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LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Dec 23, 2001

An o-tososan a year keeps the doc away

It's a rare occasion or ceremony that does not include some sake in Japan, and that harbinger of renewal, New Year's Day, is no exception. Although sake figures prominently in o-shogatsu celebrations from morning to night, opening the year with a prayer for health in the form of drinking o-toso is perhaps...
EDITORIALS
Dec 23, 2001

Milking maids for all they're worth

Here's a well-timed debate. In the runup to Christmas, the traditional season of generosity and good will to all, the citizens of Hong Kong have been arguing the rights and wrongs of their government's pending proposal to cut the minimum wage of foreign (mostly Filipino) domestic workers for the second...
EDITORIALS
Dec 22, 2001

Reform budget a double-edged sword

The Finance Ministry's draft general-account budget, which was unveiled Thursday, is the first under the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Living up to his "fiscal reform" slogan, he has kept his pledge to cap bond issuance at 30 trillion yen. The borrowing limit, however, is a "double-edged...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2001

Ogata likely to be named joint chair of Afghan conference

Sadako Ogata, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's special envoy on Afghan affairs, is likely to be the Japanese chair of a multinational conference to discuss the reconstruction of Afghanistan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda hinted Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2001

Koizumi should have tried to cap deflation instead

While the Finance Ministry's draft budget for 2002 features significant structural changes, its central reform pillar of limiting government spending has aggravated concerns about the economy.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2001

Child exploitation congress closes

YOKOHAMA-- A four-day international conference concluded here Thursday with the adoption of a statement reaffirming the need for the protection and promotion of the right of every child to be protected from all forms of sexual exploitation.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2001

Sporting events require tight security

The 2002 Japan-Korea World Cup will kick off in about six months. As the two countries busy themselves with the final preparations, the people who are becoming most tense are those in charge of security. When one thinks of security at soccer matches, the notorious hooligans in European countries may...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 16, 2001

Bringing young and old together

GENERATIONS IN TOUCH: Linking the Old and Young in a Tokyo Neighborhood, by Leng Leng Thang. Cornell University Press, 2001, 209 pp., paper ($39.95) As Japan's traditional three-generation households go nuclear and fewer young couples have children, the care of the nation's elderly has become an increasingly...
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Japan to cohost global conference on child sexual exploitation

Japan will cohost an international conference in Yokohama next week to reconfirm an international commitment to eliminate the sexual exploitation of children, according to the Foreign Ministry.
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2001

Japan plans new Chinese import curbs

Japan plans to make legal revisions to impose emergency import curbs that have become possible as a result of China's entry into the World Trade Organization, government officials said.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Dec 12, 2001

Diverse splendor in many a jar

The depth and variety of Japanese pottery has enraptured the senses for many a season. As the seasons change and the baton of life is passed on, the beauty of older Japanese pottery remains unwithered, even in this winter season and amid all the changes that have occurred within and without. In a sense,...
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2001

10,000 Matsushita workers apply for retirement scheme

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Friday that more than 10,000 workers, or over 10 percent of its group workforce, have applied to take part in an early retirement plan.
JAPAN
Dec 8, 2001

Draft of Justice Ministry human-rights plan focuses on vulnerable groups

The Justice Ministry has compiled a draft of the government's basic human rights plan, calling for special efforts to protect the rights of vulnerable groups in Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2001

Aoki goes under with 522 billion yen in liabilities

The construction industry was dealt another blow on Thursday when general contractor Aoki Corp. effectively went bankrupt, filing for court protection from creditors under a civil rehabilitation law.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2001

Take action, Mr. Arafat

Two suicide bombing attacks by Islamic militants in Israel over the weekend followed by the severe responses on the part of the Israeli government have dashed hopes for bringing the Mideast peace process back to life in the near future. The horrific attacks have brought the situation to a head.
SUMO
Dec 2, 2001

Hawaii's heavyweight hero is living his dream

Musashimaru is one of only two top-ranked yokozuna currently in Japan's national sport of sumo (the other is Takanohana), and last weekend he won the autumn basho in Fukuoka -- a victory that will boost earnings already estimated at 60 million yen a year.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 2, 2001

The life of the party

The yearend holiday season brings a flurry of parties, rich dinners and the popping of corks. For those of us who love wine, this time of year presents a few dilemmas as well. There's the torture of finding the right bottle to give the boss or a gourmand in-law who has tried everything. Then we mull...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2001

Africa: building a better future

Next week's ministerial meeting in Tokyo on African development offers a special opportunity for Japan and other development partners of Africa to renew their commitment to building a better future for that region's 300 million children. Their future ought to be a matter of global concern: In this era...
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2001

JTB to push cheaper package tours

Travel agency JTB Corp. said Tuesday it will boost its selection of low-price overseas package tours in early spring, with a particular emphasis on families, elderly tourists and women in their 20s and 30s.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2001

The empire strikes back

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Rating: * * * * Director: Chris Columbus Running time: 152 minutes Language: English Now showing
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

Isuzu Motors to jettison 3,300 more jobs by '04

Isuzu Motors Ltd. on Monday reported consolidated net and pretax losses for the first half that ended Sept. 30 and announced it will cut an additional 3,300 jobs to bring its group workforce down from some 38,000 to 24,700 by March 2004.
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2001

Fuji Bank's Maeda to take charge at Mizuho

Mizuho Holdings Inc., the holding company for the world's largest banking group, the Mizuho Financial Group, is planning to reshuffle its top management next April and will name Terunobu Maeda as its new president, banking industry sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2001

NTT reports 262 billion yen net loss for '01 first half

The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone group reported its first interim net loss Thursday, brought on by special losses of 762.4 billion yen incurred by failed investments in overseas carriers.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2001

$500,000 to go to Sierra Leone court

Japan decided Wednesday to give $500,000 (about 62 million yen) to the United Nations to help set up a special international court to try those suspected of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sierra Leone, the Foreign Ministry said.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 22, 2001

When cartoons go wacky

The brains at Microsoft could have fixed it so that you had to purchase an Xbox game console to play "Cel Damage," but they didn't.
COMMENTARY
Nov 21, 2001

LDP strife must end before it's too late

The entire world has undergone radical change since terrorists attacked New York and Washington on Sept. 11. Having identified Osama bin Laden as the mastermind of the attacks, the United States, with military cooperation from Britain, launched bombing raids against Afghanistan's Taliban regime in October....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

Nation struggles with drug abuse

A suspended prison term handed down six years ago was not enough to stop the 34-year-old gas station worker from using amphetamines, which had already badly damaged his life.
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

Universal fashion: One design fits all

Everyone knows how hard it is to find clothes that fit, but imagine how much harder it would be if you had special needs. If you were a wheelchair-user looking for pants with gathers at the knees, or a frail senior looking for a blouse with easy-to-detach buttons, chances are you wouldn't find them easily...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan