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EDITORIALS
Mar 2, 2001

The challenge facing Turkey

Turkey teeters on the brink of a financial and economic crisis. A political feud sparked the troubles, the effects of which have been felt far beyond the country's borders. The Turkish government has moved quickly, but some of its new policies may well create their own difficulties. International support...
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2001

Researcher publishes third study on toilets

OSAKA -- A 53-year-old civil servant in Osaka Prefecture who has been researching the history of toilets in Japan for more than 30 years has published his latest findings in what he calls "The Journal of Toilet Culture."
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2001

Antigraft law takes effect despite criticism of loopholes

An antigraft law that bars politicians and their secretaries from accepting money or goods in exchange for influencing local and central government officials took effect Thursday, despite criticism that it is full of loopholes.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2001

Nikkei average plunges to lowest close in 15 years

The Nikkei Stock Average plummeted Thursday to close at its lowest level in more than 15 years.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2001

Dogmatic 'King Lear' stranded in the dunes

The Dogma '95 film movement, started by a group of Danish filmmakers, is a short-list of 10 rules known as the "vow of chastity" -- a pledge to eschew action, sets, props, soundtracks, lighting, stable camerawork, genre conventions and directorial credit. Like many a radical movement, it is entirely...
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2001

Deep-sea water targeted for next big health fad

Salt water deep in the sea and beyond the reach of sunlight is attracting the attention of local government officials, fishermen and businesspeople who see seawater products as a promising new business.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 2, 2001

Marathon champion set to profit

Kyodo News Sydney Olympic gold medalist Naoko Takahashi appears set to join the ranks of other prominent figures who have attained fame and fortune after becoming champions in major sporting events.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Mar 2, 2001

Dub Squad takes a journey into time

Dub is easily identified but difficult to define. Is it a style, a genre, or an approach to sound?
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2001

Earth Summit has to keep up with times

Globalization and scientific advances are reshaping the debate over environment and development policy and will merit attention at next year's Rio Plus 10 Earth Summit, according to a senior World Bank official.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2001

Mori quote seen as hint he is ready to quit

Speculation in political circles that Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori will soon resign was rife Thursday as the embattled leader promised to make a "sensible decision" about his future amid a series of scandals that have rocked his administration.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 2, 2001

Ex-OL, self-described everyman take Naoki prize

The winners of the Naoki literary prize for the second half of 2000 have been announced. This time, both winners -- "Planaria" by Yamamoto Fumio and "Vitamin F" by Shigematsu Kiyoshi -- are short-story collections, as were three of the other four short-listed works.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2001

Nasdaq Japan passes record share volume

Trading volume on Nasdaq Japan, the domestic version of the technology-laden U.S. Nasdaq market, topped 10 million shares in February for the first time since its launch in June, the Osaka Securities Exchange said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2001

Truth of scandal remains buried

There is always something very frustrating about Diet questioning of legislators involved in corruption scandals. So it was with Monday's inquiry of Mr. Fukushiro Nukaga, former economics minister, at a Lower House Council on Political Ethics. As expected, Mr. Nukaga, a Liberal Democrat, denied allegations...
COMMENTARY
Mar 1, 2001

Lessons of failed Iraq policy elude Bush

"We bomb, therefore we bomb," seems to be Washington's policy toward Iraq. Ten years of sanctions and military strikes have failed to tame or oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Yet the Bush administration thinks only of doing more of the same.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2001

Yamasaki unsure what stance to take on Mori vote

Senior LDP member Taku Yamasaki said Wednesday he has not decided what stance he will take if a no-confidence motion is introduced against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
COMMENTARY
Mar 1, 2001

Bush presidency, Ehime Maru tragedy bring national security issues to the fore

The issue for 2001 is whether Japan's leaders will take responsibility for their own national security. The stage is set for them to make this choice and the United States is ready to cooperate no matter what decision they make.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2001

Yamamoto receives 18 months for fraud

The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday sentenced former Lower House lawmaker Joji Yamamoto to 11/2 years in prison for defrauding the state out of more than 25 million yen.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2001

The spy game: high stakes, low payoffs

LONDON -- It's an impressive list: CIA official Aldrich Ames jailed for life in 1994 for spying for Moscow; CIA agent Harold Nicholson jailed for 23 years in 1997 for the same offense; FBI employee Earl Pitts sentenced to 27 years later the same year for passing information to Moscow; U.S. Army Col....
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 1, 2001

IOC delegates: the questions they should be asking

The International Olympic Committee has come Japan to check out Osaka's facilities for staging the 2008 Olympics.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2001

ACCJ opposes larger role for auditors

The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan on Wednesday called on the Japanese government to create a greater role for independent directors rather than enhancing the role of auditors in legislating corporate governance.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2001

U.S. likely to further ease interest rates

New York share prices remain in a corrective phase, but the downturn could soon run its course.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2001

Don't bet against China's industrial policy

Cambridge, ENGLAND -- At a recent conference in Berlin organized by the Institute of Asian Affairs of Hamburg, Ireland's leading China specialist said quite unequivocally that China's industrial policy has failed. As the speaker has long been known as one of the most vocal supporters of China's state-owned...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 1, 2001

NHK's hollow take on easy-money bubble era

What's impressive about the new Steven Soderbergh film, "Traffic," which opens here in April, is how thoroughly it presents all the ramifications of America's drug war by exclusively dramatic means: no charts, no explanations of cause and effect, no polemics. The movie's three separate plot vectors intersect...
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2001

105 million yen stolen from man's home

Five or six masked men entered the Tokyo home of a major telephone dating club operator and stole around 105 million yen in cash and 30 million yen in jewelry from three safes, police said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2001

Sega bets on silver lining in Dreamcast's demise

Sony Corp. emerged as the victor in the battle of the video game consoles in Japan, but the loser may prove to be the sweetheart among consumers.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2001

Sansui continues to struggle with losses

Sansui Electric Co. said Wednesday it posted a group net loss of 1.33 billion yen in the year to December, compared with the previous year's loss of 1.86 billion yen.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2001

Admiral gives apologies to families of missing

A special envoy dispatched by U.S. President George W. Bush apologized Wednesday in Tokyo to representatives of relatives of nine people still missing after the sinking of a high school fisheries training ship by a U.S. submarine.

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’