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COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2001

Russia's free press loses another battle

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- In July 2000, I joined Russian reporter Grigory Pasko and two carloads of fellow journalists in a visit to Irina Grebneva, a newspaper editor who had been jailed for five days in the Pacific port of Vladivostok, Russia. Her crime was making the governor look stupid and corrupt by...
COMMUNITY
Dec 30, 2001

Starting anew through the ages

The world's most universally observed festival, New Year is also its most diverse, with timing, inspiration and celebration differing among countries, cultures and religions. For some, it is an occasion on which to give thanks for another year of survival; for others it's a vantage point from which to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Koizumi plays public relations game like a pro

This was the year of the Koizumi craze.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Momoo Tomobe gets eight years for fraud scheme

The son of former Upper House lawmaker Tatsuo Tomobe was sentenced to eight years in prison Thursday for his role in a fraudulent investment scheme operated by his father.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2001

How to harmonize science and technology with humanity

The 20th century was the greatest century in human history thanks to the tremendous progress made in science and technology. The advancement of science and technology has given us a higher living standard, and the information-technology revolution has dramatically expanded our intellectual playing field....
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 27, 2001

Get ready for Xbox

The last time an American company successfully launched a game console in Japan, Jesse Takamayama was the famous Hawaiian Sumo wrestler and Chad Rowan (aka Akebono) was still in high school. The last time an American company successfully launched a video game console in Japan, a famous hanafuda card...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2001

Simply, the best

This was a year in which the most memorable screen image belonged to reality, not cinema. Indeed, as many have noted, the spectacle of airline jets ramming into the World Trade Center towers was all too reminiscent of a Hollywood blockbuster's money shot -- and that may have been the point. Terrorists...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2001

Pollution case could set new precedent

When it comes to air quality, Tokyo is the first and the last.
COMMENTARY
Dec 23, 2001

Preserving freedom in an unfree world

WASHINGTON -- The massive terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 brought home to the United States its vulnerability. Protecting Americans' security has become a critical challenge. So has protecting their freedom. People who seek to do the first often sacrifice the second. So it has been in the war on terrorism....
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2001

Argentina has no choice but to default

NEW YORK -- Argentina is now experiencing one of its most severe economic and social crises in recent history. Riots are spreading through the country and the government seems increasingly unable to control the situation. The declaration of a state of siege for 30 days, although a necessary measure to...
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Dec 23, 2001

Classmates opened interpreter's eyes to East Europe states

For 14-year-old Mari Yonehara, each of her classmates was a window on the world. Far from their homelands, the students at her school in Prague, in what was then Czechoslovakia, had multinational backgrounds and were patriotic. But despite her five-year stay in the city and her near-perfect grasp of...
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Dec 21, 2001

Children learn life's hardest lesson

On a recent Friday, I swung open the gate to my daughter's school yard. I was expecting to find the usual crowd of mothers milling outside in the garden. But I knew something was dreadfully wrong when a teacher solemnly ushered me toward a full, but silent classroom. Inside, the mothers sat, wiping their...
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 20, 2001

Concern over threat to rare blue corals

Ancient and complex, the rare blue coral reef of Shiraho, Ishigaki Island -- part of the Ryukyu island chain, Japan's southernmost -- is one of the world's biggest and perhaps oldest blue coral reefs. Though only 3 km long, it contains at least two-thirds the number of species of Australia's 2,000-km...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 19, 2001

Views on a cityscape in continuous flux

It is more than 70 years since the French architect Le Corbusier confounded New Yorkers by declaring that their skyscrapers were not high enough. His vision was to curb the ugly sprawl of land-gobbling suburbs by creating cities that grew ever skyward. Now, as urban centers get bigger, his "four brutal...
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2001

Discount chains thrive amid Ginza's chic boutiques

With the end of the year just around the corner, Christmas shoppers visiting Tokyo's posh Ginza commercial district may find a new aspect to the area this winter.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2001

Sporting events require tight security

The 2002 Japan-Korea World Cup will kick off in about six months. As the two countries busy themselves with the final preparations, the people who are becoming most tense are those in charge of security. When one thinks of security at soccer matches, the notorious hooligans in European countries may...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2001

Sri Lanka's chance of ending conflict is bigger than ever

Ranil Wickremesinghe, the newly installed Sri Lankan prime minister, has been in a tense struggle to form a government of national consensus.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2001

Asylum seekers' fates hang in balance

Refugees in danger of persecution, or migrants seeking work and wealth?
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2001

First NPOs selected for special tax treatment

Two Tokyo-based nonprofit organizations will now be allowed to receive preferential tax treatment in order to shore up their finances and spur more people to donate to them, the National Tax Agency said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2001

'Economy watcher' index up

The average worker's assessment of the state of the economy improved slightly in November, snapping five straight months of new lows, the Cabinet Office said in a monthly survey released Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2001

Segue to a silly new world

Just about a year ago, you might recall, inhabitants of the rarefied realm known as the high-tech cutting edge were all agog over a secret new invention nicknamed "Ginger," or sometimes just "IT." The brainchild of U.S. gizmo wizard Mr. Dean Kamen, the device was described by those who got a sneak peek...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 9, 2001

Drivers wary of the troll who collects the toll

With new highway construction suspended and the prime minister pledging to abolish public corporations, the business of the Japan Highway Public Corp. at the moment is anything but business-as-usual. As both the overlord of the nation's vehicle-choked intercity expressways and the troll who collects...
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2001

A first step toward Afghan peace

Afghan factions and the United Nations have managed to sign an agreement stipulating the composition of an interim administration, or Cabinet, to replace the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The official inauguration of the interim administration on Dec. 22 -- after the Ramadan month of fasting ends --...
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Dec 7, 2001

Taking centerstage without clamming up

On his first visit to Urato Junior High School a year and a half ago, David Goldberg was awestruck. He was glad that he had followed his predecessor's advice to take a camera along. On the early morning 30-minute ferry ride from Shiogama City in Miyagi Prefecture to the island of Nonoshima, Goldberg...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2001

Take action, Mr. Arafat

Two suicide bombing attacks by Islamic militants in Israel over the weekend followed by the severe responses on the part of the Israeli government have dashed hopes for bringing the Mideast peace process back to life in the near future. The horrific attacks have brought the situation to a head.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 6, 2001

Soft touch advised with unruly fans

The key to controlling English soccer fans at the World Cup will be to understand the cultural differences in behavior of fans from different countries and to not put too much pressure on the English fans, an English security expert said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Dec 6, 2001

Bush scores high leadership marks

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush continues to enjoy the support of the American people for his prosecution of the war against terrorism. His job rating on the war effort remains just under 90 percent, where it has been since it all began. The military successes in Afghanistan have quelled concerns...
LIFE / Travel / FLOWER WALK
Dec 6, 2001

Stroll under pines where shoguns took their ease

Pines belong to the traditional Japanese landscape, as olive trees belong to the Mediterranean.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 5, 2001

Attack of the coneheads

Picture, if you will, a typical Saturday afternoon in Shinjuku. Throngs of people scurry to and fro, delivery trucks troll by belching fumes, while scooters dart in and out of traffic. This time, though, something's up.

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’