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JAPAN
Nov 8, 2003

Pension crisis brings on number crunchers

The future of Japan's public pension system remains uncertain, and polls indicate the issue is a key concern of voters ahead of Sunday's House of Representatives election.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2003

Japan, U.S. and EU agree to share patent information

Japan, the United States and the European Union agreed Friday to cooperate on sharing patent information in a bid to speed up the examination process amid an increase of applications, officials at the Japan Patent Office said.
COMMENTARY
Nov 8, 2003

Pressure won't bring peace

Visit Shanghai and while you may not see the future -- contrary to what Sydney and Beatrice Webb once foolishly claimed when they visited the Soviet Union in the 1920s -- you will certainly see very little of the past.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2003
Nov 4, 2003

Abductions equal terrorism: candidates

Some 93 percent of candidates in Sunday's House of Representatives election believe that the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korea constitutes terrorism, according to the results of a survey released Monday.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2003

Aum bred social cult of fear, passion for security

OSAKA -- The trial of Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara effectively concludes when his lawyers present their closing arguments before the Tokyo District Court on Thursday and Friday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Oct 28, 2003

Skin care, leases and illegal tax

Skin problems NWW asks "where can I find an English-speaking dermatologist or specialist clinic in Tokyo area?"
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2003

Coaxing Iran, North Korea

EDMONTON, Canada -- Since no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, some critics of the Bush administration are suggesting that the use of the military option was premature or even unwarranted unless, of course, the goal all along was to overthrow a dangerous despot -- Saddam Hussein. Certainly,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 26, 2003

The Road Ahead

The heat built up as our five-hour bus ride from Delhi took us toward the searing Thar Desert. Then, after clocking up 260 km heading south on the national highway, buildings began to grow as we approached Jaipur, capital of the state of Rajasthan. Our journey may have been equivalent to traveling between...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 26, 2003

Writer behind the writer

As a reporter in Tokyo in the late '60s, what was your professional interest in Yukio Mishima?
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2003

Iran makes a nuclear deal

A droit diplomacy by Britain, France and Germany may have averted another nuclear crisis. A diplomatic full press appears to have convinced Iran that suspending its uranium-enrichment program and coming into full compliance with its obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency are in the country's...
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2003

Nakasone getting little sympathy at home

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wants former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone to quit politics because he's too old -- and people in the 85-year-old's hometown agree.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Oct 23, 2003

JCP to stick with criticism of Koizumi, U.S. security ties

The Japanese Communist Party has no plans to change tack ahead of the upcoming general election, training its guns on the policies of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whom it accuses of pandering to big business and the United States.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 19, 2003

Two local novelists strut their stuff

THE BANG DEVILS, by Patrick Foss. New York: HarperCollins, 2003 305 pp., $13.95 (paper). AMBASSADOR STRIKES, by Robert J. Collins. California: McKenna Publishing Group, 2003 260 pp., $19.95 (paper). With so much rich material to draw upon, the relatively small number of English novels set in the Kansai...
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2003

Koizumi's Iraq pledge wins thanks from Bush

U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday thanked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for Japan's $1.5 billion pledge to help reconstruct Iraq.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2003

Japan and Mexico fail to strike FTA deal

Japan and Mexico threw in the towel Thursday, failing to strike a bilateral free-trade agreement after a four-day marathon of ministerial-level talks.
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2003

Settling for less than peace

The Israeli government's recent announcement that it planned to build more than 600 homes in West Bank settlements is another stake through the heart of the "road map" for peace between Palestinians and Israelis. There is no reason to expand this construction -- other than a desire to create "facts on...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2003

Lower House dissolved

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the House of Representatives on Friday and set Nov. 9 as the date of a general election.
JAPAN
Oct 10, 2003

LDP has last laugh as reform plan crumbles

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi compromised with his Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday and agreed to leave the timing of the privatization of the nation's postal services ambiguous in the party's campaign policy.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2003

80% eye elder-care help

Eighty percent of Japanese hope to receive publicly funded services such as part-time home helpers when they get old, according to a recent government survey.
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Oct 9, 2003

Does ' baka explosion' indicate identity crisis brewing in Japan?

Japan has been witnessing something of a baka explosion recently. Whether or not the actual number of idiots or incidents of idiotic behavior are on the increase or not, there is certainly a sharp rise in the public irritability index, a lowering of the threshold at which people call others "baka."
BUSINESS
Oct 8, 2003

Japan hopes to find key to Mexico FTA behind locked doors

Japanese and Mexican negotiators will lock themselves away in a conference hall in Tokyo's Minato Ward beginning Wednesday in an attempt to hammer out a free-trade accord.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 8, 2003

Experts tip All Blacks or England for World Cup

Former All Black legend Colin Meads recently caused a stir when he said that he thought England would beat New Zealand in the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. For a New Zealander to admit such a thing was considered by some in the land of the silver fern to be treasonous!
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2003

Japan Highway chief refuses to step down

Japan Highway Public Corp. President Haruho Fujii on Monday defied an order by transport minister Nobuteru Ishihara to resign, forcing Ishihara to begin the formal process of sacking him.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2003

DPJ adds five pledges to election manifesto

Pledging to take power in the upcoming general election, the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party celebrated their merger Sunday at a national convention in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Oct 5, 2003

Fun at Asagiri is as easy as ichi, ni, san

It's 9 a.m. and the gentle rolling piano intonations of the Rajio Taiso theme start up. A man stands at the foot of a hill on a small raised platform and begins the count: "Ichi, ni, san, shi . . ." The hill is covered with tents from which several thousand people slowly emerge. They twist sideways,...
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2003

Japan still upbeat about chances of Mexico FTA

Japan and Mexico can strike a free-trade agreement when Mexican President Vicente Fox visits Tokyo on Oct. 15, trade minister Shoichi Nakagawa said Friday, downplaying hurdles in the final negotiations over agriculture.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?