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COMMENTARY
Mar 16, 2001

Pointless summits as Mori clings to power

I have worked as a political journalist for over half a century. I started out covering Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida's Cabinet for a Japanese newspaper. As a rookie reporter, I befriended the late Shintaro Abe, who shared the same beat with me. Later he turned to politics when he became secretary to...
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2001

Wary in Washington

South Korean President Kim Dae Jung is in Washington this week to coordinate his views with those of U.S. President George W. Bush. There is concern in Seoul that the new administration is not as firmly behind Mr. Kim as was President Bill Clinton. Initial reports from their meetings suggest the fears...
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2001

Pirates without the romance

It is not just children who play pirate these days. The International Maritime Bureau reports that there were 469 attacks on ships last year, a 56 percent increase over 1999. That number has increased throughout the last decade; without concerted action by governments -- and especially those in Southeast...
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2001

Dollar to stay trapped in 114-118 yen range

The dollar appears likely to remain locked within a 114-118 yen range through much of March.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2001

Human rights groups attack official discrimination report

Human rights advocacy groups on Tuesday lashed out at the Japanese government for failing to address what they say are numerous discriminatory practices in a report submitted last year to a United Nations panel.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2001

Human rights groups attack official discrimination report

Human rights advocacy groups on Tuesday lashed out at the Japanese government for failing to address what they say are numerous discriminatory practices in a report submitted last year to a United Nations panel.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2001

Joint effort imperative on climate change: U.N.

Countries must settle their differences at climate talks later this year to minimize the impact of global warming, according to the head of a U.N. panel of climate change experts.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2001

Explain the collision

A troubling picture is beginning to emerge as details are revealed about conditions aboard the USS Greeneville when the submarine hit the training vessel Ehime Maru last week. That accident left nine students and instructors aboard the fisheries training ship missing -- they are presumed dead -- and...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2001

Safety, services attract fishery schools to Hawaii

Uwajima Fisheries High School, whose training ship the Ehime Maru sank after colliding with a U.S. Navy submarine off Hawaii on Friday, is one of many Japanese fisheries schools that train students in Hawaiian waters.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2001

Nine Japanese missing off Oahu

Nine people, including four high school students, were reported missing Friday after a Japanese training ship sank following a collision with a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine in waters off Hawaii, the Japan Coast Guard said Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2001

Nine Japanese missing off Oahu

Nine people, including four high school students, were reported missing Friday after a Japanese training ship sank following a collision with a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine in waters off Hawaii, the Japan Coast Guard said Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2001

Body parts found in a cave near Obara's coastal condo

Police investigating the July disappearance of Lucie Blackman found what appear to be parts of a woman's body Friday in a coastal cave in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2001

Averting tragedy in the sky

One week after a frightening near miss between two Japan Airlines jetliners over Yaezu in Shizuoka Prefecture, it seems almost certain that the near midair collision was caused by a combination of human errors. While investigators have yet to reach a conclusion, two human factors -- incorrect instructions...
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2001

Hopes rise as Fed cuts rates, Dow rebounds

The Tokyo stock market has had an overall positive tone recently, bolstered by a rebound on Wall Street.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2001

Foreigners net buyers for fourth week

Foreign investors were net buyers of Japanese stocks for the fourth straight week last week, with their buying excess hitting the highest level in more than a year.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2001

Norway's whale move reduces waste

Norway's decision on Tuesday to lift a ban on whale meat exports paves the way for the efficient use of whale meat, a Japanese government official said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2001

In Thailand, good losers teach a key lesson

SISAKET, Thailand -- "If the counting is fair, losers must accept the results," said Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, trying to calm down an anxious nation as rioting spread to over a dozen provinces in the wake of national elections Jan. 6. Having just lost the premiership as his party was trounced...
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2001

TSE starts year sour despite rise abroad

Despite the record surge in U.S. high-tech stocks overnight, the Tokyo Stock Exchange began 2001 on a lackluster note Thursday, with an initial rally fizzling out.
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2000

Another round in Kashmir

It is difficult to get excited about talk of peace in Kashmir. India and Pakistan, the two main parties to the conflict in that troubled region, have tried and abandoned a series of initiatives in recent years. Indeed, India refuses to involve Islamabad in any discussions, and this is despite the fact,...
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2000

Societal barriers facing disabled may prove the most formidable

As deputy chief of the Japanese delegation at the Sydney Paralympic Games this summer, Tsunenobu Wakana was impressed with the handicapped-friendly facilities and transportation system.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2000

Global economic factors paint gloomy picture for new year

Since the mid-1990s, the world economy has expanded remarkably, propelled mainly by the introduction of advanced information and communication technologies. In fact, according to the IMF's recent World Economic Outlook, global output grew 3.4 percent in 1999 and is expected to accelerate to 4.7 percent...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2000

Shaky finances threaten to sink KEDO

Sinp'o is a quiet coastal town on the edge of the Japan Sea in North Korea, almost two hours by helicopter from the capital Pyongyang. There is a beautiful swath of unspoiled beach, edged with bushes and shrubs typical of marine margins, and clusters of shabby houses and farms littered across the landscape....
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Nov 22, 2000

Connecting the dots

It's hard to believe, but there is some organization to the Internet. The libertarianism that seems to be the dominant ethos rests not-too-lightly atop a neatly organized technical foundation. It has to be this way: The Net is a network of addresses and someone somewhere has to make sure that they hook...
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2000

Laser pointer accidents and dangers cited

Laser pointers pose a danger to the eyes and have been responsible for several accidents in Japan, the Japan Consumer Information Center said.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2000

A chance to reshape U.S.-Japan ties

Foreign policy is never a cutting-edge issue in U.S. presidential elections, and this year's campaign is no exception. Even when the candidates have ventured into the territory, the focus has been on China, North Korea or the role of U.S. forces in Europe or Africa or even Haiti. When Japan makes the...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2000

A lonely voice calls for shared values

It is one of the ironies of our time that the very process that is tying the world's disparate peoples together is at the same time generating friction between them. Globalization may be spinning a vast web of relationships as it builds a single world market, but as it does so, citizens are accentuating...
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2000

Kondo set to resign over solar blunder

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. President Sadao Kondo expressed his intention to resign Tuesday in an effort to take responsibility for the sale of defective solar cell systems by a subsidiary.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami