Search - 2000

 
 
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
Jan 1, 2002

Japan hopes 'people exchanges' will improve ties

This year, Japan cohosts the World Cup soccer finals with South Korea and marks the 30th anniversary of normalizing diplomatic ties with China. In 2001, however, bilateral relations were overshadowed by issues related to Japan's wartime past. This is the first article in an occasional series that will...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2002

Estrada the 'Most Abject,' Koizumi-Putin the 'Boldest'

HONG KONG -- The prize for the "Most Abject Politician of the Year" clearly goes to former Philippine President Joseph Estrada. His hang-dog expression, as numerous court cases went against him in his protracted legal battle against corruption charges, vividly illustrated the fall of the former matinee...
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2002

Pyongyang leader's son often sneaked into Japan

The man believed to be Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, has been found to have entered the country more times than initially suspected, sources close to the case said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2002

New national goal for Japan

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and subsequent developments have brought home to Japan a critical challenge it faces in the post-Cold War world: Establishing a new national goal and designing a national strategy geared to international cooperation.
JAPAN / ANCIENT TRADITIONS
Jan 1, 2002

Western eyes blind to spirituality in Japan

First of two parts
EDITORIALS
Dec 31, 2001

A year of fear and confusion

The war in Afghanistan is just about over. Contrary to most expectations, the U.S.-led coalition avoided the traps that had ensnared previous enemies of governments in Kabul. Its bombing campaign succeeded in exterminating a loathsome regime and the terrorists it harbored. Yet despite that impressive...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2001

Russia's free press loses another battle

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- In July 2000, I joined Russian reporter Grigory Pasko and two carloads of fellow journalists in a visit to Irina Grebneva, a newspaper editor who had been jailed for five days in the Pacific port of Vladivostok, Russia. Her crime was making the governor look stupid and corrupt by...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 30, 2001

Rescuing Orientalism from the School of Said

FIGURING THE EAST: Segalen, Malraux, Duras and Barthes, by Marie-Paule Ha. Albany: State University of New York, 2000, 160 pp., $17.95 (paper) In its consideration of the East, the West has been accused of Orientalism, a theory developed by Edward Said to explain the way the West "constructs" the Orient...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Dec 30, 2001

Party on, to the break of the new dawn

I was going to make just one recommendation for New Year's Eve -- the countdown party at Milk, a freestyle club in Ebisu. I have had a couple of great New Year's Eves there -- including one special moment making mochi (traditional rice cakes) as the first tendrils of dawn crept across the sky in the...
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 30, 2001

Cerezo, S-Pulse reach cup final

SAITAMA -- Cerezo Osaka, relegated to Division Two next season, advanced to the final of the Emperor's Cup after beating the Urawa Reds 1-0 thanks to midfielder Michiharu Sugimoto's second-half goal on Saturday at Saitama Stadium 2002.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 30, 2001

Reasons to celebrate good-tasting bargains

Recent Vineland columns have focused on distinctive, luxury wines for holiday gift-giving and festive dinners. For our last column in 2001, we pursued an elusive category -- delicious bargain party bottles. It's a tantalizing quest. Few achievements are more gratifying to a wine lover than discovering...
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Ishikawa files for insolvency proceedings

Ishikawa Bank on Friday filed for insolvency proceedings with the Financial Services Agency under the Deposit Insurance Law after its efforts to rehabilitate itself failed.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Key CPI falls by record 1.2%

Key consumer prices in Tokyo fell a record 1.2 percent in 2001 from the year before, with deflation continuing into a third consecutive year for the first time since the war, the government said Friday in a preliminary report.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Sony in talks with Fujitsu over Nifty

Sony Corp. is negotiating with Fujitsu Ltd. to acquire Internet service provider Nifty Corp., a Fujitsu subsidiary, industry sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

TV comedian indicted over drug use

Prosecutors on Friday indicted TV comedian Masashi Tashiro on a charge of using stimulant drugs.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Japanese opt for domestic travel

Akihiro is planning to spend some of his New Year's holiday at a hot spring resort.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 28, 2001

Avispa names Imai as new boss

Avispa Fukuoka, which has been relegated to Division Two next season, has named Philippine coach Masataka Imai as new manager, the J. League club said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2001

Auto output continues downhill ride

Auto production skidded 5.1 percent in November from a year earlier to 820,841 vehicles, falling for the third consecutive month, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2001

Long margin positions tumble below 1 trillion yen

The balance of long margin positions fell below 1 trillion yen for the first time in nearly three years last week, reflecting a wholesale collapse in investor confidence.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Antismoking steps seen failing to deter youths

Twenty-six percent of graduating high school males smoke every day, indicating that restrictions placed on vending machines and minors in 1996 are failing to deter youth from smoking, according to a health ministry poll.
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2001

WTO panel decides to hear global steel dispute in February

A major steel-trade row that has sharply pitted the United States against Japan, the European Union and nine other steel exporters is entering a new phase amid the global economic slowdown.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Pair of multiple killers are executed

Two death-row inmates were hanged Thursday morning, the first executions in 13 months, according to information that reached their acquaintances.
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2001

Reduce the vote-value disparity

One long-standing problem in the nation's Lower House electoral system is that the "representative value" of a vote varies considerably between rural and urban districts. In a move to reduce the disparity, a government advisory council last week submitted a report to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi...
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2001

Japan, South Korea to bury the hatchet for year of World Cup Soccer Finals

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung will exchange televised messages on New Year's Day, kicking off a series of Japan-South Korea exchange projects, a Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2001

Argentina debt default to hit Japanese investors

Japanese investors are set to suffer losses on part of the 191.5 billion yen worth of yen-denominated "samurai" bonds issued by the Argentine government due to its declaration of a default on its $132 billion debt, according to industry officials.
BUSINESS
Dec 26, 2001

Regional banks post combined pretax loss

Second-tier regional banks incurred their first combined pretax loss in three years in the April-September first half of fiscal 2001, according to a banking association report.

Longform

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