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JAPAN
Feb 25, 2002

Media must probe collusion: group

Japanese news media should make greater efforts to shed light on collusive ties between politicians and bureaucrats in the wake of revelations of close relations between lawmaker Muneo Suzuki and the Foreign Ministry, members of an advisory committee to Kyodo News have said.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2002

Flawed theory, leadership thwart recovery

For many, the inability of Japan's economy to recover remains a mystery. This inability to assess the situation arises from misjudgments concerning the nature of the malaise and can be traced to the application of faulty economic theory.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2002

Human rights bill bolsters press freedom

A human rights bill being prepared by the government aims to protect press freedom despite mounting public criticism about invasions of privacy and overzealous crime reporting by journalists, sources familiar with the bill have said.
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2002

Hurdles need to be overcome on road to recovery

The second session of the economic conference held at the London Business School turned to the changes that Japan needs to implement to lift the world's second-largest economy out of recession.
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2002

Possible global meltdown 'frightening'

The final session of the London Business School economic forum considered the recovery of the global economy. In her opening statement, Noriko Hama, research director at Mitsubishi Research Institute Inc., said, "We might just as well be talking about no recovery of the global economy.
COMMENTARY
Feb 24, 2002

Campaign reform: elites win, voters lose

WASHINGTON -- Only in Washington could a measure designed to gut First Amendment freedoms and entrench incumbents be declared to be "reform." Only in Washington could such "reform" advance with so much sanctimonious support from media and self-anointed public-interest elites.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2002

Crown Prince turns 42, vows to be 'active' father

Crown Prince Naruhito, who turned 42 on Saturday, said he was excited about becoming a father and promised to "be actively involved" in bringing up his daughter, Princess Aiko.
COMMENTARY
Feb 24, 2002

Dirty business taking a toll

LONDON -- The Enron affair has made it impossible to justify boasts about the effectiveness of corporate governance in the United States and the reliability of independent accountancy firms.
COMMUNITY
Feb 24, 2002

So you think stress is all in the mind?

It's as inevitable and, in most cases, as unwelcome as that overcrowded rush-hour train. Stress: We're all its victims to some degree. But do we know what causes it, and what its long-term effects on the body can be?
COMMUNITY
Feb 24, 2002

No end to stress in modern Japan

Thirty-year-old Hiroko Sato was having her hair done, just as she had every month for the past several years, when suddenly she began to feel ill. First, she felt dizzy, then nauseous, then her hands started to go numb. She tried to shrug it off, but when she rose from her chair, she fainted.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 24, 2002

The suspense is just killing them

Director and screenwriter Yoji Yamada, who helmed all 48 installments of the record-setting "Otoko wa Tsurai-yo" movie series, and actor Toshiyuki Nishida, who has starred in Yamada's other two movie series, "Tsuri Baka Nisshi" and "Gakko," team up for a one-shot two-hour TV drama Monday night at 9 p.m....
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Feb 24, 2002

The method to the madness

Like Bauhaus architecture or a Charles Eames chair, Stereolab is retro yet refreshingly new. Beneath the surface of their shiny, polished pop, the lilting melodies of '60s lounge music, the drone of German progressive rock and the lightest hint of dance-floor beats coexist in a controlled upheaval.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 24, 2002

I want my DVD: The word is out on the small screen

Now that our shelves contain a lot more than books -- CD-ROMs, VHS tapes, DVDs -- it is worth reconsidering a question that occasionally interests the resident foreigner: How do you find Japanese films with English subtitles?
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Feb 24, 2002

Sansai-gayu : a porridge found further afield

There is perhaps nothing more rewarding for a chef than to get out into the field and secure the best ingredients possible: vegetables, dry goods, fish and seasonings. The early spring is especially exciting because the season for foraging wild plants officially begins.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Feb 24, 2002

Voyagers on the new wine frontier

There was a time when food-and-wine pairing was governed by tried-and-true rules and traditions. French restaurants served French wines, Italian restaurants were loyal to Italian wines, and so on.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 24, 2002

Dubya's campaign to bring tourists to America

During this past Christmas season, it became something of a joke in the United States when Americans were asked by their government to go shopping as a means of pursuing the War on Terrorism at home. The idea was that the Forces of Evil wanted nothing less than the destruction of Our Way of Life, so...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 24, 2002

Moral absolutism on trial

ONE MAN'S JUSTICE, by Akira Yoshimura, translated by Mark Ealey. New York, San Diego and London: Harcourt, 2001, 276 pp., $23 (cloth) In every society, even the most apparently open-minded, there are times when some questions become taboo. In the United States right now, such questions include anything...
CULTURE / Music
Feb 24, 2002

The Strokes: Was that it?

The Strokes, ever heard of them? They're a bunch of rich kids from New York who like the street. Too drunk to skateboard, they stride round in their vintage clothes, take loads of drugs, chase chicks and make music. Last year, they released "Is This It," the greatest debut album since Oasis' "Definitely...
COMMUNITY
Feb 24, 2002

Overseas and under pressure

For people moving to a foreign country, the simplest daily activities can become a nightmare.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 24, 2002

Going places depends on where you're from

Two thirtyish Japanese junior execs both applied for an opening at "Worldbeater Tech," a subsidiary of an offshoot of a spinoff of a fat-cat blue-chip company.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 24, 2002

Images of a common brutality

HELL IN THE PACIFIC: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima and Beyond, by Jonathan Lewis and Ben Steele. London: Channel 4 Books, 2001, 288 pp. $30 (cloth) TALES BY JAPANESE SOLDIERS OF THE BURMA CAMPAIGN. Edited by Kazuo Tamayama and John Nunneley. London: Cassell, 2000, 252 pp., $24 (paper) If you've ever...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2002

English in U.S. doesn't need protection

Twenty-six American states have already passed laws declaring English their official language. Iowa wants to make it 27.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2002

Globalization is both a bonus and curse, Nobelist Sen says

Although globalization has produced remarkable opportunities and improvements in the lives of people around the world, there are a number of others who have suffered increased insecurity, according to an Indian scholar who, in 1998, became the first Asian economist to win a Nobel Prize.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2002

'Spy ship' sunk after fight set to be filmed for clues

The government will use an underwater camera next week to investigate an unidentified ship that sank in December in the East China Sea after exchanging fire with Japan Coast Guard vessels, transport minister Chikage Ogi said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2002

Analyst reckons Japan distributors' systems put consumers in driving seat

If you believe that Japan's distribution system is inefficient and does consumers no good, try telling that to Masahiro Matsuoka.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2002

Snow Brand Foods to disband

Snow Brand Foods Co. will lay off most of its 1,000 employees in March and disband in April, the scandal-tainted firm said Friday.
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2002

Japan to listen as it decides on crucial WTO stance

Japan will begin work on formulating its negotiating position on an issue that is likely to sharply pit industrialized countries against developing economies in the recently launched round of global trade liberalization talks -- the environment.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’