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COMMENTARY
Apr 14, 2003

China stumbles on SARS and Pyongyang

LOS ANGELES -- Mistake-making is a common occupation of governments everywhere, but lately the Chinese government has made two monster blunders that uncomfortably reopen the question of whether China has made all that much progress after all. The issues concern North Korea and severe acute respiratory...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 13, 2003

Matsui, Matsui . . . and a little more Matsui

Because of coverage of the invasion of Iraq, it feels as if we're being spared the all-Matsui-all-the-time media blitz we were promised last fall when the former Yomiuri Giants slugger, Hideki Matsui, signed with the New York Yankees. We aren't. Matsui madness is everywhere, but because the war has engaged...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2003

Chinese deserve grown-up party leaders

SEOUL -- The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party want the world to believe that the government they control is fit to be accepted as a full-fledged mature member of the global community. But is it? There have to be some doubts.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2003

Futility felt by journalist drives him to show war's true face

Hearing U.S. bombs find their targets and feeling the ground shake under his Baghdad hotel, Kosuke Tsuneoka was struck by the futility of his plan to serve as a "human shield" and stop the war.
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2003

The war of words

Every war breeds its own vocabulary, and the second Persian Gulf conflict has proved no exception. One thing does seem new, though. As this invasion (aka liberation) plays out 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in the world's living rooms, its singular lingo has circled the globe with unprecedented speed....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 16, 2003

'Bogus' theme parks becoming the last resort

On Jan. 23, Tokyo Disneyland held a preview event for the media in anticipation of the park's 20th anniversary, which will be celebrated April 15. About 1,400 celebrity guests showed up trailed by 50 camera crews, all from domestic television stations, which means that most of them were from outside...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2003

'L.A. Scandal' laid to rest with acquittal

The Supreme Court has upheld a high court acquittal of Kazuyoshi Miura over the death of his wife in the early 1980s, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Amnesty criticizes rights-protection bills

Amnesty International Japan has "serious concerns" over a set of bills the government says will protect human rights and personal information, saying they will be ineffective in preventing violations by authorities.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 26, 2002

Social entrepreneur targets cross-cultural themes

Ken Nakamori has a dream: a vision of deepening the understanding between people of different countries and creating a new bridge of communication through digital media communities.
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2002

Shrinking realm of privacy

LONDON -- Privacy is now increasingly recognized as an important human right, but its limits are not easy to define. How far, for instance, should the press be prevented from intrusive photography of VIPs? The media generally argue that it is their job to report on the movements and actions of public...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 18, 2002

Aum documentary holds up a mirror to Japanese society

RELIGION AND SOCIAL CRISIS IN JAPAN: Understanding Japanese Society Through the Aum Affair, edited by Robert J. Kisala and Mark R. Mullins. Hampshire: Palgrave (St. Martin's Press/Macmillan), 2001, 228 pp., $68 (cloth) It is frequently observed that social change and resulting social crises often give...
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2002

Double-edged law for juveniles

The Liberal Democratic Party is preparing a bill designed to deal with "social conditions detrimental to the sound development of juveniles" -- conditions that induce or encourage sex and violence on the part of children. Although there is no question about the need to promote the healthy development...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 17, 2002

Was she used -- or were Makiko's tears deemed too dangerous?

The sixth Press and Human Rights Committee Conference, held at the end of January by the Asahi Shimbun, focused on the problem of gender discrimination in the media. In a full-page feature promoting the event in the Feb. 10 issue of the newspaper, three participants started out by blasting Prime Minister...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 20, 2002

Discussing the humane execution of the law

As far as I know, no one has tried to figure out why two of the most popular theatrical releases of 2000 in Japan were "The Green Mile" and "Dancer in the Dark," movies whose dramatic core involved capital punishment and whose moral compass pointed toward the opinion that noncombat state-sanctioned killing...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 30, 2001

