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COMMENTARY
Jul 29, 2002

Beware the property bubble

LONDON -- These are worrying times for the world economy, and perhaps even more so for the armies of highly paid analysts who failed to predict the current slump in world stock markets.
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2002

Koo backs expansionary fiscal policy for Japan

Richard Koo appears to be one of the small group of dissenters vocally critical of the economic and fiscal policies of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Cabinet.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2002

Eco-law in works to push rail, sea freight transport over trucks

The transport ministry has begun deliberating a new law to cut carbon dioxide emissions from goods distributed by truck by supporting businesses that switch to rail and marine transport, ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2002

Group to study legal issues in IT age

A study group examining legal issues in the information technology era was launched Saturday in Tokyo, with more than 160 individuals and organizations from academia, business and government circles participating.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 28, 2002

Putting her house in order

In Japan, the vast majority of legal adoptions -- more than 90 percent -- are of adults and are usually carried out for inheritance or family succession purposes. A house with only daughters, say, will adopt a grown man who can maintain the family business and family name.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jul 28, 2002

He's got jazz izakaya to an art form

Many newly opened bars and stores proudly display their year of establishment on the signage out front -- even if it just opened. Vagabond, a funky jazz izakaya in Shinjuku, is no exception. The signboard outside proudly boasts "Tavern Since 1976." When I arrived in 1981, this made me laugh. But now...
COMMUNITY
Jul 28, 2002

Into the unknown Sea of Okhotsk

The Bering Sea, 1999. A wave-dashed shore ahead; leaden skies above. The way the rough sea was lifting and pitching and rolling our ship was not promising. I could just make out a bleak and deserted beach backed by lush knee-high vegetation, with a low, steep bank beyond. Somewhere there, 250 years ago,...
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.
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2002

8.7 trillion yen in 'zaito' funds not used by recipients

As much as 8.7 trillion yen of the government's fiscal investment and loan program, or 26.7 percent of the initial budget of 32.55 trillion yen, was left unused in fiscal 2001, according to a report released Friday by the Finance Ministry.
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2002

Nomura sees pretax profits decline 65.3% in first quarter

Brokerage giant Nomura Holdings Inc. said Friday its group pretax profits for the April-June quarter plunged 65.3 percent from a year earlier to 18.37 billion yen.
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2002

Steeling for a fight with Iraq

By every indication, the United States is eager to take the fight to Iraq and expel Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from office. President George W. Bush has said he is studying every option, and the U.S. appears to be proceeding with the diplomacy needed to prepare for conflict. Mr. Hussein's departure...
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2002

Koizumi set to issue financial stability directive

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Thursday he will instruct his Cabinet ministers to step up measures to stabilize the financial system and reassure bankers before the imposition of a cap on all bank deposit guarantees in April.
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2002

Firms team up to market new electronic map system

Electric Power Development Co. and two other firms plan to market a new type of geographic information system in which day-to-day changes in cityscapes and streets can be recorded, the company said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2002

Theme parks fail to buoy domestic leisure market

Japan's leisure market shrank 2.3 percent in 2001 to 83.07 trillion yen, the third consecutive year of contraction, a semipublic institute said Wednesday in an annual report.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jul 25, 2002

Debunking strange myths about Asia, Part I

In 1980, I traveled through the United States just after the TV miniseries "Shogun" ended its run. Any time I mentioned to someone that I was living in Japan, he or she would invariably ask me one of two questions related to the program. One was, "Is it true that back then a samurai could chop off somebody's...
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2002

It's now or never

The Foreign Ministry, its public image badly tarnished by a string of corruption scandals and policy blunders, is set to work out an action plan to clean up its act. The plan will be based more or less on the recommendations submitted on Monday to Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi by her advisory panel....
COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 2002

Chinese media's coverage of U.S. proves balanced

HONG KONG -- A study of the Chinese media, commissioned by a bipartisan American congressional panel -- the U.S. China Security Review Commission -- has found that the controlled Chinese press, in its reporting on the United States, appears to be relatively balanced overall.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2002

Kawaguchi faces uphill battle over reform effort

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi is set to map out her plan on ministry reform in August, but she faces a tough job satisfying a weary public and proposals from diverse circles on how to put the scandal-tainted ministry on track.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2002

Nippon Sheet Glass in French tieup

Nippon Sheet Glass Co. said Tuesday it will establish a joint company with Saint-Gobain Vetrotex International S.A. of France in September.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2002

Nature restoration NPOs also work to create jobs

A few nonprofit organizations are attempting to restore nature around the nation's lakes and mountains.
COMMENTARY
Jul 23, 2002

Musharraf challenged on several fronts

ISLAMABAD -- In its eagerness to intensify its fight against domestic terrorism, the government of Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has scored important gains recently.
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2002

Economy steadying but vulnerable, Hayami says

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami said Monday the economy has stopped deteriorating but remains vulnerable to a weakening dollar and overseas market slides.
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2002

Report to call for FTA negotiations with Mexico

Japan and Mexico should begin formal negotiations as soon as possible on concluding a comprehensive pact aimed at shoring up a bilateral economic partnership, including a free-trade agreement.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2002

Panel suggests 20% of ambassadors be nonministry staff

An advisory panel on Foreign Ministry reform on Monday called for appointing 20 percent of ambassadors from outside the ministry within three years to increase competition for overseas postings.
COMMENTARY
Jul 22, 2002

Tokyo, Seoul narrowing gap

The Japanese people's sense of Japan-South Korea friendship has heightened following the World Cup soccer tournament cohosted last month by the two countries. After South Korea advanced to the semifinals, many Japanese cheered the team on to an extent that puzzled some South Koreans.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jul 22, 2002

'Domesticists' rule amid idea drought

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- I do not live in Japan, although I first set foot (a rather small foot at 4 years old) on Japanese soil in 1949 and knew the country throughout the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s, when I either lived there temporarily or commuted frequently. My visits this century have been far fewer...
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

NPO pushes law on green education

Flanked by Diet members and educators, members of an environmental nonprofit group unveiled the outline of a law to systematically promote environmental education during a symposium in Tokyo on Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 21, 2002

The men of the house

The TV show that has most successfully exploited the current housing "reform" boom is Asahi's "Daikozo! Gekiteki Before/After (Big Construction! Dramatic Before and After)" (Sundays, 7:56 p.m.), which was the only program during the recent World Cup that managed to pull in double-digit ratings opposite...

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan