Search - 2002

 
 
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2002

A 'Koizumi doctrine' for Asia

In his policy speech Monday in Singapore, the last stop on his five-nation tour of Southeast Asia, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi set the tone for Japan's diplomacy toward the evolving region. Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he stated, should strengthen ties by "acting together...
COMMENTARY
Jan 14, 2002

Tokyo conference to work on reconstructing Afghanistan

The Jan. 21-22 international conference in Tokyo on the reconstruction of Afghanistan will provide an opportunity for the post-Sept. 11 international community to unite in contributing to the war-ravaged country's stability.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 13, 2002

No recovery in sight for Japanese book publishing industry

One often sees references in the Japanese media to the "lost decade" that followed the burst of the speculative bubble in the early 1990s, but the publishing world has only suffered a half decade of negative growth. After five consecutive years of falling sales, however, it can no longer ignore systemic...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 13, 2002

Why North Korea's people starved

THE GREAT NORTH KOREAN FAMINE: Famine, Politics and Foreign Policy, by Andrew S. Natsios. United States Institute of Peace Press, 2002, $19.95 (paper) This is a grim and troubling account of the 20th century's fifth great famine, a calamity that swept through North Korea during the 1990s, claiming an...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 13, 2002

Reassessing Kurosawa's neglected masterpiece

SEVEN SAMURAI: The Film by Akira Kurosawa, by Joan Mellen. London: British Film Institute, 2002, 96 pp., with many b/w photos, 8.99 British pounds (paper) The National Film Theater in London is currently presenting a two-month-long festival featuring the works of Akira Kurosawa. A number of other events...
SOCCER / World cup
Jan 13, 2002

Donations for World Cup 80 percent off expectations

The Japanese organizing committee for the 2002 World Cup (JAWOC) is struggling to raise donations, having received less than 20 percent of what was projected in its revenue plan.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2002

Filmmaker records life and death in Manila's garbage dumps

"Someone get a saw!" yells a rescue worker frantically digging in a heap of garbage for a buried body. A blackened corpse slowly emerges, but rescuers are unsure if it is a man or woman. "I know her," someone finally says. "It's Mrs. Garret."
EDITORIALS
Jan 11, 2002

How to spell recovery

This is an important year for the international economy. Most crucial will be its path after the worst slump in decades. That trajectory depends, in large part, on developments in the United States. Initial signs are promising: The U.S. looks poised to recover, but the strength and durability of the...
SUMO
Jan 11, 2002

Konishiki making impact after sumo

Hollywood, home to some of the biggest stars on earth, soon may have to make room for the biggest star of all. Former sumo wrestler Konishiki on Thursday revealed his plans to make it big in Tinseltown.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2002

Prepared foods seen growing in popularity

The popularity of prepared food, known as "sozai," is rocketing in Japan, with an increase in working women apparently helping to boost sales of the food.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2002

Stock surge euphoria may yield to hangover

Although the Tokyo Stock Exchange ushered in 2002 on a positive note, a long lasting surge appears unlikely. The outlook remains bleak for the year ahead and beyond.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2002

Okayama city sets sights on nation's first electronic ballot

Niimi, in Okayama Prefecture, is aiming to use the nation's first electronic voting system in its mayoral and municipal assembly elections in June.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2002

Matsushita Electric Industrial to streamline group firms

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. formally announced Thursday that it will transform five group firms into wholly owned subsidiaries Oct. 1.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2002

Coalition wants extra budget by end of month

The three ruling parties aim to enact a 2.5 trillion yen supplementary budget for the current fiscal year on Jan. 31 in a bid to stimulate the economy, coalition sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2002

Merrill Lynch to ax 20 branches

Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co. said Wednesday it will drastically reduce its retail brokerage business in Japan, closing 20 of its 28 branches.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 10, 2002

Eco-tour program puts priority on people

First of two parts Stefan Ottomanski is a rare educator: He thrives on uncertainty and views obstacles as opportunities to teach both his students and himself lessons that were never part of the curriculum.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2002

State appeals ruling on A-bomb survivor

The welfare ministry filed an appeal Tuesday against a Nagasaki District Court ruling that ordered the state to compensate a South Korean survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing for health-care benefits he was denied.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 9, 2002

Tokyo Kandenchi putting a little spark back into the Bard

For my first theater outing of 2002, I went to see "A Midsummer-Night's Dream" by Tokyo Kandenchi (Tokyo Dry Battery). In this -- their 25th anniversary performance, but their first-ever brush with the Bard of Avon -- the company made no pretense of striving to scale great literary heights, but instead...
MORE SPORTS
Jan 9, 2002

Harada to be named captain of Olympic team

Olympic ski jumping gold medalist Masahiko Harada will later this week be named captain of the Japan team for the 2002 Winter Olympics at a Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) directors meeting, sources said Monday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 9, 2002

Assisting artists to enrich the spirit

Despite the relentless advance of the global economy, the cliche of the starving artist or student has not completely lost its currency. Younger artists seeking to establish themselves, or scholars wishing to devote more time to their studies, are generally in for a belt-tightening experience.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jan 9, 2002

Two looks back and three worth looking forward to

Akemashite, etc. . . . Before I do anything else, I'd like to thank NHK for providing me with my yearly dose of enka on the 2001 edition of "Kohaku Utagassen (Red and White Song Contest)."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 9, 2002

The next best thing

Happy New Year to one and all. I'm just back in Tokyo after spending the holidays in Bangkok, where, you might be interested to know, Project 304, About Art Space and the city's four or five other contemporary-art players got together to celebrate the finale of a successful video and film program that...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2002

Architect blames Japan cityscapes on obsession with wealth

Japan's cities have been criticized for lacking the harmony and consistence felt in other countries, especially in Europe. But that's not a result of poor city planning; the disarray of structures in Tokyo and Osaka simply mirror the country's postwar obsession with material wealth, according to architect...

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