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JAPAN
Feb 16, 2002

How safe will bank accounts be after March 31?

On April 1, the full guarantee on bank deposits will expire, and you owe it to yourself to make sure your savings are not at risk. Here are some frequently asked questions about what happens if a bank fails after March 31:
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2002

Too clever by half?

The limits of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's strategy to isolate, undermine and eliminate Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat were plainly evident last week. Although recent events have given Israel the upper hand in the struggle against Palestinians and Islamic extremists -- the two...
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2002

Livestock farmers march on government

Farmers marched on the government for a second day Wednesday in central Tokyo, calling for more efforts to revive beef consumption, which has been crippled by the outbreak of mad cow disease and a beef-labeling fraud by Snow Brand Foods Co.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2002

DoCoMo announces 10-year bond issue to raise 70 billion yen

NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's dominant mobile phone service provider, said Wednesday it will raise 70 billion yen with 1.64 percent coupon, 10-year domestic bonds.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2002

North Korea: signs of trouble but no evil

CAMBRIDGE, England -- I have just returned from a week visit to North Korea, one of the countries on U.S. President George W. Bush's "axis of evil." I was one of three British academics running a workshop under a new technical assistance program inaugurated when the two countries opened diplomatic relations...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Feb 14, 2002

Take time to savor Ryoanji's splendors

The stone garden at Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto is perhaps the most famous of all Japanese gardens, and in 1994 it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Feb 14, 2002

Investors must beware the tides of March

The specter of hard times toward the March end of the business year looms large.
COMMENTARY
Feb 11, 2002

Blame economy for weak yen

LONDON -- An article by Haruhiko Kuroda, vice finance minister for international affairs, appeared in the Financial Times on Jan. 23 under the headline "The yen's fundamental weakness." Perhaps it should have been titled "the fundamental weaknesses of the Japanese economy."
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2002

Shonan merger plan races clock, though some balk

With its gently arching coastline overlooking Enoshima Island in Sagami Bay and a distant view of Mount Fuji and the Hakone mountain range, the Shonan area in Kanagawa Prefecture triggers memories of songs and movies about the picturesque area.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2002

Ozaki sought Kano's help for candidate

Michihiko Kano, former vice president of the Democratic Party of Japan who quit the party over his ties to a scandal-hit firm, was asked by an executive of the company to support a rookie candidate in the mayoral election in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, in fall 2000, sources close to the case said Saturday....
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 10, 2002

Wine-lovers go loco for Coco

ASHIKAGA, Tochigi Pref. -- Five hectares of misty hillside in Tochigi Prefecture contain one of Japan's best-kept secrets -- a tiny vineyard that may one day become this country's first producer of world-class wines.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2002

WWF warns of mass extinction by 2100

If greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb, ecosystems within a century may recede at speeds greater than 1 km a year, raising the specter of mass extinctions of plant and animal species in globally important nature areas, according to a World Wide Fund for Nature report.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2002

E-symposium finds solving conflicts peacefully requires long-term view

The e-symposium on conflict prevention entered its second day Thursday, with panelists concluding that peaceful resolutions to conflicts require a long-term view.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 8, 2002

Isuzu to disband GigaCats

Six-time national basketball champions Isuzu GigaCats will disband at the end of the current league season in March as part of the parent company's restructuring plans, Isuzu Motors Ltd. officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN / WORKING IT OUT
Feb 8, 2002

Calls mount for work-sharing as jobless ranks soar

KOBE -- Hatsue Okada, a 33-year-old nurse, works between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. three days a week at a day-care center for elderly people in Kakogawa, Hyogo Prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Feb 8, 2002

Let the Games begin

The 2002 Winter Olympics begin today. More than 2,000 athletes from 80 countries have descended on Salt Lake City, Utah, for the XIX Winter Games. This year's Olympiad takes place in the shadow of the Sept. 11 terror bombings. The games are a vital reminder that competition among nations may be inevitable,...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2002

