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BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2001

Japan reconsiders huge aid to China

Japan will no longer be as generous with its official development assistance to China because of its austere budget, according to a draft policy paper revealed to The Japan Times on Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2001

Japan's history again haunts future relations

The ongoing controversy between Japan and South Korea over a new textbook for Japanese junior high schools has taken a toll on the bilateral diplomatic calendar.
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 9, 2001

Climbing out of J2 not so easy, as Oita knows only too well

The J. League's Division Two will get under way on Saturday alongside Division One. The lower division has been expanded to 12 teams, with newcomer Yokohama FC joining relegated teams Kyoto Purple Sanga and Kawasaki Frontale.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2001

L.A. market touted as gold mine for struggling midsize firms

Mired in a decade-long economic slump, Japan may not seem to be the most eager country to engage in massive direct investment abroad. But Lee Harrington, president and CEO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., doesn't see it that way.
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Mar 8, 2001

Business law changes just scratch surface

Satoshi "Sonny" Koike believes Japan's commercial laws are rigid and inhibitive. Instead of accepting the status quo, however, the 41-year-old entrepreneur has used loopholes in vaguely worded legal terms to stake a claim in the fast-changing world of the Internet.
EDITORIALS
Mar 7, 2001

Don't throw in the towel on free trade

Japan's towel makers have made a formal request to the government to curb rising textile exports from China and other developing countries. Emergency import restrictions, known as safeguards, are internationally recognized as an exception to the free-trade rules of the World Trade Organization. So far,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 7, 2001

Agribusiness at a crossroads

LONDON -- Every industrialized country in the world has this idealized image: the farmer, full of robust common sense, tending his pig or his flock on his small land-holding, sturdily helped by his hardworking wife and children. He is close to the earth and nature. It is true that, in Japan or America's...
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Mar 7, 2001

Go ahead, try some

www.tokujo.ac.jp/Tanaka/WWW97/ Hello4/yumie.html This is part of Yumie Harada's home page, the part where she describes her love for natto. And maybe this kind of personal approach is what's needed to get natto virgins past that stench and actually place the stuff in their mouths. Yumie gives the...
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2001

Fujimori moves into posh digs

Deposed Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori moved into a plush condominium Monday in downtown Tokyo after moving out of the home of a novelist friend, as Peruvian authorities moved to try him in court.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Mar 5, 2001

Bush works on tax cuts while Clinton dodges more controversy

WASHINGTON -- "Beauty and the Beast" was on television Monday night -- the movie, not the continuing news saga of our current president and the most recent former one. That show seems to be a never-ending saga.
COMMUNITY
Mar 4, 2001

Japanese estate agent right at home in London

"I'll have the agreement drafted by Monday, then fax it over," Kazuyuki Nakamura was saying to a client over the phone last week in northwest London. "It's not your property? So who is the landlord? Well, he can appoint you to collect (rents) on his behalf. Otherwise we can, but then that will cost you;...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 2, 2001

Ex-OL, self-described everyman take Naoki prize

The winners of the Naoki literary prize for the second half of 2000 have been announced. This time, both winners -- "Planaria" by Yamamoto Fumio and "Vitamin F" by Shigematsu Kiyoshi -- are short-story collections, as were three of the other four short-listed works.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2001

French firms profiting from Japan

For many Japanese, France has long represented wine and fashion. That image, however, is changing with French companies in other business fields increasing their presence in Japan.
COMMUNITY
Mar 1, 2001

Spreading the word of Zen

They don't hold formal conferences or seek out media coverage of their more than 20 years of charitable work in Myanmar. Rather, members of the Asian Buddhist Association put their time into the project itself and traversing Japan drumming up interest among grassroots Buddhist groups, nongovernmental...
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2001

Matsushita in plastics agreement

Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. has said Monday it has agreed with Sweden's Perstorp AB to cooperate on amino molding compounds, a key element in electrical-insulation plastic devices such as power outlets.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2001

Matsushita in plastics agreement

Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. has said Monday it has agreed with Sweden's Perstorp AB to cooperate on amino molding compounds, a key element in electrical-insulation plastic devices such as power outlets.
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2001

ODA without a conscience

I was interviewed recently by a British postgraduate student who was in Tokyo to write a doctoral thesis on Japanese policies relating to official development assistance. She met a Foreign Ministry official to obtain information about Japan's ODA policy guidelines, but she said the interview was disappointing...
MORE SPORTS
Feb 26, 2001

Americans capture half-pipe golds

American snowboarders enjoyed much success on Sunday, the final day of the Asahikawa World Cup meet, while Japanese teenager Daisuke Murakami hinted at his potential with a fifth-place finish in the men's half-pipe competition.
COMMUNITY
Feb 25, 2001

Top industrial designer to lecture on lunchboxes

The ninth-floor room in Tokyo's Mejiro where Kenji Ekuan receives guests is a perfect reflection of his personality. One wall is stacked with diplomas, photos and portraits, all neatly framed but in no particular order. Opposite, floor-to-ceiling glass shelving is crammed with memorabilia and knickknacks...
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2001

Japan will screen controversial textbook under usual rules: Fukuda

Japan will screen a junior high school history textbook that has drawn criticism from three Asian neighbors under its usual screening procedure, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2001

S&P downgrades Japan's credit

NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's Corp. said Thursday it had lowered its long-term local and foreign currency credit ratings on Japan from AAA to AA plus.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2001

S&P downgrades Japan's credit

NEW YORK -- Standard & Poor's Corp. said Thursday it had lowered its long-term local and foreign currency credit ratings on Japan from AAA to AA plus.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Feb 24, 2001

Names writ in letters of fire

The leading ceramics quarterly Honoho Geijutsu recently published a very interesting survey in its 65th issue, listing the names of the most important (juyo) and popular (ninki) ceramic artists of the 20th century.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 23, 2001

Japan's soccer heroes tested by Troussier

NARAHA, Fukushima Pref. -- After three days of training behind closed doors, the media and fans were allowed a glimpse of Japan's soccer heroes on Thursday as Philippe Troussier and his coaching staff put his squad through its paces on a warm and sunny day at the J. Village in Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Symposium seeks solutions to Africa's persistent turmoil

The end of the Cold War has brought about a fundamental change in the international order based on the two major ideological blocs, and it has led to an increase, rather than a decrease, in regional conflicts around the globe.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2001

Symposium seeks solutions to Africa's persistent turmoil

The end of the Cold War has brought about a fundamental change in the international order based on the two major ideological blocs, and it has led to an increase, rather than a decrease, in regional conflicts around the globe.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’