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COMMENTARY
Oct 20, 2004

Help wanted for promoting democrac

MANILA -- A myriad of organizations from North America and Europe operate in various parts of the world with the objective of advancing democratic governance. While their strategies may differ, these "democracy-assistance foundations" hold the common belief that promoting democracy essentially promotes...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 19, 2004

Agents, China dance and culture

Ole Latina! In addition to Dagmusic, (introduced in Lifelines; Sept. 24), there are quite a number of other companies in Tokyo who specialize in contracting foreign professional singers and musicians for TV CMs and soundlogos.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2004

Koizumi noncommittal on political-funds control

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday refrained from making a commitment on the issue of tightening controls on political funds as his Liberal Democratic Party remained wary of banning so-called diverted donations.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 15, 2004

Daiei fix followed twisted path

It took one phone call from auditor Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu to convince Daiei Inc. to accept help from the state-backed Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan and end a lengthy standoff between the retailer and major banks.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 14, 2004

Rakuten hires Tao to manage new team

Internet mall operator Rakuten Inc., which has applied to enter professional baseball next season, announced Wednesday the appointment of baseball commentator Yasushi Tao as manager of its team on a three-year contract.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 14, 2004

New options raise the stakes in the 'Name that Baby' game

Since middle names are not used in Japan, the parents of a newborn need only agree on one name for their offspring. This is probably just as well: Choosing a kanji name involves a whole host of complex considerations, and while some couples settle on a name written in kana (Japan's phonetic script),...
BUSINESS
Oct 13, 2004

Koizumi rejects Thai request to scrap rice tariffs

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has rejected a request from Thailand to scrap Japanese import tariffs on rice as part of a free-trade agreement, the farm minister said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2004

Taj Mahal survives foibles of humanity

MADRAS, India -- Sadly, India continues to let its heritage and history decay. For example, recently when a scholar from the country's prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi asked India's National Archives, also in the same city, for a document, the request was not entertained. The scholar...
EDITORIALS
Oct 7, 2004

Basic security-policy concerns

A n advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has completed a report calling for a review of Japan's defense-only security policy. The report, by the Forum on Security and Defense Capability, says Japan should have a "multifunctional, flexible defense force" to meet security threats such as...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Oct 7, 2004

Knicks distracted by in-house fighting

CHARLESTON, S.C -- If it's such a great honor to wear a New York uniform, as Isiah Thomas preached to Shandon Anderson last Friday through the media, how come he decided to retire when the Pistons traded him to the Knicks rather than try it on for size?
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2004

Japan, Mexico agree to push FTA

Japan and Mexico said Tuesday they will put their free-trade agreement into effect as soon as possible, according to Foreign Ministry officials.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 5, 2004

Trouble in paradise

It is one of the more uneven fights in the history of Japanese protest movements.
Japan Times
Features
Oct 3, 2004

Teddy bares all

Long before baseball's Ichiro Suzuki or soccer's Hidetoshi Nakata became stars overseas, in 1987 a 15-year-old boy from Asahikawa in Hokkaido flew to London on his way to taking the ballet world by storm just a few years later.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 3, 2004

Koike vows to sway business sector on carbon tax

Yuriko Koike, reappointed as the environment minister, says Japan needs a carbon tax to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 1, 2004

Rooney's debut helps Manchester fans overlook his roots

LONDON -- Mancunians, generally speaking, do not like Liverpudlians and that is putting it mildly. The feeling is also mutual and just about the only thing the folk from the two cities have in common is their opinion of each other.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 1, 2004

Rhodes: Short strike 'useless'

Though the Japanese pro baseball strike of two weeks ago appears to have won the players a legitimate chance for the entry of a 12th team in time for next season, one veteran player wonders what, if anything, was really gained.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2004

Offer Pyongyang transparency challenge

HONOLULU -- "It's all South Korea's fault!" In a refreshing change from its natural tendency to blame Washington for all the world's troubles, Pyongyang has recently announced that it cannot proceed with the six-party talks over its clandestine nuclear-weapons programs since "the foundation for talks...
COMMENTARY
Sep 28, 2004

No sense of proportionality

I was intrigued by two recent U.S. antiwar movies -- Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911," and "The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara," directed by Errol Morris. The former denounces U.S. President George W. Bush's justification for the Iraq War; the latter is based on an interview...
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2004

A greater burden for higher earners

The government's Tax Commission is discussing the fiscal 2005 revision of the tax system. The focus this time is on the decrease or abolition of the fixed reduction for individual income and resident taxes, which was introduced in 1999 as an economic-stimulus measure. Rather than draw the line there,...
COMMENTARY
Sep 27, 2004

Reforming the United Nations

LONDON -- The Japanese government is understandably frustrated by the delay in reaching agreement on enlargement of the Security Council. Japan makes the largest contribution to the running of the United Nations, but still has to take its turn as an elected member of the Security Council.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 26, 2004

Who knows if it is teaching or torture?

I WOULDN'T WANT ANYBODY TO KNOW: Native English Teaching in Japan, edited by Eva P. Bueno & Terry Caesar. JPGS Press, 2004, 252 pp., 2,500 yen, $25.00 (paper). Tall stories are clearly better than short ones, at least in the world of publishing. A whole industry has grown out of the perceived, often...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 21, 2004

When it happens, it happens

A whirlwind romance Shortly before I was to return to Australia, I went to a Christmas party in the small town where I was studying Japanese.
COMMENTARY
Sep 20, 2004

Curb spread of WMD in U.S.

LONDON -- The failure of Congress to renew a 10-year ban on the sale of assault rifles and other dangerous weapons may seem to politicians a simple price to pay to win the support of the National Rifle Association in the forthcoming presidential election.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004

Some secrets of success

There were many things I wanted to ask Andrey Zvyagintsev about the unspoken secrets his film "The Return" is full of. But then again, if he wanted us to know all the answers, he would have put them in there in the first place. So rather than ruin it for you, I got the 40-year-old actor-turned-director...
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2004

Testing still separates Japan, U.S. on beef battle

The Food Safety Commission's apparent change of heart over the testing regimen for mad cow disease suggests Japan may be closer to resuming beef imports from the United States, though the two sides remain apart.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2004

Reviving an idea for Asian community

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Thailand recently hosted an important regional meeting whose main theme was how to begin realizing the vision of an East Asian community. Academics and other opinion leaders from several Asian countries gathered in Bangkok under the framework of the Network of East Asian Think...
Features
Sep 12, 2004

Mount Fuji: Symbol of beauty; mountain of shame

Thinking "green" may seem to be a modern notion, but in Japan it's as old as the hills -- at least those ones climbed by innumerable yamabushi ascetics on grueling mountain pilgrimages in search of enlightenment.
BUSINESS
Sep 10, 2004

State to keep pushing parties to back postal privatization

The government will continue trying to get support from the reluctant ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition ally, New Komeito, to adopt its privatization plan for the state-run Japan Post at Friday's Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 8, 2004

Catching up with the 24-hour filmmaker

I sat down with English director Michael Winterbottom at the tail end of what was obviously a long, hard day of back-to-back interviews. Rather than my trying to get him discuss the same points of "Code 46" one more time, we instead kicked back with some beers and had a wide-ranging discussion covering...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 7, 2004

Scammers, counseling, health costs

Counseling Is there such thing as counseling in Japan? I have been married for 7 years and am having problems, yet my wife refuses to even discuss it. Is there some place we or I could go for help?

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji