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COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2005

Easy money set up today's dollar slump

GUATEMALA CITY -- There is a great deal of misunderstanding about why the dollar is in a slump. But it's no mystery. Recently, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was quoted as blaming America's infamous twin deficits for the fall of the dollar. And many financial talking heads murmured with relief when...
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2005

FamilyMart to introduce 'konbini' to Americans

When FamilyMart Co. opens a store in Hollywood, Calif., in July, the first Japanese convenience store in the U.S. might not be perceived as such by locals.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2005

Good sportsmanship in Saitama

Japan's national soccer team plays the North Korean team today in a qualifying match for the Asian World Cup in Saitama City, just north of Tokyo. Given the continued tense relations between the two countries, the Japanese government is calling on Japanese supporters to avoid quarreling with supporters...
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2005

Prohibition in Bhutan

The news out of the Himalayas last week was all about Nepal, where King Gyanendra on Tuesday dissolved the government and proclaimed a state of emergency. (The move was billed as an attempt to end an intractable Maoist insurgency; observers predict it will only feed the flames.) But if you think Nepal...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 5, 2005

'O-baa-chans' on the loose in Bali shops

I recently had the opportunity to accompany two Japanese women to Bali, Indonesia. This is not the first time I have been a personal tour guide for Japanese going to Bali, but this time was different because I was taking two very special people: my next-door neighbor Kazuko and another islander, Hiroko....
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2005

Looking up after bleak year

Two years ago, the World Economic Forum launched a Global Governance Initiative that brought together a group of experts from around the world to map the state of the world on peace and security, education, environment, health, human rights, and hunger and poverty. The initiative provides an assessment,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 30, 2005

Japanese hero pointedly ignored

It's said that the virtue most valued in Japan is loyalty, which is why the famous heroes of Japanese literature and history are people who made sacrifices for their lords rather than their beliefs. And often, as in the case of the 47 ronin celebrated in Chushingura or the tokkotai (kamikaze) pilots...
Japan Times
Features
Jan 30, 2005

One life that bridges many realms

Exchanging business cards and checking out what's written on them is a good way to start a conversation, but Ryo Kasuga has so many different job descriptions that you'd hardly know where to start. Not only is he a Buddhist priest, but he's an opera singer and an astronomer who runs a planetarium as...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Jan 28, 2005

2004: Year of the bounce; Serious Sirius

Calamitous. The world was a bouncin' in 2004.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2005

Hike in Tokyo-Seoul exchanges eyed

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed hope Tuesday that exchanges of people between Japan and South Korea will top 5 million this year, the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
COMMENTARY
Jan 24, 2005

A return to Northern basics

The Japan-Russia talks on the Northern Territories are deadlocked. Shortly after the end of World War II, the Soviet Union seized four islands or islet clusters northeast of Hokkaido -- Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai. In 1993, the two nations issued a joint statement calling for the conclusion...
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2005

Too soon to end U.S. military's aid effort

LOS ANGELES -- What seems truly noteworthy about the U.S. response to the tsunami disaster (especially as viewed here from the West Coast) is the dramatic duration of the caring. Even as the TV media have begun to lose interest (predictably), the general interest here seems not to be waning at all.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2005

Producer mistrusts NHK probe of censorship charge

A senior producer at NHK said Wednesday he does not trust the results of an in-house probe into allegations that the public broadcaster altered a documentary program about a mock trial on Japan's wartime sex slavery aired in 2001 due to political pressure.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jan 18, 2005

What can be done to better support the homeless people of Japan?

Bruce Whitehead Teacher, 31 Soup kitchens really work. A simple thing like a little bit of warmth and a little bit of food makes a huge difference to someone who's got nothing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 16, 2005

Diplo throws funky DIY marketing into the mix

"The goal is to expose the artist." Wesley Pentz is on the phone from Hawaii, explaining how he publicizes up-and-coming hip-hop talent. "It's basically putting promotion and marketing in your own hands," he explains. Contrary to what you may think, Pentz is not a record executive; he's a DJ with a passion...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Jan 16, 2005

Wota lota love

The 90-minute event on the eighth floor of an electronics shop in Tokyo's Akihabara district one recent Sunday afternoon was unlike anything you'd expect to encounter in the bubble-gum world of Japanese teen fashion.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 12, 2005

Shibutani set to call it a day

Hiroshi Shibutani, a three-time Olympian and winner of the bronze medal in men's doubles at the 1997 World Championships, said Tuesday he will call it a career after the ongoing table tennis national championships.
SUMO
Jan 10, 2005

Asashoryu off to winning start

Grand champion Asashoryu of Mongolia picked up right where he left off last year with a convincing win over compatriot Hakuho on the opening day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jan 9, 2005

Keiko Sakai: Conundrum Iraq

One year ago this month, an advance team from Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) arrived in Iraq on a mission -- so the Japanese public was told -- to help rebuild the wartorn country. The rest of the main contingent of 600 troops soon followed.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 9, 2005

The occupied days of the ultimate observer

THE JAPAN JOURNALS: 1947-2004, by Donald Richie. Stone Bridge Press, 2004, 494 pp., $29.95 (cloth). In "The Japan Journals," American writer Donald Richie has acted to the letter on Rimbaud's conviction that the first study for the man who wants to be a poet "is to know himself, completely. He must search...
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2005

China's Yasukuni ire 'puzzles' Japanese

For Tokyo native Mie Kondo, 31, Yasukuni Shrine is no more than a scenic area she used to visit with her family and a sightseeing spot to which she still likes taking visitors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 5, 2005

Momix: taking it to the top

Moses Pendleton remembers well his first taste of live performance. He was an elementary school kid when his father -- a dairy farmer in northern Vermont -- hired his young son to show off his prized Holstein cows at the county fair. "My job was to walk the animals around and make them look good in order...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 5, 2005

Painting over old Edo

As a child, Akira Yamaguchi spent countless hours hunched over his desk, doodling the many space-age rocket ships and humanoids he encountered in his bedroom anime collection. The young artist, however, also remembers feeling a sense of guilt whenever he attempted to mimic more traditional Japanese art...
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2005

Collegians abroad to get to teach here over break

The Justice Ministry will launch a new immigration initiative possibly next month to allow university students from overseas to come to Japan during school breaks to teach children at public schools, it was learned Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2005

Home schooling finds foothold but not official favor

Mariko Komuro was of the firm belief that children should go to school even if they experienced problems -- at least until her 8-year-old son, Kazutoshi, began to feel sick and throw up in the morning on school days.
EDITORIALS
Jan 3, 2005

Pile of unfinished business

This year has the potential to shape the world in profound ways. Some key events, and their results, will be instantly evident. Much of their impact will not be visible for years to come, however. We can identify with reasonable certainty what those moments will be, but only guess at their outcome and...
EDITORIALS
Jan 1, 2005

Royal bridge to the people

The new year has been ushered in by the auspicious news of a long-awaited announcement: Princess Nori, the only daughter of the Emperor, is engaged to Mr. Yoshiki Kuroda, a Tokyo Metropolitan Government employee. We congratulate them heartily and hope that they will serve as a bridge between the Imperial...
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2004

Zoos grope to captivate visitors

Gone are the days when a new panda or elephant guaranteed a boost in zoo visitors.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight