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COMMENTARY
Jan 15, 2004

China more open, at least on medical front

HONG KONG -- Last year, after China was caught suppressing information about the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, it dismissed the minister of health and the mayor of Beijing and dramatically opened its health-care system up to international scrutiny. There was much hope then that the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 14, 2004

The sound of the crowd leads to an indie gem

Josee, The Tiger and The Fish Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Isshin Inudo Running time: 116 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Why does one small indie film pack theaters week after week, while others with similar themes play to no one...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jan 14, 2004

New year musing of a 'pottery poet'

As this is the first Ceramic Scene of 2004, I'd like to wish all readers a Happy and Healthy New Year!
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2004

China lights Vietnam's path

SINGAPORE -- Profound similarities bind China and Vietnam together today more than ever. Twelve years after their brief border war in 1979, Hanoi and Beijing normalized relations in 1991 after resolving the "Cambodian problem" at the Paris Peace Conference. This normalization of relations put to rest...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2004

2003: worst and best of times for U.N.

Twelve months ago, the international community heaved a sigh of relief as the major powers appeared to reach a compromise on how to manage Iraq. But Washington's determination to act on its own cut short the role of U.N. weapons inspectors and challenged the very notion that the organization has a role...
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Jan 8, 2004

Japanese books climbed walls, went back to the past in 2003

The particular combination of theme, packaging and timing that produces a best seller is always a mystery, and last year's top sellers in Japan presented even more of a puzzle than usual. What is it about "Baka no Kabe" by anatomy professor Takeshi Yoro that took it to the top of the chart soon after...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 4, 2004

It's time to stop looting Japan's tree treasures

A couple of decades ago, I had a very public confrontation with the government's Forestry Agency. It was about the cutting of old-growth deciduous forest around where I live in Kurohime, Nagano Prefecture -- trees that were hundreds of years old.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2004

Chance to defuse Kashmir

LONDON -- The last dispute left from the end of the British Empire -- the Kashmir question -- may finally be en route to resolution. The unilateral cease- fire declared by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in November along the de facto border, the Line of Control (LOC), and then seconded by India,...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 30, 2003

Truth gets trampled by good stories

And why did the cops take 1,772 calls before deciding that someone was pulling their chain? We don't know. And we don't know why, or even if, the following people did these strange things, but heaven forbid we'd let the truth stand in the way of a good story.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 25, 2003

Egypt game brought to life

Sphinx is an ancient but not unathletic Egyptian hero with gangly arms and a lion's tail. Tut, short for Tutankhamen, is a goofy prince turned into a mummy before his time by an evil brother -- but being a mummy has certain advantages.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2003

Kyoto pact down but not out

The recent confusing announcement by the Kremlin's chief economic adviser, Andrei Illarionov, that Russia will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol continues to spur some pessimists to declare that death of the pact has come at last. The Kyoto accord is not dead; rather, it is asleep, waiting to enter into...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2003

Tokyo hesitant to grant Iraq debt relief

There are no doubts about Japan's support for the United States in Iraq. Tokyo was a strong backer of the U.S.-led invasion, is a top contributor to reconstruction and just approved a plan to send troops to the region.
COMMENTARY
Dec 24, 2003

Ball now in China's court on Taiwan independence

HONG KONG -- With the Taiwan presidential election less than three months away, the behavior of the incumbent, President Chen Shui-bian, and that of the opposition Kuomintang candidate, Lien Chan, shows just how much things have changed in the last decade.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2003

Canberra's silly season of politics

SYDNEY -- Midsummer madness is already upon us. Australians can always tell when the silly season strikes by the antics of Canberra politicians. This time it's come early -- and they're playing their games with comic vengeance.
Japan Times
Events
Dec 18, 2003

U.K. journalists upbeat on economic outlook

Japan may still face some serious economic problems in the months and years to come, but the way the government and the financial authorities have handled the economy in the last 12 months mean there is today a great deal more hope for a sustainable recovery, according to five British financial journalists...
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2003

Sound tidings we bring

The gift of music never fails and you can fill plenty of stockings with these re-releases, compilations and holiday music, handpicked by the JT music elves Tom Bojko, Philip Brasor, Jeff Hammond, Jason Jenkins, Michael Pronko and Suzannah Tartan
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 16, 2003

Boca Juniors capture Toyota Cup on penalties

South American champions Boca Juniors added the Toyota Cup to their collection of trophies on Sunday with a victory over Champions League winner AC Milan after a penalty shootout in Yokohama.
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2003

New Zealand seeks bigger splash in Asia

WELLINGTON -- It's clear that New Zealand's size is both a curse and a blessing. The curse is easy to see: New Zealand is so small that it's hard to get the attention of other governments. New Zealand is responsible for 0.22 percent of world trade. There are more Indonesian civil servants than New Zealanders....
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2003

Iraq gives SDF a military-reality check

An Air Self-Defense Force officer in his 40s says he is happy to be chosen as a candidate for the planned mission to help rebuild Iraq.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2003

Pressures push Pakistan toward ceasefire

MADRAS, India -- According to an old Persian proverb, the man who digs a well ends up at the bottom of it. Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, may well be such a gravedigger.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 7, 2003

Japan's refusal to embrace sex education fuels spread of AIDS

U.S. President George W. Bush may be the best example of how ignorance can be wielded as a weapon, but most people who take advantage of their ignorance prefer to use it as a shield. Tadao Eguchi, the president of the hotel company that operates the hot-spring resort that canceled the reservations of...
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 5, 2003

Kubo blasts Japan past China

Tatsuhiko Kubo scored the first two goals of his international career to give Japan a 2-0 victory over China on the opening day of the East Asian Football Championship in Tokyo on Thursday evening.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 3, 2003

Matsui: Pitching the difference between MLB, Japan pro ball

Ask New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui the difference between major league baseball and Japanese professional baseball and he will tell you.

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