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BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2003

New bank notes to thwart forgers

Japan began printing new bank notes Tuesday that incorporate improved measures to combat counterfeiters, marking the first currency replacement in almost two decades.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 30, 2003

Confessions of a Frida lover

In the interest of full disclosure: I have been hopelessly enamored with the beautiful, communist, bisexual artist Frida Kahlo ever since I happened across -- and was shaken to the core by -- a print of her painting "Broken Column" (1944) in a Montreal art book shop back in 1979. I also wept uncontrollably...
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2003

Koizumi says reformers to make up new Cabinet

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi defied his foes Tuesday, stating that if he wins re-election in the Sept. 20 LDP presidential poll, the subsequent Cabinet he forms will be made up of individuals who support his policies.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2003

Wakayama curry poisoning raises questions over judicial fairness

A teacher at a private high school in Kawasaki was surprised earlier this year to find that two-thirds of his social science class had negative views concerning defendants' right to silence during criminal trials.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 29, 2003

Cabrera's blast powers Lions past Marines

Lions slugger Alex Cabrera belted his 33rd homer of the year for the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as Seibu downed the Chiba Lotte Marines 3-2 at Seibu Dome on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2003

Marubeni buys stake in Softbank unit

Marubeni Corp. has purchased a 10 percent stake in Biovision Capital Corp., a subsidiary of Softbank Investment Corp. that helps startup biotechnology ventures and manages investment funds, the firms said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 27, 2003

China shifts toward activism

HONOLULU -- Northeast Asia watchers were treated to a curious sight last week: high-profile foreign policy activism by Beijing. The Chinese government was publicly pushing the United States and North Korea to the negotiating table. It's unclear whether this approach marks a new phase of Chinese diplomacy...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2003

Bottom line for personal seals is they're obsolete, forgeable

Hideo Matsuzaki creates names that will last a lifetime, one deft knife stroke at a time.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2003

Firms pitch brands via short Web movies

An increasing number of firms are featuring original short films on their Web sites as an advertising strategy to enhance their image.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 26, 2003

Kay Yamada

The Royal Hospital, Chelsea, was founded in London in the 17th century as "a home for worthy old soldiers broken in the wars." It continues as the home of the Chelsea pensioners, war veterans with army records giving their characters as no less than "very good." For more than 140 years, the Chelsea Flower...
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2003

Keidanren to draft donation outline by end of September

OYAMA, Shizuoka Pref. -- The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) will draw up an outline by the end of September detailing how to proceed with its new system for promoting political donations, Chairman Hiroshi Okuda said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 26, 2003

A hundred columns of words on the wall

This is it: the one-hundredth edition of "When East Marries West." At least by my count, and, as my wife says, "You should know -- you're the only one who reads it."
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2003

Hospital network planned to combat cancer scourge

The government said Friday it will establish a nationwide network of hospitals to treat cancer as a step toward upgrading the nation's medical infrastructure.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2003

Trucker to pay damages in installments

A former truck driver, his former employer and other concerns were handed a court order Thursday to pay 250 million yen in compensation to the parents of two infant sisters killed in a traffic accident he caused while driving drunk in 1999.
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2003

Iraqis take control

The inauguration of an Iraqi-led government in Baghdad is the first concrete step toward creating a free and democratic Iraq. Installation of the Iraqi Governing Council by the United States is still problematic, but a successful transition from U.S. administration to a stable and functioning civil society...
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2003

Diet members tour execution chamber

Nine members of the House of Representatives Judicial Affairs Committee visited the Tokyo Detention House in Katsushika Ward on Wednesday morning for a rare view of its execution chamber.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 24, 2003

Whaling safe with the IWC

In 1635, under pressure from the Church of England for his nonconformity, the Rev. Richard Mather decided it was time to leave England with his wife and sons and start a new life in New England.
COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 2003

Revolution's legacy at risk

PARIS -- After endless debate, which led for several weeks to huge strikes -- mainly in the transportation system -- and massive demonstrations, the French Parliament has largely approved, in spite of opposition from most unions, a bill reforming the laws on retirement. It will have two major effects:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jul 23, 2003

Jaco Pastorius: "Word of Mouth Revisited"

In the '70s and '80s, Jaco Pastorius revolutionized electric bass playing. The imprint of his bold sound can be heard in bass players from jazz to rock to funk. Whether in the seminal fusion group Weather Report, his own high-energy electric bands, with guitarists Pat Metheny and Mike Stern, or in the...
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2003

Young single people want double-income marriages

Most young singles no longer prefer a marriage in which women become housewives and instead would like them to work, according to a study by an institute affiliated with the welfare ministry.
EDITORIALS
Jul 22, 2003

Manila gives peace another chance

The government in the Philippines has once again opted for peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Last week President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced a mutual agreement to halt military operations in hopes of ending three decades of fighting. The odds of success are long,...
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

Wanted: men to cook, clean, care

Growing numbers of single Japanese women are looking for a mate who can do housework and raise children, according to the latest government survey on singles' attitudes.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 20, 2003

Excesses of the exotic: Siam in the eyes of the West

SIAM & THE WEST: 1500-1700, by Dirk Van der Cruysse, translated from the French by Michael Smithies. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2002, 564 pp., $32.50 (paper). Relations between Siam (now Thailand) and the rapacious West were distinguished by Siam's never having been colonized. The European powers --...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 19, 2003

Cosmo fashion takes over the classroom

Some of the biggest changes in Japan over the years have taken place in the world of academia. Over 10 years, for example, my university classroom has changed from reserved, plain-dressed girls who used to hide behind their bangs to a group of miniskirted, sexy, breasty teens who wiggle and jiggle their...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 19, 2003

The lesson: don't lift weights with precious hands

Snatching a quick bite of sushi in Shinagawa Station one Friday evening in late June, a young man slips in beside me and after a quick glance to either side, hisses conspiratorially, "Tell me what to do . . ."
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 18, 2003

Matsui at midseason: Top scout likes what he sees

With the second half of the major league season set to get underway on Friday, I thought now would be a good time to get an expert's opinion on the progress of the New York Yankees rookie outfielder Hideki Matsui.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2003

Tax scandal hits posts ministry affiliate group

An association affiliated with the posts ministry hid about 420 million yen in income over two years, sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jul 18, 2003

Summertime and sipping is easy

We make an annual diving pilgrimage to Niigata Prefecture's Sado Island each summer, ideally timed to fall into the narrow window between the end of rainy season and the start of jellyfish season. The lumbering three-hour trip on the car ferry is to us the sign that summer has at long last arrived --...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan