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COMMENTARY
Dec 9, 2003

Euro in big political trouble

LONDON -- When the euro was being planned some years ago, the austere German central bankers, led by the formidable Hans Tietmeyer, then the Bundesbank chairman, were adamant about one thing: The currency would work only if every member state adhered rigidly to the Stability Pact -- the set of rules...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2003

Thousands pay respects to diplomats slain in Iraq

Some 3,500 people paid their last respects at the funerals Saturday of two Japanese diplomats killed in an ambush in Iraq, with many sobbing as friends and colleagues of the two men offered eulogies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 7, 2003

Organic Groove

Fans of experimental electronic music will get an earful this coming Saturday at the latest all-night show thrown by the popular Organic Groove productions.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 7, 2003

Celebrating art far from home

"This stuff saved my life," says Amelia Toledo, one of Brazil's best-known artists. She pulls out of her handbag a tiny bottle of flower essence. "You just drop it on your tongue and it makes you feel better."
COMMENTARY
Dec 6, 2003

Keep doors open to refugees

LONDON -- If you're reading this on a plane or in a hotel, you're part of the problem. But even if you're sitting snugly, smugly at home, you may not be the solution.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2003

Tokushima inn warned for barring blind with guide dogs

The Justice Ministry's local chapter in Tokushima Prefecture issued a warning Thursday to a semipublic hot spring hotel in Ichiba for its refusal to allow two blind people to stay there with their guide dogs last month.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Dec 5, 2003

Plying the watery margins of old Edo

The accompanying 1830s woodblock print by Hasegawa Settan, titled "The Rokugo Ferry," shows a ferry that has just embarked on a crossing of the Tama River, taking about a dozen passengers and a horse to Kawasaki on the far shore. The two men dashing in vain to get on the boat will not be disappointed...
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2003

Time to send people to the frontline in Iraq, Kawaguchi says

Despite the recent fatal ambush of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq, Japan should send Self-Defense Forces troops to the country to help speed up its reconstruction, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Thursday.
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Dec 4, 2003

Living on 3 million yen a year

Is there a conspiracy among Japanese politicians, economic experts and elite bureaucrats to destroy Japan's egalitarian postwar social and economic systems and replace them with an American-style, dog-eat-dog type of capitalism typified by a society of haves and have-nots? In his best-selling "Nenshu...
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 3, 2003

Tuffy Rhodes released

Tuffy Rhodes was formally turned loose from the Pacific League club on Tuesday after the Japan pro baseball commissioner's office released a list of 79 players who were not put on reserve by their respective clubs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

Balanced diet eludes kids of junk food age

Getting kids to eat their vegetables is not easy. And in fast-paced urban Japan, where both parents usually work and the landscape is dominated by convenience stores overflowing with junk food, the chore is ever more difficult.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 3, 2003

Takefuji wiretapping scandal unfolds

More than a year after journalist Shunsuke Yamaoka first accused Takefuji Corp. of tapping his home phone, police have finally reached the top echelons of the country's leading consumer loan firm.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2003

Limits eyed for toxic organic compounds

The Environment Ministry plans to regulate emissions of toxic chemical compounds from big factories in Japan, where they are believed to be seven times higher than levels in the United States, ministry officials said Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 2, 2003

Could fear derail bold tourism bid?

There's a great irony in the Japanese government's "action plan" to double the the number of tourists who come to these shores by 2010.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2003

Sealing machine makes plastic beer bottles reality

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. has found a way to enhance the sealing performance of plastic, allowing beer makers to reduce their need for aluminum cans and create new kinds of product containers.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Mysteries of pension system unraveled

With Japan's society aging at a rapid rate, pension reform has become a hot topic.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2003

Sensible plan for South Korea

WASHINGTON -- Even those who admire U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld rarely consider his diplomatic skills among his strongest suits. Capable of being charming and engaging in person, he tends to come across less well when sniping at allies across oceans over the chief foreign policy issues...
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 28, 2003

Giants, Uehara ink 300 million yen deal

Yomiuri Giants right-hander Koji Uehara re-signed with the Central League club on Thursday for an annual salary of 300 million yen.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Nov 28, 2003

Happy Jack is right on target

In all my years in Tokyo, I have never before found a cool bar in Gotanda. Sure, I've happened on a few in and around Osaki and Meguro, the stops on either side on the Yamanote Line loop -- but never one in Gotanda itself.
BUSINESS
Nov 26, 2003

Japan racing deadline for continental shelves

Japan is hoping to find under the sea what it lacks under the ground -- natural resources.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 26, 2003

Pottery to get on a plane for

Two unprecedented Japanese ceramic exhibitions now taking place far from Japan's shores show just how influential are the artistic ripples from this grand potting paradise. Distanced by centuries, but just a dozen New York City blocks, are two of the greatest Japanese definers of clay: eclectic Furuta...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 26, 2003

Everything you needed to know about 'Hamlet'

What is it about "Hamlet," Shakespeare's most famous drama, that obsesses Yukio Ninagawa, Japanese theater's global standard-bearer? The innovative director has already staged the play four times -- and his fifth take on the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark opened last week at the Bunkamura Theater Cocoon...
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2003

Temple seeks special-zone status to ease its regulatory binds

Temple University Japan is seeking government designation as a special deregulation zone entity in a bid to make itself more attractive to students, according to its dean.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2003

Ghosn, Koizumi and structural reform

Carlos Ghosn and Junichiro Koizumi are two well-known names in Japan. Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan, is famous for his rescue of the company from the brink of bankruptcy. Prime Minister Koizumi's "trademark" is structural reform, which he promised in 2001 would lead to the creation of 5 million jobs within...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 25, 2003

Bank loans, student grief and cremains

More house info F. is responding to "Buying a house" in Lifelines, Nov. 11, in which the article states that "You have to have at least an 'eijyuuken' (permanent residency) to qualify for a bank loan as a foreigner."

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