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EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2003

It's Pyongyang's move

The good news about nuclear nonproliferation is that Iran and Libya, both of which have long been suspected of harboring nuclear ambitions, have apparently changed their minds. The bad news is that North Korea, which already has nuclear-weapons programs, remains adamant about keeping them, thus clouding...
COMMENTARY
Dec 22, 2003

Courageous decision on Iraq

LONDON -- The Japanese government's decision to send members of the Self-Defense Forces to take part in humanitarian efforts in Iraq was a courageous one.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 21, 2003

Year's top commercials 'ad' up to great Japanese TV

Anyone who reads this column regularly probably believes that I find Japanese television completely worthless. It's not true; or, at least, not completely true. I think Japanese TV commercials are very good and often more representative of the hopes and dreams of the nation than the programming is.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2003

Hinomaru hoisted at all spring graduation events

All public elementary, junior high and high schools in Japan raised the Hinomaru during their spring graduation ceremonies, according to an education ministry survey released this week.
COMMUNITY
Dec 20, 2003

Over 4,000 babies delivered and still counting

Dr. Hideki Sakamoto is late for the very best of reasons. "I had an emergency at the hospital, but am happy to be able to say that mother and baby are both doing well."
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2003

Smaller yearend shrine turnout expected

Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples are expected to draw fewer visitors during the upcoming New Year's holidays than they did in 2003, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 17, 2003

Record season earns Fudo MVP

Four-time consecutive money leader Yuri Fudo was selected as this season's Most Valuable Player on the Japanese women's golf tour, the Japan LPGA said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2003

A triumph for Mr. Wen

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is a happy man -- and with good reason. His four-day visit to the United States this week was a huge success, a personal triumph for the premier as well as a trip that helped advance his nation's relations with the U.S. His host, U.S. President George W. Bush, is probably less...
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2003

Not a two-party system yet

LONDON -- Is Japan becoming a "normal" parliamentary democracy with a two-party system? Commentators outside and inside Japan have suggested that the Nov. 9 general election may have fundamentally altered the balance of power in Japan and that, with the growth of the Democratic Party of Japan, the country...
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2003

Russian reality test for Kyoto

It is still unclear whether Russia has decided to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. But reports that Moscow had rejected the proposal refocused international attention on the appalling lack of progress since the agreement was negotiated more than five years ago. Despite the now considerable...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 12, 2003

'Land of Fire' with history burning in its mokkosu heart

Few things puff up local pride like a local hero. Sendai dotes on its "One-Eyed Dragon," warrior Date Masamune. Kagoshima loves its plump 19th-century rebel Saigo Takamori. And Kumamoto adores its old daimyo lord Kato Kiyomasa.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2003

Firms create a prototype for multi-OS

Denso Corp. and Toshiba Corp. said Wednesday they have jointly developed what they believe to be the world's first prototype of a multioperating systems environment that will support both the Windows and Tron OSs.
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2003

New Zealand seeks bigger splash in Asia

WELLINGTON -- It's clear that New Zealand's size is both a curse and a blessing. The curse is easy to see: New Zealand is so small that it's hard to get the attention of other governments. New Zealand is responsible for 0.22 percent of world trade. There are more Indonesian civil servants than New Zealanders....
BUSINESS
Dec 10, 2003

Curbs eyed for nonprescription drugs

A health ministry advisory panel plans to urge the government to place sharp limits on the scope of nonprescription drugs to be sold by convenience stores and other retailers that do not employ pharmacists, including cold and allergy medicines.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2003

Japanese feel affinity with not-too-distant Finland: ambassador

Finland and Japan may be at opposite ends of the scale when it comes to the size of their populations, but the links between the two countries are very close, according to Finnish Ambassador Eero Salovaara.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 9, 2003

Burden of proof impossible to bear

It may not have been exactly what the government has in mind by the cliche "international cooperation," but dozens of ordinary Japanese folk recently gave up a precious Sunday to help out foreigners in trouble.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 6, 2003

Kazuo's list at four

Kyodo News Free agent infielder Kazuo Matsui said Thursday he has narrowed his choices of where to play next season to four major league teams.
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2003

Bagabandi submits war internee info

Visiting Mongolian President Natsagiin Bagabandi on Thursday handed over documents on about 110 Japanese transferred to Mongolia after being detained by the Soviet Union after World War II.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 5, 2003

Akihabara -- not just a treat for the tourists

Growing up means putting away your toys. At least that's the accepted view. But in truth, adults don't forsake toys -- we just buy more expensive and interesting ones.
COMMENTARY
Dec 3, 2003

Lots of debate, little action

The problems with Japan's education system are well known -- poor teaching in the universities; class disintegration (gakkyu hokai) in the schools -- to name but a few. So many students, unwilling to put up with the pressures and rigidities of the existing school system, are now dropping out of school...
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Expressway privatization proposals may defeat the purpose

The land ministry put the ball back in the government's court Friday, delivering three proposals for privatizing four debt-ridden expressway public corporations.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 23, 2003

N. Korea: where NGOs fear to go

PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS: The NGO Experience in North Korea, edited by L. Gordon Flake and Scott Snyder. Praeger Publishers, 2003, 176 pp., $45 (cloth). Pity the poor nongovernmental organizations trying to work in North Korea. They face a monumental challenge -- aiding a society that is starving and...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2003

Nagoya Prison guards face damages suit

Three former inmates of Nagoya Prison and the family of a dead prisoner jointly filed a civil suit Friday, demanding a total of 233.5 million yen from the state and 12 prison guards over alleged assaults.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 21, 2003

Slutskaya pulls out of NHK Trophy

Olympic silver medalist and 2002 world champion Irina Slutskaya of Russia will not compete in the upcoming NHK Trophy in Japan because of illness, the Japan Skating Federation said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Nov 21, 2003

Lowdown on the Top End

One interesting thing about Darwin is how often this city in the so-called Top End of north tropical Australia has been destroyed. Indeed there are those who contend that this is the only interesting thing about Darwin.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2003

Young environmental campaigner has message for Japan

Since delivering a speech during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 at age 12, Severn Cullis-Suzuki has actively campaigned worldwide to raise people's awareness about environmental issues.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan