Search - 2002

 
 
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2002

Auto lobby urges pressure on Hanoi

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association urged the government Thursday to press Vietnam to lift its restrictions on imports of motorcycle parts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / BABY BUST
Sep 19, 2002

Birthrate suffers as women face unattractive choices

Mayumi Shinde, 40, has worked for seven years as a system engineer at a Tokyo firm, at one stage attaining a job capability assessment of S -- one special level higher than A, the normal top ranking.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2002

Temp work seen striking happy medium

According to Shinya Sato, an executive director at Japan Staffing Services Association, the CIETT meeting held in Tokyo in April provided momentum to help spur the Japanese temp industry toward further deregulation.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Sep 17, 2002

Reds fans need to be patient

In a post-match press conference at the Sept. 8 J. League game between the Urawa Reds and Vegalta Sendai at Saitama Stadium 2002, a seemingly irritated local reporter voiced an opinion to Reds manager Hans Ooft.
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2002

Make way for manga

A merican popular culture: We hear that phrase and immediately think of a juggernaut, a one-way tide rolling round the globe bearing its fatally attractive, tradition-squelching icons. It used to be John Wayne and jazz and Audrey Hepburn and Mickey Mouse. Then came McDonald's and Snoopy. More recently...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Sep 15, 2002

Pro Music Nipponia gives new life to contemporary hogaku

For the past 40 years, Pro Musica Nipponia has taken an active role in the contemporary hogaku music scene by commissioning and performing new works for traditional instruments. The highly professional and talented ensemble has premiered dozens of works by both Japanese and foreign composers and has...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 15, 2002

Life in the fast lane

STANDARD DEVIATIONS: Growing Up and Coming Down in the New Asia, by Karl Taro Greenfeld. New York: Villard, 2002, 272 pp., $23.95 (cloth) The new Orientalist finds adventure in the "wicked sorcery in Asia," discovers "sexual magic in the fleshpots where girls and boys stand behind glass partitions with...
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2002

Writer slams Iraq attack via petition

OSAKA -- Writer Makoto Oda is waging a petition drive, seeking people who support his opposition to the threatened U.S. attack on Iraq and his call for the Japanese government to act as an intermediary to prevent a war.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2002

Management-labor cooperation urged

The heads of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) and the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) agreed Thursday that management and labor need to cooperate in areas such as pensions and medical care, Rengo officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2002

U.S. plants tree as symbol of appreciation

Nancy Kassebaum Baker, wife of U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker, thanked the Japanese people Wednesday for their support following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
BUSINESS
Sep 12, 2002

Last quarter's GDP revised up to 0.6%

The government said Wednesday that the nation's economy grew a real 0.6 percent in the April-June quarter, marking an upward revision from an earlier estimate of 0.5 percent growth.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Sep 12, 2002

Super Monkey's on my back

You'll have to excuse me if this week's column is a bit short. Sega has just released "Super Monkey Ball 2" (SMB2) and I am having a hard time tearing myself away from the television.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Sep 11, 2002

Japan and Asia: facing the troubled past is a prerequisite to forging a better future

In two previous columns I quoted from one of the writers whom I most greatly admired, referring to him as the "late Shigeto Tsuru." It has been drawn to my attention that I was misinformed, as Mr. Tsuru, I am embarassed but really delighted to report, is alive and well. I offer my most sincere apologies...
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2002

Health minister warns of higher welfare costs

Welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Tuesday that the nation's workforce will have to shoulder higher welfare costs in light of Japan's declining birthrate and its graying society, while the aged will also need to share these burdens.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2002

Ministry still mystified by BSE outbreak

The source of the mad cow disease outbreak that has thus far claimed five animals remains a mystery and must be determined through further investigation, the farm ministry said Tuesday in a report that sums up its policy responses since the discovery of the first case last September.
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 10, 2002

Reds leave it late to sneak past Sendai

SAITAMA -- Substitute forward Yuichiro Nagai struck the winning goal in the 113th minute, giving the Urawa Reds a 1-0 extra-time win over Vegalta Sendai on Sunday afternoon at Saitama Stadium 2002.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2002

Space only the first frontier for H-IIA

The government and industry alike are pinning their hopes on the successful launch of the third H-IIA rocket, due to be sent into space Tuesday on its first full-scale operational mission.
BUSINESS
Sep 10, 2002

View of machinery orders upgraded for third month

The government upgraded its view of domestic machinery orders for the third consecutive month on Monday, now that orders have risen for four consecutive months.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 8, 2002

Seagulls take X League opener

Wide receiver Nobutaka Horie scored on a 68-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Daisuke Takahashi in the second quarter as the Seagulls beat the Onward Skylarks 19-3 Friday at the Tokyo Dome in the X League's 2002 season opener.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 8, 2002

Judicial biases shape the American way

NEW YORK -- The first time I knew that Japan's Supreme Court was not really supreme but just another political arm of the state was when it ruled on the Sunagawa Incident. In December 1959, it reversed the Tokyo District Court's ruling that the Japan-U.S. Mutual Security Treaty was unconstitutional....
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 8, 2002

The 21st-century Yujiro Ishihara's brother

Several years ago, the production company that used to be headed by the late heartthrob Yujiro Ishihara staged a contest to find the "Yujiro Ishihara of the 21st Century." Among the aspiring young actors who entered the contest was Kotaro Koizumi, whose politician father was not yet prime minister. Kotaro...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Sep 7, 2002

Inax Gallery enables mundane items to assume new, artistic dimensions

Free your mind and take a look around. Inax Gallery reminds visitors that everything that exists in this world -- even something that would be unlikely to ordinarily attract attention -- has an interesting story to tell.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 7, 2002

Barnes bowls into Japan Cup lead

Chris Barnes, a three-time PBA champion, averaged 246.62 points Thursday to take the lead in the opening round of the 20-million yen Japan Cup bowling tournament.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2002

Sky PerfecTV scores Serie A rights

Sky Perfect Communications Inc., operator of digital satellite broadcaster Sky PerfecTV, said Friday it has obtained exclusive rights to broadcast Italian Serie A soccer league games.
EDITORIALS
Sep 6, 2002

A blip on the economic screen?

Japan's latest GDP figures appear to support the government's view in last month's economic report that "signs of recovery are discernible in some sectors." In the April-June quarter, total output of goods and services increased 0.5 percent from the previous quarter, or 1.9 percent annually. It is the...
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 6, 2002

Zico wants full squad for friendly

Europe-based Japanese players will get a call-up to play Jamaica in an international friendly next month, Zico's debut match as Japan coach, the Brazilian coach said Wednesday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2002

Toyota top income earner for third consecutive year

Toyota Motor Corp. remained Japan's top taxable income earner in fiscal 2001, dominating the nation's top 50 businesses for the third year in a row, according to a list released Thursday by the National Tax Agency.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Sep 6, 2002

Demographic shift prompts toy makers to reach out to adults

Faced with an ever declining number of children, Japan's toy makers have started courting their parents, alluring them with frothy beer dispensers and matchbox luxury sedans.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building