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BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Mar 7, 2002

Yen's rebound may be short-lived affair

The yen has regained some of its recent losses against the dollar, but the upturn could soon run out of steam.
LIFE / Travel / FLOWER WALK
Mar 7, 2002

Childlike delight amid a forest of flowers

Camellia, or tsubaki in Japanese, has always been integral to this country's culture. Mentioned in ancient chronicles and legends, it is also used as a design motif for noh costumes, is highly regarded in ikebana arrangements and was prized by Tokugawa shoguns. Without the flamboyance of sakura, tsubaki...
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2002

Imported vehicle sales drop 4.4%

Sales of imported vehicles in Japan dropped 4.4 percent in February from a year earlier to 20,129 units, down for sixth consecutive month, the Japan Automobile Importers Association said Wednesday.
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 6, 2002

Troussier names 34-man squad for next week's training camp

Japan manager Philippe Troussier has named a 34-man squad for next week's training camp in Shizuoka Prefecture ahead of this month's World Cup buildup matches against Ukraine and Poland, the Japan Football Association announced Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 6, 2002

Of life's mystery and joy

He lived through the best and worst of times. His life spanned a century of tremendous change, as Japan's focus shifted from rural to industrial, from East to West, from peace to war. He experienced poverty and success, respect and recrimination. He was Taikan Yokoyama (1868-1958), one of Japan's most...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 6, 2002

A syllable becomes a word -- and a world

"When you say the word 'dog,' " the Swiss founder of modern linguistics Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) once remarked, "everyone imagines something different." But as Hasse Mitsuko's new one-woman show, "Voice," triumphantly demonstrates, even the simplest sounds, too, can be full of meaning.
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2002

Narrow field helps Koizumi

Immediately after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi fired Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka early Jan. 30, the public approval rate of his government plummeted to about 50 percent from the unprecedentedly high 80 percent it had maintained for nine months since its inception in April. There may be no rebuttal...
SOCCER / J. League / TALK OF THE TIMES
Mar 4, 2002

Cerezo hopes to take Kashima to third J. League title

Kashima Antlers boss Toninho Cerezo has had a remarkable two seasons with his J. League Division One club despite his short coaching experience.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2002

Beating the U.N. endgame in Cambodia

CANBERRA -- The U.N. Secretariat's Feb. 8 announcement ending further cooperation with Cambodia on jointly run Khmer Rouge trials has set off a round of international commentary, mostly unfavorable to Cambodia. Here is an attempt to set the record straight, based on reliable public sources.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2002

Cutting workers some slack

You have to give Britain credit. It may be a tired shadow of its former muscular imperial self, but it still has the energy to invent a way to put that very tiredness on the map. Last week, Britons observed their second annual National Slacker Day. (That is, they were urged to observe it; figures on...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2002

Apologies to Seoul and Beijing

SAN DIEGO -- When it comes to the histories and cultures of the countries of the Pacific, the U.S. president either received a lousy education at Andover and Yale or else failed to study.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Mar 3, 2002

Wolves in wolves' clothing

How Guitar Wolf is still going after 15 years of unadulterated sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll madness is a miracle. It's not like they're cashed-up like Keith Richards and can hit an exclusive Swiss clinic to have their blood replaced with that of fresh virgins every other week.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 3, 2002

It takes a lot of work to fool a fish

One late summer afternoon, in the village of Oshino, Yamanashi Prefecture, I was sitting by a stream against the backdrop of Mount Fuji, my fly-fishing rod at my side. On a gentle breeze, a large mayfly came along and started fluttering on the water. It soon fell, getting its wings wet while trying to...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 3, 2002

Fish-friendly angling may not be the answer

Since Japan's first catch-and-release area opened on Yamagata Prefecture's Sagae River in July 1997, the number of such areas has grown to more than 30 across the country. In these areas, anglers generally report bigger, more satisfying catches, as by releasing the fish they are being allowed to live...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 2, 2002

Metal horse, stun gun: I'm ready to roll

I have always been hesitant to drive a car in Japan. I'm afraid I'll run over pedestrians. I'm from the countryside in Ohio, where we have no pedestrians, just possums and raccoons. You're allowed to run over them. Sure, I had seen pedestrians before, but they were always on signs. They never actually...
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2002

Reform initiative faces setback

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi faces mounting difficulties as he tries to keep his reform initiative alive. His problem, in a nutshell, is that events are overtaking him. The gap between rhetoric and reality is widening amid growing signs of deflation. His favorite slogan, "structural reforms with...
SOCCER / World cup
Feb 28, 2002

Asia must earn extra spot: Blatter

If Asia wants an extra automatic berth to future World Cups, then it will have to earn it, FIFA president Sepp Blatter told the Japanese media on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2002

Myanmar asylum-seeker gratified, vexed by minister's sudden reversal

His three-year court struggle for refugee status was soon to be over when the man from Myanmar received an unexpected letter from the justice minister last week.
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2002

Australia: a 'lucky' country no longer

The debate over Canberra's handling of several thousand Afghan and other boat people from Indonesia claiming to be political refugees says a lot about Australia. Holding the refugees in barbed-wire desert camps or dumping them on remote Pacific Islands may have upset the rest of the world, but in Australia...
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2002

NEC and telecom firms eye tieup as Internet provider

NEC Corp. has begun talks with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. and two other major telephone carriers to create an Internet service coalition, sources said.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2002

Securities firms slapped over trading violations

The Financial Services Agency ordered four foreign-affiliated securities firms Tuesday to either suspend or improve operations after they were found to have violated new rules on short-selling.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 27, 2002

When the gods come down to earth

Next month, a taste of one of Japan's oldest folk arts comes to Tokyo's National Theater -- a two-day program of Shiiba Kagura, a colorful and profoundly religious dance that hails from a remote region of Kyushu.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Feb 27, 2002

Hanayo and Tenko: through a lens blurrily

Cocky, irreverant and devil-may-care, invariably to be found surrounded by admirers as he holds forth from behind a big fat cigar, the Neo-Pop painter Takashi Murakami has for the last few years been one of Japan's leading international art stars.
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2002

Beware the axis of hubris

WASHINGTON -- As U.S. President George W. Bush wandered across Northeast Asia, it appeared that he thought it was 1942, not 2002. He seemed to believe that the world was engaged in a twilight struggle between good and evil, and only overwhelming American military involvement everywhere could prevent...
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Feb 27, 2002

Signs of the times

Is the world ready for Hikki?
EDITORIALS
Feb 26, 2002

Constitutional reform debate low-key

The parliamentary debate on constitutional reform is making little headway two years after it formally began in both Houses of the Diet. The Constitutional Research Committee, created in both Houses in 2000 to make a comprehensive review of the national charter, is expected to submit a report in 2005....
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2002

Fight against deflation like a many-edged sword

The government plans to formalize a comprehensive policy package Wednesday to combat deflation.
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2002

Bush's policies give allies reason to worry

U.S. President George W. Bush's "axis of evil" statement in his State of the Union message has worried not only the European Union but also America's Asian allies, particularly Japan and South Korea. South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's "sunshine policy" toward North Korea is now in danger of collapsing,...
EDITORIALS
Feb 25, 2002

Reviewing ODA for Central Asia

Central Asia has occupied an important position in Japan's official development assistance for the past several years. In fact, our nation is the largest aid donor to the region. With the situation there changing dramatically in the wake of the antiterror war in Afghanistan, now is an opportune time...

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan