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COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2003

Changing Pyongyang's ways

The response to my Jan. 10 article "Pyongyang is the real victim," which blames the United States for its mishandling of the North Korean nuclear problem, tells me two things: First, Japan Times articles are followed abroad much more widely than I realized; second, many believe firmly in the incorrigibly...
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

Kawaguchi criticizes Iraq over violations

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi condemned Iraq on Friday for failing for more than a decade to carry out its obligations under United Nations resolutions, and urged Baghdad to clear suspicions over its possession of weapons of mass destruction.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Economy top priority: Koizumi

Admitting that the Japanese economy is struggling to find a way out of the recession, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made clear Friday that reviving the economy will be his top priority for this year, declaring he will take "all available policy measures" to fight deflation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2003

Lifetime of missed chances

LONDON -- On Jan. 22, two of the world's leading powers celebrated the 40th anniversary of a remarkable reconciliation. At the historic Palace of Versailles, France's President Jacques Chirac and Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder toasted a treaty signed in 1963 by their visionary predecessors, Charles...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2003

Iraqi crisis highlights strains in trans-Atlantic relations

LONDON -- Since the end of World War II, Western Europe has usually sided with the United States in global conflicts. Except for a few national exceptions, such as France's criticism of the Vietnam War, trans-Atlantic solidarity has been the order of the day from the Cuban missile crisis through the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2003

Can we trust 'Davos man'?

The rich, the powerful and the famous last week descended once again on the Swiss village of Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). This year, the assembled luminaries pondered the loss of "trust" that has sapped institutions worldwide. The question is a vital one. Of the many...
COMMENTARY
Jan 27, 2003

The war dead deserve better

I was stunned by news reports that Junichiro Koizumi recently made his third visit as prime minister to Yasukuni Shrine. After his two previous visits drew strong protests from China and South Korea, and after he struggled to justify the visits, officials in both countries must be amazed and angered....
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 26, 2003

Cleaning up Japan is one tall order

Thanks to improved nutrition, the height of the average Japanese person has increased considerably since World War II. Nevertheless, many Japanese, especially those over a certain age, despair over what they believe is their short stature.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Whether crisis or not, sumo's show must go on

Of all the crises that the institution of sumo is said to be confronting -- and there are many -- yokozuna (grand champion) Takanohana's announcement last Monday of his retirement is being regarded by some as particularly ominous.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Japan, U.S. together on Pyongyang

Japan and the U.S. agreed Friday that they and South Korea should consult closely with each other in dealing with the standoff over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons if and when the United Nations Security Council takes it up.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Trendy teas try to give soda, coffee a run for their money

With a couple of Starbucks and at least one other big-name coffee shop within easy walking distance, not long ago Tomohiro Tsuchiya would have been better off opening his little cafe somewhere else.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2003

Talks to seek return of U.S. base land

Japan and the United States have reached a basic agreement to start talks on the return of idle land in four U.S. military facilities in Yokohama, according to Japanese government officials.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 23, 2003

Who are these people?

From where does all this good music spring? Through the good offices of the caring, quality-conscious trading community, which goes to great pains to ensure, in a manner likened to eugenics, that the "seeding" of the musical gene pool is as pure and defect-free as possible before the recording is prepared...
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2003

Economy, foreign attack bills lead new Diet session

The Diet convened its 156th session Monday, with the economy and a set of bills to give the government more powers in the event of an attack topping the agenda.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jan 20, 2003

Intellectual alienation spawns hazy polic

WASHINGTON -- The main purpose of my visit to Washington at the beginning of 2003 was to carry out discussions on U.S. perspectives, policies and strategies for the Doha Development Round, in particular, and global economic policy in general. Meetings were held with U.S. government departments, foreign...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2003

The folly of inflation targets

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said recently the next governor of the Bank of Japan must take aggressive action to fight deflation, giving rise to expectations of inflation targeting among government and ruling coalition officials. I doubt, however, that inflation targeting will cure deflation. In...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2003

Calls to revive military draft are off base

HONOLULU -- The prospect of a war on two fronts against North Korea and Iraq in addition to the battle against terror and the new campaign for homeland security has sparked calls for a return to the U.S. military draft.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jan 19, 2003

Paradise retained

Palawan is variously cited as the Philippines' "last frontier," "the world's best-kept secret" and "a nature-lover's dream."
COMMUNITY
Jan 19, 2003

The danchi and postwar society

At the time, they were homes most Japanese could only dream about. Within their thick concrete walls, they were equipped with such mod cons as flush toilets and stainless-steel kitchen sinks, and they even had separate bedrooms -- for parents and children.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2003

eo 20030119a1.xml SYSTEM INHERENTLY UNFAIR Calls to revive military draft are off base

HONOLULU -- The prospect of a war on two fronts against North Korea and Iraq in addition to the battle against terror and the new campaign for homeland security has sparked calls for a return to the U.S. military draft.
COMMUNITY
Jan 19, 2003

fl 20030119a4.xml SUN YES TADAO ANDO Architect of progress

Architect Tadao Ando says that he has been under considerable pressure since receiving the contract to design a residential and commercial complex to replace the Aoyama Apartment Houses on Omotesando Avenue.
COMMUNITY
Jan 19, 2003

fl 20030119a3.xml SUN YES DOJUNKAI Concrete ideals

The Great Kanto Earthquake on Sept. 1, 1923, devastated the capital and its vicinity, destroying 63 percent of homes in Tokyo and 72 percent in Yokohama. From the ashes of the fires that raged in the wake of the massive temblor, though, there arose a public-housing policy whose enlightenment was in many...
EDITORIALS
Jan 15, 2003

Sidetracking the territorial issue

Japan and Russia remain far apart on the territorial dispute over the Northern Territories, a group of northern Pacific islands known to the Russians as the Southern Kurils. The meeting over the weekend in Moscow between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2003

Japan NGOs to hold antiwar rally

More than 30 Japanese nongovernmental organizations will stage a demonstration in Tokyo this weekend to protest a possible U.S.-led attack on Iraq, they said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2003

Pointless posturing in South Asia

The posturing and muscle-flexing continues in South Asia. The governments in India and Pakistan appear committed to matching each other's every military move and utterance, no matter how inflammatory. This behavior is immature at the best of times, but missile tests and reckless talk of nuclear war are...

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