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COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 29, 2001

A bearded Gore and the shrinking surplus

WASHINGTON -- At long last, Al Gore has reappeared! He is pursuing the political training school program that he had floated in a more full-blown way last spring. Al, sporting a full beard, is working with his fellow Tennessee loser, Republican presidential wannabe Lamar Alexander, training young people...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Middle-aged men suffering increase in health disorders

A growing number of Japanese men in their 40s and 50s are suffering from liver function disorders, high cholesterol and other diseases stemming from irregular lifestyle patterns, an organization of hospital administrators said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Coast guard report now easier to read

The Japan Coast Guard released its annual white paper Tuesday featuring a more detailed and easy-to-read format, coast guard officials said.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Robot project seeks to give industry boost

The government has announced plans to launch a project to foster the robot industry, viewed as a possible dynamo for economic growth, with subsidies and related legislative measures in fiscal 2002.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Trio held in loan scam tied to credit union NSK

Three people, including the head of a Tokyo-based consulting company, were arrested Tuesday for allegedly swindling a credit union out of some 160 million yen.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2001

Pressure on reforms likely as bleeding starts

The nation's unemployment rate, which hit an all-time high of 5 percent in July, may present the greatest threat to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reforms, begging the question, "Is reform worth the pain?"
EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2001

The world without the Soviet Union

Ten years ago this month, the Soviet Union collapsed in one final, drunken spasm. After decades of fear, the Soviet threat vanished with the proverbial whimper when Communist hardliners launched a last desperate coup attempt to bring then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev back into line. They failed,...
LIFE / Travel
Aug 28, 2001

Whither the mighty Mekong?

"The boat moves off, the river banks remain." -- Old Khmer proverb
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2001

Europe, the euro and you

Remember the runup to Y2K? The predictions of catastrophe? The hand-wringing over unpreparedness? It's happening all over again, on a smaller scale, with the runup to the cash launch of the euro. Although the new European currency will not be legal tender until New Year's Day, armored trucks will start...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 26, 2001

Dogs and penguins and affairs, oh my!

If you have a dog who doesn't do what you say, you might want to tune in this morning to Asahi TV's Sunday talk show "Tokusuru TV (Beneficial TV)" (9:30 a.m.), where actors Masayuki Watanabe and Wakako Shinozaki play-act at being a couple who entertain guests with interesting tips for everyday life....
CULTURE / Books
Aug 26, 2001

Shaping the future:the politics of language

LANGUAGE PLANNING AND LANGUAGE CHANGE IN JAPAN, by Tessa Carroll, Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 276 pp., 40.00 British pounds (cloth) Most countries consider their official language to be an area of state responsibility requiring "planning" by government agencies or special institutions. Language, from...
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

Japan's public schools grow more violent

A record 40,374 cases of violence were reported at public schools across Japan in the school year ending in March, the education ministry said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 25, 2001

The way of using a Japanese-style toilet

The Western-style toilet in my house has illustrated instructions on the lid. For boys, it shows a picture of a man standing facing the toilet. For girls, it shows a picture of a girl sitting on the toilet. The man looks more like he is waiting for the bus, and the girl looks more like she's waiting...
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2001

ODA also needs reform

Japan's official development assistance is expected to be reduced by 10 percent in fiscal 2002 as part of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's program of "structural reform with no sacred cows." According to the budget outlines announced earlier this month, ODA will be cut by 100 billion yen from the current...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2001

Mahathir goes all out to remove thorn in his side

SINGAPORE -- After months of futile attempts at various kinds of measures, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad may have hit upon the right combination to effectively deal with a formidable political opponent -- the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2001

BOJ fights for time in battle over fake inflation

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami said Thursday that the central bank will continue to study inflation targeting but that it has qualms about achieving price levels at the expense of prudence.
COMMENTARY
Aug 24, 2001

The time for talking is over

LONDON -- Too much has been expected from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, but that is partly his own fault. There seems to have been too much "spin" and too little action. Time is not on his side as the Japanese economy splutters.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

Lawmaker's ex-aide tied to Chinese worker scam

A former private secretary of LDP lawmaker Koki Kobayashi made inquiries to the Justice Ministry at the request of a man involved in an illegal immigrant worker scam, sources close to the case said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

Prosecutors seek death for mall killer

Public prosecutors demanded the death penalty Wednesday for a 25-year-old man who earlier admitted to charges stemming from a mass stabbing in a Tokyo shopping center in 1999.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 23, 2001

Look, mum, what I got playing for my country

Maybe it was the passing of yet another birthday; maybe it was the fact that I had just become the proud father of a healthy son and heir but the last few weeks have seen me getting more and more nostalgic.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Aug 23, 2001

Get that tropical feeling with hibiscus on your balcony

Summers just wouldn't be the same without hibiscus flowers. Hibiscus create the feeling of some tropical paradise -- even in city centers. Those of you who have balcony gardens can easily cultivate a number of hibiscus species.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2001

Typhoon claims two, heads for Tokyo area

Typhoon Pabuk, which hit the Kii Peninsula in western Japan shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday, claimed at least two lives as it became the first typhoon in two years to hit the mainland, the Meteorological Agency said.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2001

Conductor Comissiona passes the youth baton

When Sergiu Comissiona arrives in Japan later this month to embark on the final leg of this year's Asian Youth Orchestra tour, it's likely that the baton he always conducts with will feel a little heavier than usual. This year marks the acclaimed Romanian-born conductor's eighth season with the AYO....
Events
Aug 21, 2001

Electronics firms wage battle of the rays

KYOTO -- Kyoto-based Rohm Corp., one of Japan's largest makers of electronic components, is locked in a legal wrangle with Nichia Corp. of Anan, Tokushima Prefecture, over patents related to blue light-emitting diodes and blue lasers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 19, 2001

Natural resources

FUKUOKA -- More than 100 years of mining has given the town of Tagawa, Fukuoka Prefecture, a masculine, working-class character, with widespread associations of gangs and violent crime. Abandoned concrete plants and mines line its hilly outskirts, and a coat of dust covers its many boarded-up shops....
CULTURE / Books
Aug 19, 2001

Uniformly stylish Japanese

WEARING IDEOLOGY: State, Schooling and Self-Preservation in Japan, by Brian J. McVeigh. Berg, Oxford, 2000, 231 pages, $19.50 The Japanese are some of the most fashion-conscious dressers in the world. They spend large amounts of their discretionary income on clothes, have a strong preference for designer-made...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2001

India's hardliners wait as pressures wear out premier

When the Agra summit between India and Pakistan failed last month, it was widely feared that its biggest victim would be the Indian prime minister: Atal Bihari Vajpayee might have to go.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person