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BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

Koga says deal on public bodies was predictable

A leading conservative within the Liberal Democratic Party has given a public corporation reform deal reached last week between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and LDP elders a lukewarm reception.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Nov 26, 2001

Looking back on life in Stalinist Russia

NEW YORK -- My friend Lenore Parker threw a party for Mary M. Leder, who has just published her first book, at age 86. The book is an autobiography, "My Life in Stalinist Russia: An American Woman Looks Back" (Indiana University Press).
EDITORIALS
Nov 25, 2001

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

You think it's hard work trying to get people to buy things? Put yourself in the position of those dreamers who try every year to get people to buy nothing. Give it a rest, they say. Borrow, recycle, repair, eat at home. Call a moratorium on yearend gift-giving. Resist the blandishments of advertisers...
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Nov 25, 2001

A hodgepodge that really hits the spot

It's a cold evening and the salarymen are stopping off on their home from a long day of work at open-air stalls to down a cup or two of warm sake and a few pieces of oden — slowly simmered daikon, hard-boiled eggs and tofu, among other things.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 25, 2001

Hey, that's a sake of a different color

When you think about it, the realm of sake flavor profiles and types can be perceived as, well, a bit narrow. From the sweetest to the driest, from the roughest to the cleanest, we are not exactly talking about major bandwidth.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2001

Income disparity vs. growth

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan reminded the world recently that the battle against terrorism might have displaced front-page news, but it has not solved pressing problems such as poverty and HIV/AIDS. The international community remains formally committed to the goal of reducing the level of poverty...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 25, 2001

Failed chemistry experiments in the media lab

Two weeks ago, a friend faxed me an article from the weekly news magazine Aera about a new advertising trend called "collaboration CF," which is the selling of two different companies' products in one TV commercial. I had already read about collaborations two days earlier in advertising critic Yukichi...
COMMUNITY
Nov 24, 2001

Macchinesti: the accidental Ferrari of coffee shops

After the Japanese "kissaten," where coffee was coffee and not a lot more, came Doutor. Then came that all-conquering import, Starbucks, and a stream of similar lifestyle-focused camp followers of both American and Japanese descent. Now, suddenly, we have Macchinesti.
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2001

Be more flexible, Mr. Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in a "town meeting" with Tokyo residents on Sunday, called for a package privatization of Japan Highway Public Corp. and three other road-related government-affiliated entities. He also proposed a review of the tollway expansion project and an end to the 300-billion-yen-a-year...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 22, 2001

Dark clouds looming in the Sky

I wish Southampton would buy a Japanese player. Sky-Perfect TV would get all excited, send over an army of media and TV crews and, "presto," I would be watching Southampton games every weekend. Christmas would have come early for a frustrated Saints fan who hardly ever gets to see his team play, apart...
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2001

Japan may wane as China's star rises: regional expert

Japan should be aware of the quickly changing economic environment in Asia, where China is fast emerging as an economic power and Southeast Asian countries are starting to doubt Japan's ability for regional economic leadership, the visiting chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs...
EDITORIALS
Nov 21, 2001

An ambiguous SDF dispatch plan

The Cabinet's approval last Friday of a basic Self-Defense Forces deployment plan, designed to provide noncombat support for U.S. military operations in Afghanistan, opened the way for the first "wartime" mobilization of SDF troops overseas. The government emphasizes that the plan is within the framework...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 21, 2001

2002 could be busy year in Japanese sports

You read last week where the National Football League is coming back to Japan next year, having scheduled an American Bowl exhibition game between the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins in Osaka on Aug. 3. Let's hope this will be the first of several announcements of major international sports...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2001

Criticism of Pakistan is off the mark

The Nov. 10 article by Brahma Chellaney, "Pakistan's uncertain future," gives a bleak picture of Pakistan that I am afraid does not exist in reality. Allow me to rectify this false image so that The Japan Times readers have a clear and balanced view of my country, which is so much in the news these days....
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2001

Turning victory into permanent success

LONDON -- Four out of five: Mazar-e Sharif, Herat, Kabul and Jalalabad. All but one of Afghanistan's major cities have been lost by the Taliban and captured by the Northern Alliance in less than a week, and the last, Kandahar, is likely to fall at any time. Neither Washington nor anyone else expected...
COMMENTARY
Nov 19, 2001

Japan needs a new foreign minister

In a recent speech before the United Nations General Assembly, former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa proposed that an international conference be held urgently to discuss ways of bringing peace to Afghanistan and rebuilding the war-torn country. Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, not the 82-year-old Miyazawa,...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2001

Does self-defense justify Afghan war?

SEOUL -- Even as the scope of combat operations in Afghanistan widens and their scale intensifies, the legal basis for waging war under international law grows ever more tenuous. According to U.S. President George W. Bush, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were an act of...
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2001

Okinawa's distress call

Okinawa, which has often suffered the fate of being associated with U.S. military bases, is being buffeted again. This time it is the Okinawan economy that has been hit by cancellations of reservations for group tours to the prefecture following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 16, 2001

Interleague play possible

Yomiuri Giants chairman of the board Tsuneo Watanabe on Wednesday said the Central League is willing to consider interleague play in Japan in the future, but suggested that 2002 may be too soon.
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2001

Legacy of 'jihad' may linger

ISLAMABAD -- Chants of "jihad" (holy war) have repeatedly resonated on the streets of Pakistan in the weeks following Washington's decision to launch military attacks on Afghanistan.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2001

What's wrong with a little joie de vivre ?

Le Fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain Rating: * * * * Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet Running time: 122 minutes Language: French Now showing
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 14, 2001

To see a world in a bowl of tea

"Kokoro shugetsu ni nitari," which translates as "My mind is like the autumn moon," is a line from a Chinese poem expressing the Zen sensation felt strongly during this harvest season. Pure and reflecting without hesitation, the moon is a metaphor for our hearts and one that all of humanity could do...
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2001

Prime minister, finance chief want to keep bond cap

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Monday the government should maintain its self-imposed policy of capping the issuance of new government bonds at 30 trillion yen a year.
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2001

State, doctors, patients wrangle over health bill

As Japan's population ages at an unprecedented pace and the economy fails to generate high growth, the question of who should shoulder the nation's rising health costs is becoming a bone of contention.
BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
Nov 13, 2001

Bank stocks looking grim

Bank stocks are floundering amid concerns over the limited progress being made in the disposal of bad loans.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2001

A smoother path for economic treaties

Can a rookie Cabinet member undergo a political makeover in only five months?
SUMO
Nov 11, 2001

Wide-open race expected in Kyushu Basho

Though it is not taking place in a dramatic fashion, sumo is now in a state of transition, a changing of the guard. Unlike most generational shifts in the past, the current transition is far from dramatic, since the old guard rikishi are actually, for the most part, still in their 20s, and many of their...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 11, 2001

You can be an artist if you've half a mind to

Kristin Newton changes lives. Messages of appreciation fill her inbox. "This is a turning point in our lives," reads one. "We are looking at things so differently now."

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