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BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2002

Innovative banking upstarts struggle to establish foothold

New, innovative entrants into the domestic banking sector have struggled to establish themselves amid the turbulent business climate.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Jan 1, 2002

Don't let 'star' staff dazzle your judgment

Assessing performance ought to be every manager's meat, the one area in which he or she strives to obtain as fair and equitable a result as possible. Yet as we at IMG work with Sports Illustrated to produce our annual "Sportsman of the Year" gala, I'm frequently reminded of the capricious and mysterious...
JAPAN / ANCIENT TRADITIONS
Jan 1, 2002

Western eyes blind to spirituality in Japan

First of two parts
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2002

Excerpts of Baker interview

The following are excerpts from U.S. Ambassador Howard Baker's interview with The Japan Times:
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2002

Economy to be severe in first half: BOJ

The state of the nation's economy will likely remain severe in the first half of 2002 as a result of the Prime Minister's ongoing structural reforms, according to the chief of the central bank.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2002

Bad times spark new breed of lottery fan

Masao Kitasawa, 58, is a lottery fan. He buys about 10 lottery tickets a week, spending roughly 10,000 yen a month to "dream a little."
COMMENTARY
Dec 31, 2001

A challenging century ahead

The first year of the 21st century has been plagued by terror, confusion and instability. The Sept. 11 terror blitz in the United States changed long-standing perceptions about the world, civilization and war overnight. Toward the end of the year, the U.S.-led allied forces succeeded in their retaliatory...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 31, 2001

War recalls the savaging of Okinawa

NEW YORK -- Evidently prompted by the war in Afghanistan, John Gregory Dunne has discussed three books in The New York Review of Books (Dec. 20) to remind us of the savaging process that is war. For Dunne, whose sensitivity to anything false matches that of his wife, Joan Didion, who called "The Greatest...
EDITORIALS
Dec 31, 2001

A year of fear and confusion

The war in Afghanistan is just about over. Contrary to most expectations, the U.S.-led coalition avoided the traps that had ensnared previous enemies of governments in Kabul. Its bombing campaign succeeded in exterminating a loathsome regime and the terrorists it harbored. Yet despite that impressive...
COMMENTARY
Dec 31, 2001

Resist the urge to keep score

HONOLULU -- There is an irresistible temptation to sort out winners and losers in the post-Sept. 11 world. Relations with the United States are the grand prize as governments scramble for position in the war against terrorism.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2001

Fostering a proper ASEAN perspective

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- During high-level meetings, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, born more than three decades ago, tends to come under criticism, mainly from the international press but sometimes from analysts and academics, as a "talking shop." Even an authority like Samuel Huntington,...
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2001

Japan Times Readership Survey results

More than 90 percent of respondents to The Japan Times Readership Survey conducted in July rated our paper's news coverage favorably, both domestic and foreign.
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2001

Little bags of luckiness

Just about a month ago, at the start of the holiday shopping season, consumers in Japan and other affluent countries were being urged to sit on their wallets for "Buy Nothing Day," the now annual and global act of homage to self-restraint. Get in the habit of buying only what you need, not what you want,...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2001

Russia's free press loses another battle

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- In July 2000, I joined Russian reporter Grigory Pasko and two carloads of fellow journalists in a visit to Irina Grebneva, a newspaper editor who had been jailed for five days in the Pacific port of Vladivostok, Russia. Her crime was making the governor look stupid and corrupt by...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2001

Japan, U.K. to link up in mad cow study

The farm ministry will conduct a comprehensive survey of mad cow disease in fiscal 2002, in conjunction with a British research institute, it was learned Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2001

Hospital hid error after girl died

A 12-year-old girl died three days after undergoing heart surgery at a Tokyo hospital in March due to brain damage caused when an artificial heart-lung machine malfunctioned during the operation, sources close to the case said Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2001

2001 a banner year for Beijing

The year 2001 has been a good one for China. It won the right to host the 2008 Olympics, which should raise the country's status in the world. After 15 arduous years of negotiations, it finally joined the World Trade Organization, which will provide momentum for additional economic reforms. And despite...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 30, 2001

Rescuing Orientalism from the School of Said

FIGURING THE EAST: Segalen, Malraux, Duras and Barthes, by Marie-Paule Ha. Albany: State University of New York, 2000, 160 pp., $17.95 (paper) In its consideration of the East, the West has been accused of Orientalism, a theory developed by Edward Said to explain the way the West "constructs" the Orient...
COMMENTARY
Dec 30, 2001

Clash of European visions

LONDON -- The odd situation seems to have been reached where the most dedicated enthusiasts for European unity fear that their dream is falling apart, while the skeptics fear that unity and integration are pushing Europe ahead faster than ever toward a super state.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 30, 2001

Tokugawa diplomacy: Foundering in the waters of distrust

PRISONERS FROM NAMBU: Reality and Make-Believe in 17th-Century Japanese Diplomacy, by Reinier H. Hesselink. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001, 215 pp., $47.00 (cloth), $24.95 (paper) The Dutch presence in Japan during the Edo Period is one of the most intriguing episodes of Europe's global...
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Dec 30, 2001

This will be the last slurp of the rest of your year

Even if preparing other Japanese New Year's dishes seems beyond your ability, you can't go wrong with toshikoshi ("year-crossing") soba, the noodles eaten just before midnight on o-misoka, New Year's Eve.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2001

Retiring politician's war memories spur his fight for peace

As Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi rose to power this year with pledges of radical reform, one 77-year-old Diet veteran made a brief return to the political arena before deciding to abandon his life's work.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 30, 2001

Simple words for Zen living

TO SHINE ONE CORNER OF THE WORLD: Moments with Shunryu Suzuki (Stories of a Zen Master Told by His Students), edited by David Chadwick. Broadway Books, 2001, 144 pp., $16.95 (cloth) Is it possible to impart the wisdom of Zen through words? Or are the lessons of mindful living communicable through action?...
JAPAN / Media
Dec 30, 2001

'Kohaku': the best, or just best behaved?

"Kohaku Utagassen," NHK's New Year's Eve music extravaganza, which celebrates its 52nd anniversary on Monday night, has traditionally been seen as the year's most significant event for Japanese singers, with selection to appear on the show truly "legitimizing" a performer's career. As well, certainly...
JAPAN / Media / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 30, 2001

A holiday basking in the blue glow

Depending on how you feel about the New Year's holidays and Japanese TV programming in general, the first week of the year is either the best week for TV or the worst. Most New Year's specials mimic what the average Japanese family is doing at home. Celebrities sit around in their finest holiday duds...

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