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COMMENTARY
Jul 5, 2003

'Neocon' recipe for disaster

BRUSSELS -- Newspapers are awash with speculation as to the likely outcome of the Korean Peninsula's nuclear crisis. Will it be the United States that blinks or North Korea? Nobody knows. What is clear is that while North Korea and the world wants and needs a solution, opinion in the U.S. is sharply...
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2003

Alarming surge seen in fatty-liver ailment

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, an inflammation of the liver associated with the accumulation of fat in the organ that is similar to a condition found in people who drink too much alcohol, is setting off alarm bells in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 4, 2003

Little Myanmar in big Tokyo

The ongoing ethnic food boom in Tokyo has somehow bypassed some of the most interesting, savory and satisfying food in all of Southeast Asia -- the cuisine of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma before the accession of the current military government in 1989).
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 3, 2003

When males lead to miscarriages

At temples all over Japan, there are stone statues wearing aprons and caps of red cloth. Someone once told me that the cloth was supposed to keep the statues warm at night and protect them when it rained. What my friend neglected to say was that many of these statues are dedicated to mizuko, literally...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2003

Eco-funds spark interest but few buy

While many individual Japanese investors are interested in taking part in so-called ecology funds, few have actually invested in them, according to a recent Internet survey released by the Environment Ministry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 2, 2003

A chip off the old block

IWATE, Iwate Pref. -- The town of Iwate, population 17,302, is one of the last places you'd expect to find an international art event. But though the largely rural Iwate Prefecture put itself on the art map 18 months ago, with the opening of the Iwate Museum of Art (currently hosting a Frank Stella exhibition;...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 2, 2003

On a director's storyboard far, far away

Is there a person in the Western world -- or even globally, given Hollywood's cultural reach -- who is unaware of "Star Wars"? In a society increasingly described as amnesiac, in which pop culture seems to come with an expiry date, George Lucas' movie trilogy (now with two -- soon to be three -- "prequels")...
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2003

Governors' wages rise while mayors' drop

The average income of governors in 35 prefectures rose to 24 million yen in 2002, while that of mayors of 10 of the nation's 13 largest cities fell to 22.37 million yen, with many having their pay and bonuses cut due to tight budgets, according to income reports released Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 1, 2003

Another nudge for the U.S. economy

The stars are beginning to line up for the U.S. economy. The war in Iraq ended quickly, the Bush tax cut has become law, economic indicators point to growth in the second half of the year and the dollar is declining against other currencies, boosting the prospects for exports. To help nudge things along,...
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2003

Smokers get hit with an extra 20 yen per pack

The cost of a pack of cigarettes will increase by 20 yen for most brands on Tuesday as a tobacco tax hike takes effect.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2003

Mystery note preceded Aegis dispatch

The Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Shirane was slated to be sent to support U.S.-led antiterrorism operations last November but the mission was scrubbed at the last minute when an anonymous letter was received warning of repair irregularities, leading the government to deploy an Aegis warship...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jun 30, 2003

U.S. policy only fuels fundamentalism

NEW YORK -- "In pre-surrender discussions of the postwar world, no principle, save the basic principle of democracy itself, was more frequently cited than that of religious freedom as essential to the establishment of a permanently peaceful world."
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 30, 2003

Extension of Stackhouse's contract bizarre

NEW YORK -- Who exactly were the Wizards bidding against when they awarded Jerry Stackhouse a two-year extension ($18 million) to piggyback the two years he could have escaped from before July 1?
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2003

FSA lists rules on bank side businesses

The Financial Services Agency has drawn up rules for regional lenders operating sideline businesses, such as providing advice to companies or leasing unused office space, FSA sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2003

FSA lists rules on bank side businesses

The Financial Services Agency has drawn up rules for regional lenders operating sideline businesses, such as providing advice to companies or leasing unused office space, FSA sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2003

FSA lists rules on bank side businesses

The Financial Services Agency has drawn up rules for regional lenders operating sideline businesses, such as providing advice to companies or leasing unused office space, FSA sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 29, 2003

Dishonesty in democracy

JAPAN'S DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY: The Liberal Democratic Party and Structural Corruption, by Roger W. Bowen. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2003, 139 pp. $21.95 (paper). JAPAN'S FAILED REVOLUTION: Koizumi and the Politics of Reform, by Aurelia George Mulgan. Canberra: Asia Pacific Press, 2003, 139 pp. $36 (paper). During...
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2003

Humane results don't justify bad policy

WASHINGTON -- Never mind finding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, intones U.S. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican: Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was a bad man and "our war to liberate Iraq was right and just." Liberal pundit Nat Hentoff agrees, calling humanitarianism "the most compelling reason...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 29, 2003

History lost and found

THE DIARY OF KOSA PAN, introduction and annotation by Dirk van der Cruysse, translation of diary by Visudh Bysyaklu, translation of introduction and footnotes by Michael Smithies. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2002, 88 pp., $12.95 (paper). In the early summer of 1686, the Siamese Embassy arrived in France...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 29, 2003

A hot-headed female voice

EMBRACING THE FIREBIRD: Yosano Akiko and the Birth of the Female Voice in Modern Poetry, by Janine Beichman. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002, 352 pp., $23.95 (paper). Vivid, rich, suggestive, imaginative -- with these words, writer Janine Beichman aptly describes the extraordinary early poetry...
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2003

Family of drowned woman seeks payout from JTB unit

The family of a woman who drowned in 2001 while on vacation in Thailand is seeking 142 million yen from JTB World Vacations Inc. for not giving her enough information about the risk of drowning.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2003

Family of drowned woman seeks payout from JTB unit

The family of a woman who drowned in 2001 while on vacation in Thailand is seeking 142 million yen from JTB World Vacations Inc. for not giving her enough information about the risk of drowning.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2003

Ota's comment justifying gang rape draws condemnation from Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday condemned remarks by Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Seiichi Ota, who said that gang raping women by youngsters is evidence of their virility.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2003

Hailing a cab easier for foreigners

Taxi companies have decided to give a helping hand to those who do not speak Japanese.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2003

Ota's comment justifying gang rape draws condemnation from Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday condemned remarks by Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Seiichi Ota, who said that gang raping women by youngsters is evidence of their virility.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2003

Prime minister's visitors can slip away via tunnel

A tunnel being built under the new prime minister's office building to link it with the Cabinet Secretariat and Cabinet Office will allow those wanting to avoid reporters after meeting Japan's leader to skulk away unseen, according to political sources.

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