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JAPAN
Jan 26, 2003

Gangster held over 'loan shark' operation

Police arrested a gangster and an accomplice Saturday for allegedly lending money at exorbitant interest rates.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Whether crisis or not, sumo's show must go on

Of all the crises that the institution of sumo is said to be confronting -- and there are many -- yokozuna (grand champion) Takanohana's announcement last Monday of his retirement is being regarded by some as particularly ominous.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2003

Undoing a dictator's legacy

HONG KONG -- There was a largely unseen symmetry underlying two political bombshells that recently exploded in the northern Philippines, one after the other: Early on Dec. 29, the effigy of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, seemingly carved into rock in northern Luzon, was at long last blown up. Then,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 26, 2003

It's time Japan woke up to refugee problem

The Foreign Ministry's lack of a coherent policy with regard to North Korea was obvious back in autumn, when public opinion forced the government to renege on its promise to Pyongyang that the five Japanese abductees would return to the communist nation after a two-week visit to Japan. The five are now...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Alien tick plague threatening nation's beetle population

When Koichi Goka heard rumors about the mysterious deaths three years ago, he started snooping around. What he found has put government officials on alert against a new plague, one that causes the limbs of its victims to rot and fall off.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PREFECTURAL FARE
Jan 25, 2003

Sake, sweets part of Shimane's spell

Once upon a time, there was a violent god named Susanoo-no-mikoto who challenged a giant serpent that had demanded the life of a young woman every year. The god killed the eight-headed Yamata-no-crochi, a dragonlike creature with eight tails, when it became drunk on the local Yashiori-no-sake.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Trendy teas try to give soda, coffee a run for their money

With a couple of Starbucks and at least one other big-name coffee shop within easy walking distance, not long ago Tomohiro Tsuchiya would have been better off opening his little cafe somewhere else.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2003

Forge national consensus on taxes

One year ago the government published a five-year budget projection showing how it expected to make ends meet in fiscal 2002-06. Now, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, chaired by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, has revised the plan -- downward. The basic picture is that the budget deficit...
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2003

80% of teens favor ban on sex with minors met via Internet

A police report released Tuesday says that some 80 percent of respondents to a recent survey on Internet dating sites favor a ban on the pursuit of sexual relationships via the Web with anyone who is 18 years old or younger.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2003

Australian attitudes harden against illegals

SYDNEY -- Burn, baby, burn. That's how arsonists among illegal arrivals held in detention centers across Australia greeted the new year. What an inglorious way to start 2003!
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 20, 2003

Hike in consumption tax center of lobby's vision

The Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) on Jan. 1 released a grand vision aimed at reviving Japan into a vigor- ous and attractive nation.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2003

Amusement park in Seto Sea going under: railway

OSAKA -- Keihan Electric Railway Co. will close an amusement facility at the end of March that it operates on the island of Yoshima in the Seto Inland Sea, it was learned Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 2003

ed 20030119a1.xml EDITORIAL What's in a loanword?

The complaint is a familiar one: English is putting the squeeze on other languages and those who are getting squeezed don't like it. Up till now, this has been most noticeably a grievance of the French and the Germans. Three years ago, the French Finance Ministry even went so far as to issue government...
COMMUNITY
Jan 19, 2003

fl 20030119a1.xml SUN YES Boulevard Blitz

Omotesando Avenue, the tree-lined boulevard leading up to Meiji Shrine, is one of Tokyo's most beautiful streets. After many years of wrangling, though, from the end of March its much-loved look will begin to change dramatically, when demolition crews move in to tear down the Aoyama Apartment Houses...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 18, 2003

Starting the year with a 32-person cold

It's January, when you see many Japanese people wearing surgical masks. No they are not doctors on call. Those people have "pulled the wind," as the Japanese say: They have caught a cold. They wear the masks either to contain their germs and avoid spreading them to others, or, more likely, to hide their...
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2003

Empress' former home under siege

Work to demolish Empress Michiko's former home in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, began Thursday morning, despite strong opposition from local residents that delayed the work by one day.
COMMENTARY
Jan 16, 2003

Silence isn't golden for Korean peace

HONG KONG -- As the latest Korean crisis has developed, one contradiction has been obvious: The Bush administration refused to talk with North Korea until Pyongyang abandoned nuclear blackmail and returned to honoring all the treaties and agreements that it has recently repudiated. Yet the Bush administration...
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2003

Asylum brokers make cash demand

The Foreign Ministry has received a demand for a large sum of money from people claiming to be "helping" a 64-year-old Japanese woman married to a North Korean who recently fled to China from the reclusive state, government sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2003

100,000 yen alternative to anonymous burial offered by temple

If someone dies whose name is not known, or who leaves behind no money or known kin, the person's ashes may end up in an anonymous grave with other "muen botoke" remains.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2003

Imperial Couple attend New Year's 'waka' poetry event

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko attended the annual New Year's poetry reading at the Imperial Palace on Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2003

Koizumi stirs diplomatic row with surprise Yasukuni visit

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon, a move that is likely to rekindle anger in South Korea and China -- countries in pivotal positions at a time of mounting concerns over North Korea.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2003

Thais create Buddhist studies landmark

CHIANG MAI -- Against a background of terror, conflicts and violence worldwide, during times when consumerism and materialism have been elevated as never before on pedestals surrounded by a divine aura, a small group of modest but dedicated Thai scholars, monks and nuns have worked quietly and efficiently...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2003

Bill would allow more politicians to practice law

The government may allow certain former and current Diet members to practice law even if they have not completed the required training process, it was learned Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2003

Anti-Americanism rises in Asia

SINGAPORE -- The United States has been perceived differently by Asian countries since President George W. Bush took over the helm in Washington. Asian governments have noticed a fundamental shift toward a more "unilateralist" stance in U.S. foreign policy -- a trend that became even more accentuated...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 11, 2003

The 'risutora' blues: Music that won't go away

I have been "restored."
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2003

ATM smash-and-grabs on the rise

More thieves are using heavy machinery to steal cash from automated teller machines, with the number of incidents increasing to 57 in 2002 from 48 the previous year, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Jan 10, 2003

Pyongyang is the real victim

Western and Japanese reactions to North Korea's recent nuclear activities and warnings have been strange.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers