Search - agree

 
 
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Aug 18, 2002

Putin faces oil slick on Iraq

MOSCOW -- To strike or not to strike seems to be the question in Washington these days. A part of the "axis of evil," terrorist-lair Iraq, an old foe, is currently under the scrutiny of U.S. President George W. Bush's administration. While military planners weigh various strategic options for crushing...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 18, 2002

There's two sides to every story . . .

Despite his ubiquity in the media, the comedian Beat Takeshi is never asked to appear on NHK's sogo (general) channel, which is why his one-minute appearance last New Year's Eve on NHK's annual song contest received a lot of media attention. Considering that other popular comedians are also conspicuously...
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE OKINAWA FACTOR
Aug 15, 2002

Postwar legacy holds key to identity of Okinawans

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- Akira Hamamatsu, 75, recalls Emperor Hirohito's surrender broadcast on Aug. 15, 1945, as little more than a garbled voice mixed with static.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 11, 2002

Book industry cries murder

Although everyone agrees that the Japanese publishing industry is in trouble, there is less consensus as to the causes. Book and magazine sales have been declining for five years and book revenues for last year were at roughly the same level as a decade earlier; indeed, some say that if it were not for...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 10, 2002

All about God, the gold sweat shirt guy

When I was a child, I believed God was a bald guy in a gold cotton sweat shirt with the letter "G," for God, on it. I still believe this. Only now, his sweat shirt is 50 percent polyester and 50 percent cotton, preshrunk. The gold color has faded and the "G" is wearing off , peeling in little specks...
COMMENTARY
Aug 8, 2002

Kim's last chance to shine?

MANILA -- Politically, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's time is running out, and the alleged corruptive practices of his sons have accelerated the erosion of his authority tremendously. The recent thaw in inter-Korean relations may well be Kim's last chance to improve his tarnished image.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 8, 2002

UNEP envoy strikes the right eco-chord

Tokiko Kato has been popular in Japan for decades as a singer and songwriter who is passionate about people and the planet. Two years ago, when the Environment Ministry asked her to act as a Special Envoy to the United Nations Environment Program it was a natural fit. Since then she has established herself...
EDITORIALS
Aug 6, 2002

ARF comes back to life

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has signed up in the war against terrorism. That is the key development from the annual meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF, Asia's premier security institution, which convened last week in Brunei. The U.S.-ASEAN agreement was the most notable outcome...
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2002

Yokohama neighborhood seeks to put lid on condos

Is it possible for people to agree on what beauty is? As far as landscapes are concerned, the answer appears to be no.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2002

New and improved Pops!

How can anyone market one of the world's great orchestras in an era when orchestral music is growing ever less essential to the cultural fabric and the recording industry itself is ailing?
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2002

Attack-response law dead in the water?

When the government submitted a set of emergency-response bills to the Diet in April, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was breaking a decades-long taboo under the war-renouncing Constitution.
COMMUNITY
Jul 28, 2002

Peoples of the north surviving against the odds

The Sea of Okhotsk region is one of the most inhospitable areas of the world for human habitation, yet its indigenous peoples produced cultures of marvelous richness and vibrancy.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Jul 23, 2002

Managing growth differs from growing one's firm

The news in business has been full of falling stars lately. "Is it just me," a friend asked the other day, "or does it seem as if half of the CEO supernovas from two years ago have crashed and burned?" In light of the economic turmoil I could understand how he had gotten this impression, but could not...
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2002

Panel suggests 20% of ambassadors be nonministry staff

An advisory panel on Foreign Ministry reform on Monday called for appointing 20 percent of ambassadors from outside the ministry within three years to increase competition for overseas postings.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

Suzuki linked to another 1 million yen bribe

Lower House member Muneo Suzuki, indicted in a bribery scandal involving a lumber company, also accepted at least 1 million yen in unreported money from a construction firm in Hokkaido in the late 1990s as reward for favors in a public works project, informed sources said Saturday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 21, 2002

Things you can't tell just by looking at her

I have a friend who is a man of only one conviction.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 21, 2002

Flawed assumptions that courted disaster

PEACE, POWER AND RESISTANCE IN CAMBODIA: Global Governance and the Failure of InternationalConflict Resolution, by Pierre P. Lizee. Macmillan/St. Martin's Press, 2000, 206 pp. (cloth) According to the famous dictum, war is the continuation of politics through other means. Is the reverse true? Is politics...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 21, 2002

The Cro pipes off on juiced players, bad-karma Bud

Just wind him up and watch him go! Warren Cromartie, who thrilled Yomiuri Giants fans from 1984-1990 not only with his stellar play but also with his banzai-inducing antics in the outfield, was back in Japan recently over the All-Star break.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2002

In vitro technique rids sperm of HIV, resulting in healthy babies and moms

Japanese doctors have developed an in vitro fertilization technique that could allow the wives of HIV-infected husbands to give birth to healthy babies.
COMMENTARY
Jul 17, 2002

Washington sends Pyongyang a message

HONOLULU -- Will the United States and North Korea ever sit down and talk? In all probability, yes. But the odds remain strong that the dialogue, when and if it happens, will largely remain a dialogue of the deaf.
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2002

DBJ looks to help firms restructure

The Development Bank of Japan said Tuesday it has launched a special lending mechanism to help midsize companies implement drastic operational reforms as part of the government's policy to reinvigorate the economy.
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2002

DoCoMo eyes 3G tieups with Asian firms

The nation's leading mobile phone operator, NTT DoCoMo Inc., may forge technical and other ties with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. and South Korea's KT Freetel in the third-generation mobile phone sector.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2002

Howard's hesitation on ICC draws fire

SYDNEY -- A split in the Howard Cabinet ranks over whether to join the United States in refusing to support an International Criminal Court is the most serious threat yet to the dream run so far enjoyed by the Canberra government.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2002

Koizumi facing pressure over ODA

To go or not to go -- that may be the question for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jul 7, 2002

And the beat goes on

After locking myself in the garage for ages, banging my head against the wall and screaming the merits of the latest Japanese band that sounds remotely like Stooges brawling with MC5 in a wind tunnel, it seems logical to kind of get away from it all -- open that door, stroll outside for some fresh air,...

Longform

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