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JAPAN
Sep 14, 2003

Waseda loses case over Jiang lecture

Waseda University acted illegally by sending police a list of people who applied to attend a lecture by former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, saying it violated the applicants' privacy by disclosing personal information without their consent, the Supreme Court has ruled.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 14, 2003

Standing up to the loan sharks

On the morning of Aug. 13, a 70-year-old Yokohama man hanged himself in his home -- driven over the edge by debt. In total, he owed 17 million yen to banks, consumer-loan companies and even his children and relatives. In addition, 1,120,000 yen of his debt was to eight yamikinyu (loan sharks).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 14, 2003

The money hole

Kumiko Morita looked down at her cell phone as it began to ring. With reluctance she picked it up and answered it. After listening to the caller, she began to speak -- not in her usual soft-spoken way, but in a loud, forceful voice.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2003

Centenarians to surpass 20,000 mark this month

The number of centenarians in Japan is expected to reach a record 20,561 by the end of September, topping the 20,000 mark for the first time, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 10, 2003

China-Japan perception gap

WHITE FISH, Montana -- The accidental discovery of buried canisters of mustard gas, abandoned by Japanese troops in China over a half century ago, is only the most recent tangible reminder of the unfinished legacy of World War II. Forty Chinese workers were injured and one died after barrels of nerve...
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2003

U.S. a misunderstood giant

HONOLULU -- "Once the Bush administration is done attacking North Korea, will Vietnam be next?" This seemed to be the burning question in the back of many people's minds as I visited Vietnam for a series of lectures on U.S. foreign policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2003

Mideast violence is forecast

DOHA, Qatar -- Despite the positive spin that optimistic politicians put on current developments in the Arab-Israeli conflict, a crashing storm threatens the shores of the Mediterranean. Such a prediction can easily be read over the events surrounding the Middle East peace process in the last month alone....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 2, 2003

A day at the beach -- Japanese style!

Today, we're going on a trip. Are you ready? OK, here's a list of things we'll need: a large vinyl ground sheet, portable picnic tables, a tent, boxed lunches, a cooler for the beer and a thermos for the cold tea. Have you guessed where we're going yet? No, not camping. A few more hints. We'll also need...
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2003

Greater range of foods to carry point-of-origin info

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry decided Friday to increase the range of processed food products that must carry labels indicating the ingredients' points of origin.
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2003

Iraqis take control

The inauguration of an Iraqi-led government in Baghdad is the first concrete step toward creating a free and democratic Iraq. Installation of the Iraqi Governing Council by the United States is still problematic, but a successful transition from U.S. administration to a stable and functioning civil society...
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2003

Suspected porn peddler lured girls with job offers

Police say a man who held four elementary schoolgirls captive before committing suicide had been using high school girls to recruit younger girls for part-time jobs, investigative sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2003

Decontrol ideas run gamut from wine to trash to schools

Local governments and businesses have put forward 280 ideas for special deregulated zones, including areas where farmers can produce wine and where a service can be provided to take out garbage for the elderly.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2003

SARS travel alert for Taiwan lifted

The Foreign Ministry on Saturday lifted a SARS travel caution for Taiwan, the last remaining entry on its list of areas where travelers should exercise caution due to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jun 28, 2003

Extinction ahead for odd Japanese beasts

A news item earlier this year cited the upcoming extinction of the banana, giving the slippery fruit a life expectancy of but 10 more years.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 28, 2003

Doing business: the 'uchiawase' vortex

It has never been easier to start a business in Japan. These days, anyone can register a business with zero money and an "inkan" stamp. Indeed, this is what attracted me. I thought: Hey I have no money -- I'll start a business!
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jun 27, 2003

Prepare for lift-off: destination, the stars

Having spent the best part of two decades prowling Roppongi at street level, my first visit to the Roppongi Hills Club felt like an out-of-body experience. Hovering an awesome 51 floors above the network of increasingly seedy bars below, my spirit could not help but feel elevated. The club is so far...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Jun 20, 2003

Solstice Music Festival off the calendar; Shared honors for 2002; new releases

It's like watching the lights go out at the stadium. You know, that low metallic "Klung!" "Klung!" "Klung!" as the off switches are hit in succession.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2003

Group to make lawyers explain fees more clearly

Reacting to long-standing criticism of lawyers' obscure fee-setting practices, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations has decided to ask its members to give prospective clients a written estimate of the cost before rendering a legal service.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 13, 2003

Dean & Deluca: A slice of NY in Marunouchi

The gentrification of Marunouchi continues apace. No longer a staid salaryman ghetto, it has reinvented itself as some of the most sophisticated commercial real estate in the city. The latest arrival in the neighborhood is the sleek steel-and-glass Mitsubishi Trust building, rising high above the venerable...
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2003

IMF offers a solution to deflation

A top International Monetary Fund official urged Japan on Wednesday to adopt a medium-term inflation target to help the country break out of a crippling deflationary trap.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 31, 2003

Masaomi Kondo

Professor of economics at Daito Bunka University, Masaomi Kondo is also president of the Japan Association for Interpretation Studies, and senior member of the International Association of Conference Interpreters in Geneva. The scope of his interests and qualifications go way beyond economics and high-level...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 25, 2003

The boy bachelor

Last week, the National Tax Bureau released its annual list of the country's top tax-payers, and at the summit of the pile of show business personalities was Masahiro Nakai, the self-effacing leader of the boy group SMAP. Nakai's high salary is easy to understand: He appears in at least a half-dozen...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 16, 2003

Bombay Club: At last, Indian food for kulcha vultures

It's been a very long time -- thankfully -- since we could count the number of places in Tokyo serving real Indian food on the fingers of one hand. These days we don't have to travel too far to find a reasonably authentic curry. In fact, it's a measure of how fortunate we are that our main complaint...
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2003

End of the old world disorder?

Wars are cataclysmic events. Out of the destruction of major wars emerge new fault lines of international politics. To this extent, wars are the international, political equivalent of earthquakes, eruptions on the surface reflecting deeper underlying seismic shifts in the pattern of major-power relations....
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2003

Disappointments in Damascus

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Syria last weekend to demand that the government in Damascus do more to help bring peace to the Middle East. As a key player in the region, Syria's cooperation is essential to any viable peace between Israel and its neighbors. So far, though, Syria has resolutely...
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2003

Avoid hasty reaction to a probable bluff

LONDON -- "They don't negotiate like we do," explained Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and one of the North Korean regime's few channels of communication with the United States, after meeting with Pyongyang's representative in January. "They believe that...
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2003

Marathon trial could have gone on longer

The trial of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara is unprecedented both in the nature of the crimes involved and the way the court proceedings have progressed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2003

Pressure mounts on Matsunami to resign

Pressure mounted Friday on New Conservative Party member Kenshiro Matsunami to resign from the House of Representatives following revelations that he allowed a yakuza-linked construction firm to pay several million yen to cover his secretaries' salaries.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2003

Firm resolve propels Sri Lankan peace aims

KOBE -- The United States demonstrated its serious commitment to the Sri Lanka's peace drive by hosting an international seminar on Sri Lanka's reconstruction and development on Monday at the U.S. State Department in Washington. But the U.S. decision to exclude Tamil Tiger rebels from the donor conference...

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight