Search - japan

 
 
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Jun 21, 2001

Localities approach foreign firms to raise tax base

With the economy in the doldrums, cash-strapped local governments have begun warring with each other to attract foreign businesses and the jobs and tax revenue they bring. Touting tax incentives, lower land prices and proximity to factories in related industries, they are encouraging foreign firms to...
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2001

Windmills huff, puff against nuclear powerhouses

White windmills gently turn in a green pasture where cows graze in Kuzumaki in the Kitakami mountains of Iwate Prefecture.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 20, 2001

Face to face with individuality

"Are you Korean or Japanese?" goes the question.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2001

Koizumi may visit Moscow by yearend to discuss islands

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may make his first official visit to Moscow by the end of this year to rekindle negotiations on a long-standing territorial dispute between Japan and Russia.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Jun 19, 2001

JAWOC needs to step up the pace

Japan did well on the field in the Confederations Cup, finishing as the runnerup of the eight-nation tournament, but how smoothly did things go off the field in the test-run for next year's World Cup?
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2001

No plans to join U.S. missile initiative: Nakatani

Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani on Sunday ruled out any imminent plans for Japan to join the newly proposed U.S. missile defense initiative.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 18, 2001

Home team improves, but still gives up eight tries to Wales

Wales outclassed Japan 53-30 in the second test in front of 23,000 spectators at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium in Tokyo on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2001

U.S. visit will test Tanaka

After hemming and hawing, Washington has agreed to a visit to Washington by Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, who has stirred controversy here and abroad over her off-the-record comments that reportedly raised doubts about the U.S. missile defense plan, the Japan-U.S. security alliance and other issues....
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Teachers brave frontline of national IT offensive

SHIKI, Saitama Pref. — Sitting in pairs behind computer screens, 30 fifth-graders at Muneoka No. 3 Elementary School here try to catch an English word spoken by computer and select the corresponding picture by mouse.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

Online stores struggle for sales

Five months ago, online supermarket Olive Mart overhauled its business methods for the second time since its launch in May 1999.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2001

Airlines, World Cup seen pulling old foes closer

Japan and South Korea are used to referring to each other as the "nearest but most distant country" due to past troubles in their relationship.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2001

Security dialogue signals rise in New Delhi's global stature

In a belated but significant move amid increasingly murky relations among major players in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan and India are making last-minute preparations to inaugurate a high-level security forum.
LIFE
Jun 10, 2001

Joseph Conder: Enduring legacies of a 'high-collar' expat

Japanese domestic architecture has changed a lot in the last 100 years, but Western-style architecture was slow taking off and in fact the modern Japanese architectural establishment owes its organization, training system and much of its sense of style to one man: Josiah Conder.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

85% of Americans support security treaty: annual survey

Eighty-five percent of Americans support the Japan-U.S. security treaty, while Japan's closed markets topped the list of reasons a trade imbalance exists between the two countries, according to an annual poll released Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Koizumi clarifies missile defense policy with Tanaka, Nakatani

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday confirmed with Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani that Japan's basic position of "understanding" U.S. missile defense plans remains unchanged, government officials said.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2001

Tanaka-bureaucrat standoff yet to let up

Despite the announcement Wednesday of Foreign Ministry reform plans and the lifting Monday of a "freeze" on personnel transfers, the standoff between Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and senior bureaucrats is showing no signs of abating.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2001

Tanaka's reported faux pas concern U.S., Yanai says

WASHINGTON — The U.S. has expressed strong concern over the confusion surrounding reports that Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka has raised doubts about missile defense and the Japan-U.S. alliance, the Japanese ambassador to the U.S. said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 6, 2001

Music for the masses

Lord knows, it ain't easy Call it the Happy Meal effect, but what used to be considered "bonus" is now taken for granted. The multiple-stage gimmick offers more of a festival atmosphere, but if you go for the music you will eventually have to choose, and sometimes it ain't easy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2001

The trial of Unit 731

KHABAROVSK, Russia -- Late in December 1949, Soviet Communist Party leaders began distributing tickets in factories and institutes for an upcoming trial. Twelve Japanese physicians and military officers -- former researchers at a secret facility near Harbin, China known as Unit 731 -- stood accused of...
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Jun 5, 2001

Suzuki, Ono, Kawaguchi looking good

KASHIMA, Ibaraki Pref. -- When you have success in a soccer tournament, you often have a player or two who shine on your side.
COMMENTARY
Jun 2, 2001

Tests for Koizumi's 'vision'

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi faces a tough diplomatic test as he braces for his first overseas trips since taking office. On June 30 he will meet U.S. President George W. Bush at Camp David. In late July, he will attend the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations in Genoa, Italy....
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2001

Smokers' deadly paradise

For Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Hal Boyle, it wasn't too difficult to tell a man from a woman. "If it always offers you a cigar, it's a man," he quipped. "If it always is asking for a cigarette, then waits for a light, it's a woman."
JAPAN
May 31, 2001

Seoul hopes for 'sincere' answer to textbook request

South Korean Ambassador Choi Sang Yong said Wednesday he hopes Japan will "respond sincerely" to Seoul's request to correct what it sees as factual errors in a controversial history textbook.
COMMENTARY
May 28, 2001

Junichiro Koizumi: Can stardom become success?

LOS ANGELES -- Quality political leadership is so frequently conspicuous by its absence that even the slightest whiff of its sudden presence can electrify a political region. Is Japan finally experiencing the dynamic quality leadership it deserves? That's the question intriguing Asia.
JAPAN
May 28, 2001

Niigata village says no to MOX fuel use at nuke plant

KARIWA -- A majority of residents of the village of Kariwa in Niigata Prefecture objected Sunday to a plan to use plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at a local nuclear power plant, in Japan's first plebiscite on use of the controversial fuel, early returns showed.
JAPAN
May 27, 2001

China faces cut in ODA; focus of loans moves to interior

Japan is planning to concentrate its financial assistance to China on environmental conservation and improving the standard of living in inland provinces, according to a framework of Japan's new aid program obtained Saturday.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’