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BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2002

Keidanren, Nikkeiren still have hurdles to clear

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren) are putting the final touches on mandatory procedures for their much ballyhooed integration, scheduled for May 28.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 24, 2002

Eco-tours venture into forests and 'forests'

Two weeks ago, this column introduced Stefan Ottomanski as an educator who thrives on uncertainty. However, he is the first to admit that he did not acquire this trait by choice: It is simply a necessity in his classroom.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2002

Produce growers learning to cope with competition

Unlike traditional family farms, 52-year-old Tetsuichi Umezu runs his like a corporation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2002

One step up, two steps sideways in Nago

WASHINGTON -- On Dec. 27, Japanese central government officials and leaders from Okinawa Prefecture announced agreement on a basic plan for the proposed construction of a joint civil-military use airport on the reef off eastern Nago City. The announcement by the Futenma Relocation Committee ("Daitai...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 4, 2002

Town ties fate to remnants of an industry

KUSHIRO, Hokkaido -- Although the new year was just around the corner, there was little joy to be seen in the southeast end of this port city.
COMMENTARY
Jan 3, 2002

Prepare to punish side that attacks first

ISLAMABAD -- India and Pakistan, the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbors, have slapped each other with punitive sanctions, further increasing frictions driven by a worrisome military buildup. Pakistan has responded in kind to India's decision to ban all Pakistani overflights from New Year's Day,...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2001

Fostering a proper ASEAN perspective

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- During high-level meetings, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, born more than three decades ago, tends to come under criticism, mainly from the international press but sometimes from analysts and academics, as a "talking shop." Even an authority like Samuel Huntington,...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2001

How to harmonize science and technology with humanity

The 20th century was the greatest century in human history thanks to the tremendous progress made in science and technology. The advancement of science and technology has given us a higher living standard, and the information-technology revolution has dramatically expanded our intellectual playing field....
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2001

Land-buy aims to halt airport plans

A network of citizens' groups opposing the construction of an airport on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, have acquired a plot of land where the airport is slated to be built, members of the network said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2001

Budget plan shows government will slash spending 6 trillion yen

The government cut fiscal outlays for fiscal 2002 by 6 trillion yen, exceeding the targeted 5 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Dec 26, 2001

Reforms shake higher education's foundations

Scholars at Japan's universities have long been criticized for enjoying "splendid isolation" within their ivory towers.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2001

State moves to redesign riverbanks

The government has for years been covering riverbanks across the country with concrete in an effort to control the course of the nation's waterways.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2001

Aoki goes under with 522 billion yen in liabilities

The construction industry was dealt another blow on Thursday when general contractor Aoki Corp. effectively went bankrupt, filing for court protection from creditors under a civil rehabilitation law.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2001

'Ecomoney' refurbishes society

"Ecomoney," Japan's version of the Local Exchange and Trading System that started on Vancouver Island, Canada, in 1983, is increasingly being promoted to allow participants to offer or receive services in welfare, education and the environment in their communities.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2001

'Ecomoney' refurbishes society

"Ecomoney," Japan's version of the Local Exchange and Trading System that started on Vancouver Island, Canada, in 1983, is increasingly being promoted to allow participants to offer or receive services in welfare, education and the environment in their communities.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2001

Tottori mountain-top restrooms get 70 million yen upgrade

YONAGO, Tottori Pref. -- Weary climbers will be able to relieve themselves in style after local authorities shelled out some 70 million yen for two environment-friendly toilets on a mountain top.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 22, 2001

Singing the praises of glorious mud flats

How's this for a writer with a bee in his shorts?: "Upon ratifying the Ramsar Convention, Japan agreed to 'promote the conservation of wetlands and waterfowl by establishing nature reserves in wetlands . . . and providing adequately for their wardening' [Article 4]. So far, Japan has made no effort to...
EDITORIALS
Nov 20, 2001

'Make no haste' makes way

Facing its worst economic crisis in the postwar era, Taiwan has opted for deeper engagement with the mainland. The government of President Chen Shui-bian has lifted limits on investment in China in an attempt to boost the island's faltering economy. The move was applauded by Taiwanese businesses eager...
COMMENTARY
Nov 19, 2001

Prospects for post-Taliban Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD -- Judging by the roaring business in barber shops across Afghanistan, the war-torn country is certainly feeling liberated. Women who were forced to venture outside clad only in a "burqa" now have the freedom to take off the long veil, while many Afghans are celebrating the freedom to play...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 18, 2001

Aiming for the heart

ONE FOOT IN LAOS, by Dervla Murphy. Overlook Press, 2001, 284 pp., $27.95 (cloth) Dervla Murphy's journeys as a travel writer, usually in the remoter, poorer parts of the world, are made, appropriately enough, in the old manner -- on foot, by donkey or mule, or on decrepit trucks or buses on their last...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

More workers embrace early retirement

As economic woes prompt companies to pare down workforces and job-security anxiety grows amid widening cracks in Japan's storied lifetime employment system, at least one new breed is rising from the ashes -- older workers who are eager to pocket a payoff and branch out in a new direction.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2001

Stink raised over planned cuts to sewerage, dam projects

The Finance Ministry will cut outlays for sewerage by around 20 percent and for dam and flood-control projects by more than 10 percent next fiscal year to achieve a 10 percent cut in public works spending, ministry sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2001

Keidanren support on Kyoto Protocol sought

Environment Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Tuesday she has asked to meet the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) to seek industry support for Japan's plan to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2001

Bills planned to ratify Kyoto pact

The government plans to submit several bills to next year's ordinary session of the Diet to lay the groundwork for Japan's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the end of 2002 following the completion of a rule book for the pact, government sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2001

Ishihara pushes for diesel, industrial waste taxes

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara on Thursday proposed that Tokyo and neighboring local governments introduce two new taxes aimed at protecting the environment.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2001

Ishihara pushes for diesel, industrial waste taxes

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara on Thursday proposed that Tokyo and neighboring local governments introduce two new taxes aimed at protecting the environment.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2001

Taxing currency speculators

LONDON -- The decision by European economy and finance ministers in Liege on Sept. 23 to commission a study of the effect of "Tobin-style" taxes on currency transactions indicates a new and surprising high-water mark of support for taxation on speculative capital flows.
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Nov 8, 2001

Japanese firms urged to better protect patents

Having lost its edge as a mass-production base, Japan's future economic prosperity depends on its innovativeness in offering high value-added products and services.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Ex-envoy hails ties through education

Australia offers an attractive alternative for Japanese students and an opportunity to enhance ties with Japan through education, according to a former Australian envoy to Japan and one-time CEO of Qantas Airways.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan