Search - world

 
 
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 1, 2003

Would you send a poor fly to the U.S.?

I walked into the dentist office, and sitting at the table was "Dude." Dude is a 22-year-old dental technician who wears black concert T-shirts under his lab coat. He also wears an earring and a black leather bracelet with silver studs. I know Dude because he dropped out of my "Dental English" class...
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Mizuho told to boost loans to small firms

The Financial Services Agency on Friday ordered Mizuho Holdings Inc., the world's largest banking group in terms of assets, to increase loans to smaller companies and submit guidelines for doing so by the end of this month.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 1, 2003

Sakae Ishikawa

"Since my work is theoretical, I like to think I am part of the academic world," Sakae Ishikawa said. "Whether I can call myself a scholar or not is a delicate question."
EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2003

Thorough inspection must come first

The U.N. search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has turned up no conclusive evidence that it is developing or possessing these deadly arms. But the inspectors have also reported to the U.N. Security Council that Baghdad has given them only limited cooperation during the past two months and that...
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2003

Standing by policies remains elusive ideal

It was a humiliating blow for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2003

Koizumi set for Roh's inauguration

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday he plans to visit South Korea on Feb. 25 to attend the inauguration of South Korean President-elect Roh Moo Hyun and hold talks with the new president on North Korea and other issues.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2003

Newspapers and plays feature in report on polishing Japanese

A panel of experts advising the education minister on use of Japanese has issued an interim report on how to improve command of the language among elementary and junior high school students.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2003

Shinsei experience: lattes in the lobby, free ATM transactions

A typical Japanese bank looks a bit like the dowdy, paper-shuffling office of a shoddily run company. There are plenty of bowing clerks. But don't count on conveniences like 24-hour ATMs.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2003

Resist tariff cuts: farm body

The leader of a farming body urged Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday to resist anticipated calls from other World Trade Organization members for large agricultural tariff cuts during a ministerial WTO meeting next month in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2003

More of the same in Israel

The Likud Party of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won a crushing victory in Israel's general election held earlier this week. Although the scale of the win raised some eyebrows, Likud's strong showing was expected: The chief opposition, the left-leaning Labor Party, has been unable to generate much enthusiasm...
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2003

Sony posts record quarterly sales

Sony Corp. said Wednesday its group sales and net profit for the October-December period each hit record quarterly highs, bolstered by strong performance in its film, electronics and game businesses.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jan 30, 2003

Insects simply a breath apart

Insects are the most numerous, diverse and successful group of animals in the history of the planet. They are found in almost every environment, and range from the minute (less than a millimeter long for the feather-winged beetle) to the large (more than 15 cm for the South American longhorn beetle)....
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2003

Yasukuni visit draws more flak

OSAKA -- About 120 people in Taiwan will file a lawsuit in mid-February against the Japanese government and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi over his repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine, a lawyer involved in the case said Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 29, 2003

Pierce bundled out in first round

Sixth-seeded Silvia Farina Elia of Italy overpowered France's Mary Pierce on Tuesday in the first round of the $1.3 million Toray Pan Pacific tennis tournament.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

Oshima says EU farm stance 'deserves discussion'

A European Union proposal on farm trade liberalization talks "deserves discussion," farm minister Tadamori Oshima said Tuesday, suggesting Japan's willingness to work in concert with the EU.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 29, 2003

The Branford Marsalis Quartet

Saxophonist Branford Marsalis has always been more adventurous than his younger brother, the better-known trumpeter Wynton. He has jumped outside jazz tradition to back up Sting on his world tours, do a stint as leader of the "Tonight Show's" house band, and dabble with hip-hop and funk in his own band...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 29, 2003

Kimya Dawson: "I'm Sorry That Sometimes I'm Mean"

The biggest star to emerge from New York's antifolk scene is Beck Hansen, but before King Loser went legit he was more of a hanger-on than a guiding light. The Moldy Peaches -- 30-year-old Kimya Dawson and 21-year-old Adam Green -- embody the antifolkies' art-is-fun credo more convincingly, and having...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 29, 2003

"Synkretizm: A Mountain Thinking the River Fire."

Voodoo, with its mix of West African mysticism and French Catholicism, plays a vital role in the lives of Haiti's rural poor, but it gets a bad rap elsewhere. For the faithful, the communion of saints and shamans offers even the most piteous peasant his own sliver of paradise. But to outsiders, voodoo...
COMMENTARY
Jan 28, 2003

Court sends LDP a message

Two recent moves by judiciary and law-enforcement authorities are a grave warning against the Liberal Democratic Party's pork-barrel politics. One is the Supreme Court rejection of an appeal by former Construction Minister Kishiro Nakamura against a Tokyo High Court ruling that found him guilty of taking...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2003

Hayami firm against inflation target

Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Monday reiterated his opposition to an inflation target.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Jan 28, 2003

Habit vs. mechanics: Going from good to great can necessitate a 'Tiger Woods' overhaul

Recently an executive returned from a trip with a story about the salesman he visited. Now in his late 50s, the fellow had been a proven performer since early in his career, hitting his numbers and accumulating bonuses at a prodigious clip. His sales approach was direct to the point of being confrontational,...
COMMENTARY
Jan 27, 2003

The war dead deserve better

I was stunned by news reports that Junichiro Koizumi recently made his third visit as prime minister to Yasukuni Shrine. After his two previous visits drew strong protests from China and South Korea, and after he struggled to justify the visits, officials in both countries must be amazed and angered....
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2003

Trend of rising interest rates no cause for optimism in U.S.

Long-term interest rates are on an upward trend in the United States. The yield on 10-year U.S. government bonds, which stood around 3.8 percent in December, has climbed to around 4 percent. But has the U.S. economy been strong enough to trigger a rise in interest rates?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2003

U.S. pursuit of a second ASEAN track

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Analysts tend to classify U.S. policies toward Asia -- and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in particular -- according to two irreconcilable stereotypes: the "unchangeable pattern," in which administrations come and go while fundamental American perceptions remain the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Watery worlds on show without a snorkel

Although the Kaiyukan Aquarium is located right on Osaka Bay, it is truly a case of "water, water everywhere, ne'er any drop to drink" for the 39,000 fish and 580 species of other sea creatures kept there in 15 large tanks.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 26, 2003

Cleaning up Japan is one tall order

Thanks to improved nutrition, the height of the average Japanese person has increased considerably since World War II. Nevertheless, many Japanese, especially those over a certain age, despair over what they believe is their short stature.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Japan, U.S. together on Pyongyang

Japan and the U.S. agreed Friday that they and South Korea should consult closely with each other in dealing with the standoff over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons if and when the United Nations Security Council takes it up.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Alien tick plague threatening nation's beetle population

When Koichi Goka heard rumors about the mysterious deaths three years ago, he started snooping around. What he found has put government officials on alert against a new plague, one that causes the limbs of its victims to rot and fall off.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes