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JAPAN
Dec 22, 2003

Festivals and food are top selling points to entice tourists

Festivals and food are the top two selling points that foreign nationals working at local Japanese governments use to convince friends to visit Japan, according to a Foreign Ministry survey.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2003

Is Kim sweating over dictator's capture?

HONOLULU -- Intelligence agencies from Seoul to Singapore would pay dearly for the answer to perhaps the most intriguing question in Asia arising from the capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein: What does the "Dear Leader" of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, who, like Hussein, is a charter member...
COMMENTARY
Dec 18, 2003

Conservatives smell an upset

LONDON -- A transformation has taken place on the British political scene, and it is one that could have profound effects on the wider European landscape as well as on trans-Atlantic relations. The nature of this change can be summed up in two words -- Michael Howard. This is the man who has now emerged...
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2003

Koizumi era sees China ties deteriorate

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have grown ever more thorny since the demise of pro-China politicians such as former Prime Ministers Noboru Takeshita and Keizo Obuchi.
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...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Dec 13, 2003

Third Eye New Year's Party Picks & more

For the first time in several countdowns, the Tokyo crowd has to choose, or at least compromise, on where to be on New Year's Eve.
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.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 10, 2003

Imagine art for all people, living peacefully

Yoko Ono loves me. Or at least she said that she does in the e-mail interview we conducted as she crisscrossed the globe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 10, 2003

Think Positive

To the general public, Yoko Ono is best known as the wife of John Lennon. Some may have a vague inkling that she is important for something other than the far-out records she made with her husband, but without knowing exactly what.
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.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2003

Fear rules Uzbek majority opposition

LONDON -- Uzbekistan President Islam Abduganievich Karimov will have been watching recent events in Georgia very closely. Could a "revolution" like the one that ousted President Eduard Shevardnadze happen in Uzbekistan?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 7, 2003

Japan's refusal to embrace sex education fuels spread of AIDS

U.S. President George W. Bush may be the best example of how ignorance can be wielded as a weapon, but most people who take advantage of their ignorance prefer to use it as a shield. Tadao Eguchi, the president of the hotel company that operates the hot-spring resort that canceled the reservations of...
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2003

Death penalty upheld for Hayashi

The Tokyo High Court on Friday upheld the death penalty for senior Aum Shinrikyo member Yasuo Hayashi for his roles in two fatal sarin attacks and an attempt to spread cyanide gas at JR Shinjuku Station.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 6, 2003

Yoko Wakabayashi

Last month, Shinjuku Gardens staged its annual chrysanthemum show. Last spring, it maintained its reputation as one of the best Tokyo places for cherry blossoms. Year round, people enjoy the extensive lawns, giant trees and scenic lakes of these public gardens, which have replaced what used to be the...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 4, 2003

Learning the finer points of this, that and 'nani'

Like the Japanese economy, the Japanese conversation has dwindled. Our words have lost their luxurious sheen, our sentences have been reduced to short strings of blah. We no longer need the metaphors of Osamu Dazai to convey our emotions, since a handful of familiar phrases have been encoded to cover...
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2003

Companies pursue image boost via programs for disabled

Japanese corporations are steadily expanding their social action programs to support physically disabled people in an apparent bid to look better to foreign investors.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 2, 2003

Could fear derail bold tourism bid?

There's a great irony in the Japanese government's "action plan" to double the the number of tourists who come to these shores by 2010.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 2, 2003

Green cards, tenant rights and sewing

Immigration worry Dear Lifelines; My wife and I are returning in January from the U.S.; I am a U.S. citizen and she is Japanese. We had lived in Japan together for 7 years prior to my 2 year U.S. assignment. (I am a regular employee of the Japan branch office.)
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2003

Iraq and economy top political agenda

The special session of the Diet that was convened on Nov. 19 following the Nov. 9 general election came to an early close Nov. 27. On the question of the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, which is the most important issue at the moment, fierce debate unfolded between Prime Minister Junichiro...
Events
Nov 30, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Planetarium to display stars at Osaka store: A display of the stars and the solar system is being offered free until Dec. 25 at a special planetarium dome set up at the Kintetsu Abeno department store in Abeno Ward, Osaka.
COMMENTARY
Nov 30, 2003

Fear, posturing cloud Sri Lanka's fate

HONG KONG -- The latest Sri Lankan political crisis is still unfolding. The peace process, expected to end the state of civil war, is endangered. So is the future of Sri Lankan democracy. At the very moment when foreign-aid pledges worth more than $4 billion are waiting to be fulfilled, some Sinhalese...
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2003

No resting on laurels in Asia

SEOUL -- This is a remarkable moment in international relations. Despite a nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, there are no doubts about the U.S. commitment to East Asia. Despite widespread criticism of U.S. policy, Washington currently enjoys "the best relations ever" with both Japan and China....
MORE SPORTS
Nov 27, 2003

Japan, U.S. to join forces in Tokyo

Japan and the United States will hold a joint training session in Tokyo for male gymnasts to help raise their mutual skill levels, the Japan Gymnastic Association said Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 22, 2003

Nicola Townsend

An Australian arts festival that began a six-month run last July in Japan is giving presentations of a variety of culturally diverse art forms. Events, still being held in different venues, project "a distinctive Australian art scene bursting with vitality." The Australian government in partnership with...
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2003

Scandal-tainted Nippon TV sees profit fall

Nippon Television Network Corp., rocked by a viewer ratings scandal, on Thursday reported double-digit profit falls for the half year to Sept. 30 amid slumping ad revenue and a lack of big events matching last year's World Cup soccer finals.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2003

Fuji TV net profit up 37.4% in half

Fuji Television Network Inc. said Wednesday its group net profit for the six months to Sept. 30 rose 37.4 percent from a year earlier to 14.07 billion yen, buoyed by the popularity of its smash-hit sequel to a police drama film.
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2003

SDF will go to Iraq despite recent security incidents, Fukuda asserts

Japan will not back down from its plan to dispatch Self-Defense Forces troops to Iraq, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 19, 2003

No Athens for Ai Sugiyama

Ai Sugiyama has decided not to compete at the 2004 Athens Olympics to avoid a scheduling conflict, tennis officials said Tuesday.

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