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EDITORIALS
Aug 7, 2001

Legacies of the Gulf War

Eleven years ago, Iraq invaded Kuwait and set in motion a series of events that would culminate in the Persian Gulf War. The U.N. coalition drove the invader from Kuwait and humiliated the once-vaunted Iraqi war machine. But in the decade since that defeat, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has retaken...
Events
Aug 7, 2001

Toxic island may be turned into foreign enclave

OSAKA -- What do you do with an island far from the center of town on which no one wants to live because methane gas leaks from landfill boasting high dioxin levels?
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2001

Debt-hit Daiei to unload healthy Printemps store

Daiei Inc. is considering selling its shares in subsidiary department store Printemps Ginza S.A. to reduce its debt, Daiei sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2001

Attitudes shifting on separate names for married people

The government sees a big change in attitudes about separate surnames by married couples and plans to discuss the possible introduction of a two-name system, the top government spokesman said Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2001

Ruling bloc agrees on need for extra budget

Policymakers from the three ruling parties agreed Monday on the need to compile a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year to help buoy the faltering economy.
Events
Aug 7, 2001

Kansai hoping to revitalize with return to cultural roots

KYOTO -- The Kansai region is about to host a unique performing arts festival that organizers hope will spark a regional renaissance at a time when the nation is facing a bleak future.
EDITORIALS
Aug 6, 2001

Restoring a MAD world's sanity

Fifty-six years ago, on the morning of July 16, 1945, the United States exploded the first atomic bomb at a testing range at Alarmogordo, New Mexico. Watching the blast, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, who played the leading role in the last stages of the Manhattan Project, reminded himself of a doomsday passage...
COMMENTARY
Aug 6, 2001

Now Koizumi's battle begins

HONOLULU -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi delivered on his promise to revive the fortunes of the Liberal Democratic Party the weekend before last. LDP candidates steamrollered their opposition, claiming 64 of the 121 seats that were contested in the Upper House ballot. After an independent candidate...
COMMENTARY
Aug 6, 2001

Powell earns top marks on Asian tour

LOS ANGELES -- Colin Powell's first week in Asia as U.S. secretary of state broke what almost has become an unfortunate tradition. It was a success.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2001

No-interest loans for city roads planned

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry is planning to introduce a new system to provide interest-free loans to local governments to accelerate the building of roads in urban areas, ministry officials said Sunday.
SPORTS / TALK OF THE TIMES
Aug 6, 2001

Iwabuchi hoping for big season this year

Saracens and Japan flyhalf Kensuke Iwabuchi is hoping for a great season this year in England.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2001

Wine exporters focus on Asia

BORDEAUX, France -- Japan is firmly back on the agenda for many wine exporters despite its continued economic slump, and value for money at the lower end should improve further. However, futures prices already indicate the prestige 2000 Bordeaux vintages won't be cheap.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2001

Yasukuni visit 'will certainly be made,' says Yamasaki

Taku Yamasaki, secretary general of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, said Sunday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will definitely pay a visit to Yasukuni Shrine, where Class A war criminals are honored, despite strong opposition from neighboring Asian countries.
EDITORIALS
Aug 5, 2001

Lies and consequences

Considering how consumed the media are with both death and dying, you might think a brief news item about someone's impending demise wouldn't cause much of a stir. But, of course, it all depends who the someone is.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2001

Ignite Japan's service sector

For several years, Princeton economist Paul Krugman has been preaching that what Japan needs to fix its economy is a good dose of inflation to cure its demand-side problems. Japanese policymakers -- along with most mainstream economic experts -- dismissed his initial 1998 proposals as unnecessary, difficult...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2001

U.S., China vie in bending the truth

Diplomacy, as much as the warfare it is designed to prevent, exacts a heavy toll on the truth. One can only wonder what future generations will learn with disbelief and chagrin when the Freedom of Information Act allows public examination of U.S.-China foreign policy intrigue in recent years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 5, 2001

The big day

When 645 guests descended on Tokyo's New Takanawa Hotel last month to celebrate the marriage of 46-year-old former pop idol Hideki Saijo to Miki Makihara, a 28-year-old "office lady" he'd been dating since the fall, the starstruck media gushed at length over the "super gorgeous" event.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 5, 2001

Nuptial nuggets

* The verb "to wed" is thought to be derived from the Old English "weddian" (pledge), or Old Norse "vethja" (to wager).
COMMUNITY
Aug 5, 2001

What's in a name?

A wedding ceremony may be the culmination of romantic love, but it's also when life within the institution of marriage begins.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 5, 2001

Down the aisle in style

As a little girl, I dreamed of getting married in a church amid beautiful European scenery -- or, if the wedding were held in Japan, then in the quiet setting of the woods of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 5, 2001

The perfect shape for sake

The question of what vessel to use when drinking sake is an important one. Not only do the shape and size affect how flavor and fragrance are presented and emphasized, but the appearance and feel of a vessel also influences the overall experience.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 5, 2001

Terrors, real and imagined

August means hot weather and ghost stories to add a little chill to the muggy air. Tonight, on TV Tokyo's "Sunday Big Special" (7 p.m.), host Tsurutaro Kataoka will explore various occultish phenomena for either your terrified delectation or your nonbelieving derision.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 5, 2001

When love breaks down

Yes -- I was beachball-eyed with love.
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Aug 5, 2001

We had joy, we had fun, our season in the sun

OK, I'm completely fugged after the Fuji Rock Festival. Fugged up, that is. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Fuji was too much drugs, just about enough music and no sex at all. Everything in the wrong order. The usual insanity. So, I'm under a bush in the Niigata mountains, hold on, that's just a flashback,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 5, 2001

'It's a complicated story,' pleads a battered press

The press has taken quite a beating over its coverage of the murders at Ikeda Elementary School. Even before the funerals, letters to the editor columns were filled with missives from enraged readers lam basting the media's lack of either common decency or common sense. Most complaints concerned interviews...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 5, 2001

If at first you don't succeed . . .

FUKUOKA -- Divorce and remarriage have been possible in Japan since feudal times, though until recently shame and social stigma ensured that few unhappy couples formalized their differences -- let alone took the plunge again.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan