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JAPAN
Feb 19, 2002

Kansai kids plan to kick off World Cup runup in May

OSAKA -- Japanese and foreign children from the Kansai region will take part in their own version of the World Cup soccer finals here in May as part of festivities leading up to the actual event, according to organizers.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2002

Bush arrives in Tokyo, keeps hard line on 'axis'

U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon for his first visit to Japan since his inauguration last year, on the first leg of a six-day tour of East Asia that will also take him to South Korea and China.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2002

Environment activists plan chilly reception for Bush

While the government prepares to roll out the red carpet for U.S. President George W. Bush as he arrives today in Tokyo for his inaugural visit, a collection of nongovernmental groups are planning a less warm welcome.
BUSINESS
Feb 16, 2002

McDonald's logs '01 sales decline on mad cow scare

Ltd. said Friday it suffered a sharp decline in unconsolidated profits in 2001 due to falling hamburger sales after the mad cow disease outbreak in September. The fast food operator also announced that as part of a drive to reverse this trend it has agreed with Pret A Manger, a London-based sandwich...
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Feb 13, 2002

Nimaime wa so-so, baby

I hate to say it, but Love Psychedelico has succumbed to the dreaded "second-album syndrome" with "Love Psychedelico Orchestra," which was released Jan. 9. It's not a bad album -- in fact it has some great songs, like the opening track, "Standing Bird," which features a wonderfully infectious keyboard...
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2002

Space business still awaiting liftoff

The second H-2A rocket, which is touted as the leading player in Japan's space development at the beginning of the 21st century, was successfully launched last Monday, deploying one of the two probes it was carrying into orbit. Following the successful launching of the first H-2A rocket in August 2001,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 10, 2002

Japanese women 'defect' to the West

WOMEN ON THE VERGE: Japanese Women, Western Dreams, by Karen Kelsky. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001, pp. 294, $18.95 (paper) The pursuit of "things foreign" has become an increasingly common activity of Japanese women in recent decades. Whether it be through study and work abroad, or through...
COMMENTARY
Feb 4, 2002

Price of pure market reform

"Kozo kaikaku"(structural reform) is the buzzword these days. But it isn't clear exactly what it means. Yet it is the "clincher" in newspaper articles, economic journals and TV comments by economists. The common belief here is that structural reform is in and by itself good. It is held as an article...
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2002

Dow tops Nikkei in latest sign of Japanese economic decline

The year was 1957. Russia launched Sputnik, Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House, Elvis swiveled his hips in "Jailhouse Rock" and the Dow and the Nikkei were at level pegging.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2002

Kawaguchi, Ivanov plan talks to resolve islands dispute

Japan and Russia agreed Saturday to hold vice-ministerial talks in mid-March in Moscow to discuss the substance of a half century-long territorial dispute over four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido that Japan claims.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2002

Koizumi, Bush set to confirm goals during U.S. leader's February visit

Confirming Japan-U.S. cooperation in the fight against terrorism and discussing how to revive Japan's economy will be key issues during U.S. President George W. Bush's visit here later this month, Japan's ambassador to the United States has said in Tokyo.
COMMUNITY
Feb 3, 2002

Sake's never been better -- so why the poor business?

Sake is so central to life in these islands that the name of the fermented rice drink is also the Japanese word for all alcoholic drinks.
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2002

Truth and consequences

The forced resignation of Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka says a lot about Japan's sloppy politics and its emotional inability to focus on the rights and wrongs of a dispute.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

JAL, JAS give merger details

Japan Airlines Co. and Japan Air System Co. on Tuesday unveiled details of their upcoming merger, saying they plan to cut 73 billion yen in costs by fiscal 2005 by shedding 3,000 workers and sharing aircraft and facilities.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Baker says Bush will focus on economy during visit

U.S. President George W. Bush will express his support for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's economic reforms when he visits Japan next month, and the Japanese economy will be one of the major topics of discussion, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2002

Still passing on her father's ideals of democracy

Yukika Soma can't see very well these days. Her eyesight is fine, she says; it's just she has trouble controlling her eyelids. She still comes into her Nagata-cho office three or four days a week at the Ozaki Yukio Memorial Foundation, named after her father, but nowadays a young assistant escorts her...
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2002

Continue with energy reform, USTR's Huntsman says

Despite the collapse of Enron Corp., the U.S. energy giant that pushed liberalization of the Japanese energy market, Japan should continue with its own efforts to open the lucrative sector, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jon M. Huntsman Jr. said Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2002

O'Neill against relying on weak yen for recovery

In an apparent move to step up pressure on Japan, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill warned Wednesday that Tokyo should not resort to a weak yen to revive the long-ailing economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2002

Get market forces on the side of reform

There are episodes in history that deservingly draw our attention -- some very small in scale but major in impact. In American history, one such moment at the start of the Revolutionary War has come to be known as "the shot that rang through the world." Another such momentous event recently appeared...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2002

U.S. backs reform drive: Powell

The United States fully supports Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's ongoing reform drive and expects Japan to become the world's "economic engine" again, U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell told the prime minister on Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2002

Activating the Kyoto treaty

The international agreement on climate change, better known as the Kyoto Protocol, is expected to take effect later this year, perhaps in September. But the United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is conspicuously absent from the ratification process. The U.S. boycott is certainly a serious...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jan 21, 2002

Charades begin with 'Narita neurosis'

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Some 10 years ago, a Japanese student at an institute in Bologna where I was a visiting professor produced an essay in which he wrote "because Japan has a unique culture, it is misunderstood and discriminated against by other countries."
COMMUNITY
Jan 20, 2002

Kabukicho: where worlds collide

About 1 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 1, 2001, a fire of undetermined origin swept through the No. 56 Myojo Building in Shinjuku's Kabukicho district, resulting in the deaths of 44 people on the upper two floors. While investigators say they have ruled out arson, stories in the tabloid press continue...
COMMUNITY
Jan 20, 2002

When something Western this way came

Like a Yankee daimyo, on Nov. 23, 1857, Townsend Harris made a progress to Edo (now Tokyo) from his residence in Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula. Proceeded by an American flag made of Japanese crepe, Harris, on horseback, was escorted by a guard of six whose costumes bore the coat-of-arms of the United...
JAPAN / PROTOCOL PURSUIT
Jan 19, 2002

Role of forests seen leading environmental debate

Last of three parts Staff writer Forests are now at the forefront of climate-change debate in Japan.
JAPAN / PROTOCOL PURSUIT
Jan 18, 2002

Emissions-trading plan put on back burner

Staff writer Until recently, trading in carbon dioxide emissions seemed destined for early introduction in Japan. The launch of such a system, however, is being put off as the government postpones key policy decisions to curb global-warming emissions.
BUSINESS
Jan 18, 2002

Tokyo set to cut the umbilical cord

An aging, even failing, parent still carrying a grown-up child piggyback is about to stave off collapse by finally letting the child walk by itself -- at least for a short distance.

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