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COMMUNITY
Jun 30, 2001

The Three Sisters Inn: owned by three sisters

It is not as if Kikue, Sadako and Terumi Yamada have not been interviewed before. Not so long ago it was for The New York Times, which really put them on the map.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2001

Summit eyed as launchpad for fresh ties

With Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's first summit with U.S. President George W. Bush to be held Saturday outside Washington D.C., Japan hopes to set in motion full-scale efforts to build fresh ties under the new U.S. administration.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2001

Musharraf feathers military's power nest

NEW DELHI -- Everybody had expected Pakistan's chief executive, Pervez Musharraf, to appoint himself president. When that happened on June 20, most of the world -- barring the United States, which made a big noise -- accepted Musharraf's new title without batting an eyelid.
COMMENTARY
Jun 28, 2001

The right to collective defense

WASHINGTON -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is scheduled to meet U.S. President George W. Bush June 30 at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. Most likely Koizumi will receive an enthusiastic welcome amid expectations that Japan will change.
Events
Jun 26, 2001

Recession hits Osaka-based yakuza

OSAKA — The number of Osaka-based gangsters formally affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi has fallen to almost half what it was a decade ago. But this may not necessarily be good news for law enforcement officials.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2001

Japan wants to talk over trade rift with China

Japan plans to send a government mission to China to urge Beijing to retract its decision to impose special 100 percent tariffs on imports of Japanese automobiles, mobile phones and air conditioners, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2001

Musharraf confronts the Kashmir folly

NEW DELHI -- Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's invitation to Pakistan's military ruler and now president, Pervez Musharraf, for talks -- after refusing to do so for two years -- is the best one could have hoped for in the volatile, nuclear-charged subcontinent.
COMMENTARY
Jun 19, 2001

Three challenges for Koizumi

Approximately 50 days have passed since the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was sworn in. Various opinion surveys have shown that its public approval ratings have climbed to nearly 90 percent from around 80 percent at the time of its birth, defying the usual pattern of approval rates declining...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jun 19, 2001

Putin plays the smile game

The first summit of U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin was shaped by an indigenous American principle, "Keep smiling." Bush said he had looked the man in the eye and found him to be "very straightforward and trustworthy." Putin said he was looking forward to "a constructive...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2001

A welcome bid for peace in South Asia

ISLAMABAD -- After months of blunt statements exchanged by leaders of India and Pakistan, South Asia's two nuclear rivals, a new peace process is under way in a part of the world described by some observers as the next "nuclear flash point."
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Japan won't sign U.S.-less Kyoto: Tanaka

Japan will not ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to curb global warming if the United States stays out of it, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2001

Hun Sen asks Koizumi to avoid cutting ODA

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen asked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday not to cut Japan's official development assistance to Cambodia when Tokyo reviews aid as part of its fiscal reforms, a Japanese official said.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 13, 2001

Somewhere over the DMZ

JSA Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Park Chan Wook Running time: 110 minutes Language: Korean Now showing at Hibiya Scala-za and other theaters Two types of Korean movies used to be released in Japan. One was the art film, usually something dark, raw and intense. The other was the erotic film, usually...
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2001

Cloudy outlook for Kim's Sunshine Policy

SEOUL -- One year after the historic Pyongyang summit, euphoria has disappeared on both sides of the 38th Parallel. Following the news of the past weeks, one gets the impression that with North-South relations having returned once more to a climate of confrontation and accusation, the two Koreas are...
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2001

Reporters are asked for a little common courtesy

OSAKA — Anger on the part of the local community toward the way the media reported on the slaying of eight children at Osaka Kyoiku University Ikeda Elementary School and on the aftermath prompted mental care experts Sunday to demand an end to what they call psychologically damaging coverage.
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2001

Labour wins a mandate to carry on

The crushing victory of Britain's Labour Party in Thursday's general elections presents Prime Minister Tony Blair with his greatest challenge. His progress since becoming party leader almost a decade ago has been remarkably smooth, and his remodeled party now enjoys a dominance in British politics equivalent...
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2001

Restarting Korean peace talks

Stop blowing up the balloons. Put away the ribbons and confetti. There is unlikely to be any major celebrations as we mark the first anniversary of the historic June 13-15, 2000 summit meeting in Pyongyang between South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korean chairman Kim Jong Il.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2001

Cambodia set to get aid package

An international conference to be held in Tokyo on Tuesday and Wednesday is likely to agree to provide Cambodia with some $500 million (about 60.22 billion yen) in aid, sources close to the meeting said Friday.
COMMUNITY / THE PARENT TRIP
Jun 8, 2001

Trips, tripwires of expat parenthood

Life with Corey started long before we even knew what his name was to be. On a summer day in 1999, we were shown the first confirmatory ultrasound after pregnancy was suspected -- he was the size of a pea, if that. From there, we watched him progress through the months in a series of ever-more pronounced...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 7, 2001

Whose theory was it, anyway?

In 1835, Charles Darwin became the first of a long line of scientists to make a study of the Galapagos Islands. Now, on entering the research station there that bears his name, visitors come face to face with a bronze of the Englishman as a very much older and far more famous man than he was when he...
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

Koizumi, Fox agree to study trade pact

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and visiting Mexican President Vicente Fox agreed Tuesday to set up a study group to examine the possibility of a free-trade agreement between the two countries.
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2001

Respects due to those who died for Japan

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has repeatedly said he will go to Yasukuni Shrine to worship on Aug. 15. He will be going, he says, to pay his respects to the spirits of those who have given their lives for their country. Present-day Japan exists thanks to the sacrifices of these people, Koizumi says,...
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2001

Tokyo, Seoul strive to revive relations before World Cup

In the leadup to the 2002 World Cup soccer finals, Japan and South Korea are moving behind the scenes to prevent the sizzling political imbroglio over a right-leaning Japanese history textbook from spilling over into the cultural field.
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2001

NATO's Budapest love fest

It has been a good week for NATO. There was more common ground than disagreement at meetings between member foreign ministers in Budapest and at the five-day NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which convened in Vilnius, Lithuania. There were even tangible accomplishments on such thorny subjects as Turkey and...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2001

Chances for new trade round grow dim

GENEVA -- With only a few months left before the go or no-go decision has to be made, it is looking less and less likely that a new round of international trade negotiations will be launched when world-trade ministers meet in November in Doha, Qatar.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2001

Smokers' deadly paradise

For Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Hal Boyle, it wasn't too difficult to tell a man from a woman. "If it always offers you a cigar, it's a man," he quipped. "If it always is asking for a cigarette, then waits for a light, it's a woman."

Longform

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