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COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2004

Controversies stoke Chinese nationalism

SINGAPORE -- Controversy in Taiwan over the March 20 presidential poll as well as political stirrings in Hong Kong over China's "final" say in deciding reforms have probably contributed to rising nationalism in China. These three trends could affect the future development of China and the stability of...
BUSINESS
May 13, 2004

Japan to seek better tax deals with Asia

Japan will propose revising tax pacts with other Asian economies at a meeting this weekend, hoping that lower levies will boost cross-border business and investment, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 9, 2004

Translating a Heian court lady into an Edwardian

ORIENTING ARTHUR WALEY: Japonism, Orientalism, and the Creation of Japanese Literature in English, by John Walter de Gruchy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003, 210 pp., $34.00 (cloth). Arthur Waley's translations from Chinese and Japanese "should be read as contributions to English literature."...
COMMENTARY
Apr 28, 2004

Polls to change face of Asia

HONOLULU -- Winston Churchill once said "democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried." Recent elections in South Korea and Taiwan have already demonstrated that irony. This year contains a number of presidential and parliamentary elections that promise to...
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2004

China, consolidation end steel industry slump

After years of being in a slump, Japan's steelmakers are again enjoying strong demand, buoyed by China's red-hot hunger for everything used to make buildings, bridges and other social infrastructure.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Apr 18, 2004

Revisiting an evil stereotype

MOSCOW -- Each country has a reputation. For France, it is wine and food; for Italy, wine, food and the pope; for Holland, canals; for Austria, skiing; for Russia vodka, snow and bears.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Apr 2, 2004

Echoes of Edo's entertaining past

The 1830s woodblock print by Hasegawa Settan (right) might at first look like an abstract picture jammed with squares and diamond forms. In fact, it shows the bustling kabuki theater district in the Sakaicho and Fukiyacho districts of Edo.
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2004

Plans for U.S. military still source of friction

Japan and the United States remain divided over plans to realign the U.S. military forces in Japan, according to Japanese government sources.
Japan Times
Features
Mar 7, 2004

Cheers! Ganging up in pursuit of fine pints

On a Friday night in Tokyo, there's no place livelier than Shibuya. But on Friday, Feb. 20, four pubs there were far busier than usual thanks to a crowd of revelers on a pub crawl called "Beer Gang" -- the inaugural event of the Good Beer Club, a newly formed group already with more than 150 members...
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2004

Final bills on attack response await OK

The government on Tuesday released the details of seven bills that would govern the legal procedures Japan must follow to respond to an armed attack.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2004

Reliving the romance of nation-building

SYDNEY -- So you think your one-hour-plus commute into Tokyo each morning is agony! Pity passengers on Australia's newest train trip -- two days and two nights. And paying $12,000 for the privilege.
COMMENTARY
Dec 22, 2003

Courageous decision on Iraq

LONDON -- The Japanese government's decision to send members of the Self-Defense Forces to take part in humanitarian efforts in Iraq was a courageous one.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2003

Crime crackdown includes plan to cut illegal foreign residents

In an effort to regain its reputation as a safe nation, Japan aims to halve by 2005 the number of illegal foreign residents from the current estimate of 250,000, according to a government action plan to combat crime obtained by Kyodo News on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2003

China dreads contagion of unrest

SINGAPORE -- The heavy losses suffered by proadministration and pro-Beijing parties in Hong Kong's Nov. 23 municipal elections clearly bore out a prodemocracy message.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 28, 2003

Peacefulness that's action-packed

Airplanes are the worst. I hate flying and avoid doing so as much as possible. But to compound my suffering, the day I flew down from Tokyo to Shikoku was also the day a typhoon was heading there, too. So, as the plane was being buffeted in midair, and I sat clutching the arms of my seat for dear life,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 26, 2003

Pottery to get on a plane for

Two unprecedented Japanese ceramic exhibitions now taking place far from Japan's shores show just how influential are the artistic ripples from this grand potting paradise. Distanced by centuries, but just a dozen New York City blocks, are two of the greatest Japanese definers of clay: eclectic Furuta...
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2003

Aid groups seen working in Iraq vacuum

As Japan continues to debate whether to send troops to help reconstruct Iraq, Japanese nongovernmental organizations are struggling to carry out their relief work in the war-torn country.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2003

U.S. continues to stir Muslim resentment

SINGAPORE -- In an Oct. 1 report to the U.S. Congress, titled "Changing Minds, Winning Peace," a high-level panel warned that "hostility toward America had reached shocking levels." It recommended that the administration overhaul and increase public-relations efforts to salvage its plummeting image among...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 17, 2003

A proper accounting due for IASB's ways

Established in 2001, the International Accounting Standards Board is a body that is trying to develop a single set of high-quality global accounting standards, the ultimate goal being to have the world's other existing standards converge with it.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 27, 2003

Neo Universe fails in triple crown bid

KYOTO -- The 64th running of the Kikkasho turned out to be a major fun spoiler Sunday.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2003

Nations commit cash at Iraq donors' conference

MADRID -- Nudged by the United States, international donors came through with pledges of $19 billion in grants and loans Friday to rebuild Iraq but were falling short of the estimated $56 billion needed to rebuild the country.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2003

Taiwan power rivals must win or perish

TAIPEI -- With five months to go before Taiwan's presidential election, the campaign is heating up between the incumbent, President Chen Shui-bian, leader of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, and the opposition Kuomintang's (KMT) Lien Chan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 24, 2003

Ito's embroidered art has got it all stitched up

The Watari-Um Museum of Contemporary Art in Shibuya is one of Japan's most respected private museums. Now, it seems, the beautiful, Mario Botta-designed art space has also become one of the country's leading supporters of young artists.
COMMENTARY
Aug 18, 2003

Responsibility to protect against state abuse

KUALA LUMPUR -- The annual Asia-Pacific Roundtable is an invaluable opportunity to take the pulse of Southeast Asian thinking about security issues. This year's meeting, the 17th, featured the usual U.S. bashing -- a predictable response to overwhelming American power and the Bush administration's readiness...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 7, 2003

Golden 'weeds' of wondrous ways

It was a breezy day at Cape Notoro overlooking the Sea of Okhotsk on Hokkaido's north coast. The sun was glinting on the waves below the cliffs and a skylark singing somewhere above was producing a cascade of summer sound.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 17, 2003

Humble marvels of nature

The mechanics of flight are beyond me, and I especially can't imagine how bumblebees can become airborne. Images of a jumbo jet taking off without a runway spring to mind.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan