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Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2003

Farm minister admits ex-secretary pocketed cash

Scandal-plagued farm minister Tadamori Oshima admitted during a special Diet session Thursday that a former secretary pocketed a 6 million yen political donation in 2000.
EDITORIALS
Jan 20, 2003

Shenzhen's promise for China

Twenty-two years ago, the sleepy southern Chinese city of Shenzhen became the test case for China's future. It was designated a "special economic zone," a laboratory for economic reforms that would transform the nation. Today, Shenzhen is again in the forefront of change in China. This time, the city...
EDITORIALS
Nov 30, 2002

A new law to help the abductees

The government is set to provide financial and other support for Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea and their family members who return to Japan. On Thursday the Lower House unanimously passed a special bill for this purpose, which is due to clear the Upper House next week and take effect Jan....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 13, 2002

You're never too old to read a good self-help book

The best-seller list currently features three volumes on living and aging well: "Oite Koso Jinsei" (Nothing Is More Human Than Aging), by novelist/politician Shintaro Ishihara; "Unmei no Ashioto" (The Footsteps of Approaching Fate), by novelist Hiroyuki Itsuki; and "Ikikata Jozu" (How to Live Well),...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2002

Tibet: a bridge between India and China

MADRAS, India -- The issue of Tibet has plagued relations between India and China for well over four decades. When China annexed the small Himalayan nation in the 1950s, New Delhi found itself in a difficult position, given its special ties with the Tibetan people: India had an open border with Tibet,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 29, 2002

Questions over foreigners' phone deposit

Last April, telecoms giant NTT announced the largest annual corporate loss in Japanese history -- 2 trillion yen. More than a third of it came from its cell phone subsidiary, NTT Docomo.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2002

Asian Conference on Religion and Peace gets under way in Indonesia

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — The sixth assembly of the Asian Conference on Religion and Peace (ACRP) opens today at the Sheraton Mustika Hotel in Yogyakarata, the ancient capital and cultural center of Indonesia.
JAPAN
May 19, 2002

Japan rethinks plan for permanent U.N. Security Council seat

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Japan has been forced to review its diplomatic strategy for gaining a long-coveted permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002

Ishihara gambles on casinos

"Building a casino will create employment for 10,000 people."
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2002

Moving beyond the Kashmir problem

MADRAS, India -- Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's recent visit to Washington began with a plea for third-party intervention in Kashmir, which is claimed by both India and Pakistan.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Proposed bills detail Constitution review steps

A group of lawmakers considering review of the Constitution proposed two related bills Friday for submission to the ordinary Diet session to convene in January.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Proposed bills detail Constitution review steps

A group of lawmakers considering review of the Constitution proposed two related bills Friday for submission to the ordinary Diet session to convene in January.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

Economic panel floats budget limits

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy proposed Friday earmarking some 2 trillion yen for seven key areas under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform blueprint when the panel draws up budgetary ceilings for fiscal 2002 next week.
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2001

Evaluating Japan's defense needs

This year's defense white paper, released last week, specifically calls for both quantitative and qualitative improvement in SDF capabilities, including weapons replacement and modernization under the midterm defense-buildup program. More significantly, it points to a need to enact contingency legislation...
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2001

Uniting to wage war on AIDS

In a declaration issued by the United Nations General Assembly this week, the nations of the world have committed themselves to wage war in earnest against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As the U.N. member-states are pledged to reach targets by specific dates to drastically reduce the incidence of the disease...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 3, 2001

Past obscures Korea's nuclear future

SOLVING THE NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR PUZZLE, edited by David Albright and Kevin O'Neill. Washington, D.C.: ISIS Press, 2000, 333 pp., $29.95 (paper). We may never know how close the world came to war in 1994, but most accounts suggest the margin was slim. Suspicions about North Korea's nuclear program...
BUSINESS
May 23, 2001

State to repeat review of lengthy projects

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday the government will review long-term public works programs whose value are questionable due to lengthy completion times.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 20, 2001

Britain and America's struggle for Asia

INTELLIGENCE AND THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN: Britain, America and the Politics of Secret Service, by Richard J. Aldrich. Cambridge University Press, April 2000, 500 pp., 22.95 British pounds (cloth). "Foreign secretary. What do you say? I am lukewarm and therefore looking for guidance. On the whole I incline...
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2001

Bureaucratic reform date set

Basic reform principles for Japan's civil service and special public corporations will be drafted by June, Ryutaro Hashimoto, minister in charge of administrative reforms, said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

Japan needs open, clear agenda in an age of life science

The 21st century will be called the century of life science. In fact, an enormous amount of money has already been reinvested for research in this field on a global scale. A representative example is the human genome project, which is closing in on the complete deciphering of human DNA. In addition,...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2000

Common interest warms KMT-CCP ties

TAIPEI -- The reopening of the so-called three links -- trade, transportation and communication -- between Taiwan and China may still be some way off, but in the meantime it appears Taiwan's opposition Nationalist Party (KMT) has sidestepped the ban and forged its own direct link with China.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2000

Obstacles in the road to a toxic-free future

The international community comes together in Johannesburg, South Africa this week (Dec. 4-9) under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program to conclude the draft of an historic treaty to rid the world of its most toxic and harmful chemicals.
COMMENTARY
Dec 4, 2000

Fight the spread of small arms

The United Nations General Assembly has decided to hold the U.N. Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Aspects in New York in July 2001. The trade involves a broad range of hand-carried arms from automatic rifles to portable missiles.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Tokyo disaster drill features SDF in big way

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's annual major disaster-relief drill Sunday will feature the participation of Self-Defense Forces troops on an unprecedented scale -- 7,100 service members, 1,090 vehicles, 80 aircraft and five ships -- at 10 venues throughout the capital.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2000

Security role a two-edged sword but U.S. keeping lower profile

CHATAN, Okinawa Pref. -- It's an early Tuesday evening at Morgan's, a popular bar along Gate Two Road, and the mood is festive.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 1999

Illegal workers, families petition Justice Ministry

A group of foreign nationals who have remained in Japan past the expiration of their visas submitted a petition to the Justice Ministry on Monday, urging the ministry to issue special permission for them to stay in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 1999

'Advance Australia fair' takes on a whole new meaning

"There goes another shiftless Aboriginal," said the Pioneer bus driver to those of us taking the half-day tour of Alice Springs. "We give them cars, they drive them till they're out of petrol, then, bloody hell, they just leave the bloody things by the side of the road."

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past