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JAPAN
Sep 12, 2002

Families of alleged abductees demand results from summit

The families of two of the 11 Japanese nationals allegedly abducted by North Korean agents demanded Wednesday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi push hard to resolve the issue at next week's summit in Pyongyang.
COMMENTARY
Sep 12, 2002

Brave trip to settle the past

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's one-day visit to North Korea on Sept. 17 is likely to have a profound effect on the security situation in Northeast Asia. The two nations started normalization talks in 1991, but thus far no substantial progress has been made because of the alleged abduction of Japanese...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 12, 2002

Agreeing to disagree makes no sense at all

The deluge of posters, pamphlets and platitudes that roared out of Johannesburg during the 2002 Earth Summit has ended, though to no one's surprise this summit's conclusions were much the same as those of the first Earth Summit in Rio a decade ago.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2002

Disabled writer Ototake OK'd to drive

The 26-year-old author of a best-selling book about life without normal limbs has acquired a driver's license.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2002

For Arabs, a year of growing darkness

CAIRO -- There is no better place to take the pulse of Arab and Muslim sentiment than Cairo, pioneer or hub of the two great movements that have swept the region in recent times: the pan-Arab secular nationalism of which President Gamal Nasser was the champion and the "political Islam" that came into...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 12, 2002

The discord and rhyme of Japanese rules

The sea, and Mount Fuji, 'closed' for another year on Aug. 31. Is it madness, or is it just Japan. On Aug. 31, the sea closed on my local beach.
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.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 12, 2002

Words on Apple, more on pets and culture vultures

Last Apple bite As promised last time, Apple-man Anthony Walter of Caliburn responds to queries about Macintosh computers in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2002

G.O. chief arrested over fraud

Police on Tuesday arrested the 39-year-old head of G.O. group, a Tokyo-based group of investment firms, on suspicion of defrauding individuals out of more than 100 million yen through bogus investment scams.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2002

Nation's centenarian population quadruples in 10 years

The number of current centenarians in Japan and those who are due to be centenarians by the end of September reached a record high of 17,934 as of Sept. 1, with 84 percent of these women, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2002

NPO tries to make Afghans' lives livable

KYOTO -- Although international aid has flowed into Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime last October, Afghan people living far from Kabul are still suffering from malnourishment and a poor living and education environment, according to a Kyoto-based nonprofit organization.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2002

Unauthorized bolts used to fix Fukushima nuclear reactor

A panel set up by Tokyo Electric Power Co. to investigate the company's coverup of nuclear reactor faults has discovered that unauthorized bolts were used to repair a reactor at Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 plant, company sources said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 11, 2002

One year later

Each generation has a defining moment, one that prompts individuals to ask, "Where were you when . . .?" Usually such moments are national; rarely does a single event touch lives across the world. Sept. 11 was one of those international tragedies. A year ago today, the world watched transfixed as hijacked...
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2002

Hiranuma, Zoellick agree to pressure China on car quotas

Trade minister Takeo Hiranuma and his U.S. counterpart agreed Tuesday to press China into complying with its commitments under the World Trade Organization, such as increasing its vehicle import quota, a Japanese trade official said.
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...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2002

Once again at ground zero

LOS ANGELES -- Japan is once again at a historical tipping point, what could be called a political ground zero. Japan has been at ground zero two other times in its modern history and both times the outcome was not pretty.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2002

Japan regrets going overboard with Earth summit team

Japan should have sent a smaller delegation to the recently concluded World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, Environment Minister Hiroshi Ohki said on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 11, 2002

Industrialists see zero GDP growth in fiscal 2002

Leading corporate managers expect the nation's gross domestic product to post zero growth in fiscal 2002, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) said Tuesday, quoting the results of a recent survey.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 11, 2002

Take the plunge into 'Vegas' art

I'm just back from hot and dry Las Vegas, where the world's high rollers, faced with lavish entertainment options such as performance-art ensemble Blue Man Group and magicians Siegfried & Roy, have made the Cirque du Soleil's "O" the hottest ticket in town. The central attraction of "O" is not its troupe...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY ROW
Sep 11, 2002

Ambassador embarks on drive to put Aussie beef back on grill

Australian Ambassador to Japan John McCarthy is spearheading a campaign to get Australian beef back on Japanese dinner plates by taking part in a series of forums across the nation this week.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 11, 2002

The maestro at work

MATSUMOTO, Nagano Pref. -- "What does everyone think?"
CULTURE / Music
Sep 11, 2002

Mickey Fickey Mix

Since hardcore rap feeds off hyperbole, it's difficult to separate boasts from accomplishments. Is Dr. Dre really the originator of all that the West Coast represents, or is he simply SoCal hip-hop's shrewdest impresario? His contribution to "Straight Outta Compton," the 1988 N.W.A. album that defined...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 11, 2002

Only drama left in PL revolves around MVP

It's just a matter of time before the Seibu Lions wrap up the 2002 Pacific League pennant. The Leos' magic number for clinching is down to nine, and one of the most interesting results of Seibu's great team effort will be the announcement in November of who will be the Pa League Most Valuable Player....
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.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Sep 11, 2002

Putting the J in J-punk

It's taken a while, but punk rock seems to have finally broken into the J-pop mainstream.
BUSINESS
Sep 10, 2002

Increase eyed in supply of pulpwood chips

Major Japanese trading houses are moving to increase the output of pulpwood chips abroad as their attempts to stabilize supply through forestation projects overseas have begun to bear fruit.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan