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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 23, 2002

Spirited away

QUEENSLAND, Australia -- Each August, ghosts who have no descendants pour through the Gates of Hell into the streets of cities and villages of Southeast Asia. During the full moon, the most dangerous time of the year, the earth teems with hordes of these creatures, lusting for ribald entertainment and...
EDITORIALS
Oct 22, 2002

A disappointing policy speech

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy speech to the Diet last Friday can be summed up in a word: disappointing. It was disappointing particularly because he failed to explain in plain language how he intends to prevent a dangerous economic downturn. People know first hand that things are getting...
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Oct 22, 2002

Bogged in Botswana's mudholes

It is traditional for this column to supply a Nature Travel horror story as close to Halloween as scheduling permits. Halloween is still some time away. But this one's most definitely a two-part column. So forgive us for starting early.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2002

Thwarted prodigy scales the heights

In the world of popular classical music, few stars shine brighter than that of pianist Fujiko Hemming, whose debut CD, "La Campanella," has sold more than 900,000 copies worldwide and collected a Japan Gold Disc Award and numerous classical album of the year awards since its release in 1999.
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 / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 20, 2002

Turning into Japan's Everyman in a Nobel way

People who get selected to compete on Japanese trivia-based TV quiz shows are always getting asked questions about Japan's Nobel prizewinners. It's not as difficult as it sounds. Until two weeks ago, there were only 10 of them.
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2002

Japan's tail-chasing economy

With the economy still moribund after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's initial round of "structural reforms," we are now told that cleaning up the banking system will save the day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 19, 2002

Crime writer racily exposes seamy side of Japan

It's a bit confusing when an author is called Guy Stanley but his card reads Stan Guy in English and Gai Stanri in katakana on the back.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Oct 18, 2002

Conducting a whole tradition of music

When symphony conductor Stefan Nedyalkov first visited Tokyo as a child in 1977, he had a premonition. He awoke in his hotel room one morning, convinced that he would return to Japan someday and live here. He was 11 years old at the time and a member of the children's choir of Bulgarian National Radio....
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2002

Terrorist front in largest Islamic nation

MADRAS, India -- The bomb explosions that killed more than 180 people in Bali last Saturday night affirmed what Indonesia has long denied -- that terrorists are active in the country. For many months now, Indonesia's neighbors and Washington have urged Jakarata to get tough with extremists, particularly...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 13, 2002

Sports Day: the spirit of '64

"Have Japanese people already forgotten about soccer?" asks a recent advertisement for a satellite-TV station. The ad continues: "To all the Japanese people who were swept up in the soccer frenzy of the World Cup -- have you forgotten about soccer?"
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 11, 2002

Motorists driven round the bend by license laws

In May 2002 the Tokyo District Court rejected a suit by freelance journalist Yu Terasawa in which he claimed 1.2 million yen in compensation for driving license renewal fees.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 6, 2002

Lifelong learning makes a dream come true

"Youth," said George Bernard Shaw, "is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children." Could he have said the same of a college education?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 6, 2002

Tuning into the changing face of higher education

Japan's universities are at a crossroad. The notion has been voiced in some quarters for many years, but now -- by common consent -- the fact of the matter is impossible either to deny or to ignore.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2002

Let science sow seeds of peace

While there has been a marked decrease in the rate of global population growth since the early 1990s, it is still rising rapidly, especially in developing countries. Medium-term projections for world population are approximately 8.3 billion by 2030 and 9.3 billion by 2050, before hopefully stabilizing...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2002

Give democracy a chance in postwar Iraq

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- In recent months, the Iraqi debate has played in the news like a tennis match, with observers awarding points to U.S. President George W. Bush for his U.N. speech, then to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for his shrewd move to admit inspectors "without conditions" -- subject, of course,...
EDITORIALS
Sep 30, 2002

Japan and China need new framework

Sunday marked the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-China relations. But the citizens of both nations are not in much of a celebratory mood despite the pomp and fanfare of commemorative events. Maturity is hardly the right word to describe the state of Sino-Japanese ties. Opinion polls show...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Sep 29, 2002

'Kabukicho guide' offers punters a walk on the wild side

Sporting a pinstripe suit, a wiry figure hovers on the main street of Shinjuku Ward's Kabukicho -- Tokyo's busiest and arguably seediest entertainment district.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2002

Signs the EU is coming of age

PARIS -- The most striking fact to emerge from the recent Germany elections is that for the first time a majority of voters in a EU member-state has been motivated by foreign-policy concerns. In the past, the country's worsening economic situation and high unemployment rate would have cost Chancellor...
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2002

State's nuclear policy faces big hurdle: regaining public trust

With the nuclear-hazard coverup scandal continuing to swirl around Tokyo Electric Power Co., two advisory panels set up by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry are stepping up their efforts to douse the controversy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2002

Canada program offers help to isolated parents

A group of child-care experts is offering help to mothers in Japan via a Canadian parent-education program aimed at building self-esteem and creating a supportive network of friends, families and experts.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Sep 27, 2002

It really is sink or swim in Japanese schools

Life is never dull when your children attend local school in a foreign country. My kids have been in Japanese school for two years, but things still catch me by surprise. My daily thrill, if you can call it that, is reviewing the stacks of purinto (handouts) from the school. I never know quite what I'm...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Sep 26, 2002

Iraq dominates Washington's agenda

WASHINGTON -- The Oct. 4 target date for the adjournment of Congress is fast approaching. The top priority for President George W. Bush is to convince Congress to give him some form of support for his crusade against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
EDITORIALS
Sep 23, 2002

The great fire wall of China

Google was gagged. The Chinese government recently blocked access to the popular Internet search engine for several days -- before suddenly reversing course for reasons still unclear -- in an attempt to promote a "healthy atmosphere" in the runup to the November meeting of the Chinese leadership. While...
COMMENTARY
Sep 22, 2002

Label that foils compromise

Sept. 11, 2002, brought us no closer to sensible thinking about the causes of events a year earlier. The United States concentrated on its own sufferings, and plans for revenge against "terrorists." In Japan, a high-level NHK roundtable dragged out that favorite of aid agencies seeking bigger budgets,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2002

Abductees' families kept in dark

North Korea gave Japan the dates eight of its abducted nationals died, but the Foreign Ministry withheld the information from the next of kin until it was reported in a newspaper, government officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2002

Kim's calculated gamble to open up is born of desperation

PYONGYANG -- Even at the Koryo Hotel, one of the most luxurious accommodations for foreign visitors in Pyongyang, the energy shortage was apparent.
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Sep 13, 2002

"Artemis Fowl," "Egg Drop"

"Artemis Fowl," Eoin Colfer, Puffin Books; 2002; 282 pp. "Stay back, human. You don't know what you are dealing with."
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE OKINAWA FACTOR
Sep 13, 2002

Okinawa's free-trade zones failing to attract companies

GUSHIKAWA, Okinawa Pref. -- The Acrorad Co. factory in Okinawa's Nakagusuku Free Trade Zone looks out on more than 100 hectares of empty lots.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2002

U.S. plants tree as symbol of appreciation

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, wife of U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker, thanked the Japanese people Wednesday for their support following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

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’