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EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2003

Price of backing U.S. against Iraq

A pall of gloom hangs over the world economy as a war looms with Iraq. If war does come, world oil prices will go higher, crimping growth and investment worldwide. That much is fairly clear. What is not clear is just how much the price of petroleum will rise and how hard the global economy will be hit....
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2003

Safety measures for drug got sidetracked

A pharmaceutical firm's tardiness in taking safety precautions with a drug linked to more than 120 deaths may have been due to concerns that such moves could have hampered the drug's approval overseas, it was learned Sunday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 2, 2003

Where are the Ainu now?

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture, is like a tree without roots. -- Marcus Garvey (1887-1940)
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2003

Pension plan could lead to sales tax hike

The Liberal Democratic Party's committee on public pension reform will study the possibility of raising the 5 percent consumption tax as a means to finance a proposed increase in the government's contribution to the national pension program, the panel's head said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 1, 2003

Seven riddles suggest a secret city beneath Tokyo

During the Gulf War in 1991, Shun Akiba was one of only two foreign journalists reporting from Baghdad, along with Peter Arnett of CNN. With such experience and expertise, it would be reasonable to imagine him in great demand right now. Wrong.
Japan Times
JAPAN / IN WITH THE NEW
Feb 28, 2003

Ex-BOJ man hopes to wield LDP clout as reformer

A glance at his Web site can tell you quite a lot about his position.
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2003

Sharp collared in tax-evasion bid

OSAKA -- The Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau has told Sharp Corp. that it failed to declare 400 million yen in income over three years to last March 31, including 100 million yen the firm deliberately hid, sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2003

Oshima back in the frying pan

Scandal-tainted farm minister Tadamori Oshima faced more trouble Thursday as opposition lawmakers grilled House of Representatives Legislative Bureau officials who coached Oshima on how to respond to sensitive questions at a recent Diet committee session concerning misdeeds by his former aide.
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2003

Blair gives lesson in courage

LONDON -- For anyone with a sense of history, it is impossible not to admire the tireless conviction and the lonely valor of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Artist to bedazzle Yokohama

Starting in April, Hiro Yamagata will bombard onlookers in Yokohama with images of an ever-changing universe.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Abe wins 4 million yen in libel case

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday ordered a journalist to pay 4 million yen in damages to Takeshi Abe, a former vice president of Teikyo University and a hemophilia expert, over a defamation case linked to a scandal involving HIV-tainted blood products.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Asahara trial's closing arguments may come in April

Prosecutors may present their closing arguments in late April in the trial of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, who stands accused of murder and other heinous crimes, including masterminding two deadly sarin attacks, legal sources said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Feb 25, 2003

Build stronger ties with Seoul

The North Korean crisis has entered a new stage now that the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, has referred the issue of Pyongyang's nuclear-weapons development to the U.N. Security Council. The isolated Stalinist state, which created a similar crisis a decade ago, has resumed its program...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2003

Koizumi names moderate Fukui as central bank chief

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday nominated former Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Toshihiko Fukui, who is not considered an aggressive deflation fighter, as the new BOJ chief, according to government sources.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2003

Shifting fortunes for France's 'bulldozer'

LONDON -- A year ago, he was dropping in the polls as he faced a tough re-election fight. Allegations of political and financial scandal surrounded him. His rival for the presidency accused him of being old and tired. Five years of having ruled with a government of the opposing party had marginalized...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 23, 2003

The picture of innocence?

Sex, nudity and violence -- there's a lot of it happening in Kobe.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 23, 2003

You can be yourself, but not be understood

Identity has as much to do with socialization as it does with the circumstances surrounding one's birth. But since gender is considered an absolute, it has become the test of a society's willingness to allow its members to identify themselves. Except for hermaphrodites, humans are either male or female,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 22, 2003

Go Girls offers safe place for learning languages

There are many ways to learn a language. And there are several introduction services that brings students and teachers together. None, however, have the commitment and organizational safety net of Go Girls.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2003

Needy find welfare elusive, demeaning

After living homeless in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward for seven years, a 53-year-old former leather tanner was finally helped off the street last year with public livelihood assistance.
COMMENTARY
Feb 22, 2003

Best policy Seoul can buy?

HONOLULU -- The unmaking of a hero is never pretty, but the fall of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung has been especially ugly. The statesman leaves behind a shredded legacy and he, like many of his predecessors, is but one step ahead of the prosecutor. Even his Nobel Peace Price has been tarnished:...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 22, 2003

Time proves relevant for aging Japan hands

"Oh really?" the girl says to me -- with the "r" stretched so painfully the word sounds as if it has been ripped from the back of her throat.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2003

The WTO's 'awesome challenge'

The success of the next round of trade liberalization talks depends on tackling the thorny issue of agricultural tariffs and support. That is no secret; agriculture has preyed on the minds of trade negotiators for decades, but they have successfully delayed consideration of the question for years. The...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2003

Space travel must go on, veteran astronauts say

Space exploration should go ahead despite the dangers shown by the Feb. 1 disintegration of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia and the loss of its seven-member crew, astronaut Mamoru Mohri said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Feb 19, 2003

Missile defense is an offense

BRUSSELS -- It is difficult to understand the Bush administration's determination to deploy a national missile defense system, or NMD. All test launches to date -- to prevent theoretical nuclear missile attacks -- have been either failures or "partial successes."
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2003

It's no longer just the economy, stupid

WASHINGTON -- In recent weeks, as often in the past, many key Democrats have contributed importantly to American national-security debates. They have been trying to increase funding for homeland security efforts, prodding President George W. Bush to remain multilateral in his approach to Iraq even as...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 18, 2003

A kind word, visa sponsorship and tax refunds

A kind word I was sitting in the NTT Telephone shop waiting to have a telephone repaired and a bit discouraged.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2003

JUSEC accepting applications for Fulbright program

The Japan-United States Educational Commission has started accepting applications for its Fulbright Grant Program for the year beginning July 2004.
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2003

The micro and the macro

Have you noticed how the news has been running on two different tracks lately? The truth is, it probably always does, but every now and then the split suddenly seems more striking. On the one hand, there are the day-to-day ups and downs of human existence, everything from the weather to prognostications...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2003

Profits perpetuate horrors of child labor

MADRAS, India -- There is Dickensian distress in India, where child labor persists despite a law and a court order. Fifteen million children below 14 continue to work in the most horrific of conditions in blatant violation of the Indian Supreme Court ruling, which had called for the enforcement of the...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji