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COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2002

Unilateralism is not the way

CANBERRA -- As the sole remaining superpower, not only does the United States have no peer competitor, its dominance is unmatched across a whole range of issues and areas of activity in world affairs.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2002

Prime minister or nationalist puppet?

CAMBRIDGE, England -- The ink was barely dry on my April 21 Japan Times article "Koizumi trade pitch misses," which stated Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was thinking of going to pray at Yasukuni Shrine, when the news came that he had gone. We were told that he had felt the need "to mourn those who...
JAPAN
May 13, 2002

Prosecutors likely to question Togo over travel costs

Prosecutors will question fired Japanese diplomat Kazuhiko Togo over an allegation that he broke rules regarding travel expenses.
JAPAN
May 13, 2002

Health ministry confirms fourth case of mad cow

A test conducted Saturday on a slaughtered cow has revealed that it was infected with mad cow disease, the health ministry said.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 12, 2002

Chewing the cud with cheap shots at soccer

Here's a confession for you -- a self-insight I discovered just the other night:
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2002

Straight from the trainer's mouth

Japan's racing world is steeped in tradition. Many trainers are former jockeys or come from long-established racing families. Nobuhiro Suzuki, 42, is one of a new breed of trainer: outsiders, usually highly educated. Suzuki gained his training license in 1997 after working as a veterinarian, groom and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2002

Are local tracks up against the odds?

There is little glamor at Kawasaki Racetrack. Under grubby baseball caps, cigarettes and pencil stubs are jammed behind the ears of tense punters. The odor of ramen wafts along the betting slip-littered corridors and stairways under the stands.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2002

Where the finest get on the fast track

Imagine, just for a moment, that you are a horse.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 12, 2002

Brewing it naturally isn't so easy

In recent years, there has been increased interest in organic sake. To legally specify something as organic or organically produced is difficult, at least in countries that have begun enforcing the standards that are needed to ensure safety and quality, as well as the protection of the environment.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
May 11, 2002

S-Pulse makes quarters

KOBE -- Shimizu S-Pulse secured its place in the Nabisco Cup quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory over Vissel Kobe at Kobe Universiade Stadium on Thursday night, celebrating the return of Shimizu and Japan defender Ryuzo Morioka from an injury.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Personal information bill endangers privacy, press: LDP politician

A government-sponsored bill to protect personal information, which critics fear would threaten freedom of the press, is more likely aimed at protecting bureaucrats rather than individual members of the public, according to a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who has openly criticized the legislation....
BASEBALL / MLB
May 11, 2002

Giants' utility man Crespo ready to do whatever it takes

If it were up to Felipe Crespo, he'd be chasing fly balls in the Tokyo Dome outfield. Somewhere -- left, right or center -- it doesn't matter.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

ODA commitment firm despite fiscal condition: Shiokawa

Despite budgetary constraints, Japan's basic attitude toward providing Asian countries with official development assistance remains unchanged, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2002

Learn the lessons, then let go of the past

The first step of Myanmar's democratization has begun following the bold step of the military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to free Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday. Though it was a small step, it was a giant leap for the victimized people of Myanmar, who will now be able to live...
LIFE / Language
May 10, 2002

Haiku celebrates overseas offspring, reconnects with nature

Can there be another country in the world where poetry is almost as regular a feature in newspapers as the weather forecast? Many -- perhaps even most -- newspapers in Japan carry columns of poetry on their pages. It is made easier by the fact that Japanese poems are traditionally very short, and that...
JAPAN
May 9, 2002

McDonald's joins stampede toward personalized marketing

Ltd. revealed its plans to launch a new e-shopping venture targeting users of cellular phones and personal computers. While the e-business entry by the fast-food giant underscores the huge potential of the sector, some experts believe consumers need to be aware that greater convenience carries with it...
BUSINESS
May 8, 2002

Yahoo auction fee hike helps rival cash in

The number of items featured on the online auction site of Yahoo Japan Corp. has fallen by nearly 50 percent since early March, due to a recent hike in user fees, officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Info brokers have got your number, among other things

In the spring of 1999, Haruo Tanaka (not his real name) became interested in buying a condominium and visited several showrooms in Tokyo. Each time, he was asked to fill out a questionnaire. He provided his name, age, address and phone number as well as his annual income.
JAPAN
May 5, 2002

Suicide victim left terrorist attack details

A man who died after setting himself on fire in Tokyo's Hibiya Park on March 30 left a memo detailing plans for a terrorist attack carried out in 1972, sources said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2002

The wrinkles in Botox

Is it just us, or do others have the same reaction to media stories about the mounting popularity of Botox, the toxo-cosmetic touted as death to wrinkles: People are injecting what into their faces?
SOCCER / World cup
May 5, 2002

Troussier adds Ono, Nakata to squad

Japan coach Philippe Troussier will take the Kirin Cup squad to Europe for next week's friendly against Real Madrid but has called up Parma midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata and Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono for the friendly against Norway on May 14, the Japan Football Association announced Friday.
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2002

What is terrorism?

Two weeks after the attacks on New York and Washington, an article by Susan Sontag, novelist, essayist, director, playwright and easily America's most provocative public intellectual, appeared in the now-famous black-cover issue of the New Yorker magazine. In it, Sontag excoriated Americans for their...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
May 5, 2002

Now is the season to indulge your shellfish gene

For thousands of years, populations living close to the sea have found shellfish an easily obtainable and convenient source of protein and trace minerals. Shellfish is the general term for crustaceans (shrimp, crab, lobster) and mollusks (clams, oysters, squid and octopuses). All of these shellfish (kokakurui...
JAPAN
May 4, 2002

Old habits die hard, especially group pressure to chug the ale

NARA -- Since the days of Prince Shotoku in the early seventh century, Japanese have been encouraged to respect "wa," or harmony in a group.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person