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COMMENTARY
Oct 12, 2002

In pursuit of terrorists and oil

NEW DELHI -- U.S. President George W. Bush is taking a big gamble with his single-minded mission to get rid of a toothless but unsavory dictator, who, far from being a menace to U.S. security, is not a threat even to his neighbors. Bush, who accuses Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein of being "a homicidal...
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2002

Space only the first frontier for H-IIA

The government and industry alike are pinning their hopes on the successful launch of the third H-IIA rocket, due to be sent into space Tuesday on its first full-scale operational mission.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2002

Tepco in-house probe reveals division chiefs' coverup role

An internal probe by Tokyo Electric Power Co. has determined that division chiefs ordered at least three coverups of structural problems at Tepco nuclear plants, company sources said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2002

Republican 'criticism' no war-stopper

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- An interesting debate broke out in Washington last week about the possible war against Iraq. The discussion isn't just about whether to go to war; it has morphed into a quarrel about whether top Republicans are breaking ranks with U.S. President George W. Bush and seeking to reverse...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2002

Law grad opts for freelance reporting, not elite track

With an average monthly income of just 150,000 yen, Maiko Morimoto is the exception among graduates of the University of Tokyo's law department, which has turned out a slew of elite bureaucrats and lawyers.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 16, 2002

Savage, Keane top scene as show begins

LONDON -- After almost 40 years of reporting the beautiful game nothing should come as a surprise.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

FTA with Chile just isn't in the cards

Widely known as a feverish operagoer, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may politely but disappointingly tell an exasperated Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, "Please wait patiently until the fat lady sings."
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jul 1, 2002

Scapegoat seekers fuel nation's decline

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- It is natural when one has domestic problems to look for foreign scapegoats. The United States' paranoia over Japan's trade surplus and foreign-investment binge in the 1980s is a good example. While most nations reflect this general syndrome up to a point, the Japanese seem to...
BUSINESS
May 10, 2002

School vacation in fall seen as economic salve

The government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy is drawing up an economic revitalization package featuring the introduction of a fall vacation for schools and a three-year plan to promote outsourcing of public-sector services, according to an interim draft report.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2002

A method to nuclear madness?

HONOLULU -- We were shocked and dismayed to learn that the Pentagon has allegedly been instructed to develop contingency plans calling for the use of nuclear weapons to deter or respond to a chemical or biological attack on the United States. We say "allegedly" because we are relying on (at best) secondhand...
EDITORIALS
Jan 18, 2002

Shunto's role being tested

Japan's largest labor and management groups have kicked off their annual round of negotiations, with each side releasing a position paper. Basically the two sides agree that under present circumstances protecting jobs is more important than raising wages. That sounds reasonable enough, given that the...
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2002

Experts push government to protect intellectual property

A group of experts has called on the government to adopt a set of 100 drastic reform steps to protect intellectual property rights as part of efforts to make Japan a world leader in the knowledge-oriented economy by 2010.
COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2002

New national goal for Japan

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent developments have brought home to Japan a critical challenge it faces in the post-Cold War world: Establishing a new national goal and designing a national strategy geared to international cooperation.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Foreign inmates could serve sentences at home

Japan may ratify an international treaty next year under which foreign inmates would be repatriated to serve out their prison terms at home, government officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2001

Tax-evasion case reveals connivery behind Kepco's nuclear plant quest

KYOTO -- A recent ruling handed down by the Yokohama District Court on a tax evasion case details for the first time the methods employed by major power companies to circumvent national land laws and stymie local opposition to nuclear power plants.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2001

Mental health challenges remain unmet

NEW YORK -- One aspect not frequently considered of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center tragedy, the anthrax scare, and thousands of people fleeing in terror from Afghanistan is that these events may create or exacerbate mental health problems. Unless they are properly treated, many among those involved...
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2001

Full text of Koizumi's policy speech to Diet

Following is a provisional translation of the policy speech delivered by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to an extraordinary Diet session that opened Thursday for a 72-day session.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 23, 2001

Japan's foreign policy still retains U.S. trappings

First of a six-part series looking back on 50 years of Japanese-U.S. relations since the 1951 signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the bilateral security treaty. By JUNKO TAKAHASHI Staff writer Nobuo Matsunaga was a young diplomat in Paris when Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which...
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2001

Tourism abroad expected to grow 3.3% this year

The number of Japanese tourists going overseas in 2001 will increase 3.3 percent from last year to hit a record 18.4 million, the nation's largest travel agency predicted in an annual report released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2001

Settling Asia's sea of disputes

Last month's spy-plane incident between the United States and China inadvertently highlighted South China Sea territorial disputes as a focal point of possible international confrontation. Although the incident is viewed primarily through the lens of U.S.-China relations, it demonstrates the international...
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Prime minister's policy speech

The following is a provisional translation of the policy speech given Monday by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the 151st session of the Diet:
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2001

Teacher upbeat on proposals of education reform panel

When Ryoichi Kawakami, a 34-year veteran schoolteacher in Saitama Prefecture, was appointed to the National Commission on Educational Reform in March, he was skeptical about whether his input could help solve the problem of "classroom collapse."
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 25, 2000

Emotion trumps logic in whaling debate

Over a sushi lunch with Scott Latham, I mention "whaling," and Scott, my trade-consultant friend, doesn't miss a beat: "The Whaling Wall."
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2000

Sanctions target the innocent

The use of sanctions as a tool of foreign and international policy increased dramatically in the 20th century. Yet as the crumbling sanctions on Iraq show, their track record in ensuring compliance is pitiful. They inflict pain on ordinary citizens while imposing questionable costs on leaders who are...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2000

Ogi rocks the boat with airport review

Transport Minister Chikage Ogi recently sparked a row over a key part of the nation's future infrastructure plans when she suggested a review of the roles of Haneda and Narita airports.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes