Search - 2002

 
 
COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 2002

Chinese media's coverage of U.S. proves balanced

HONG KONG -- A study of the Chinese media, commissioned by a bipartisan American congressional panel -- the U.S. China Security Review Commission -- has found that the controlled Chinese press, in its reporting on the United States, appears to be relatively balanced overall.
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 23, 2002

Zico takes charge, offers his vision

Former Brazil international and Kashima technical director Zico formally signed on with the Japan Football Association on Monday to coach the national team.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 23, 2002

Organ fest comes to a close

The last performance of the International Organ Festival 2002 will be held at Kurashiki Sakuyo University's Seitokuden Hall in Okayama Prefecture on July 28.
BUSINESS
Jul 22, 2002

Education key to boosting Japan's competitiveness

The Switzerland-based Institute for Management and Development releases an annual report on the international competitiveness of major countries.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 21, 2002

A rollicking romp through ancient Edo

THE PILLOW BOOK OF LADY WISTERIA, by Laura Joh Rowland. St. Martin's Minotaur: New York, 2002,292 pp., $24.95 (cloth) While sports fans' attention is focused on Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle Mariners baseball fame, the exploits of Ichiro Sano, the Tokugawa shogunate's "Most Honorable Investigator of Events,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 21, 2002

The search for Mr. Purrfect

OF CATS AND KINGS, by Clare de Vries. Bloomsbury, 2002, 308 pp., $14.95 (cloth) In her first book, "I & Claudius," British writer Clare de Vries went on a tour of the United States with an unusual traveling companion: a dashing chocolate-brown Burmese cat called Claudius. De Vries and Claudius lived...
Japan Times
JAPAN / HONING ENGLISH
Jul 20, 2002

Japan experiments with Super English Schools

Principal Katsutoshi Wakabayashi gives a speech in English through the school's public address system at Gunma Prefectural Chuo High School every Wednesday morning, and all notices around the school are now in English.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Jul 20, 2002

'Father of Japanese soccer' voices opinions on World Cup

While Japan was battling to reach the Round of 16 during the recent World Cup, one man was closely watching over the cohost's performance as a coach -- and in some ways like a father.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2002

Rengo pushing for extra budget

Senior officials of the Japan Trade Union Confederation (Rengo) urged the government Thursday to formulate a supplementary budget for fiscal 2002 to help create jobs and fight deflation, according to Rengo officials.
COMMENTARY
Jul 18, 2002

Terrorism exacts a high price

HONOLULU -- The war on terrorism will be with us for a long time; honest observers admit the fight will never end. New technologies have permanently altered the balance of power between states and individuals. It is just too easy to commit terrorist acts. The rising number of incidents and the increasing...
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 17, 2002

Japan to face Argentina in first game under Zico

Japan will host Argentina on Nov. 20 at Tokyo's National Stadium in its first friendly after the World Cup, and its first under new coach Zico, the Japan Football Association said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jul 17, 2002

Really looking forward to old age

Rock stars can do things us regular folks can't. They can get good tables at crowded restaurants without a reservation. They can have promiscuous sex and take all sorts of exotic drugs and then be knighted by the Queen. And if they're Eikichi Yazawa, they can travel forward in time to visit their future...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2002

Japanese housewife guide to investment

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Earlier this year Japanese and U.S. television stations carried pictures of Japanese housewives queuing up to buy kilo bars of gold, costing around $10,000 at the time. Their action and subsequently that of investors around the world have resulted in a 15 percent increase in the...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 14, 2002

Another stop on All-Star circuit for Powell

Jeremy Powell took the mound Saturday for the Pacific Leaguers in the second installment of the 2002 All-Star Series, it marked the first time in 41 years that a foreign pitcher from the Kintetsu Buffaloes had taken part in Japan's annual midsummer classic.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 14, 2002

The trouble with today's disaffected youth

Long before he said "no" to America and became the controversial governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara was one of Japan's most important postwar novelists, more influential than Mishima, if not as gifted. His most famous work, "Taiyo no Kisetsu (Season of the Sun)," is certainly the last word on youthful...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 14, 2002

Going to any lengths to avoid giving offense

Weird Tales of Self-Restraint No. 16: Heroes are Hard to Find
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Jul 14, 2002

Skip the jazz club, it's festival season

Most jazz people are night owls who don't get much sun, so summer festivals give the music, players and fans all a good airing out.
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 13, 2002

With the World Cup over, J. League gets back to business

The World Cup may be over, but Japan's newly converted soccer fans will still have plenty to cheer about when J. League Division One action resumes Saturday.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2002

Postal services log first profit since '97

Japan's mail and postal savings services in fiscal 2001 recorded profits for the first time in four years, the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2002

Bankruptcies increase 4.7%

The number of corporate bankruptcies during the first six months of 2002 rose 4.7 percent from a year earlier to 9,872, the third-highest number since World War II, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 13, 2002

Tigers dominate at All-Star Game

As George Arias rounded the bases, he was pumped, thrilled, excited. But he showed no exuberance, trotting back to the dugout in a cool, soothing manner like the picture of the Kirin Beer ad he had just hit with a monstrous 147-meter blast at the Tokyo Dome.
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2002

Bond issuance cap may be abolished

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi suggested Wednesday he may abolish the 30 trillion yen cap on new government bond issues in the fiscal 2003 budget.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2002

Manufacturing key to job picture

The manufacturing sector still creates more jobs than the services industry in Japan, and prefectures with a reliance on manufacturers have lower unemployment rates than those that bank on services, the government said in an annual report Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2002

MMC plans aluminum-chassis truck

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. next year will introduce an extra-light, environmentally friendly truck that has an aluminum chassis, marking a world first for the automaker.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2002

Japan's close encounter with the West

'By reading, hearing, and by observation in foreign lands, our people have acquired a general knowledge of constitutions, habits and manners as they exist in most foreign countries. . . . Japan cannot claim originality as yet, but it will aim to exercise practical wisdom by adopting the advantages, and...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2002

Danish EU presidency plans global tasks with Japan's help

On July 1, Denmark assumed the presidency of the European Union. Today, together with European Commission President Romano Prodi, I will meet Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Tokyo at the 11th EU-Japan Summit. This summit, which has taken place annually since 1991, is an important occasion for promoting...
COMMUNITY
Jul 7, 2002

Look to the stars

Here's what the stars have in store for readers for the second half of 2002.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 7, 2002

Gone, but not forgotten

MEMORIES OF WIND AND WAVES: A Self-Portrait of Lakeside Japan, by Junichi Saga. Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter. Illustrated by Susumu Saga. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2002. 260 pp., with 50 photos and line drawings, 2,500 yen (cloth) Junichi Saga is a physician with a general practice in...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 5, 2002

It may be the world's most popular sport, but not here in Japan

If there was any defining moment for Japanese sports last month, it surely came right after Turkey eliminated the lads in blue from the World Cup on June 18.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami