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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2003

Challenge of building peace

"At the top of the pyramid which we call civilization there is still the terrible fact of war. We cannot call ourselves a fully civilized people as long as that possibility exists and is, indeed, taken for granted." These are the heartfelt words of John Kenneth Galbraith, a man who witnessed firsthand...
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2003

Contenders for LDP president's crown

Shizuka Kamei For 66-year-old former LDP policy chief Shizuka Kamei, the past 2 1/2 years have been filled with betrayal and frustration.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2003

Using the right words in Kosovo

When it comes to media access, Kosovo's population is spoiled for choices. No apartment block is complete without its symmetrical rows of white satellite dishes scanning the heavens for news and entertainment. One estimate has it that 75 percent of the population has media access. BBC and MTV are just...
COMMENTARY
Sep 8, 2003

Japan must stick to its guns

Officials of six nations held talks in Beijing late last month on ways of defusing the North Korean nuclear crisis, 50 years after the signing of the armistice agreement that ended hostilities in the Korean War. The talks culminated in agreement to solve the crisis in a peaceful manner through dialogue...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2003

Reflections on Vieira de Mello's sacrifice

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The international community has lamented last month's death of a brave and honest man dedicated to the service of his fellow human beings to a degree matched by few others.
Events
Sep 7, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Pupils, parents get advice on study, career choices: An education and career guidance seminar for junior high school students from multicultural backgrounds will be held Sunday in Osaka's Abeno Ward and again on Sept. 20 in the city's Minato Ward.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 3, 2003

David Byrne: "Young Adam"; The Zephyrs: "A Year to the Day"

As a multimedia artist who mainly works in music, David Byrne is peculiarly suited to the job of movie-score composer, but for some reason he hasn't done that many. The producers of the Scottish film "Young Adam" asked him to write the movie's music and had an advantage since they were also involved...
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2003

Japan planning to dispatch fact-finding team to Iraq

The top government spokesman said Monday that Japan plans to send a fact-finding team to Iraq to assess rebuilding the war-torn country.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 2, 2003

Time running out for shrinking Japan

Last week when I started to research this article I went looking for foreign factory workers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 30, 2003

Scones, fresh lemon curd and cream teas, anyone?

Glen Taylor is on a mission. He wants to help dispel the notion that English food is terrible. "Forget any negative image. I'm out to prove it's easy to make, tastes terrific and is very healthy."
EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 2003

Argentina faces its past

Argentina's new president, Mr. Nestor Kirchner, faces many challenges, but none is as important as ending the "culture of impunity" that has existed in his country since democracy was restored some two decades ago. That process began last month with the government's decision to permit the extradition...
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2003

Fujimori case testing Japan

The Japanese government is facing mounting pressure from the Peruvian government for the extradition of former President Alberto Fujimori, who has been in exile in Japan since November 2000. Last March, Interpol issued an arrest warrant for the disgraced former leader and late last month, the Peruvian...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 26, 2003

Life imitates art for gaijin charmers

We had a fantastic response to our "Charisma Man" competition in last week's Community Page.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 25, 2003

What has your political party done for you lately?

The Nippon Keidanren is working on a set of guidelines aimed at encouraging member companies to donate to political parties and evaluate their policies. I would like to provide some background on the objectives of this ongoing effort.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2003

Japan again risking too little, too late

Last month Japan passed legislation that opened the door to sending the Self-Defense Forces on missions to Iraq. In principle, this was a very positive step forward for those who had hoped to see Japan play a greater role in international security affairs.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 24, 2003

Should Japanese history be rewritten?

HARING THE BURDEN OF THE PAST: Legacies of War in Europe, America and Asia, edited by Andrew Horvat and Gebhard Hielscher. Tokyo: The Asia Foundation & Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2003, 341 pp., 1,000 yen (paper). The legacies of war continue to dog Japan and are divisive at home and in Asia. Despite the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 23, 2003

Imagine! Project approach child care in Japan

"I visited Japan for the first time three years ago," says Tina Peterson, director of the Imagine Child Development Center on the 13th floor of Yokohama's Landmark Tower. "I came to Landmark then, because the building's the highest in Japan. If anyone had predicted, 'In 2003 you will be working here,'...
EDITORIALS
Aug 22, 2003

The U.N. becomes a target

The suicide bomb attack on United Nations headquarters in Baghdad has laid plain the dilemmas the world faces in healing Iraq. The hatred and chaos that plagues the country threatens all who aim to help the shattered nation. Indiscriminate violence will continue until the international community musters...
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2003

Don Quijote to dispense free drugs in emergency

Discount retailer Don Quijote Co. said Wednesday it will dole out free medicine to night-time shoppers in times of emergency when pharmacists are not available at any of 10 selected outlets in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 21, 2003

California's political circus comes to town

WASHINGTON -- California Gov. Gray Davis will need more than a little luck to carry the day in the gubernatorial recall election now set for Oct. 7. As the campaign starts, he needs to gain ground quickly and mightily to remain in office. The voters are prepared to vote to oust him by margins ranging...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 19, 2003

Biculturalism, accessories and recession

Greetings from Baghdad. It is a good place to appreciate all the blessings of Japan -- peace, freedom, safety -- all the things we take so for granted.
EDITORIALS
Aug 18, 2003

Halting the rising suicide trend

The number of suicides in Japan last year exceeded 30,000 for the fifth consecutive year. That's more than three times the number of deaths from traffic accidents. The high incidence of suicide is attributed mainly to the prolonged economic slump. This situation demands efforts in various fields to implement...
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2003

Japan missing out on Chinese legal advice: lawyer

Japanese firms should make better use of local legal services to control the risk of doing business in China as the country continues its progress toward the "rule of law," a Shanghai-based lawyer said at a recent seminar in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
Aug 18, 2003

Responsibility to protect against state abuse

KUALA LUMPUR -- The annual Asia-Pacific Roundtable is an invaluable opportunity to take the pulse of Southeast Asian thinking about security issues. This year's meeting, the 17th, featured the usual U.S. bashing -- a predictable response to overwhelming American power and the Bush administration's readiness...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Aug 17, 2003

Black widows striking back

MOSCOW -- Animalistic labels stick to terror. Adolf Hitler's commandos were called werewolves; terrorist cells in Turkey in the 1970s, gray wolves; now the Russian media have christened Chechen female suicide bombers black widows.
EDITORIALS
Aug 16, 2003

Time to reconfirm postwar values

It seems that the Showa Era (1926-89) -- a turbulent period best remembered for the Pacific War -- is fading fast into the past. Reinforcing that impression is the fact that a bill designating April 29 as "Showa Day," a national holiday dedicated to the memories of the Showa Era, passed the Lower House...
EDITORIALS
Aug 14, 2003

Unconditionally settle abduction issue

Japan and North Korea are expected to discuss the abduction issue on a bilateral basis during the six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis to be held late this month in Beijing. Japanese negotiators should demand that Pyongyang address this issue in good faith and allow abductees' relatives...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2003

The identity of the Arab world

DAMASCUS -- Fadil Shururu, chief political officer of Ahmad Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, has come a long way since I first met him 35 years ago in Jordan's Ghor Valley, seedbed of the newborn guerrilla movement that was to liberate the whole of the Palestinian...

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