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EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2001

The world without the Soviet Union

Ten years ago this month, the Soviet Union collapsed in one final, drunken spasm. After decades of fear, the Soviet threat vanished with the proverbial whimper when Communist hardliners launched a last desperate coup attempt to bring then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev back into line. They failed,...
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Mitsui, Sumitomo to merge fertilizer sales subsidiaries

Mitsui & Co. and Sumitomo Corp. plan to streamline their operations by merging their wholly owned fertilizer sales subsidiaries by around April, officials of the two trading companies said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Infrastructure spending key to town mergers

The government plans to emphasize social infrastructure investment as part of a comprehensive plan to support mergers of cities, towns and villages, according to a draft plan obtained by Kyodo News.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Aug 28, 2001

J. League bosses don't always get enough support from front office

Before the start of the J. League Division One second stage earlier this month, four clubs -- the Yokohama F. Marinos, Kashiwa Reysol, Nagoya Grampus Eight and Tokyo Verdy 1969 -- changed their managers. Last week Cerezo Osaka also changed its boss with the departure of Hiroshi Soejima and the arrival...
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Mycal to unveil revised restructuring program

OSAKA -- Ailing supermarket-chain operator Mycal Corp. will announce a revised restructuring plan by the end of the week aimed at slashing its debts, company officials said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2001

Immigrants' uphill battle to learn English

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- The Asian immigrant was described as speaking in "halting English" even after 20 years of living in the United States. The reporter of the Central California newspaper seemed to suggest that 20 years of living in the country should have resulted in a strong command of the language....
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2001

Euro could dent dollar this week

The U.S. dollar is likely to move in a narrow range against the yen this week in trading expected to lack a strong sense of direction.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2001

LDP execs begin debate over size of extra budget

Senior members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Sunday butted heads over the size of a supplementary budget it is urging Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to compile to support Japan's sagging economy.
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2001

Consolidated taxation slated for wholly owned subsidiaries

The Finance Ministry has decided to introduce a consolidated taxation system for companies and their wholly owned subsidiaries in fiscal 2002, ministry sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2001

Musharraf moves to rein in Islamic schools

ISLAMABAD -- The order from the government of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, to impose the syllabus of mainstream schools upon Islamic ones, known as "madrassah," is yet another attempt by a Pakistani regime to rein in what many consider to be the first stop for militant...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 26, 2001

Sips of high-grade tranquillity

In parts of Asia, tea is more than a mere beverage: It is a social lubricant, a sacrament of complex rituals and a vital part of national identity. Throughout history, farmers and philosophers alike have treasured a steaming cup of cha. While there is some evidence of tea's health benefits, there is...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

H-IIA launch set for Wednesday

The launch of an H-IIA rocket, postponed due to a malfunction in an engine valve, will take place at 1 p.m. Wednesday, the National Space Development Agency of Japan said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 25, 2001

Where there's a will (to return), there's a way

Endre Hules is fretting about his kids. "I never imagined it would be so hard to leave them with a baby sitter. I feel incomplete."
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2001

July heat wave failed to lift supermarkets from slump

Supermarket sales in July fell for the 32nd consecutive month, 4.7 percent from a year earlier to 1.424 trillion yen, the Japan Chain Stores Association said Friday.
JAPAN / PRIVATIZING PAINS
Aug 25, 2001

Local authorities turn up noses at broke pension fund resorts

Kyodo News The sale of 12 health resorts to repay debts incurred by the now-defunct Pension Welfare Service Public Corp. is not proceeding smoothly because the local governments that were asked to purchase them are all refusing to do so.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

Record number take ocean cruises

A record 226,000 holidaymakers chose overnight ship cruises in 2000, up 33.4 percent from the previous year, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2001

Local governments slowly accepting PFIs: think tank

Developing social infrastructure using private-sector funds and expertise has been slowly gaining acceptance among local governments, a survey has found.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2001

Marubeni ups stake in Maruetsu

Major trading house Marubeni Corp. is buying more shares of Maruetsu Inc., a supermarket-chain unit of ailing retailer Daiei Inc., to raise its stake to 25.2 percent by October from 24.2 percent, Marubeni officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2001

TSE downbeat despite promise of reforms

The Tokyo stock market remains caught between crosscurrents stemming from expectations of the positive effects of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform initiative and fears of further deterioration in the prospects for economic and corporate earnings.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2001

Emigration: a Kurdish national obsession

On the face of it, the Sheikhallah bazaar is just the shabby little side street in downtown Erbil where you go to change money. But the whole of "liberated" Iraqi Kurdistan knows that another, more serious business is conducted behind those counters piled high with debased Iraqi bank notes.
BUSINESS
Aug 22, 2001

S&P affirms credit ratings on TDK

Standard & Poor's Corp. said Tuesday it has affirmed major electronic parts maker TDK Corp.'s AA minus long-term and A-1 plus short-term corporate credit ratings, adding the outlook on the long-term rating remains stable.
JAPAN / PRIVATIZING PAINS
Aug 22, 2001

Loss-riddled oil entity first to face privatization ax

Kyodo News The proposal by the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to scrap Japan National Oil Corp. and turn it into a private company as part of his structural reform scheme will leave the privatized firm with many problems unresolved.
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 2001

Cleaning up Clinton's unfinished business

WASHINGTON -- Three years ago, in the midst of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, U.S. President Bill Clinton launched a missile strike against a Sudanese pharmaceutical factory, claiming that it manufactured chemical weapons. It is now widely recognized that the United States acted hastily and mistakenly....
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2001

Kim Jong Il's quaint trip to Moscow

BANGKOK -- Decades before European socialism crumbled, taking the Soviet Union down with it, young Russian communists were already having a hard time taking North Korea seriously. There on the distant Pacific coast was this bizarre and demanding little client state; extreme in its isolation, brutal in...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2001

Environmental destruction dooms us all

"Environmental security" has three different meanings. First, it can be used to explain conflict. Resources can be causes, tools, or targets of warfare. Disputes over water can cause conflict between nations. Upstream states can use water as a tool of warfare by manipulating shared river basins to inflict...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 19, 2001

Uniformly stylish Japanese

WEARING IDEOLOGY: State, Schooling and Self-Preservation in Japan, by Brian J. McVeigh. Berg, Oxford, 2000, 231 pages, $19.50 The Japanese are some of the most fashion-conscious dressers in the world. They spend large amounts of their discretionary income on clothes, have a strong preference for designer-made...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 19, 2001

Way of a puppet dramatist

CHIKAMATSU: FIVE LATE PLAYS, translated and annotated by C. Andrew Gerstle. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001, 234 pp., 60 line drawings, maps and photographs. $39.50. Though the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) has been inaptly called "The Shakespeare of Japan," he remains the single...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?