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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 17, 2002

The Imperial family: celebrities or deities?

At a press conference to mark his 68th birthday last December, Emperor Akihito surprised reporters by saying that he felt a strong "kinship" with Korea.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 17, 2002

Favorites that come widely recommended

The information in this column usually covers the gamut of sake nomenclature, types and brewing methods, as well as culture, history and the occasional oddities. But beyond the single recommendation in each column, rarely does it address the question, "So, uh, what are the good sake? What should I be...
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 17, 2002

The global village: small, but not always beautiful

The current No. 1 best seller in Japan is the cheery picture book "Sekai ga moshi hyakunin no mura dattara" ("If the World Were a Village of 100 People"; Magazine House), a retelling of a bit of "Netlore." Several years ago, the environmentalist Donella Meadows wrote a newspaper column on the global...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 16, 2002

Conspiracy behind itty-bitty kitty tails

There is one question about Japan that even the Japanese cannot answer: What has happened to all the cats' tails? I have never seen a kitten without a tail, but adult stray cats in Japan seldom have tails. Although many Japanese have offered theories, no one seems to really know the answer.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2002

Premier raises peace hopes in Sri Lanka

There is now hope, however faint, of peace in Sri Lanka after almost two decades of bloody ethnic conflict between the majority Buddhist Sinhalas and the minority Tamils, who are fighting for a separate homeland in the northern and eastern parts of the small island.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2002

Banking crisis looks like mirage

Japan will probably avoid a banking crisis at the end of the month because of the recent triple rise of stocks, bonds and the yen, Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), said Monday.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Mar 12, 2002

Honesty as a policy

Although it seems that everybody now has an opinion on the Enron debacle, I still think that the business lessons to be learned have been slighted. In a sense, what has happened with this three-card monte version of a corporation is a reflection of the worst single tendency of the last quarter-century...
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2002

Keeping politicians on leash

In a report published March 4, the Foreign Ministry acknowledged that Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Muneo Suzuki exerted exceptional influence over ministry affairs. The report, based on an in-house probe and released by Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, confirmed allegations that Suzuki intervened...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2002

The Domino effect

Friday nights are not as popular as Saturday nights for trance parties in Tokyo. Yet by 11:45 p.m. one Friday last month -- a full hour before most regulars would think it's cool to show up -- Cube326 was filling fast.
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2002

Shall we sizzle?

At first glance, Koji Kanazawa looks like any other desk-beagle: neatly pressed gray pants, white shirt and bland tie topped off with a bashful, almost apologetic bow.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2002

Poverty and disease: our deadliest enemies

Consider this: More people died of AIDS on Sept. 11 (and every day since) than died during the terrorist attacks in New York, and over 8,000 people die from diseases every day that are easily preventable by vaccinations.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2002

Propaganda fuels Muslim anti-Semitism

NEW YORK -- It was, by all accounts, a heinous conclusion to a barbaric crime. The Pakistani kidnappers of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl forced him to state that he was a Jew and his mother and father were Jews. Then, having laid out their legal case, the killers slit his throat and beheaded...
COMMENTARY
Mar 7, 2002

Zimbabwe: 11th hour questions

LONDON -- The situation in Zimbabwe goes from bad to worse. Sunday's presidential election approaches amid a crescendo of violence and intimidation, with the army, the state police and the thugs of the ruling Zanu-PF political party rampaging through every region of this enormous and once-rich Central...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 6, 2002

Of life's mystery and joy

He lived through the best and worst of times. His life spanned a century of tremendous change, as Japan's focus shifted from rural to industrial, from East to West, from peace to war. He experienced poverty and success, respect and recrimination. He was Taikan Yokoyama (1868-1958), one of Japan's most...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 5, 2002

The trauma of unwanted pregnancy

1. Marie's story Only two people know about Marie's abortion. One is her ex-boyfriend, by whom she became pregnant 12 years ago, and one is her husband. Her parents, her brother and her friends know nothing of the fact that as a 19-year-old she took a plane to London from Dublin to terminate her pregnancy....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 2, 2002

