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JAPAN
Sep 15, 2002

Tepco not to be punished in reactor crack scandal

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has decided not to file a criminal complaint against Tokyo Electric Power Co. for allegedly running nuclear reactors it knew were cracked, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2002

Unauthorized bolts used to fix Fukushima nuclear reactor

A panel set up by Tokyo Electric Power Co. to investigate the company's coverup of nuclear reactor faults has discovered that unauthorized bolts were used to repair a reactor at Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 plant, company sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2002

Tepco chairman, president announce resignations over nuclear coverups

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday that President Nobuya Minami and Chairman Hiroshi Araki will resign over reported coverups of damage at the utility's nuclear power plants.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2002

Nuclear hosts demand investigation into Tepco

The discovery last week that Tokyo Electric Power Co. falsified data regarding inspections at some of its nuclear power plants has sparked a strong burst of indignation from municipalities hosting the facilities.
EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2002

Perils of attacking Iraq

The debate on the pros and cons of a U.S. attack on Iraq is heating up in the United States and elsewhere. Whether Iraq is a member of the "axis of evil" or not, there is no doubt that President George W. Bush sees its continuing development of weapons of mass destruction as a serious threat to U.S....
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2002

Best justice for crimes against humanity

The International Criminal Court became operational in July. Washington heaped insult on injury when it vetoed a routine extension of the United Nations' peacekeeping mission in Bosnia in the same month because of the failure to get a blanket and permanent immunity from prosecution of its peacekeepers...
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 2002

Save energy, slash summitry

LONDON -- Are summits worthwhile? Do they add to the sum of human wisdom and achieve beneficial results?
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2002

Slovaks falling victim to EU hypocrisy

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Slovakia is the eastern part of the old Czechoslovakia that left the federation in 1993. It came off worse economically in the break-up, unfairly so, but it won in the geographical carve-up, getting two-thirds of the wine country and above all, the Tatra mountains.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 24, 2002

Fumiko Daido

Early each morning, Fumiko Daido likes to go out into her garden to tend her plants. In western Tokyo, near Mount Takao, at the back of her garden she has an arrangement of bamboos merging into the hillside, and in front a gazebo focusing on an opposite hill. Fumiko does not grow prize blooms with bright...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Aug 18, 2002

Putin faces oil slick on Iraq

MOSCOW -- To strike or not to strike seems to be the question in Washington these days. A part of the "axis of evil," terrorist-lair Iraq, an old foe, is currently under the scrutiny of U.S. President George W. Bush's administration. While military planners weigh various strategic options for crushing...
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2002

Uncertainty overshadows Earth summit

The largest United Nations gathering in history is to start in Johannesburg in nine days' time, with nations reflecting on the progress -- or the lack of it -- toward achieving a more sustainable world over the past decade and wrangling over how to do a better job in the future.
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2002

Nippon Ham chairman to resign from industry post

Yoshinori Okoso, chairman of Nippon Meat Packers Inc., is expected to resign as head of the Japan Ham & Sausage Processors Cooperative Association in the wake of a farm ministry request that the body take action over a beef-labeling scandal involving a Nippon Meat Packers subsidiary, industry sources...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2002

Risks preclude nuclear option for Japan

WASHINGTON -- "Just like the Constitution . . . the amendment of (Japan's nonnuclear principles) is also likely."
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2002

Sakura Bank fundraising for Koizumi scrutinized

Senior officials of the former Sakura Bank collected donations from firms the bank was lending to for Junichiro Koizumi before he became prime minister, informed sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 23, 2002

Who can succeed Koizumi?

A sense of frustration prevails as the marathon Diet session nears its end. Since it convened in January, the scandal-racked legislature has achieved very little, and the political situation has become increasingly unstable.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

Suzuki linked to another 1 million yen bribe

Lower House member Muneo Suzuki, indicted in a bribery scandal involving a lumber company, also accepted at least 1 million yen in unreported money from a construction firm in Hokkaido in the late 1990s as reward for favors in a public works project, informed sources said Saturday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 21, 2002

Things you can't tell just by looking at her

I have a friend who is a man of only one conviction.
EDITORIALS
Jul 19, 2002

A milestone in privatization

It appears that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has come a step closer to his cherished goal of privatizing postal services -- a showcase for his structural reform plans. However, last week's Lower House vote on a postal reform package -- which effectively ensures its Diet passage by the end of this...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 18, 2002

Trees' wondrous ways of turning over a new leaf

Now, at the height of summer, when the fresh green of the spring leaves has darkened, I will start this week's column with a question: "Why is it that northern Japan's Mongolian oak and Europe's common beech retain their rustling brown leaves all winter, while sharing their temperate forest habitat mainly...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 14, 2002

Going to any lengths to avoid giving offense

Weird Tales of Self-Restraint No. 16: Heroes are Hard to Find
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 14, 2002

It's a wired, wired world

If you were among the hordes of shoppers itching to spend summer bonuses last weekend, perhaps you got caught up in the frenzy in Akihabara. Everywhere in Tokyo's "Electric Town," the hunt was on for air conditioners, computers, MD players, stereos and the latest flat-screen TVs.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2002

BIS calls for honesty in banking policy

The Bank for International Settlements on Monday issued a dire warning to Japan over the shaky position of its banking system, urging the government to explain to taxpayers that their money could again be needed to clean up the problem-loan situation.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 5, 2002

It may be the world's most popular sport, but not here in Japan

If there was any defining moment for Japanese sports last month, it surely came right after Turkey eliminated the lads in blue from the World Cup on June 18.
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2002

Economic policy for East Asia

The future of Japan's economy is tied to that of East Asia. China, the "factory of the world," is rising rapidly while newly industrialized countries such as South Korea and Taiwan are catching up with Japan. The challenge for this nation is to define and secure its place in this region of vast economic...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 27, 2002

Chinese invasion making waves in Japan

The other day, I happened to be on the platform of JR Kichijoji Station as a Sobu Line express pulled in. Wanting to be certain it would stop at the next station, Nishi-Ogikubo, I inquired to the young man standing next to me. In halting Japanese, he said that he was Chinese and didn't understand my...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 23, 2002

The courage to endure

BAD ELEMENTS: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing, by Ian Buruma. Random House: New York, 2001. 367 pp. $27.95 (cloth) Are the Chinese hard-wired for authoritarian government? Is there a cultural barrier to democracy? Ian Buruma spends more space than warranted in answering these questions with...
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2002

Mr. Suzuki's arrest

Lower House member Muneo Suzuki was arrested Wednesday on charges of receiving 5 million yen in cash from a Hokkaido lumber company in August 1998 when he was the deputy chief Cabinet secretary. According to investigators, Mr. Suzuki is charged with accepting a bribe in return for working on Forestry...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji