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JAPAN
Feb 14, 2004

Whistle-blower law in the pipeline

Three decades after Hiroaki Kushioka exposed a price-fixing cartel involving his employer in the trucking industry, the government is working on what would become Japan's first-ever law to protect whistle-blowers in private-sector firms and government organizations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 11, 2004

Timeless message of divine 'Angels' rings loud and clear

They've pulled it off again! Almost exactly a year ago the team at tpt (Theatre Project Tokyo), led by the renowned American director Robert Allan Ackerman, got Tokyo theater in 2003 off to a great start with their stunningly moving production of "Bent," cast entirely from the young actors who took part...
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2004

British society's fatal divide

LONDON -- Last week the inquiry by Senior Appeals Judge Lord Hutton into the July 18 death of weapons expert Dr. David Kelly cleared all state politicians and civil servants -- bar one -- of any blame for Kelly's death and indicted the media, in particular the BBC, for Kelly's wretched end. The one state...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2003

Cutting a deal with Hussein makes sense

WASHINGTON -- The capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should, in and of itself, make a major difference in the U.S.-led operation to bring peace and stability to Iraq. But it is also important to seize this opportunity and go even further. As unpalatable as it may sound, we should consider...
COMMUNITY
Dec 6, 2003

Folktales of days gone by fly off the gallery walls

There is so much energy bouncing around Ginza's Gallery Yougen that just to step inside is uplifting. There are the images on the walls -- 17 woodcut prints created to illustrate the book "Tales of Days Gone By," stories selected from 1,000 folktales compiled in the 12th century for the classic literary...
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

U.S. raps new insurance product

The United States objected Monday to Japan's approval of the sale of a new postal insurance product by the public corporation that could compete directly with private-sector products.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 15, 2003

Importing sake to U.K., Asahi beer back here

Lynfa Phillips is still feeling overcome by her welcome to the Tokyo headquarters of Asahi Beer. "Crossing Izuma-bashi bridge, I saw flags hanging limp at the approach to the building. One was the company flag, the next the Rising Sun, and then I saw a hint of white, red and green."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 26, 2003

Mixing drinks with 'The Maven of Malt'

Malted barley has no better promoter than the noted English writer Michael Jackson, who has the distinction of being recognized as the world's foremost writer on the subjects of beer and malt whisky. His early writings on ale more than 30 years ago are considered the spark that helped ignite interest...
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2003

Junta critic's 'Burma's Children' photo show portrays Myanmar plight

Munesuke Yamamoto's visa applications to Myanmar have repeatedly been rejected since the freelance photographer conducted an exclusive interview with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon in September 1998.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Oct 2, 2003

"The House of Windjammer," "Boolar's Big Day Out"

"The House of Windjammer," V.A. Richardson, Bloomsbury; 2003; 349 pp. No matter where you grow up, whether it's in 21st-century Japan or in 17th-century Europe, some things never change. People everywhere, at every time, are at the mercy of larger forces -- political upheavals, market fluctuations,...
COMMUNITY
Aug 24, 2003

The curious afterlife of Ada Lovelace

Celebrity is a fickle thing, as Ada Lovelace's famous father, the poet Lord Byron, learned to his cost -- sexual scandals and seesawing public opinion drove him into exile and to his death. For his daughter, however, the ups and downs of fame have mostly been posthumous.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 24, 2003

Slowly does it

Great works of art take time.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 15, 2003

Kobe case sheds bad light on kids in NBA

Sometimes in life it is best to wait before passing judgment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Aug 14, 2003

Working with mentors to change the world

Former JET assistant language teacher Nicole Deutsch has an ideal job. She works with a dynamic team of people from all over the world. And at the end of the day she goes home feeling that she's helped to make the world a better place.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 9, 2003

Sushma Omata

In the words of India's renowned musician Ravi Shanker: "The improvisatory nature of Indian classical music requires the artist before playing to take into consideration the setting, the time allowed for his recital, his mood and the feeling he discerns in the audience. Since Indian music is religious...
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2003

DPJ targets watchdog official over insurance merger role

The Democratic Party of Japan filed a criminal accusation Wednesday against Financial Services Agency Commissioner Shokichi Takagi, blaming him for trying to pressure Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. to consolidate with an ailing life insurance firm last year.
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2003

Make way for the New Way

LONDON -- Politicians and gurus from around the world have been gathering in London recently for a grand conference on resuscitating the Third Way -- the hopeful idea that the future can be guided along a path lying somewhere between socialism and free-market capitalism.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2003

Shareholder meetings no longer for the meek

Individual and institutional investors were assertive at shareholders' meetings held by many companies in late June, raising questions about low stock prices and directors' retirement allowances.
COMMUNITY
Jun 29, 2003

Cherchez la femme

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing. -- Proverbs 18:22
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2003

Finance panel approves bill allowing yield cuts

A House of Representatives panel approved a controversial bill Tuesday that would allow life insurers to lower yields guaranteed to their policyholders on the grounds this will avoid bankruptcies.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 7, 2003

Freelance photo-journalist follows way of dragon

When you have made your name in photo-reportage with the Los Angeles Times, where the hell do you go next?
BUSINESS
May 29, 2003

Sony unveils massive restructuring plans

Sony Corp. said Wednesday it will place more emphasis on flat TVs and DVD recorders and spend 300 billion yen on a massive restructuring drive over the next three years.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 25, 2003

Vietnamese cuisine in a Parisian scene

The Book of Salt, by Monique Truong. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003, 261 pp., $24 (cloth). It's Paris, 1929. You're young, Vietnamese and gay. You don't speak much French, but you can cook a mean omelet. You see an ad in the paper: "Two American Ladies Wish to Retain a Cook." You answer the ad. You get...
BUSINESS
May 24, 2003

Legislation to cut yields paid by insurers submitted to Diet

The government submitted an amended bill Friday to the Diet to allow life insurance companies to cut the guaranteed yields they promised to policyholders, government officials said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 24, 2003

Dancing hands are guides along path of healing

Ray Baskerville is tall, lean, articulate and easy to talk to, and his hands weave mysterious patterns in the air as he heals clients back to physical and spiritual well-being.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 22, 2003

Corporate values ignore the bottom line

With all the scandals swirling around U.S. corporations, public respect for CEOs has plunged and, as a lawyer, I can empathize. Stories about sleazy lawyers chasing after ambulances still bring color to my cheeks, so I understand what it's like to work in a profession that is equated with sharks and...
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Bill imminent to let insurers shirk on yields

The tripartite ruling coalition approved Tuesday an amended bill that would allow life insurers to cut yields guaranteed to policyholders, resulting in a possible cut in payouts, coalition officials said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 21, 2003

Who, what, when, where -- why?

My good friend Tatsumi Orimoto, now one of Japan's best-known artists, has made his mother a central subject in his work for the last several years. This, he once explained to me, is because she always supported him in his creative efforts -- efforts that are, in a word, unorthodox: in one, he famously...
COMMUNITY
May 11, 2003

Shaking off the shogun's shackles

"The world is wider than we can imagine," said the novelist Iharu Saikaku (1642-93). It's a pregnant thought under a regime doing its utmost to narrow the world. A contemporary of Basho's, Saikaku shows us a restlessness of spirit quite different from the monkish poet's. "There's nothing," declared Saikaku,...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

LDP split over allowing insurers to cut high yields

The Liberal Democratic Party was divided Thursday over a government plan to allow troubled life insurers to cut the high yields guaranteed to policyholders during the asset-inflated bubble economy, party lawmakers said.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years