Canberra sticks to its policy on illegal immigrants despite growing protests

SYDNEY -- Just as Australian Prime Minister John Howard was addressing world economic leaders in New York on the profits to be made from investing here, Afghan asylum seekers held in detention camps in the Australian desert were trying to die in hunger strikes.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2002

Look out for suicidal signals amid these hard times: doctor

Psychological stress is building among Japanese businessmen due to the crisis of lifetime employment, which has deep roots in the nation's way of living.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2002

Sept. 11 didn't change everything: e-symposium

The second e-symposium on conflict prevention got under way Wednesday with a number of presenters stressing that although the events of Sept. 11 had far-reaching consequences, a number of issues remain virtually unchanged.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 7, 2002

Hypersexual farming

Humans have practiced selective breeding for thousands of years to develop plants, animals and fungi better suited for human use than they are in their natural states. No genetic engineering is required, yet the genes of selected strains are different, "improved." Even people opposed to genetic modification...
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2002

Chinese boy arrested over stabbing death of prostitute

OSAKA -- Osaka police have arrested a 19-year-old Chinese boy and obtained an arrest warrant for another Chinese on suspicion of robbery and murder in connection with the death of a 35-year-old prostitute inside a hotel here in December.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 6, 2002

Impressionist master of time and space

If the world seems like a dark place at the beginning of the present century, an exhibition of work completed at the beginning of the last may help put things back in a more optimistic perspective. "Monet -- Later Works: Homage to Katia Granoff," is on show at the Iwate Museum of Art till Feb. 11 and...
MORE SPORTS
Feb 4, 2002

Hingis captures fourth Toray Pan Pacific title

Top-seeded Martina Hingis became the first player to win four singles titles at the Pan Pacific Open after defeating third-seed Monica Seles 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-3. Hingis, who had advanced to the finals six-straight years, first won the tournament in 1997. "I'm honored and flattered to have won four times,"...
MORE SPORTS
Feb 4, 2002

Suntory downs Steelers 28-17 to clinch Japan rugby crown

Suntory was crowned national rugby champion of Japan after winning the Japan Championship at Chichibunomiya on Sunday. In a pulsating game that had the sold-out of 25,000 on their feet, the Suntory Sungoliath defeated Kobe Steel 28-17 in a game that was truly worthy of a final.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Feb 4, 2002

English-language deficit handicaps Japan

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In 1984 I was invited to give a public lecture at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. I began by apologizing for the fact that I would not be able to deliver my lecture in Dutch. I went on to remark that had I been alive at the time of Erasmus, I would have given my lecture in Latin....
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2002

Koizumi, Bush set to confirm goals during U.S. leader's February visit

Confirming Japan-U.S. cooperation in the fight against terrorism and discussing how to revive Japan's economy will be key issues during U.S. President George W. Bush's visit here later this month, Japan's ambassador to the United States has said in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2002

Mount Fuji slowly getting warmer

Climate change is causing Japan's mountains to warm faster on average than those in other countries, with the summit of Mount Fuji projected to be slightly warmer within half a century, according to the calculations of one expert.
COMMUNITY
Feb 3, 2002

Of nationhood and identity

Writer Ian Buruma was born in the Netherlands in 1951. He attended university in Japan and has spent a large part of his adult life in Asia. His nonfiction works include "The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan," "Behind the Mask," "A Japanese Mirror" and "Voltaire's Coconuts." Buruma...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 3, 2002

A little bit of Martha in every rabbit hutch

Considering the state of the Japanese economy, the current popularity of penny-pinching advice in the media is hardly surprising. There seems to be a fundamental paradox at work here, in that advertisers prefer programs and articles which encourage the spending of money, while the advice given out these...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 3, 2002

Sue Sumii looks back on a life well spent

MY LIFE: Living, Loving and Fighting, by Sue Sumii; interviews by Masuda Reiko, translated by the Ashi Translation Society, with an introduction by Livia Monnet. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 108 pp., $29.95 (paper) Sue Sumii (1902-97) is remembered for the multipart...

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