Ichiro prefers to let his bat do the talking

He may be the ultimate Mariner, but when it comes to dealing with the media, baseball superstar Ichiro Suzuki can act more like a clam.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 12, 2001

'Model' family vs. maternal love: a nation judges

Last week, the Japan Office of the Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine announced that a 60-year-old Japanese woman gave birth to a healthy baby at Jikei University Hospital in Tokyo. Though the woman's identity and the child's gender were not revealed, the mother released a statement through the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 15, 2001

A spoonful of Koizumi helps the medicine go down

The continuance of Junichiro Koizumi's administration beyond the summer seems like a sure bet: Support for his Cabinet is over 80 percent, his e-mail magazine is being read by hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and every time the opposition questions one of his pronouncements, they are deluged with...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 3, 2001

It's all about manners (cough, gasp), not health

It's not surprising that the local media glossed over the World Health Organization's 14th annual World No Tobacco Day last Thursday. The government, a member in good standing of the United Nations and a conscientious contributor to its causes, didn't start preparing a seminar to mark the occasion until...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 22, 2001

All together now: Let's all shill for Universal!

Before Universal Studios Japan opened on March 31, media commentators were asking why the new Hollywood theme park wasn't called Universal Studios Osaka. After all, Tokyo Disneyland isn't called Japan Disneyland. Here's the punch line: If they called it Universal Studios Osaka, the acronym would be USO,...
COMMENTARY
Feb 25, 2001

Breaking the yakuza's grip

LONDON -- The sad case of the murder of Lucy Blackman, the young British woman who was a hostess in a Roppongi bar, inevitably attracted the attention of the British media.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2001

No wonder Seoul's politicos get no respect

SEOUL -- Some days ago I received a telephone call from the Office of the Chief Spokesman of the National Assembly. A friendly public-relations officer invited me to write an article for the National Assembly Review with personal observations regarding the challenges for parliamentary politics in South...
COMMENTARY
Sep 19, 2000

Dispute defies quick solution

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed in their recent Tokyo summit to resolve the bilateral territorial dispute over the Northern Territories, stirring mixed reactions in the two countries. Although they agreed to continue peace-treaty talks toward the yearend deadline,...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 25, 2000

You say Fusaichi, I say Fusaichi

Whenever a Japanese name enters the sporting world's lexicon, all sorts of problems arise. Take the Nagano Olympics for example. Is it pronounced NA-ga-no or Na-GA-no? The foreign media wrestled with this question for two straight weeks during the winter of 1998. The confusion trickled down to the masses...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 20, 2000

Kaigo hoken throws spotlight on life in 'nursing care hell'

A few weeks ago I submitted a proposal for an April Fool's story to a local publication. The piece would have been a news report about Japanese airline companies taking advantage of "Japan's rapidly aging society" by offering "nursing care miles" to frequent flyers in order to attract middle-aged travelers....
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Stag beetle hunter casts doubt on reported 10 million yen deal

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jun 24, 1999

Recession not sole cause of suicide

All Daisuke Tajima could think about was ending it all. One day the 49-year-old salaried worker walked out of his office in a city in northern Japan, and for weeks his family had no clue as to his whereabouts.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 23, 1999

On the fringe of the fray

I had dinner with two friends last week and eventually the conversation came around to the Web (I generally try to avoid the topic in polite conversation but what can you do?). Anyone overhearing our conversation might have thought we were a trio of hopeless geeks, or digerati wannabes, but the truth...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 1998

Newspapers not doomed by Internet, Murdoch assures

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jun 1, 1998

Papers urged to compete with new strategies as Internet expands

and AKEMI NAKAMURA
JAPAN
Feb 23, 1998

Jury still out on Nagano Olympics

NAGANO -- The pavilions are closed and the Olympic banners have disappeared. The souvenir shops are half-empty and Zenkoji Temple has regained its calm demeanor. The city's infamous traffic jams are back, and the taxis once again form long lines waiting for customers.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’