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JAPAN
Apr 9, 2003

Diet begins debate on watered-down privacy bills

The House of Representatives on Tuesday began debating a package of controversial bills the government says will protect individuals' private information, as well as a counterproposal jointly submitted by four opposition parties.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

Details of Iraq's reconstruction seen unlikely to be broached at G7 meet

When finance chiefs and central bankers from major industrialized countries meet in Washington later this week, they probably won't discuss specifics of the rebuilding of Iraq, senior Japanese officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2003

NEC expects to book loss for second straight year

NEC Corp. has lowered its group earnings forecast to an expected group net loss of 25 billion yen for the 2002 business year, which ended March 31, the firm said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 7, 2003

Diplomatic tests await Tokyo

Japanese diplomacy will face a real test over the question: How will the country participate in Iraq's postwar reconstruction?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2003

A legend from Kyoto to Kerouac and way beyond

Gar Snyder is a legendary figure. The real-life original of Japhy Ryder -- traveling companion, friend and spiritual inspiration to the novelist Jack Kerouac -- he appears in that guise in Kerouac's 1959 novel, "The Dharma Bums." There, speaking as Ryder, he announces that, after study in the East, he...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 5, 2003

The hardest adjustment to Japan: a slippery topic

I don't mind putting my foot in my mouth. That's one way to keep it clean.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2003

Chemical giants scrap plans for October tieup

Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. said Monday they have agreed to scrap plans to integrate their operations under a holding company.
COMMUNITY
Apr 1, 2003

Brave Tama-chan takes fame in his stride

If ever an amphibious mammal was catapulted to the forefront of a nation's consciousness, Tama-chan, the bearded seal who has taken up residence in Yokohama's Katabira River, is that animal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2003

Strengthening military is worth discussing: Abe

The prospect of boosting Japan's military capabilities is worth discussing, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Sunday.
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Mar 30, 2003

Space Shower TV bangs a gong in style

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Space Shower TV, the Japanese homegrown equivalent of MTV. With its unpretentious presenters, high quotient of decidedly unslick, locally made music videos and low-key artist interviews, Space Shower has a strong "street" feel.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 26, 2003

Secrets of the lost kingdoms of mystery

Mayan civilization flourished and faded more than a millennium ago, and the mystery of its decline has fascinated archaeologists ever since. Although experts debate whether it was a Toltec invasion or the effects of drought that spelled the end of the Maya, all agree that it was the dense jungle that...
EDITORIALS
Mar 23, 2003

Invading ancient Mesopotamia

As war again comes to Iraq, the international community is rightly concerned about the human toll, civilian as well as military, long-term as well as immediate. Governments and humanitarian organizations already have relief plans in place to help the expected flood of refugees. Others worry about the...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2003

Saddening absence of options for Japan

I don't wish to speculate on why the United States has embarked on a war against Iraq at this time. What is clear is that U.S. President George W. Bush and the influential aides in his administration believed -- without appearing to entertain the slightest doubt -- that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 20, 2003

Happiness and how to achieve it

We are all in search of it, and while some have it, many don't. The pursuit of it was even written into the American Declaration of Independence. We're talking about happiness, surely an ancient and universal human desire, a desire that arose in our brains when we arose on the Ethiopian savanna. But...
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2003

Embattled Hayami bows out with self-belief intact

The markets are happy to see him go. He is the butt of jokes at the Finance Ministry, where bureaucrats mimic some of his well-worn phrases. Leading politicians in the ruling coalition blame him for the stagnant economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2003

Water privatization not the answer: American activist

Patrick McCully had a revelation in India more than a decade ago. The campaign director of International Rivers Network witnessed indigenous people in Gujarat state, India, risking their lives to protest construction of a dam on the Narmada River. All were eventually arrested, but government officials...
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2003

U.N. still a valuable forum

LONDON -- Can the United Nations continue to be a credible force for world peace?
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 16, 2003

Post-1945 order may have run its course

LONDON -- It is unlikely that the split over whether to go to war with Iraq will do Iraqi President Saddam Hussein much good, as U.S. President George W. Bush appears intent on unleashing hostilities however widespread the opposition to conflict. But it will certainly do the new world order which was...
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2003

An order of unpalatable patriotism

The United States may or may not be going to war with Iraq this month, but it is already at war with France. In case there was any lingering doubt about that, this week saw two developments that brought the erstwhile allies' mutual hostility out into the open.
BUSINESS / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Mar 15, 2003

Multilateral alliance good for ANA, but JAL isn't convinced

All Nippon Airways Co. President Yoji Ohashi could hardly contain his joy last month when he witnessed the entry of Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's No. 2 carrier, into Star Alliance, the world's largest airline coalition.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2003

The perils of arms control 'lite'

Last May, U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a treaty that mandates deep cuts in both countries' strategic nuclear arsenals. Last week, the U.S. Senate ratified the accord. While any nuclear arms reductions are to be welcomed, this document is troubling. It is...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2003

EU keeps channel open with Pyongyang

The withdrawal of North Korea from the Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT, has caused great concern among members of the international community. The pillars of the 1994 Framework Agreement between the United States and North Korea and the policy that led to the establishment of the Korean Peninsula Energy...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Mar 9, 2003

Rifts widen for U.S. ahead of war vote

WASHINGTON -- We wait and watch. Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein is cooperating. Or is he? He is destroying some missiles that United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix says are too powerful. But is that enough? U.S. President George W. Bush does not seem convinced. "Pure showmanship and more stalling,"...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2003

Japan's A-bomb goal still long way off in '45

The night the American B-29 warplanes came, Ryohei Nakane had been enriching uranium for Japan's "super bomb."
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 6, 2003

Do you want to live forever? We might do soon

The Anglo-Irish poet Jonathan Swift said "Every man desires to live long; but no man would be old."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 5, 2003

Silent diplomacy serves Japan poorly

A recent opinion poll in Japan shows that 68 percent of Japanese believe that the United States and Britain should not attack Iraq. Yet, in debates in the Diet, neither Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi nor Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi utter anything more than tepid responses such as: "Japan cannot...
BUSINESS
Mar 5, 2003

Shiokawa slams banks' capital plans

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa criticized the nation's top banks Tuesday for planning to increase their capital through third-party stock allocations.

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