Leslie deGiere

While she was still a student at San Francisco State University, Leslie deGiere took a break from lectures and went to London. "I had lived in America my entire life, and wanted to go somewhere else," she said. "I was interested in British history and literature, and decided to spend some time in London....
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2002

Tempest over headscarves ruffles Singapore's multiracial calm

SINGAPORE -- As the controversy over the prohibition of wearing the Muslim headscarf, the tudung, in public schools in Singapore moves on to the next stage, a cardinal doctrine of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- noninterference in the domestic affairs of member countries -- looks set to...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Mar 1, 2002

For special kids, his music is the message

Ramsey King Montana's funky fashion sense might be a bit overwhelming for some parents who sign their children up for his family music classes. He wears checkered pantaloons, a fierce studded leather belt, a pierced earring that belonged to his mother (a Blackfoot Indian) and braids in his beard.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 28, 2002

Japanese teams treat Guam to rugby spectacle

For many Japanese people, the island of Guam conjures up images of duty-free shopping, cheap golf courses and unequaled diving around the reefs that surround this Pacific island.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Feb 28, 2002

Salt Lake City Games spark Gold War

MOSCOW -- Moscow is furious, Russia indignant. President Vladimir Putin frowns, the Russian Parliament wails. The people would be burning American flags in the streets if they could get some. The hotheads are already talking about boycotting McDonald's and "The Lord of the Rings." The nation feels humiliated...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 27, 2002

Looking longer and seeing more

If you love art, you probably like nothing more than browsing at an exhibition; then perhaps, enthusing with friends that evening about what you saw. Maybe you even indulge in buying the occasional artwork.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 25, 2002

Memoir sheds light on Chinese atrocity

NEW YORK -- My businessman friend Michio Hamaji, whose avowed mission is to improve international understanding, recently brought me a Japanese book titled "Charz." He told me it's a childhood memoir describing a Chinese atrocity in the late 1940s. If translated into English and published in the United...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2002

Rarefied democracy of the Arab world

LONDON -- Bahrain produces little news of interest to the rest of the world, but now something remarkable has happened there. On Feb. 14, Emir Sheik Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa declared that Bahrain will henceforth be a democracy where he will reign only as a constitutional monarch. If he keeps his promise,...
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2002

Diplomats impress at Japanese speech contest

What most touched the hearts of the audience may not have been their fluency in Japanese and experiences of culture shock, but their insights into daily life summarized in a five-minute speech.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2002

Chino cements image as ADB's best chief ever

MANILA It was the most important night of the year. As "Show 2001" got off to a start, the hall was packed to standing room only, and talented employees -- mostly Filipinos -- strutted their stuff in aid of local charities.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2002

So little to celebrate

Last Saturday, North Korea celebrated the 60th birthday of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il, which marked the beginning of four months of festivities. It is hard to imagine what the country is celebrating, apart from survival: The economy is in a mess and shows no sign of improving, and the North Korean government...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Feb 20, 2002

And that really burns me up

If, like me, you do a lot of your work at home, I imagine you may like to listen to music as you labor through a translation, write a story or put together a PowerPoint presentation. And you probably find it convenient to listen to CDs on your computer.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2002

Jewelry 'middle market' slipping away

Following the pattern seen in Japan's clothing and accessories industries, in which ultra-expensive designer bags by Louis Vuitton are snatched up with as much vigor as cheap clothing from Uniqlo stores, the "middle market" is rapidly disappearing from the nation's gemstone and jewelry industry.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2002

Will Blair err as Icarus did?

LONDON -- No European leader rode higher in the reaction to the Sept. 11 attack in New York than Tony Blair. The British prime minister immediately rallied to the American cause, enunciated the need to fight terrorism in ringing tones and committed troops to fight in Afghanistan. At last he had emerged...

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’