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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2002

Ethical dilemma in war of 'self-defense'

NEW YORK -- The recent unjustified killings of Palestinian civilians -- several children among them -- have not only raised the anger of the Palestinian population but also some of Israeli civilians. More importantly, those brutal killings endanger the withdrawal negotiations and threaten to condemn...
COMMUNITY
Sep 8, 2002

London's black-cab elite

My Tokyo taxi driver loses the ability to speak for a second or two, then gushes: "They're simply the best. They're professionals. They do that test . . ."
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2002

Koizumi still coy on details of latest 'spy ship' incident

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi remained vague Friday on whether a suspected North Korean spy boat had entered Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan before its sighting was made public Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2002

Koyama gets two years for taking KSD bribes

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former lawmaker Takao Koyama to a 22-month prison term Friday for taking bribes from KSD, an organization that provides industrial accident insurance to small businesses.
COMMENTARY
Sep 7, 2002

Moral obligation to war victims remains

HONG KONG -- More than half a century after World War II ended, relations between China and Japan are still marred by wartime events.
EDITORIALS
Sep 7, 2002

A 'disappointing' success

Ten days of haggling about the Earth's future in Johannesburg, South Africa, have yielded an action plan and a political declaration, though both are less ambitious that they might have been.
COMMENTARY
Sep 7, 2002

End to France's political lull

PARIS -- French ministers are back at work after the three weeks or so of rest they were granted following their first 100 days in office. The least one can say is that the tasks ahead of them won't be easy. Crime has increased by 3 percent in spite of the new Cabinet's vow to make crime-fighting a top...
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2002

Pyongyang summit may see normalization talks accord

Japan and North Korea will probably agree to resume normalization talks when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang on Sept. 17, government sources said Thursday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 5, 2002

Divorce issues, cheap traveling and getting ADSL

Divorce issues Dear Lifelines, My wife and I have been separated for three years. I do not see any hope for our marriage and feel we need to get a divorce. I have two children. What should I do? -- Tony in Chiba
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2002

Five governors blast state expressway panel

Five prefectural governors gathered Wednesday in Tokyo to lambaste a key government panel tasked with discussing the privatization of tollway operators.
Japan Times
JAPAN / LEGACIES OF 9/11
Sep 4, 2002

Iraq issue casts shadow on post-9/11 solidarity

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, two things crossed the mind of Shotaro Yachi of the Foreign Ministry: Japan must join the international community in condemning the acts, and must do everything possible to help the anticipated U.S. military response.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2002

Let there be light in the urban darkness

Naoya Hatakeyama's stunning photographs use finely tuned modern techniques to discover harmonious beauty in places where we often perceive only competing layers of chaos. They filter our all-too-familiar environment, revealing its underlying complexity and, in the process, leading us to question the...
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2002

Sapporo plans to close two of its breweries

Sapporo Breweries Ltd. said Monday it will close two of its eight beer breweries by the end of 2003 as part of a restructuring program.
COMMENTARY
Sep 2, 2002

U.S. role critical in Indo-Pakistani dispute

ISLAMABAD -- Renewed Indo-Pakistani conflict in Kashmir, just before U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage's August visit to the region, demonstrated how close to war South Asia's two nuclear rivals remain.
EDITORIALS
Sep 1, 2002

The quest for the greatest Briton

It's the end of summer (even though it may not feel like it) and holidaymakers are returning home in droves, reminding us that it's time to turn our heat-addled brains once again to Serious and Important Matters. In this regard, Britain's BBC may serve as an inspiration to us all. Last week, in the depths...
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Koizumi, Hiranuma blast Tepco over alleged nuclear-hazard coverup

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi slammed Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Friday for allegedly falsifying reports on problems discovered at its nuclear plants.
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2002

Taiwan ditching 'nice guy' diplomacy

Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu was greeted triumphantly upon her return to Taiwan, but her trip to Indonesia yielded mixed results at best. Taiwan may well have raised expectations in Indonesia that it may not be able to fulfill. Moreover, China will now put renewed pressure on Southeast Asian countries...
EDITORIALS
Aug 29, 2002

Inching toward normalization talks

Japan and North Korea are moving toward resuming the long-stalled talks to normalize relations. Foreign ministry officials from the two nations met in Pyongyang for two days earlier this week and agreed to continue consultations to explore the possibilities for restarting the negotiations. Also, Prime...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2002

GMOs in 30% of 'organic' soybean

The farm ministry said Wednesday that 25 out of 80 randomly selected tofu and "natto" soybean products sold under organic labels were found to contain genetically modified soybeans.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Aug 29, 2002

'Dead to Rights' feels like John Woo with a joystick

Forget all the moralizing. "Dead to Rights," a new game for Xbox from Namco, is a mature game that earns the right to have strippers in thongs, dogs ripping out men's throats and more shootouts than Charles Bronson and Arnold Schwarzenegger saw in their entire careers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 29, 2002

Questions over foreigners' phone deposit

Last April, telecoms giant NTT announced the largest annual corporate loss in Japanese history -- 2 trillion yen. More than a third of it came from its cell phone subsidiary, NTT Docomo.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2002

J-Phone to recall faulty new handset

Cell phone service operator J-Phone Co. said Wednesday that one of its newly introduced handsets is experiencing problems with software related to Internet access.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2002

State admits PR materials whitewashed Hansen's role

The government admitted Tuesday that it failed to acknowledge in a variety of state booklets and videotapes that it was responsible for the forced isolation of Hansen's disease patients in the past.
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2002

North Korean trade official visits to explain market reforms

A North Korean vice minister of trade is in Japan on an 11-day unofficial visit to explain Pyongyang's new market-based reforms to Koreans living in the country, a Korean association said Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2002

Personal computer sales plunge 32.2%

Sales of personal computers in July fell 32.2 percent from a year earlier, the second-biggest decline on record, the Nippon Electronic Big-Stores Association said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 26, 2002

Shrinking realm of privacy

LONDON -- Privacy is now increasingly recognized as an important human right, but its limits are not easy to define. How far, for instance, should the press be prevented from intrusive photography of VIPs? The media generally argue that it is their job to report on the movements and actions of public...
EDITORIALS
Aug 25, 2002

A sea of confusion

'L ord, what fools these mortals be." That was Shakespeare's Puck venting his exasperation. Unfortunately, things haven't improved much in humanity's sandbox in the intervening four centuries.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight