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COMMENTARY
May 5, 2001

Koizumi tidal wave may crest

The past 10 days have been a tumultuous period in Japanese politics. I refer, of course, to the series of events from the resignation of former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to the election of Junichiro Koizumi as Liberal Democratic Party president and prime minister and the inauguration of the Koizumi...
EDITORIALS
May 4, 2001

Floodgates release mistrust

Prospects for the controversial Isahaya Bay reclamation project in Nagasaki Prefecture are growing dim given the mistrust generated by the government's politicization of the issue. The floodgates are to be opened next spring (at the earliest), following a round of scientific surveys. But no one, including...
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2001

It's Koizumi vs. the LDP

The public-approval ratings of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's new Cabinet skyrocketed to unprecedented levels of more than 80 percent. Koizumi pledged that his Cabinet would spare no effort in implementing his drastic reform plans.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
May 4, 2001

Heresy of Koizumi key to his Cabinet's soaring popularity, Fukuda says

It is the heretical style of new Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that has sent his Cabinet's approval ratings soaring, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda.
JAPAN
May 4, 2001

Constitution turns 54 as battle lines drawn up for and against reform

Groups for and against revision of the Constitution held rallies in Tokyo on Thursday to mark the 54th anniversary of the supreme law amid increasing calls for its revision from political leaders, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2001

Solution to China trade row sought

Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma on Tuesday called on China to seek common ground on the trade friction that is emerging between the two countries, after Beijing's move last week to slow Japanese imports.
JAPAN
May 1, 2001

Cabinet paving way to female prime minister?

The new Cabinet breaks with tradition in several ways -- it has a record number of women, including the first female foreign minister, and a woman is third in line to take over the prime minister's job in an emergency.
COMMENTARY
May 1, 2001

Bush strains cross-Atlantic ties

LONDON -- In a world of disorder, fluidity and shifting power centers, one factor has remained fixed and constant for all states, all governments and all national leaders: the supreme importance of relations with the United States, and how to handle them.
LIFE / Travel
May 1, 2001

'Talking rot and taking the bull by the horns'

The events of June 1855 at Speakers' Corner inspired Karl Marx to declare that the English proletariat had begun their inexorable rise and that social revolution leading to a communist state was under way.
MULTIMEDIA / TALK OF THE TIMES
Apr 30, 2001

Top JAWOC official says FIFA should have studied local culture

Yasuhiko Endo assumed the post of general secretary of the Japan World Cup Organizing Committee (JAWOC) two years ago, a position that requires all the patience and diplomatic skills he acquired during his years serving in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2001

New Koizumi Cabinet wins record 86.3% public support

The Cabinet formed by newly elected Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi received a resounding 86.3 percent approval rating in an opinion poll released Saturday by Kyodo News, the highest ever for a Kyodo telephone poll conducted immediately after the formation of a new Cabinet.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 29, 2001

Pets in the big city

After a long, grueling day at the office, there's nothing better than returning home to a warm welcome. For some that means a freshly cooked meal, for others, a warm hug. For many, though, it's the excited bark of a dog and the affectionate nuzzle of a cat.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 29, 2001

Oral history exposes Japan's wartime enslavement of POWs

UNJUST ENRICHMENT: How Japan's Companies Built Postwar Fortunes Using American POWs, by Linda Goetz Holmes. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2001, 202 pp., $24.95. During World War II, nearly 50,000 U.S. soldiers and civilians became prisoners of the Japanese. Approximately half of this total "were...
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2001

Hiranuma reiterates themes toward economic revitalization

Reappointed Economy Minister Takeo Hiranuma said a comprehensive approach of combining the disposal of problem loans and assets, creating new businesses and implementing regulatory reforms is needed to revitalize the economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2001

Jospin still far from the top

PARIS -- Created 43 years ago by Gen. Charles de Gaulle, France's Fifth Republic has had 14 prime ministers but only five presidents. Most of these premiers have harbored an ambition to become head of state, but only two of them managed to fulfill this dream. Will Lionel Jospin be the third?
COMMENTARY
Apr 27, 2001

Calls for change heeded

In his year as prime minister, Yoshiro Mori caused public disillusionment with the Liberal Democratic Party through his gaffes and incompetence. The LDP's presidential election Tuesday, in which former Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro Koizumi beat former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto by a wide...
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

Koizumi names new Cabinet

Junichiro Koizumi, the president of the Liberal Democratic Party, was elected Japan's 56th prime minister in the Diet on Thursday and immediately inaugurated his new Cabinet.
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2001

Textbook serves Japan poorly

A junior high-school history textbook edited under the direction of a nationalist group, the Japanese Society for Textbook Reform, continues to stir controversy both here and abroad. The textbook recently received the green light from the Education and Science Ministry after the editors accepted all...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2001

Contorted system spells short-term leaders

Unless one is a political analyst or blessed with an excellent memory, it is close to impossible to correctly rattle off the names of Japan's prime ministers since the late 1980s. There have simply been too many in that time.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2001

Terms of Lee trip agreed upon

Japan and representatives of former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui have agreed on the terms of Lee's trip to Japan, paving the way for the issuance of an entry visa, a top-ranking Japanese government official said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 20, 2001

Use agriculture safeguards sparingly

Japan is set to impose emergency restrictions on three Chinese agricultural products, imports of which have risen markedly in recent years: leeks, shiitake mushrooms and rushes for tatami matting. It is the first time Japan has decided to invoke "safeguards," temporary import curbs recognized by the...
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2001

Japan set to issue visa to Lee if he pledges to avoid politics

Japan is likely to issue an entry visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui if he agrees to a condition set by Tokyo that the visit be solely for medical treatment, government sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2001

Video testimony in court approved for sex cases

A draft government ordinance was adopted at a meeting of top bureaucrats Thursday to allow video monitoring in courts from June 1 to protect sex crime victims and others giving testimony, government officials said.
ENVIRONMENT / IN BLOOM
Apr 19, 2001

Yae-zakura (Double cherry blossom)

"As for cherry blossoms, the single-petaled variety is preferable. The double-cherry trees formerly grew only at the capital in Nara, but lately they seem to have become common everywhere. The cherry blossoms of Yoshino and the 'left guard' tree of the palace are all single. The double-petaled cherry...
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2001

The crew's home; now what?

HONOLULU -- The release of the crew of the American EP-3E reconnaissance plane from Chinese "protective custody" may have defused the crisis but hardly represents the end of this affair. Meetings are now under way between U.S. and Chinese officials to deal with the aftereffects. While both sides agree...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Decision imminent on Lee visa problem

Japan may decide by as early as this afternoon whether to issue a visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui, who wants to visit Japan later this month to undergo a medical checkup for his heart condition, government sources said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 16, 2001

The curse of 'shikata ga nai'

"The Japanese phrase that I particularly hate is 'shikata ga nai,' (it can't be helped)" said a friend who had spent some years teaching in Japan. I responded that it was surely appropriate if you were driving a car and the traffic lights turned red just when you got to them. She accepted that in such...

Longform

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