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JAPAN
Feb 1, 2002

Finance Ministry tries to regain past clout

The Finance Ministry, which once enjoyed the prestige of being the nation's top bureaucratic body but saw its power and influence erode in the late 1990s in a series of scandals, appears to be aligning with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's political initiatives to regain its former status.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2002

Mr. Arafat's dwindling options

Jaffa Street is a popular thoroughfare in downtown Jerusalem, its stores and sidewalks invariably crowded with shoppers and pedestrians. It has also become one of the bloodiest frontlines in the war between Israel and Palestinians. Last week alone, there were two terrorist attacks on Jaffa Street. The...
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2002

Keidanren, Nikkeiren still have hurdles to clear

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren) are putting the final touches on mandatory procedures for their much ballyhooed integration, scheduled for May 28.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jan 29, 2002

Learning Spanish under the volcanoes

Fancy learning Spanish? We're pleased to suggest four options.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2002

Credit union forced customers to buy into golf club

OSAKA -- Kansai Kogin, a failed local credit union whose former executives were arrested last week in a breach of trust case, pressured recipients of loans in the late 1990s to buy memberships of a golf course operated by an affiliate by threatening to withdraw the loans, sources close to the case said...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2002

Officers can't hide behind new IDs

The National Police Agency on Friday showed off a new police identification badge and pin created in an effort to better identify officers and improve accountability following a series of scandals.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2002

Asahi Bank shareholders OK merger

Asahi Bank's shareholders on Thursday approved a proposal to integrate operations with Daiwa Bank Holdings Inc., Asahi Bank officials said.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2002

UNICEF aid head stresses Afghan crisis is not yet over

The head of a UNICEF emergency aid program in Afghanistan stressed Wednesday the humanitarian crisis is not over in the war-ravaged country despite the start of rehabilitation there, and urged continued international assistance.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2002

Iranian foreign minister denies arms-smuggling allegations

Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on Wednesday denied Israeli allegations his country tried to smuggle arms on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2002

Japan should salvage the mystery vessel

Many Japanese might have rejoiced while watching television footage showing the recent sinking of an unidentified ship following an exchange of gunfire with Japanese Coast Guard cutters, but I was dismayed by Japan's fragile national defense system that was exposed by the incident in the East China Sea....
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2002

Elvis wannabe crooners soothe to 'Rabu Me Tenda'

Dressed in a black tuxedo, a middle-aged former company executive took the stage, cued the six-piece band and launched into Elvis Presley's version of the syrupy '60s ballad "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2002

Bankruptcies rise 1.9%, leaving debt worth 16 trillion yen

Japan's corporate bankruptcies hit 19,441 in 2001, up 1.9 percent from the previous year, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 22, 2002

The yet undiscovered beauty of Chekhov's hell

In 1890, Russian writer Anton Chekhov journeyed across the belly of Russia to its eastern border. It was a voyage of 9,656 km. His trip went well beyond the kind of journey that the travelers of today seek aboard the Trans-Siberian Express. Chekhov's destination was the the remote island of Sakhalin,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2002

Sign of hope: Afghan kids back in school

KABUL -- In Afghanistan, the interim administration led by Hamid Karzai faces a double challenge: keeping its population alive through the winter and starting to rebuild for the future.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2002

A rightist revival in Europe

LONDON -- For the past five years, the center-left has held the whip hand in Western Europe. Whether in the shape of Prime Minister Tony Blair's New Labour administration in Britain or the more traditionally leftwing Socialist-led government in France, social democracy has ruled in the major countries...
EDITORIALS
Jan 20, 2002

The Segway's Japanese roots

At the end of December, Emeritus Professor Kazuo Yamafuji of Tokyo's University of Electro-Communications had something interesting to add to the buzz of talk about the Segway Human Transporter, the self-balancing robotic scooter unveiled earlier in the month by U.S. inventor Dean Kamen.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2002

Building a brighter future for Afghans

WASHINGTON -- The rebuilding of a peaceful Afghanistan requires a commitment to protecting the human rights of all Afghan citizens, including women and ethnic minorities. The International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan taking place in Tokyo should take action to support the institutions...
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2002

Ogata expects $5 billion in aid to Afghans

The total amount of money pledged by countries at the upcoming Afghan reconstruction conference in Tokyo will be close to $5 billion over the next 2 1/2 years, Sadako Ogata, Japan's special envoy on Afghanistan and joint chair of the conference, said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 2002

A clear and present danger

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, currently on a tour of South Asian nations, has a critical mission: persuading India and Pakistan to end the standoff over the disputed region of Kashmir and avert a head-on military clash that could lead to the world's first nuclear war. There is, therefore, every...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 19, 2002

By changing our thinking we can change the world

I make no apology for introducing Azzah a second time around, even though I made a ideological promise 15 years ago never to repeat an interview. As someone who has benefited enormously from her help (i.e. loosened up, become more flexible), I believe everyone should have the chance to experience her...
COMMENTARY
Jan 19, 2002

No, to answer Iraqi question

WASHINGTON -- With the conflict in Afghanistan drawing to a close, the question arises: where next? Iraq is a tempting target, but the U.S. and its allies should focus on eradicating what remains of the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2002

Japan's Afghan pledge awaited: Ogata

The international community has high expectations for Japanese assistance to rebuild Afghanistan, and Japan needs to make an "appropriate" pledge at next week's conference in Tokyo to this end, Sadako Ogata said Thursday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 17, 2002

Go west AND east, young men

In the good old days, Japanese baseball players used to dream about going to the major leagues. Now they just dream about playing on the West Coast.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2002

A 'Koizumi doctrine' for Asia

In his policy speech Monday in Singapore, the last stop on his five-nation tour of Southeast Asia, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi set the tone for Japan's diplomacy toward the evolving region. Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he stated, should strengthen ties by "acting together...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jan 15, 2002

The hippy haven that actually worked

In 1951, the Llwyngwern slate quarry in central North Wales closed down, causing many redundancies.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami