Search - japan

 
 
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2001

Necktie maker folds amid import glut

OSAKA -- Apparel wholesaler Asakurashoji Co. has applied for court protection from creditors under a fast-track corporate rehabilitation law, a private research institute said Monday.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Apr 24, 2001

Crisis of confidence grips Marinos

The Yokohama F. Marinos, last year's first-stage champions in the J. League, are struggling -- and struggling badly.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2001

Seven rules for privatizing government assets

When approaching a major decision relating to new laws or measures, leaders should give careful consideration to existing examples of efforts by other countries to solve the same underlying issues and their subsequent success or failure.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Emergency agricultural import curbs invoked

Japan will invoke a temporary emergency import curb today on three agricultural products, mainly from China, marking the first time Japan has invoked such measures under the ordinary safeguard mechanism of the World Trade Organization.
COMMENTARY
Apr 22, 2001

LDP must reform for the nation's good

For the past decade, the Japanese political scene has remained extremely unstable. Things have gone from bad to worse since the Liberal Democratic Party formed a coalition government. The root cause of the instability was the LDP's loss of majority status in both Houses of the Diet.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 22, 2001

A bird's-eye view of history

JAPAN: A Short History. Supervised by John Gillespie. New York/Tokyo: ICG Muse Inc. 2001, 80 pp., map, profusely illustrated, 950 yen. When Ralph Waldo Emerson remarked that "there is no history, only biography," he was implying that our annals are really only accounts. Like so much else, history...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 22, 2001

Okinawan writers provide a breath of fresh air

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa, edited by Michael Molasky and Steve Rabson. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 362 pp., $27.95 (paper). Okinawa consists of just .6 percent of the total landmass of Japan and contributes 1 percent to the population, according to the introduction...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2001

Musicians take it back to the bridge

It's Saturday night, and the basement rock 'n' roll club Penguin House in Koenji is packed to bursting. As late-coming guests crowd down the stairs, the performer, Dai Yamamoto, takes the stage and tunes up his instrument.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 22, 2001

Big novels get the small-screen treatment

Jiro Asada won Japan's prestigious Naoki Prize for literature in 1997 for his novel "Poppoya," which was later made into a hit movie starring Ken Takakura. His followup, "Tengoku made no Hyaku Mairu (The One Hundred Miles to Heaven)," was published in the fall of 1998. Veteran TV director Katsumi Oyama...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2001

Contorted system spells short-term leaders

Unless one is a political analyst or blessed with an excellent memory, it is close to impossible to correctly rattle off the names of Japan's prime ministers since the late 1980s. There have simply been too many in that time.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 21, 2001

Speaking in tongues for a national day of prayer

At 82, and a spirited minister to world leaders, Harald Bredesen may be forgiven his excesses. Not only does he have a gift of the gab, but an enthusiasm for quoting so loudly from Scripture in public places that it turns heads. (In our hotel coffee shop, he has to be thrice shushed.)
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 21, 2001

Jane Best Cooke

In Queen Elizabeth II's New Year's honors list, Jane Best Cooke was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire. She was awarded this distinction in recognition of her contribution to the promotion in Japan of British culture, and to a wide range of charitable and international friendship activities....
COMMENTARY
Apr 21, 2001

U.S. must seek three-way balance in Asia

LOS ANGELES -- China is about to get a new U.S. ambassador. But will it get a new U.S. China policy?
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2001

Seoul sends back ambassador after textbook protest

South Korean Ambassador Choi Sang Yong returned to Japan on Thursday and urged Foreign Minister Yohei Kono not to spoil bilateral relations, a Foreign Ministry official said.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2001

Drawing line on weak yen just lip service?

At their latest meeting in Kuala Lumpur, finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations voiced deep concern over a weak yen.
EDITORIALS
Apr 19, 2001

Beyond the textbook controversy

A junior high-school history textbook edited by a nationalist group continues to stir controversy and provoke anger, especially in South Korea. The textbook in question, written by the Japanese Society for Textbook Reform, which calls existing history textbooks "masochistic," recently cleared censorship...
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2001

Mistaken cures for the Japanese economy

The debate over economic reform in Japan, especially the alleged need to force banks to dispose of bad loans, resembles the story about the hospital patient on life support because of a serious blood-circulation problem. One result of that problem is badly swollen feet. But the doctors can only focus...
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 17, 2001

Talk straight, chew gum

Give us more backup to win the World Cup. That was the message manager Philippe Troussier had for Japan's soccer fans Sunday.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2001

Toyota sells off J-Phone stake, backs KDDI

Toyota Motor Corp. has sold its stakes in the J-Phone group to the mobile phone operator's parent, Japan Telecom Co., to clarify its commitment to rival carrier KDDI, Toyota officials said Monday.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 17, 2001

Troussier dumps MVP Nakamura

Yokohama F. Marinos midfielder and J. League MVP Shunsuke Nakamura was dropped from Japan's 22-member squad for next week's friendly against Spain while four new players -- Shimizu S-Pulse defensive midfielder Kazuyuki Toda, Sanfrecce defender Kenichi Uemura, Marinos defender Yasuhiro Hato and Kashima...
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2001

LDP presidential candidates spar over cure for economy

The four hopefuls in the race to replace Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori remained divided Sunday over their prescriptions for Japan's diseased economy.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2001

LDP rivals back approval of textbook

All four candidates vying for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency are defending the government's recent approval of a junior high school history textbook that critics say glosses over Japan's wartime aggression in Asia.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2001

Workers to get more days off for Golden Week

Employees of major companies in Japan will get an average of 7.3 consecutive days off work during the Golden Week holiday season, according to a Labor Ministry survey released this week.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 14, 2001

Capital solution by accident rather than design

Asked whether she is surprised to find herself ruling the roost in corporate splendor on the 18th floor of the Shin-Nikko Building in Toranomon, Sakie Fukushima nods emphatically. Very surprised, she says. "I've never planned a single step of my career. Basically I'm not a very confident person."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 14, 2001

No more excuses for not knowing your fish

Confused by all the different kinds of fish in Japan? I have learned to recognize fish by studying their facial expressions as they lay on my plate. It also helps to know which fish are served in which seasons.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear