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EDITORIALS
Mar 8, 2002

India in flames

India's postcolonial history has been built upon two sturdy pillars: tolerance and nonviolence. After the outbreak of communal violence last week, it appears that both are dangerously eroded. Clashes between Hindus and Muslims have claimed more than 500 lives and there is little prospect of a return...
COMMENTARY
Mar 7, 2002

Zimbabwe: 11th hour questions

LONDON -- The situation in Zimbabwe goes from bad to worse. Sunday's presidential election approaches amid a crescendo of violence and intimidation, with the army, the state police and the thugs of the ruling Zanu-PF political party rampaging through every region of this enormous and once-rich Central...
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2002

Tokyo eyes countermeasures, appeal to WTO

Japanese government officials and business leaders reacted with measured anger Wednesday to a decision by U.S. President George W. Bush to slap tariffs on imported steel.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2002

UFJ Bank puts together bailout package for Aplus

UFJ Bank is putting the final touches on a 120 billion yen to 130 billion yen bailout package for debt-saddled consumer finance company Aplus Co., according to sources familiar with the case.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2002

Aoki identifies rehab sponsors

Bankrupt second-tier general contractor Aoki Corp. said Wednesday it has persuaded midsize general contractors Takamatsu Corp. and Komatsu Construction Co. to sponsor its court-led rehabilitation plan.
LIFE / Travel / FLOWER WALK
Mar 7, 2002

Childlike delight amid a forest of flowers

Camellia, or tsubaki in Japanese, has always been integral to this country's culture. Mentioned in ancient chronicles and legends, it is also used as a design motif for noh costumes, is highly regarded in ikebana arrangements and was prized by Tokugawa shoguns. Without the flamboyance of sakura, tsubaki...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Mar 7, 2002

Xbox grapples for Japan footing

Imagine a Sumo tournament with a young Konishiki battling Akebono, the winner of which must then challenge Godzilla. Such a battle is going on right now in the video game arena.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 7, 2002

Humans emerged out of Africa again and again

Everyone knows that humans came out of Africa, but until recently nobody knew that they came in at least two major waves of migration, about 600,000 and 95,000 years ago. The finding comes from a major analysis of newly derived human genetic trees, published today in Nature.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 6, 2002

Bush's incendiary pulpit

MOSCOW -- It would be interesting to know who attended U.S. President George W. Bush's talk at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Feb. 22. Obviously planned as a mixture of calculated propaganda and heartfelt preaching, the talk targeted Chinese youth who hopefully will make China democratic, tolerant...
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2002

Isetan to help out ailing Iwataya by buying new shares

Department store chain Isetan Co. said Tuesday it will provide financial and operational support to struggling Iwataya Department Store Co. to help the Fukuoka-based retailer rehabilitate under its wing.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2002

Second antideflation plan on way

The government will try to release a second antideflation policy package by the end of this month, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 6, 2002

Getting back to the beginning

How I love to drift off to sleep in cars and on trains. But invariably, when they stop, I wake up. Someone once told me that the reason moving cars and trains are so soporific is because they subconsciously remind us of the time we spent inside our first-ever mode of transport, which was, of course,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Mar 6, 2002

Ali Hassan Kuban: 'Real Nubian'

Sadly, this third international release from the godfather of Nubian soul, Ali Hassan Kuban, will be his last. Kuban died in June of last year, having spent his life singing and playing his particular brand of raw, earthy, energetic music. Fortunately, "Real Nubian" catches Kuban at the height of his...
EDITORIALS
Mar 6, 2002

Shady politico-bureaucratic ties

A Foreign Ministry investigation of influence-peddling by Liberal Democratic Party legislator Muneo Suzuki has revealed an appalling pattern of politico-bureaucratic collusion. A report released Monday indicates that Mr. Suzuki, a self-styled foreign policy guru, behaved like a "shadow foreign minister"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 6, 2002

Of life's mystery and joy

He lived through the best and worst of times. His life spanned a century of tremendous change, as Japan's focus shifted from rural to industrial, from East to West, from peace to war. He experienced poverty and success, respect and recrimination. He was Taikan Yokoyama (1868-1958), one of Japan's most...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 6, 2002

Comedy that doesn't always translate

After decades of playing Shakespeare "straight," Japanese directors and actors are now taking stagings of his works to a different level. A move away from pure "translation drama" toward an approach rooted in Japanese experience has been the exciting hallmark of productions such as Hideki Noda's "Much...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Mar 6, 2002

Be true to your old school

Suddenly, it's hip to be trad. Japanese traditional music is now in vogue, as artists such as Chitose Hajime, Hiromitsu Agatsuma, the Yoshida brothers and Shinichi Kinoshita strike a chord with music fans looking for something more rootsy and down-home to listen to than run-of-the-mill J-pop.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Mar 5, 2002

2002 on hold as JAWOC ponders making a decision

My Korean girlfriend has come to the conclusion that the Japanese couldn't organize a bun fight in a bakery, let alone a World Cup.
EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 2002

The ever-widening Atlantic gap

There has long been a divergence of views between the United States and its European allies, but the distance between the two appears to be expanding. The most recent contretemps concerns expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but the roots of the dispute are more fundamental. The real...
BUSINESS
Mar 5, 2002

Tepco plans 7% rate cut

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday it will cut electricity rates by an average of 7.02 percent in April under a three-year business plan aimed at bolstering its competitiveness.
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2002

Bush, Jiang draw closer to their divide

HONG KONG -- It is ironic that both Washington and Beijing consider the 30-hour visit to China by U.S. President George W. Bush a great success. After all, neither party got what it wanted most from the other. The United States did not get the antiproliferation agreement it wanted from China and the...
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2002

Narrow field helps Koizumi

Immediately after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi fired Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka early Jan. 30, the public approval rate of his government plummeted to about 50 percent from the unprecedentedly high 80 percent it had maintained for nine months since its inception in April. There may be no rebuttal...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 5, 2002

The trauma of unwanted pregnancy

1. Marie's story Only two people know about Marie's abortion. One is her ex-boyfriend, by whom she became pregnant 12 years ago, and one is her husband. Her parents, her brother and her friends know nothing of the fact that as a 19-year-old she took a plane to London from Dublin to terminate her pregnancy....
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 5, 2002

Deciding who has the right to life

DUBLIN -- A familiar sight once again adorns lampposts and billboards in every town and village in Ireland. The posters scream conflicting messages to a confused public: "Babies will die, vote no"; "Protect women and save babies, vote yes."
SOCCER / J. League / TALK OF THE TIMES
Mar 4, 2002

Cerezo hopes to take Kashima to third J. League title

Kashima Antlers boss Toninho Cerezo has had a remarkable two seasons with his J. League Division One club despite his short coaching experience.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2002

Bush suffers economic jet lag

What is it about a trip to East Asia that turns the minds of shrewd politicians like President George W. Bush and his national security advisers into mush? Once again, an American president and his entourage have traveled to Asia. And once again, jet lag, inadequate oxygen in Air Force One or something...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2002

U.S. furthers fraud of Japanese reform

WASHINGTON -- Why should Goldman Sachs and U.S. President George W. Bush expect Japan to reconcile its financial accounts and nonperforming loans when it is clear that Japan's political architecture inhibits accountability on any front, particularly in matters of Japan's historical memory?
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 4, 2002

Will powers Marinos to victory over Reds

YOKOHAMA -- A sharply taken sixth-minute goal by debutant Brazilian striker Will was enough to secure a 1-0 victory on Sunday for the Yokohama F. Marinos in their first game of the J. League season, against Urawa Red Diamonds, despite the dismissal of captain Naoki Matsuda in the first half.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear