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Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2002

Akashi, veteran of Cambodia effort, vows to work for peace in Sri Lanka

Yasushi Akashi, who oversaw the U.N. transitional administration in Cambodia in the early 1990s, vowed in a recent interview with Kyodo News to try his best as Japan's representative to Sri Lanka to help broker peace and reconstruction there.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2002

Nisei seeks 'kiyomoto' doctorate

Mark Oshima first wanted to study Japan's prewar colonial policy and become an academic, changed his mind and decided to earn a doctorate in 19th century kabuki, and ended up studying "kiyomoto" -- musical accompaniment to kabuki dancing.
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2002

Electronics firms hustle to adjust to changing, slowing PC market

Electronics firms are moving to revamp their personal computer operations as sales continue to dwindle.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2002

Employers spurn hepatitis carriers

Many central and local government bodies as well as private-sector firms reject job applicants who, according to blood tests and health checkups, carry hepatitis viruses, according to a national association of people with liver diseases.
COMMENTARY
Nov 5, 2002

Testing Koizumi's commitment to change

Last week was likely the most important in the tenure of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Three events -- by-elections, the unveiling of his economic plan and the start of normalization talks with North Korea -- tested his commitment to bringing about change in Japan.
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2002

Economy linked to security

The fight against terrorism emerged as the top issue at the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, whose original aim was to promote sustainable economic growth. This reflected awareness among participants at the summit -- held Oct. 26-27 in Los Cabos, Mexico -- that terrorism affects...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 3, 2002

Meet a pianist and 'genius' chimpanzee on a poll-to-Pole journey

On Oct. 27, by-elections were held in seven districts throughout Japan for Diet seats that had been vacated by politicians forced to resign over scandals. If you weren't aware of this, don't feel bad. Not many people were. Average voter turnout was only about 33 percent. The media didn't pay much attention...
Japan Times
JAPAN / PREFECTURAL FARE
Nov 2, 2002

Miyagi serves up a healthy bounty in Tokyo -- and it's not just 'natto'

Department store basements and chic organic food shops are not the only places to get natural products: Miyagi Prefecture's pilot shop in Tokyo, for people in the know, is a good health-food shop with reasonable prices.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2002

Abductee support groups push to find other 'missing' Japanese

OSAKA -- North Korea may feel that the abduction issue has been resolved and that Japan should now proceed with normalization talks, but for relatives of the Japanese abductees and their supporters, the five survivors and the eight reported dead by Pyongyang represent just the tip of the iceberg.
COMMENTARY
Nov 1, 2002

Coalition poised for offensive

In the Oct. 27 runoff parliamentary elections, the three-way ruling coalition won five of seven seats at stake, defeating the four-party opposition alliance. The elections were held in five Lower House and two Upper House constituencies. The coalition victory has created a measure of political stability...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 1, 2002

Bean me down, Scottie, bean me down

"I don't think the human race will survive the next 1,000 years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Nov 1, 2002

Dialogue building as a social service

Patricia Wakida -- writer, editor, book producer and former JET teacher -- was back in Japan last October doing what she does best: networking.
EDITORIALS
Nov 1, 2002

Don't haggle over abduction issue

The latest round of Japan-North Korea talks on normalizing relations, held in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week for the first time in two years, was conspicuous by the lack of substantial progress. The two sides remained far apart on North Korea's nuclear-weapons program and the fate of Japanese citizens...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Nov 1, 2002

Gathering closes summer's curtain

HIWADAKOUGEN, Gifu Pref. -- I was inside my tent changing from damp clothes to dry when the whooshing thuds of a low-flying helicopter took the campsite by surprise. I thought little of it until the commotion started. News travels fast in a village of nylon walls. Clearly something was amiss.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2002

Talks on hold until Pyongyang affirms family reunions

The government on Thursday said it will not set a date for another round of normalization talks with North Korea unless the reclusive state indicates when the family members of five Japanese abducted decades ago and currently on their first homecoming can also come to Japan.
EDITORIALS
Oct 30, 2002

APEC hijacked again

For the second consecutive year, the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum was dominated by terrorism. The recent attacks against Indonesia and Russia hammered home the fact that no country is safe from this scourge. To their credit, the world leaders, assembling in Cabo San Lucas,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 30, 2002

Psyched up

Members of Keiko Takeya's Dance 01 company rehearse for "Psyche," to be presented in collaboration with Italy-based Iranian artist Hossein Golba. "Psyche" (meaning "breath, life and soul" in Greek) will employ the language of dance to evoke the fluid, metaphysical world of the intellect, says Golba....
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2002

Mr. Putin's worst nightmare

Events of the last few weeks should have put to rest any naive belief that anyone, anywhere is somehow safe from the dangers posed by terrorism. The cowardly bombing of a Bali nightclub and the hostage-taking in a Moscow theater last week are only the most recent attacks by terrorist groups with a taste...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 28, 2002

Words of wisdom on U.S. interventionism

NEW YORK -- Searching the Internet for information on immigration in the United States, I came across President Grover Cleveland's message to Congress on Dec. 18, 1893. In it he detailed his opposition to the annexation of Hawaii. At the start of that year, a self-styled Committee of Safety, led by foreign...
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2002

At last, a move to cut down on popups

Sometimes you have to wonder what advertising gurus use for brains. For decades now, we've watched them fail to grasp the simple truth that television commercials repeated ad nauseam can actually drive viewers to boycott products rather than buy them. In recent years, though, it has been the idea of...
COMMUNITY
Oct 27, 2002

Ultimate distrust

Few things seem more certain than death.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 25, 2002

For the right and the wrong kind of break in Japan

Tourist redress Sheila from London, wants to sound off about a ryokan (traditional inn) she stayed at in Kyoto in early October.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Oct 25, 2002

Shared research yields ideas for schooling

When we first enrolled our son in Japanese school, there were occasions when he came home earlier than I'd expected. The first time, I happened to be at home. "Why were you dismissed early?" I asked my son. "I don't know," he shrugged. "The teacher said something, but I didn't understand."
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Oct 24, 2002

EU reticent over funding Pyongyang nuclear reactors

European Union member states have voiced reservations over continuing to fund an international consortium to help build light-water nuclear reactors in North Korea, EU's new ambassador to Japan Bernhard Zepter said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 23, 2002

Asagaya Jazz Festival

Asagaya is a quietly hip part of town with a dense nexus of sake bars, music venues, performance spaces and specialty shops. But once a year, Asagaya throws open its streets, clubs and cinemas to two days of jazz, transforming the neighborhood into Asagaya Jazz Streets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Oct 23, 2002

Getting keyed in on musical talent

I don't like the phrase "child prodigy." It sounds vaguely condescending, and it brings to mind images of pushy parents forcing reluctant children to follow in the footsteps of Beethoven, Mozart and Michael Jackson.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 20, 2002

Personality professional tells young women to break mold

For Akiko Shimizu, director of the John Robert Powers School, getting the best out of her young students is not just her job, but a way to make herself more attractive.
Japan Times
Uncategorized
Oct 19, 2002

Shop brings famed goods of chilly Iwate to Tokyo

If food represents the land, climate and history of the region that nurtured its taste, the specialties of Iwate Prefecture reflect one of Japan's snowiest areas.
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2002

Most crucial lesson from Bali

The Indonesian island of Bali, known as the Island of the Gods, has long projected a peaceful image as an idyllic resort for international tourists. That image was shattered by Saturday's bomb explosion that devastated a popular nightclub frequented by Westerners, killing at least 180 people and wounding...

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