Search - study

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2002

Sumitomo, Mitsui Chemicals unite to weather tough times

As a global wave of consolidation sweeps through the chemicals industry, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Japan's second-largest chemicals maker, is trying to get a jump on its domestic rivals by merging with industry No. 3 Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 2002

Shaping up nicely

There is something about landscaped Japanese gardens that suggests timelessness, a phenomenon apparently contrary to that Japanese tendency to locate beauty in what is fleeting in this world.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 24, 2002

The past made perfect

THE POLITICS OF RUINS AND THE BUSINESS OF NOSTALGIA, by Maurizio Peleggi. Studies in Contemporary Thailand, No. 10, forward by Craig J. Reynolds. Bangkok: White Lotus Press., 2002, 100 pp., 450 baht (paper) Now that Kyoto is to all intents "Kyotoland," it might be instructive to turn to other countries...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 24, 2002

De Ferranti opens the door to a musical Other

JAPANESE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, by Hugh de Ferranti. Oxford University Press, 2000, 104 pp., $13.95 (cloth) It would be perfectly possible for a foreigner to live in Heisei Japan for quite some time without ever becoming aware that Japan has an original music of its own, so low is the profile of "hogaku"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 23, 2002

Personal agenda with Taisho feminist literature

Woken earlier in the day, Anne Sokolsky was so sleepy she assumed me to be a Japanese woman speaking bad English rather than the other way around. A rocky start dispelled by the wide-awake vivacity with which she approached me at Tokyo's Yotsuya Station midafternoon.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 22, 2002

Asian hive bee

* Japanese name: Nihon mitsubachi * Scientific name: Apis cerana * Description: Asian hive bees are social insects. Hairy and bullet-shaped, they have well-developed tongues and back legs with special hairs that mesh together to form a flexible basket for carrying pollen. Bees are very strong and are...
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2002

Lengthy rule results in corruption

The re-election of Mr. Robert Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe augurs ill for the future of the southern African republic and for the regional stability of southern Africa as a whole. Mr. Mugabe has governed the former British colony since it became independent in 1980, pushing an ambitious program of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 20, 2002

Zazen and the art of playwriting

This month, the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is presenting two programs of kabuki plays and dance numbers starring such leading actors as Koshiro Matsumoto, Nizaemon Kataoka, Mitsugoro Bando and Sadanji Ichikawa, as well as the female-role specialists Tamasaburo Bando and Tokizo Nakamura.
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2002

Nation-building vs. military goals

Half a year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, President George W. Bush's war on terrorism appears to be entering a more complex and difficult phase. U.S. troops have mounted a major ground offensive in Afghanistan, while a special forces team is helping fight Muslim militants...
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2002

Hiranuma, Yeo agree to bolster ASEAN ties

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma and his Singaporean counterpart, George Yeo, agreed Monday to enhance cooperation for establishing a broad economic partnership between Japan and Southeast Asia.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 17, 2002

The tower and the story

On Christmas Eve, 1958, thousands of people poured through Hamamatsucho Station in Tokyo's Minato Ward to take in Japan's first postwar shot at a "public attraction." There was nothing particularly cute about it; no fearsome rides, or cuddly characters to have your photo taken with. What's more, visitors...
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2002

Wal-Mart to enter Japan through alliance with ailing Seiyu

U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and struggling supermarket operator Seiyu Ltd. said Thursday they are forming a capital alliance that will enable the world's largest retailer to stride into Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2002

Halos, signposts show Korean impasse

HONG KONG -- Flower shows, snowdrifts and clouds over Mount Paektu may help explain the continued absence of peace on the Korean Peninsula.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2002

Takebe to meet Seoul counterparts

Tsutomu Takebe, minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, will visit South Korea today and Sunday for talks with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Tong Tae, and Yu Sam Nam, maritime affairs and fisheries minister, the ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 9, 2002

Finding stories behind the headlines for translation

As the founding managing editors of Kotan Publishing, Gavin Allwright and Atsushi Kanamaru are a match made in the heaven and hell of small independent book making. Certainly they could not be more physically different, one so tall, well-meaning and -- dare I say -- well padded; the other small, neat...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Mar 8, 2002

Getting used to accentuating the negative

Whatever you do, don't say anything nice about your child at parents' meetings
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2002

DoCoMo, Oracle in wireless deal

NTT DoCoMo Inc., U.S. software giant Oracle Corp. and Oracle's subsidiary in Japan said Wednesday they have agreed to develop products and services using DoCoMo's cellular phones, and Oracle's database and server systems.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2002

Second antideflation plan on way

The government will try to release a second antideflation policy package by the end of this month, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 6, 2002

Getting back to the beginning

How I love to drift off to sleep in cars and on trains. But invariably, when they stop, I wake up. Someone once told me that the reason moving cars and trains are so soporific is because they subconsciously remind us of the time we spent inside our first-ever mode of transport, which was, of course,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Mar 6, 2002

Be true to your old school

Suddenly, it's hip to be trad. Japanese traditional music is now in vogue, as artists such as Chitose Hajime, Hiromitsu Agatsuma, the Yoshida brothers and Shinichi Kinoshita strike a chord with music fans looking for something more rootsy and down-home to listen to than run-of-the-mill J-pop.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2002

ASEAN moves toward antiterror policy

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The just concluded meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was an important landmark in efforts to give new impetus to this regional organization, particularly in the post-Sept. 11 atmosphere. Several points about the meeting are worth...
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.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 3, 2002

Nasty, brutish, and flawed

A SUDDEN RAMPAGE: The Japanese Occupation of Southeast Asia, 1941-1945, by Nicholas Tarling. London: Hurst & Company, 2001, 286 pp., $36 (paper) As a rule, there are few positive accounts in Western literature of Japan's occupation of Southeast Asia during World War II, and this book by Nicholas Tarling...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 3, 2002

Gone fishing

Fly-fishing is like pachinko. You know how some people get a rush from watching things go into little holes? Well, replace the smoke, noise and flashing lights with tumbling brooks, mountains and fresh air and you've got fly-fishing.
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...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Mar 1, 2002

A prizewinning talk from the heart

When Jason Hancock took the grand prize at the NHK-televised 42nd International Speech Contest last June, he surprised everyone -- not least of all himself. After a series of impeccable orations by the other finalists (on such topics as the Japanese political system and Japanese linguistics), Hancock...
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2002

Britain warned Japan about MBM in 1990

The British government warned Japan's farm ministry in 1990 that meat-and-bone meal, an animal-based feed, could be the source of mad cow disease, a ministry report to a study panel revealed Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 27, 2002

METI panel holds first meeting on revising corporate taxes

A Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry study panel met Tuesday to discuss revisions to some corporate taxes as part of comprehensive government tax reforms.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji