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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 27, 2004

Debating the life of a long-deceased poet

NEW YORK -- Inuhiko Yomota, one of the most well-read and prolific writers I know, was in town, and when I said I am working on a new book on the poet Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933), he told me that his friend, Masahiko Nishi, has written a book arguing that Miyazawa expressed strong anticolonialism through...
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2004

Google: mirror or lamp?

Google, the world's most popular search engine, hasn't even been around for a decade -- it was founded in 1998 -- yet it is already hard to remember life without it. It has its rivals, notably Yahoo, Microsoft, Ask Jeeves, which launched a test version in Japan last month, and now Amazon, whose fancy...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Sep 25, 2004

Senate control up for grabs on election day

WASHINGTON -- The meandering pattern of the presidential race has captured the attention of most Americans. But there are other important stakes that will be decided on Nov. 2, including 33 seats in the U.S. Senate and all 435 members of the House of Representatives.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 22, 2004

Stop usif you'veheard thisone before

The Quiet American Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Philip Noyce Running time: 101 minutes Language: English Now showing [See Japan Times movie listings] When Graham Greene penned his novel "The Quiet American" in 1954, he was set on capturing a particular point in time in late,...
EDITORIALS
Sep 21, 2004

An opportunity for Beijing

China has dodged a bullet. The recent legislative elections in Hong Kong returned a majority that is sympathetic toward Beijing. That means that there will be no confrontation between Hong Kong's feisty democrats and the Communist Party leadership in China. Instead, the results provide a chance to test...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004

A robot could have scripted this

I, Robot Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Alex Proyas Running time: 115 minutes Language: English Opens Sept. 18 [See Japan Times movie listings] When was the last time you were enthralled by a big-budget sci-fi flick?
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2004

Indonesians' choice: change or status quo

SINGAPORE -- Indonesians go to the polls Sept. 20 in the second round of balloting to choose between Megawati Sukarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (affectionally known as SBY) as president for the next five years.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 11, 2004

Will Souness be able to make a difference for Newcastle?

LONDON -- There is a famous line by Groucho Marxo where he says he would never be a member of a club that would have him as a member.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2004

Slow progress for Pyongyang

BRUSSELS -- In July 2002, North Korea instituted wage and price reforms that officially introduced the market into the economy. Such change had been on the horizon since the famine of the late 1990s, driven by a certain inevitability as the distribution system started to creak and stutter. Informal --...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 11, 2004

Rewriting the record books, one roach at a time

Once again, the season scrambles into its final weeks and with each passing day the tension builds.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2004

No long-term gains against terror yet

WASHINGTON -- So which U.S. President George W. Bush was right? The one who said Aug. 30, the day the Republican National Convention started, that the war on terror might not be winnable, or the Bush who showed up the rest of the week and asserted that victory would be ours?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Sep 5, 2004

Takafumi Horie: Livedoor whiz kid sets a new style

Takafumi Horie, 31, has been the man in the news since the end of June, when he announced that his Tokyo-based Internet service firm, Livedoor Co., was in the market for Osaka's debt-ravaged Kintetsu Buffaloes baseball team.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2004

Okada assured of return to DPJ helm

Katsuya Okada was assured of re-election as president of the Democratic Party of Japan on Monday after no one stepped forward to challenge him.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2004

'Underground money' termed a necessary evil

Many who make their living in the political epicenter of Nagata-cho have expressed sympathy for a former treasurer of the Liberal Democratic Party's largest faction who was arrested Sunday for allegedly violating the political donation law.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2004

Suzuki bribery charges politically motivated, his lawyers say

Lawyers for former House of Representatives member Muneo Suzuki told the Tokyo District Court on Wednesday that their client is innocent and the bribery charges against him are politically motivated.
EDITORIALS
Aug 22, 2004

Soul-searching in South Korea

South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun announced Aug. 15, the day his country celebrates liberation from Japanese occupation, that the legislature would form a special commission to investigate who benefited under Japanese rule. The call for such an inquiry is understandable: The occupation was a dark and...
Japan Times
Features
Aug 22, 2004

'Stray dogs' dig the dirt

"Bluebottle fly" was what he says he was called by the police. But freelance journalist Shunsuke Yamaoka is now getting a buzz from watching the law deal with wrongdoers he exposed.
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2004

Redeployment of U.S. forces

U. S. President George W. Bush this week announced the long-anticipated plan to restructure U.S. military forces abroad. The proposal, the largest redeployment of the U.S. military in half a century, is designed to reflect changes in the international security environment. The moves have implications...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 17, 2004

What's the economic forecast for Japan?

Hiromi OzakiStudent, 19
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2004

State debt no boon for financial markets

PRAGUE -- There is a palpable schizophrenia concerning public-sector debt. On one hand, a high proportion of public-sector debt relative to gross domestic product is seen as a warning sign that a country is suffering from macroeconomic imbalances. Similarly, a high ratio of government debt to total debt...
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2004

A defiant Suzuki raps Koizumi's reform policies

Junichiro Koizumi's structural reform drive may have the backing of voters in big cities, but people in Hokkaido and other rural regions feel abandoned by the prime minister.
COMMUNITY
Aug 15, 2004

Barbed organ of delights

"Whereas women were created solely for amusement of men it ill becomes them to emancipate themselves," begins an article in an 1873 edition of Japan Punch. "As our slaves they are the most delightful of animals, but when they attempt to assume airs of superiority, then they become hateful."
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 15, 2004

"Tuesday Suspense Theatre" on Nihon TV and more

There's a good possibility you'll be sick of the Olympics by about Wednesday, so if you're looking for alternatives you might want to check out the hospital serial "Shiroi Kyoto (The White Tower)," which is not a rebroadcast of the hugely popular series starring Toshiaki Karasawa and Yosuke Eguchi that...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2004

A defiant Suzuki raps Koizumi's reform policies

Junichiro Koizumi's structural reform drive may have the backing of voters in big cities, but people in Hokkaido and other rural regions feel abandoned by the prime minister.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 15, 2004

Barbed organ of delights

"Whereas women were created solely for amusement of men it ill becomes them to emancipate themselves," begins an article in an 1873 edition of Japan Punch. "As our slaves they are the most delightful of animals, but when they attempt to assume airs of superiority, then they become hateful."
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2004

Rowdy Chinese fans raise some Olympic-size questions

HONOLULU -- Nasty outbursts against a Japanese sports team in China have raised worrisome questions about Beijing's fitness to host the 2008 Olympic Games, which China's rulers intend to be a showcase for the progress of their nation, much as the Games were for Japan in 1964 and for South Korea in 1988....
COMMENTARY
Aug 13, 2004

An uphill battle for women

LONDON -- Morgan Stanley last month agreed to a $54 million out-of-court settlement to ensure that serious allegations of sexual discrimination against it did not come to trial in the United States. The bank proclaimed its innocence, but if it really had nothing to hide, why didn't it let the evidence...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years