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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2001

Dismal outlook for Sri Lanka's president

The political crisis is Sri Lanka appears to be worsening, and in the latest government's call for a ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- fighting a long and bloody battle for the independence of the island's minority Tamil-speaking population -- one can sense a state of near panic,...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

LPD group rises against Koizumi reforms

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi got a harsh dose of reality Friday when a group of 55 lawmakers in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party formed a group opposing his reform programs.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 17, 2001

BayStars taken over by NBS

The heads of Japan's 12 professional baseball clubs on Thursday approved a move that will make Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. the top shareholder of the Yokohama BayStars Baseball Club Inc.
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2001

Tanaka deserves much better

Japanese politics were never famous for their logic. But the fuss surrounding Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka plumbs new depths.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Nov 15, 2001

Travel the world in a tree-lover's heaven

When I arrived at Los Angeles airport in June, my friend Joan Juenemann was there to meet me. My stay in California was to be only three days, but Joan had kindly prepared an itinerary taking in one garden with its own unique character each day.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2001

State, doctors, patients wrangle over health bill

As Japan's population ages at an unprecedented pace and the economy fails to generate high growth, the question of who should shoulder the nation's rising health costs is becoming a bone of contention.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2001

China to be named new WTO member

DOHA -- In a move planned for maximum publicity and a respite from divisive negotiations, China was set to be approved as a member of the World Trade Organization on Saturday.
COMMUNITY
Nov 11, 2001

Japan's trepanning history is full of holes

In his 1967 study, "Prehistoric and Early History of Trepanation," Professor F.P. Lisowski of the University of Tasmania, Australia, cites the work of two anthropologists who suggested that trepanation might have been practiced in Japan.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2001

Calls for Cabinet shakeup dog Koizumi

Speculation that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will reshuffle his Cabinet sometime after the current Diet session ends Dec. 7 has not ebbed, despite his repeated denials.
COMMENTARY
Nov 10, 2001

At last, Mori solution gets reconsidered

The events of Sept. 11 have at least done some good. To bolster its war on "terrorism," the United States seems willing finally to put an end to its highly contrived legacy of Cold War, anti-Beijing policies. Meanwhile, Japan may be ready to end its highly contrived, 50-year Cold War dispute with Moscow...
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2001

Calls for Cabinet shakeup dog Koizumi

Speculation that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will reshuffle his Cabinet sometime after the current Diet session ends Dec. 7 has not ebbed, despite his repeated denials.
EDITORIALS
Nov 9, 2001

ASEAN dares to dream

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has once again demonstrated its willingness to dream. This year's summit meeting, held this week in Brunei, ended with a call to conclude a free-trade area with China. It is a seductive vision, but it is hard to envision the project's success: ASEAN is already...
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2001

Sharp, Taiwan firm agree on tieup

OSAKA -- Sharp Corp. said Thursday it has agreed with Taiwanese microchip maker Winbond Electronics Corp. to jointly develop next-generation flash memory chips in a deal aimed at slashing development costs.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2001

For many Arab regimes, the 'war on terror' begins at home

BEIRUT -- The United States has long divided Arab regimes into two broad categories: the friendly, pro-Western "moderate" ones and the less friendly, "radical" ones. Since Sept. 11, two key "moderates' -- Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- have undergone a drastic change of status in American eyes. Only arch-villain...
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2001

Between the real and the surreal

A whiff of the absurd was in the air at the closing ceremony of the 14th Tokyo International Film Festival, held Sunday at Orchard Hall in Shibuya. It wasn't necessarily the presenters' hairdos and breathless patter, nor the new formal dress code imposed on the attending filmmakers. It wasn't even the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 4, 2001

Isabella Bird's letters from Japan

UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN: An Account of Travels in the Interior Including Visits to the Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrines of Nikko, by Isabella L. Bird. New York: ICG Muse, 2000, 1,700 yen, 342 pp. (paper) "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" documents the journeys of Isabella Bird, an extraordinary woman for...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2001

Delegates shape Kyoto Protocol's future

Conventional wisdom has it that the devil is in the details. It is exactly devilish details that are waiting for climate-change negotiators trying to put the finishing touches on the Kyoto climate accord at negotiations in Marrakesh, Morocco that will run until Nov. 9.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2001

Tanaka faces fresh hailstorm

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka attracted another barrage of criticism from across the political spectrum Friday after she pushed back a meeting with a foreign dignitary by 40 minutes the night before.
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2001

Removing blinkers on trade

LONDON -- The tragic events of Sept. 11 have exacerbated the economic position of every country. New stimulus measures have been instituted in the United States and interest rates have been cut elsewhere. But these are not enough to put growth back on track. An expansion in world trade would bring major...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 31, 2001

Pulp: 'We Love Life'

Surely Pulp vocalist Jarvis Cocker hasn't turned into a hippie? Note the title of the new album, "We Love Life." Note that it's produced by '60s maverick Scott Walker. And, above all, note that it's all about . . . nature. A Pulp album not about sex? Well, there's bits of sex in it, of course, but basically...
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2001

Single mothers left out in financial cold

Every morning, Yuko, a 33-year-old resident of Kanagawa Prefecture, gets up at 4 a.m., does the housework, prepares the evening meal, takes the three children to a nursery, and then goes to work.
COMMUNITY
Oct 30, 2001

Hosts with the most, ma'am, at your service

BANGKOK -- Bangkok may be the sex capital of the world for men, but what do Thai women do for kicks? It's Saturday night and I am in an underground parking garage in central Bangkok trying to find out. It is damp and somewhat desolate, but across the ill-lit tarmac I see a promising neon sign that reads...
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2001

DPJ to back expansion of PKO law

The Democratic Party of Japan will agree to lift the freeze on Japanese participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations and relax conditions for use of weapons by Self-Defense Forces personnel when the ruling coalition decides to review the PKO law, DPJ sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2001

Move to change electoral system decried

A move by the ruling bloc to partially change the House of Representatives electoral system has been widely criticized as a political compromise by the Liberal Democratic Party to please coalition partner New Komeito.
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2001

Coalition finalizes bill adding to RCC's power

The ruling coalition finalized a bill Wednesday to expand the government-funded Resolution and Collection Corp.'s powers to clean up banks' nonperforming loans.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Oct 25, 2001

Foreign equity funds' ways changing face of Japan Inc.

When hunting for a company to buy out, Kenji Ueda doesn't wait to be introduced. The Ripplewood Holdings LLC executive director makes his phone calls cold.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 25, 2001

Tales from the well-made crypt

Fifty years ago, archaeologists used an oil-rig drill to bore 53 meters below the surface of a mound in Gordion, Turkey, the ancient capital of Phrygia. Underneath the limestone-rich earth was the oldest intact wooden structure in the world, a 5 x 6 meter chamber dating from the eighth century B.C. The...
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 24, 2001

Matsuzaka picks up Sawamura Award

Seibu Lions star Daisuke Matsuzaka, who led the Pacific League with 15 wins and a personal-high 214 strikeouts this season, was named as the winner of the Sawamura Award as best starting pitcher in 2001 on Monday.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 24, 2001

Sophisticated tastes and surprising connections

Most of the action in the art world takes place out of the public eye in small, discreet galleries like the one run and owned by Noriko Togo, catering to the sophisticated tastes of a well-heeled clientele. Togo shows me around her gallery's latest exhibition, "Beyond the Visible World," which brings...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan