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JAPAN
Aug 28, 2002

Psychiatric group to investigate alleged abuse by China

YOKOHAMA -- The World Psychiatric Association has agreed to send a team of experts to China next spring to investigate claims that the communist government is confining political dissidents, including members of the Falun Gong sect, in mental wards, WPA president Juan Lopez-Ibor said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2002

Ruling recognizes Unit 731 used germ warfare in China

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday acknowledged that Japan waged germ warfare in China during World War II and caused harm to residents, but dismissed a claim by Chinese plaintiffs suing the government for compensation over the atrocities.
COMMENTARY
Aug 28, 2002

'Sweet and sour' diplomacy

HONOLULU -- "U.S.-North Korean military meet to reduce tensions." "North Korea threatens to withdraw from nuclear agreement with U.S."
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2002

Duel between gas, electric appliance makers heats up

A race pitting electric appliance makers against gas appliance makers is quietly heating up in Japanese kitchens.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2002

Road panel ready to back private firms

A government advisory panel formulating ways to privatize four public road-construction firms will pave the way for them to later invest in highway projects that are deemed profitable, according to a draft report unveiled Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2002

Postal panel narrows options

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's private advisory panel on postal services agreed Tuesday to propose three options for privatizing the services in its final report to be compiled in early September.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 28, 2002

All things in the universe, and some

The very idea of a comprehensive retrospective of Tadanori Yokoo's work is a daunting one. How to bring together an oeuvre that spans almost a half-century and is, by turns, strident, nationalistic, homoerotic, funny and cosmic; that is both representational and abstract; that comprises posters, photographs,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 28, 2002

Amadou and Mariam: "Amadou and Mariam"

This album smokes. Amadou and Mariam play a rollicking, good-natured blend of bluesy R&B and Malian dance band music. Amadou sings and plays a seamless rhythm guitar and the occasional crackling lead, while Mariam sings in a voice of sweet fragility.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2002

Opera on exiled Christian daimyo aimed at boosting Philippine ties

An opera about the life of a daimyo who was exiled for his Christian faith will be staged next year to mark the 100th anniversary of Japanese migration to the Philippines, according to organizers.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2002

Eager parents boost demand for English picture books

Imports of English picture books for children have risen to meet demand among parents eager for their children to start learning English at an early age.
EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 2002

Strict political ethics are overdue

The indictment last week of Lower House member Muneo Suzuki on fresh charges of bribery is a reminder that money politics is alive -- if not well -- and that genuine political reform remains a long way off. Public prosecutors are reportedly building new cases against him for possible campaign-fund abuse...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2002

Nippon Food's sold-off beef to be checked

The farm ministry on Monday said that it would inspect all of the roughly 140 tons of beef that Nippon Food Inc. asked the government to purchase after a beef-mislabeling scandal came to light earlier this year.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2002

Inamine asks Koizumi to review SOFA, reduce U.S. presence

Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine asked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday to review the Japanese-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement and reduce the size of U.S. forces based in Okinawa.
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2002

GDP report expected to show 0.2% growth

Government reports this week are expected to show Japan's economy expanded slightly in second quarter and pulled out of recession, thanks to growing exports, according to a survey released Monday by Bloomberg News.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2002

Efforts afoot to protect whistle-blowers

OSAKA -- Recent years have seen more and more whistle-blowers come forward to expose corporate wrongdoing, often to their own personal career detriment.
COMMENTARY
Aug 27, 2002

Build alternative to Yasukuni

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine in April inflamed Beijing, casting a chill on Japan-China relations. The row forced Koizumi to cancel a visit to Beijing he had planned for this fall to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic relations....
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Aug 26, 2002

Emphasize the beauty for grand objectives

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The best book on the modern Japanese political economy is the late Shigeto Tsuru's "Japan's Capitalism: Creative Defeat and Beyond," published by Cambridge University Press in 1993. Tsuru holds to the great original tradition of economics as a sub-branch of moral philosophy,...
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2002

Shrinking realm of privacy

LONDON -- Privacy is now increasingly recognized as an important human right, but its limits are not easy to define. How far, for instance, should the press be prevented from intrusive photography of VIPs? The media generally argue that it is their job to report on the movements and actions of public...
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2002

The only superpower and the ICC

With globalism setting the pace for the 21st century, the need to strengthen the rule of law is growing. From this perspective, the creation of the International Criminal Court as the world's first permanent war-crimes tribunal is of historic significance. A treaty establishing the court came into force...
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2002

Diplomatic prowess for less

A ministerial meeting of the Initiative for Development in East Asia, held in Tokyo on Aug. 12, acknowledged the significance of maintaining adequate Official Development Assistance as a tool for strengthening regional cooperation and agreed to examine how to make more effective use of ODA. The meeting...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2002

Official resigns following Taiwan row with ministry

Kenichi Mizuno, parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, tendered his resignation Sunday to Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi following a row over his planned visit to Taiwan.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2002

Ministry to seek more funds to deal with packed prisons

The Justice Ministry will seek a sharp increase in its fiscal 2003 budget to address the problem of overcrowding in Japan's prisons and request a "research budget" to build the first new prisons in about 20 years, ministry sources said.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2002

Morning quake shakes Hokkaido

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6 hit part of Hokkaido early Sunday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2002

Convention eyes mental illness stigma

YOKOHAMA -- Mental health experts at an international convention of psychiatry here on Sunday stressed the need to eliminate the stigma attached to and discrimination faced by people with schizophrenia and their families.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2002

Ministry to admit some fault in hepatitis infection scandal

The health ministry has decided to admit some fault in the scandal involving hepatitis C infections from blood products, according to sources.
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 2002

A sea of confusion

'L ord, what fools these mortals be." That was Shakespeare's Puck venting his exasperation. Unfortunately, things haven't improved much in humanity's sandbox in the intervening four centuries.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2002

Republican 'criticism' no war-stopper

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- An interesting debate broke out in Washington last week about the possible war against Iraq. The discussion isn't just about whether to go to war; it has morphed into a quarrel about whether top Republicans are breaking ranks with U.S. President George W. Bush and seeking to reverse...
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2002

Psychiatry conference kicks off in Yokohama

Crown Prince Naruhito opened the 12th World Congress of Psychiatry in Yokohama on Saturday, sponsored by the World Psychiatric Association and being held in Asia for the first time.

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped