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JAPAN
Feb 2, 2002

Nago mayor race seen as base litmus test

Many in Tokyo and Washington will be keeping a close eye on a mayoral election Sunday in Okinawa that is likely to affect a matter of long-standing concern between the two governments.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2002

Ogata gets government call

The government hopes Sadako Ogata, former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, will become the new foreign minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda indicated Thursday, adding that the post Makiko Tanaka was fired from should be filled by today.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jan 31, 2002

Taking a look at animals' 'me' and 'you'

We take for granted our ability to easily recognize the people we interact with regularly. We also take it as a given that we can distinguish between the many thousands of other people we meet superficially during our lives, perhaps never learning who they are, yet knowing each one of them as a different...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Snow Brand admits units in Kanto also in on scams

Snow Brand Food Co. acknowledged Tuesday that two of its Kanto-based meat units also misstated imported beef as domestic meat in early November in an attempt to reduce inventories and win government subsidies related to the outbreak of mad cow disease in mid-September.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Fresh warrants issued in bid-rigging case

Prosecutors on Tuesday served fresh warrants to the mayor of Ishioka, Ibaraki Prefecture, a former aide to a lawmaker and two others over a 2 million yen bribe in connection with alleged bid-rigging.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Life term upheld in '95 sarin attack

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a life sentence handed down in 1999 to an Aum Shinrikyo defendant for his involvement in the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
COMMENTARY
Jan 28, 2002

Congress should do more than just spend

WASHINGTON -- With Congress back in session, economics is likely to come to the fore in Washington. President George W. Bush may be winning the war on terrorism, but congressional Democrats think they can recoup by blaming him for losing the surplus. This party of big spenders is ill-equipped to take...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 28, 2002

The plastic nature of historic judgment

NEW YORK -- There is something mesmerizing about America's fascination with its own people of prominence, especially presidents. There is an endless stream of biographies, and some become immensely popular.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2002

Mail order firm suspected of failing to repay members

Members of a Tokyo-based mail order firm have accused it of failing to refund their investments, industry sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Jan 28, 2002

Toughen the antigraft law

"The establishment of political ethics is fundamental to parliamentary politics," states the code of political ethics approved by the Diet in 1985. "We must conduct ourselves with integrity and strive to eradicate political corruption."
CULTURE / Music
Jan 27, 2002

Merchant's rich harvest

When Natalie Merchant was a member of 10,000 Maniacs, the seminal '80s folk-rock group, her songs betrayed a liberal social consciousness. In contrast, her 1995 solo debut, "Tigerlily," was willfully insular: a song cycle of love-gone-bad and a glum, some might say pissed-off, cover portrait. Characterized...
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2002

Business leaders push for free-trade pact

Japanese and South Korean Business leaders agreed Friday that the two countries should sign a bilateral free-trade agreement at an early date, providing impetus for both governments to launch a full study on the issue.
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2002

Ms. Macapagal Arroyo's gamble

The second front on the war against terrorism is opening up. The United States has dispatched military advisers to the Philippines to assist that country's armed forces as they fight a Muslim extremist group that is alleged to have ties to al-Qaeda. While the move was expected, it is not without risks....
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2002

Supermarket sales sank 5% last year

Supermarket sales fell for the fifth straight year in 2001, reflecting depressed consumer spending, an industry association said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2002

Daring assault in Calcutta hijacks peace moves

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's landmark pledge on television two weeks ago to crack down on religious extremist groups appears to have been hijacked by terrorists.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2002

Site sought for fusion project

The government is expected to soon announce its candidacy to host an international nuclear fusion project, despite the concerns of citizens, lawmakers and scientists about its safety and feasibility.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 24, 2002

DrKW starts fantasy stock trading game

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein on Monday launched a nine-week online fantasy stock trading game aimed at university students considering a career in investment banking.
SUMO
Jan 23, 2002

Tochiazuma leads at 10-0

Tochiazuma manhandled former ozeki Dejima to emerge as the sole undefeated wrestler Tuesday after komusubi Kotomitsuki and ozeki Chiyotaikai both fell to their first losses due to concentration lapses at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jan 23, 2002

Forgiven but not forgotten

A standard and horribly cliched J-pop ritual is the public confession of guilt by performers who have done various naughty things -- much like politicians who temporarily drop out of sight after being found on the take or caught rigging elections. The most recent example is SMAP member Goro Inagaki,...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2002

Foreigners play host at new home stays

A citizens' group working to promote mutual understanding between Japanese and foreigners living in Japan announced Monday that it will hold a one-day home stay program in which participants spend a night at the homes of non-Japanese residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2002

Elvis wannabe crooners soothe to 'Rabu Me Tenda'

Dressed in a black tuxedo, a middle-aged former company executive took the stage, cued the six-piece band and launched into Elvis Presley's version of the syrupy '60s ballad "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2002

Fictional kids' book tells of Afghan detainee plight

His family murdered by the Taliban, an Afghan boy called Mohammed comes to Japan as a refugee because his father had always told him the country was a peaceful one.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2002

Inventor hopes lawsuit over diode empowers peers

Shuji Nakamura is confident that his court battle can radically change the relationship between Japanese companies and their in-house inventors.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 22, 2002

Jungle rockets in French Guiana

KOUROU, French Guiana -- It must be one of the best-protected sites in South America. To the north is the ocean, full of devious currents and deadly sharks. To the south is dense rain forest, unforgiving to those who enter unprepared. The site's most important buildings are ringed with electronic fencing...
LIFE / Travel
Jan 22, 2002

Jungle rockets in French Guiana

KOUROU, French Guiana -- It must be one of the best-protected sites in South America. To the north is the ocean, full of devious currents and deadly sharks. To the south is dense rain forest, unforgiving to those who enter unprepared. The site's most important buildings are ringed with electronic fencing...
Events
Jan 22, 2002

Relief group to come to Herat's rescue

KYOTO -- The road from the Iranian border town of Dogaroun to Herat in northwest Afghanistan is a dusty, bumpy track lined with land mines much of the way.

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