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COMMENTARY
Feb 15, 2004

Japan jumping headfirst into the future

The Japanese "get no respect, no respect at all." That trademark line from American comic Rodney Dangerfield certainly applies to the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Last August when I interviewed Koizumi in his official Tokyo residence, I asked him point-blank if Japanese troops really...
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2004

Car recycling law brings automakers together

A new law to promote car recycling that will take effect in January has already fueled competition and led to greater cooperation among Japanese automakers.
EDITORIALS
Feb 13, 2004

Questionable intelligence

Confronted with mounting evidence that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction at the time of last year's war, U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair last month decided to launch an independent inquiry into the quality of intelligence they used to justify the war....
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2004

Officials play down Pyongyang meeting

Wednesday's surprise visit by two senior Foreign Ministry officials to Pyongyang has fueled speculation -- or, to be more precise, expectation -- among the public that there will be developments on the abduction issue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 13, 2004

New subway signals start of a new era

At 4:57 on the morning of Feb. 1, a navy-blue and yellow train pulled out of Motomachi-Chukagai Station bound for Yokohama Station, connecting with through services from there to Shibuya via the Tokyu Toyoko Line.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2004

Cell phone shipments top 50 million

Some 52.2 million mobile phone handsets were shipped domestically in 2003, up 27 percent from a year earlier.
Japan Times
JAPAN / LABOR PAINS
Feb 12, 2004

Osaka firms turning to foreign workers

OSAKA -- The Imazato district of Osaka has long been home to a large concentration of small and midsize enterprises.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2004

Koizumi's career could be biggest casualty of Iraq dispatch

With news of almost daily suicide attacks in Iraq, top government officials share the anxiety of relatives of Japanese soldiers who have been sent there.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2004

Investors burned by NPO eye criminal complaint

Investors burned by a government-registered organization are planning to file a complaint with the police for alleged investment fraud, sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Feb 12, 2004

English: black and white and read all over

"What does 'abortion' mean? It's not a word we often find in textbooks, is it?" Hideharu Tajima, a teacher at Shakujii High School in Tokyo's Nerima Ward, asked students in his English-language class.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2004

Yasukuni remark annoys China

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi voiced displeasure Wednesday over remarks made by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi about the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2004

Drugstore chains announce tieup

Matsumotokiyoshi Co. said Tuesday it will tie up with Drug Eleven, Kyushu's largest drugstore chain.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Feb 11, 2004

You are always on my mind

Familiarity with an object or place can dampen the senses. It may not necessarily breed contempt, but it often leads to indifference. We see it all too frequently, as in the simple case of not visiting wonderful places in our own neighborhood, or the attitude folk here in Shizuoka have toward Mount Fuji:...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2004

Firms catch on to potential of booming IC recorder market

Overshadowed by the red-hot sales of digital cameras and DVD recorders, another digital product has been stealthily making its way into shirt pockets and briefcases.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 8, 2004

"Bakusho Osupi Mondai" on Fuji TV and more

Princess Tenko, the beribboned, gothic-wardrobed Japanese magician who made her name in the United States, has recently been doing a lot of Japanese talk shows, mainly as a result of her reputation as Kim Jong Il's favorite magician.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 8, 2004

Resist the attempts to recognize Taiwan

TAIPEI -- The Cold War may be over in Europe, but it is very much still with us in Asia. The North-South division on the Korean Peninsula is still possibly the world's most dangerous political stand-off. Not far behind is the tension between China and Taiwan. A civil war between the two was frozen just...
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2004

Pakistan and the nuclear bazaar

Pakistan has long argued that it had tight grip on the country's nuclear-weapons program. Despite mounting suspicions, Islamabad assured the world that neither it nor its scientists were involved in the proliferation of such weapons to other countries. In recent weeks, Pakistan has changed its tune....
COMMENTARY
Feb 7, 2004

Flu brings out worst in Asia

HONG KONG -- Amid the spread of bird flu, developing Asian nations face a challenge they are failing to meet, because a degree of modernity is required that they are unable to attain. On the one hand, Asia pursues the skyscrapers, the summit conferences, the high-tech industries seen as symbols of modernity....
BUSINESS
Feb 7, 2004

Mitsubishi, wholesalers turn up heat on food firms

Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday it and five food wholesalers will establish a joint venture this month to strengthen their bargaining power in dealing with food makers.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2004

Officials flee embassy amid terror fears

Officials at the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad have been evacuated from the compound to a separate site in the city amid fears of a terrorist attack, government sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2004

Iraq safety apparently a foregone conclusion

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda entered the fray Thursday over an alleged draft of a report concluding the security situation in Iraq was safe even before an advance team had handed in its findings.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2004

Yahoo to launch online insurance

Leading Internet portal operator Yahoo Japan Corp. said Thursday it will launch an online insurance business in Japan through an alliance with major U.S. insurance broker Aon Corp.
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Feb 6, 2004

Spanning eras at Edo's vibrant hub

First of three parts Nihonbashi -- "Bridge of Japan" -- is the most famous and important bridge of Edo Period Japan. Designated by Shogun Ieyasu in 1603 as the hub of the country's highway network, with all distances measured from there, the small wooden structure with a 50-meter span was where journeys...
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2004

Online conflict-prevention symposium ends on positive note

The fourth online symposium on conflict prevention closed last week with a review session that provided an overview of the nine-day Internet-based event.
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2004

Dispatch debate fails muster

The government's inconsistent statements last week on the security situation in the southern Iraq city of Samawah, the destination of Japanese ground troops, has raised new doubts about a survey report that describes the situation as "relatively stable." This suggests, regrettably, that the government...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

U.S. will assist SDF in Iraq, Armitage pledges to Ishiba

The United States will do its utmost to assist the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq, including providing information to Japan concerning possible terrorist attacks, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba on Monday.

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