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COMMENTARY
Mar 21, 2003

Perhaps society is the problem

Like a parrot, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been repeating the same phrase: "There will be no economic growth without structural reform." At last he is being forced to make a policy turnaround to implement a package of antideflation measures to stimulate domestic demand. The reversal has been...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 21, 2003

Gonpachi: Elevated dining at this three-in-one

Nobody would claim that Shibuya is among the most attractive neighborhoods of this metropolis. And yet, as with so many other less than salubrious districts, when viewed at night from a suitable distance -- say 14 stories above the ground -- it does take on an undeniable glow that could almost be called...
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2003

Workers win average 1.69% hike

Company employees have won a pay increase of 1.69 percent on a weighted average in this year's spring wage negotiations, slightly less than the previous year, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) said in an interim report Wednesday.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Mar 20, 2003

Katakana-happy Japan must again look to China

During times of friendly relations with Western nations, the Japanese have laid out a linguistic welcome mat to foreign vocabulary items, particularly English.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2003

Clear line drawn as private water management debate opens

OSAKA -- Debate on private vs. public water management lived up to its billing as one of most divisive issues at the World Water Forum as a two- day plenary session opened here Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2003

Firms in Middle East gird for war

Japanese companies in the Middle East stepped up emergency plans Tuesday after U.S. President George W. Bush told Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to leave the country within 48 hours or face war.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 19, 2003

The conductor, his wife, her lover

A recent survey by Theater Guide magazine put Koki Mitani ahead of even Shakespeare as the dramatist best known in Japan.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2003

Decisions not to appeal end Recruit-scandal trial

Both prosecutors and defense lawyers for Hiromasa Ezoe, founder and former chairman of Recruit Co., said Monday they will not appeal a recent ruling that handed Ezoe a suspended jail term over the so-called Recruit scandal.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2003

Water forum under way as war concerns mount

KYOTO -- With war in Iraq possibly only days away, a leading delegate to the Third World Water Forum declared at the opening session that providing clean water is more important than the looming conflict.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2003

Style police

The advertising executive for a multinational soft-drinks company gasps in horror as the gorgeous celebrity he has hired as the face of his multimillion ad campaign turns up for the photo shoot in a ketchup-stained T-shirt and jeans. No panic, though, because he's hired someone who earns a living making...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 16, 2003

'Bogus' theme parks becoming the last resort

On Jan. 23, Tokyo Disneyland held a preview event for the media in anticipation of the park's 20th anniversary, which will be celebrated April 15. About 1,400 celebrity guests showed up trailed by 50 camera crews, all from domestic television stations, which means that most of them were from outside...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 16, 2003

Kindred spirits on a journey into sound

The angelic voice of Canadian chanteuse Jane Siberry has graced a stunning series of CDs over the past 20 years. Since the early 1980s, she has released her own recordings and contributed songs to numerous compilations. Perhaps most famously, the lovely "Calling All Angels" was included on the soundtrack...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 16, 2003

Pictures of peace

VISIONS OF BUDDHIST LIFE, photographs and text by Don Farber, forward by Huston Smith, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003, 240 pp., 116 color photos, 36 quadtone photos, $39.95 (cloth) The photographer Don Farber has made his domain (in the words of his publisher) "the beauty and diversity...
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2003

Japan Inc. plotting its own war survival strategy

Japan Inc. is on high alert.
BUSINESS / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Mar 15, 2003

Multilateral alliance good for ANA, but JAL isn't convinced

All Nippon Airways Co. President Yoji Ohashi could hardly contain his joy last month when he witnessed the entry of Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's No. 2 carrier, into Star Alliance, the world's largest airline coalition.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2003

Japan Tobacco strikes back with smoking salons

With the stock market hitting 20-year lows and the economic outlook getting worse, Japan's smokers have even more excuses to light up. Yet, in a country which has long been tolerant of tobacco use, a growing antismoking trend has made life for addicts more difficult.
COMMENTARY
Mar 14, 2003

9/11 gave life to U.S. imperial ambitions

NEW DELHI -- As U.S. President George W. Bush readies a war on Iraq without any direct provocation, the United States faces international opprobrium and isolation. Rarely before has the U.S. risked its future international role and image on a huge strategic gamble untied to the protection of its vital...
EDITORIALS
Mar 14, 2003

Wage system headed for change

Corporate restructuring in Japan is creating inexorable pressure to implement wage restraints. This is evident in increasing efforts to change the traditional seniority-based wage system. Even more significant, these moves are apparent even among companies that are doing well despite the prolonged economic...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 13, 2003

Developing toward 'living democracy'

When she was a child, environmental activist Vandana Shiva spent her free time walking in the Himalayan forests of northern India. Much later, before going to do her doctorate at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, she returned there to one of her favorite places. "There was a beautiful...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 13, 2003

Water, water -- where?

These days the talk is all about oil, but wait a couple of decades and oil politics could be a quaint historical artifact.
LIFE / Digital / TANGLED WEBS
Mar 13, 2003

Poorly laid plans go astray

Let's admit it -- we made a mistake. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but we screwed up. It's time to make things right and repeal the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
BUSINESS
Mar 12, 2003

NEC in-house firms to be dissolved

NEC Corp. said Tuesday it will dissolve its two in-house companies and merge their operations in nine business divisions to cope better with growing overlap between the computer and telecommunications markets.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 12, 2003

Flock to see these birds of a feather

At last, the curtain rose on Matthew Bourne's "Swan Lake" here in Japan on Feb. 25, eight years after the production premiered at the famed Sadler's Wells Theatre in North London. The show was a sensation from the moment it opened, quickly transferring to London's West End, then crossing over to New...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2003

GSK unit allegedly hid income

The Japanese affiliate of GlaxoSmithKline, the world's second-largest drug maker, failed to declare about 65 billion yen in income over a period of three years through its business year to Dec. 31, 2001, sources said Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2003

Softbank unit to cut equity holding

Softbank Corp. said Monday its wholly owned subsidiary, Softbank America Inc., will sell part of its holding in UTStarcom Inc., a U.S. network access equipment maker.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2003

Tokyo stocks slide to new 20-year low

Tokyo stocks plummeted to a new 20-year low Monday, as the growing threat of war in Iraq and a sliding dollar prompted investors to sell a broad range of shares.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Mar 11, 2003

Four essential errors that you should make before assuming the CEO mantle

Winter is here with a vengeance, and the ski slopes are alive with CEOs who have nothing better to do than hone their powder skills -- and think about what might have been. Many will no doubt be replaying the miscalculations and misjudgments that led to their current difficulties. Yet the curious thing...
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2003

Hitachi latest firm planning to adopt merit-pay system

In a move that may affect the entire manufacturing industry, Hitachi Ltd. plans to introduce a new pay system based entirely on job performance and abolish seniority-based annual pay hikes.

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