the last meeting of China's National People's Congress before the 16th Party Congress in November has begun.
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2002

Keeping politicians on leash

In a report published March 4, the Foreign Ministry acknowledged that Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Muneo Suzuki exerted exceptional influence over ministry affairs. The report, based on an in-house probe and released by Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, confirmed allegations that Suzuki intervened...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Mar 11, 2002

Business schools buck international trend

Seventh in a series
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2002

Swing your (same sex) partner round and round

The shouts of the caller are heard continuously over the country and western music on the sound system. His words, like magic, control the movements of the dancers on the floor. The dancers are arranged in groups of four couples -- leads and their partners, just as in all square-dancing groups. But in...
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2002

The outsider joins the club

Switzerland turned its back on centuries of "splendid isolation" this week and voted to join the United Nations. The decision acknowledges the evolution within the international community since the end of the Cold War and within Switzerland itself. With its historic vote, the country can now play a more...
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2002

Fund to fight AIDS set to debut

In an effort to bring the spread of infectious diseases under control, the multibillion-dollar Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will make its official debut at a ceremony in New York next month.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2002

Japan may give up on towel curbs

Japan may not impose emergency curbs on towel products from China and Vietnam, due to a slowdown in imports, government officials said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 8, 2002

Recipe for democratic disaster

LONDON -- In a modern democracy where governments change after elections, it is essential for the sake of efficiency and transparency that the civil service be apolitical, independent and closed to corruption. Only an independent civil service appointed on the basis of merit can guarantee good government....
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2002

Sectarian strife spells trouble for BJP

MADRAS, India -- Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's government may fall if the troubles concerning the controversial plan to build a Hindu temple at a site formerly occupied by a mosque escalate further.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2002

Tokyo eyes countermeasures, appeal to WTO

Japanese government officials and business leaders reacted with measured anger Wednesday to a decision by U.S. President George W. Bush to slap tariffs on imported steel.
EDITORIALS
Mar 7, 2002

Put paid to graft

The arrest Monday of Tokushima Prefecture Gov. Toshio Endo on bribery charges is a reminder that an old habit -- using political influence for monetary gain -- dies hard. Tokyo prosecutors say he received 8 million yen from a Tokyo-based consultancy for the role he had played in securing a public works...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 6, 2002

What's this about Piazza and Griffey Jr.?

The Feb. 27 edition of the Nikkan Sports Japanese language newspaper carried a front-page banner headline, complete with blaring blue, yellow and red kanji characters featuring the names of major league superstars Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr. Photos of the two sluggers were included on Page 1 as well....
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2002

Isetan to help out ailing Iwataya by buying new shares

Department store chain Isetan Co. said Tuesday it will provide financial and operational support to struggling Iwataya Department Store Co. to help the Fukuoka-based retailer rehabilitate under its wing.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2002

Special zones weighed to boost economy

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy plans to discuss the creation of special economic and other zones in an attempt to revive the slumping Japanese economy, trade minister Takeo Hiranuma said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Mar 4, 2002

'Inbred' universities dragging Japan down

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- A former Japanese student of mine, now a member of the economics faculty of one of Tokyo's leading universities, remarked on an occasion when we were having lunch together that, "Larry Summers would not have been appointed professor in a Japanese university." Summers is quite...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2002

Apologies to Seoul and Beijing

SAN DIEGO -- When it comes to the histories and cultures of the countries of the Pacific, the U.S. president either received a lousy education at Andover and Yale or else failed to study.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb