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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 23, 2004

Do the Dogashima

Less than an hour by shinkansen from Tokyo, touristy Atami is no one's idea of a quiet little getaway. From there down to the tip, Shimoda -- of Black Ship Festival fame -- this eastern side of the Izu Peninsula is the busy, developed one. This is where you go to check out such cultural hot spots as...
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2004

Kono hits Keidanren arms trade push

House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono on Wednesday blasted the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) over its suggestion that the government should lift its ban on arms exports.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2004

Going global with civic virtues

How do we instill civic virtue in the global marketplace to civilize and tame it so that we arrive at the place where the market serves the people instead of where people are served up to the market? Around half of the world's 100 largest economies are private companies. This gives the private sector...
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2004

Struggling UFJ pursues merger deal with MTFG

Ailing UFJ Holdings Inc. on Wednesday asked rival Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. to merge with it in a deal that would create the world's biggest banking group, with 190 trillion yen in assets.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2004

Assessing Mr. Koizumi's reforms

It has been three years since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi launched a "no reform, no growth" program for economic revival. What has changed, or has not changed, under his administration? Simply put, are people better off now than they were three years ago? Voters will give their answers in Sunday's...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2004

Resort rattles isle's ecological sensitivities

IRIOMOTE ISLAND, Okinawa Pref. -- Dubbed by some as the "Galapagos in the East," Iriomote boasts subtropical forests, mangrove swamps and a surrounding coral reef.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2004

Rice, Koizumi mull North Korea issues

Visiting U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi discussed issues ranging from North Korea's nuclear program to Iraq during their meeting Wednesday, Japanese officials said.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 8, 2004

Renewable energy sources offer global chance to shed fossil fuels

As the leading national consumer of fossil fuels, the United States churns out almost a quarter of all the industrial carbon dioxide worldwide. Apologists say this is the price that must be paid in exchange for driving the global economy. Realists see such hubris as eventually undermining human viability...
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2004

Defense report pats SDF on the back for Iraq duty

The Self-Defense Forces troops deployed in Iraq have served Japan's national interests, strengthened the Japan-U.S. alliance and enabled the nation to carry out its responsibilities as a member of the international community, Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said in an annual agency report released...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2004

Clarify 'self-defense' role

The government decided recently to keep Self-Defense Force troops stationed in Iraq as participants in the multinational force following the handover of sovereignty. I support this decision. One reason the decision has been criticized is that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a procedural faux pas...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / A GAIJIN'S TALE
Jul 6, 2004

Stranger's kindness

A non-Japanese-speaking friend came here recently, and found a place in Kawasaki and a job in Hamamatsucho. Traveling to work, it was difficult for him to remember the names of the stations from Kawasaki to Hamamatsucho, so he remembered the big stations and then counted the number of stops in between....
Features
Jul 4, 2004

Questionnaire findings spotlight younger people's political gloom

Are you satisfied with current state of politics? Do you support a particular political party? How do you see the future of Japan? They say that the younger generation isn't interested in politics, do you agree? These were some of the questions that The Japan Times recently asked Japanese nationals in...
Japan Times
Features
Jul 4, 2004

Fears that falling voter turnout may 'threaten democracy'

"Are you only interested in Japan as far as sports are concerned?" asks a newspaper advertisement that has been running recently to alert people to the Upper House election July 11.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2004

PC worms, viruses hit record high

A record 36,039 cases of computer worm and virus infections were reported in the January-June period, antivirus software maker Trend Micro Inc. said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2004

SDF striving to become global partner

Among the 550 Ground Self-Defense Force troops in the first deployment to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah were five men in green fatigues armed with musical instruments.
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2004

Iraqis get their country back

Iraq is once again a sovereign nation. In a surprise move, the United States handed over power to the new, interim government in Baghdad two days early. The handover goes a long way toward wiping the slate clean: The 14-month occupation is officially over, and Iraqis can now say that they are in control...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 30, 2004

Creating mirages: the Muslim world onscreen

While Hollywood has a long tradition of demonizing Muslims, Japanese filmmakers have taken a decidedly more benign approach
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 29, 2004

Large clothes, scooters and passport help

Larger fashions Susan has info on where to find larger-sized clothes for women. "You can find Ladies LL size at the Ito Yokado Store in Shinagawa Ward (Oimachi Line, Rinkai Line and Keihin Line). Dress shop 'Miharu' (3F; phone 03-5743-0306) stays open until 11 p.m." Car parking is free to buying customers....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 27, 2004

North Korea's likely arsenal

NORTH KOREA'S WEAPONS PROGRAMMES: A Net Assessment, by International Institute for Strategic Studies staff. Palgrave Macmillan, 80pp., 2004, $90 (paper). To America's hard men of the right, North Korea harbors a full and fearsome array of weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, and the willingness to sell...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 24, 2004

Girls to the fore in planning 'eye-for-an-eye' revenge

If there is an extraterrestrial college student orbiting Earth or floating invisibly among us while writing a thesis on human behavior, then current events have provided some good examples of one basic human trait: retaliation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 23, 2004

Secrets lodged underneath the skin

The Human Stain Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Japanese title: Shiroi Karasu Director: Robert Benton Running time: 108 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] When David Howard, a white aide to the black mayor of Washington, D.C., spoke of a "niggardly"...
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jun 22, 2004

Nova's culture clash

Going to extremes Your article about the Nova no-contact rule was interesting, but seemed to overlook (or at least de-emphasize) one important aspect of the rule. It not only prevents Nova employees from having romantic or potentially romantic contact with any Nova student from any branch, but it also...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / A GAIJIN'S TALE
Jun 22, 2004

Food for thought

I was standing on a relatively crowded late afternoon train, quietly eating a sandwich when I heard in slow, but perfect, English: "It is thought . . . impolite . . . to eat . . . while standing . . . in Japan."
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 21, 2004

Translating laws into English would make good business sense

Japan is pushing for judicial reform, and efforts to establish a judicial system that the public can clearly understand and feel familiar with -- including the recent enactment of a law introducing the so-called citizen judge system -- are fully under way.
COMMENTARY
Jun 20, 2004

Kabul will need homegrown solutions

ISLAMABAD -- Renegade warriors who continue to mount attacks on U.S. military troops and Afghan government soldiers have effectively upset the runup to Washington-backed presidential elections scheduled in four months.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 19, 2004

Walt Disney 'imagineer' also promotes 52 virtues

It has taken John Kavelin 40 minutes to drive from his job as director of design and production at Tokyo Disneyland to his home in Minami Azabu. At least 20 minutes faster than if he took the train, he notes, pleased.
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2004

Reconciliation under house arrest

Defying international opinion, Myanmar's military government continues to rule the country with an iron hand. It is hard to understand why the ruling generals, despite their increasing isolation at home and abroad, maintain such a hardline stance. They should know that genuine democratic reform is the...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan