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EDITORIALS
Nov 24, 2002

Picking on Tiger

There are some things that enlightened people nowadays pretty much agree are beyond dispute. A good example would be the view that it is wrong to discriminate against women. And then there are things that enlightened people find themselves arguing about quite heatedly. An example of this would be the...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2002

Angolans starve as oil revenue vanishes

NEW YORK -- It is a sad paradox that one of the potentially richest developing countries in the world is going through one of its worst crises in history. It is a humanitarian crisis that is, to a large extent, the result of that country's corrupt leadership. While the threat of starvation rages throughout...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 23, 2002

Marketing Cardiff as cultural capital of Europe

This is quite a month for Bet (Elizabeth) Davies. On Nov. 28, she will receive an award from the Japanese ambassador in London on behalf of the government for services rendered to to the Japanese community in Wales, and her work in bridging Japan and the U.K. in general.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

Beaujolais Nouveau imports likely to establish new record

Imports of Beaujolais Nouveau are climbing toward a record high this year thanks to aggressive marketing campaigns by importers.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

False auto insurance claims rising

Fraudulent claims for auto accident insurance this year amounted to 310 as of the end of October, 88 more than all of last year, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2002

Pedicabs try 'eco-trendy' revival

When the brightly colored vehicles debuted in Tokyo's fashionable Omotesando district in mid-October, they turned heads and passersby wondered if some special event was afoot.
EDITORIALS
Nov 19, 2002

Mr. Hu at the pinnacle of power

Now that the Chinese Communist Party has completed a smooth leadership transition, the world is watching how Mr. Hu Jintao, the new party chief, will navigate his one-party socialist state of 1.3 billion people through the treacherous waters of globalization. Predicting his future course is complicated...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 2002

But no shortage of shocks and intrigue

Author Peter Tasker talks to Mark Schreiber about his latest novel, ``Dragon Dance,'' a thriller set against the backdrop of U.S.-East Asian relations in 2006.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 16, 2002

'Oba-chan' mutiny brings funeral chaos

There was so much activity on Shiraishi Island, it was almost seismic. Elderly women grouped outside their houses whispering. The Buddhist priest was so busy, he wasn't answering his cell phone. Ferries kept bringing more people dressed in black.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2002

U.S. settles with Ehime Maru victims

The U.S. Navy reached a settlement Thursday in Tokyo over a deadly collision last year off Hawaii involving one of its submarines and a Japanese high school fisheries training ship.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2002

Corporate whistle-blowers still left out in the cold

Prompted by a recent spate of corporate misdeeds, moves are afoot, albeit slowly, to provide legal protection for whistle-blowers.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 10, 2002

On a voyage to Ionia

THE INLAND SEA, by Donald Richie. Stone Bridge Press, 2002, 255 pp., $16.95 (paper) Since the publication in English of Yukio Mishima's 1954 romance novel, "The Sound of Waves," there has been a fondness for visualizing Japan's Inland Sea, with its islands of olives, oranges, sunburned fisherfolk and...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Nov 10, 2002

Magazine muckrakes where major media won't make waves

The Asahi Shimbun's April 9, 1999, morning edition featured a front-page story by the monthly magazine Uwasa-no-shinso (The Truth Behind the Rumors) that sparked a scandal leading to the downfall of the then head of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office.
EDITORIALS
Nov 9, 2002

Changing of the Beijing guard

China is set to have a new generation of younger leaders. The Chinese Communist Party will announce a sweeping reshuffle at a plenary session of the Central Committee following the 16th Party Congress, which opened Friday for a weeklong session. The National People's Congress next spring will also choose...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 8, 2002

The fight for equal protection of the law

Next Monday will be a red letter day for the issue of racial discrimination in Japan.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2002

Record high HIV cases are reported

A record 184 people were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus between July and September, according to a health ministry commission monitoring the virus.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2002

Shocking raids open new era in Australia

SYDNEY -- In dawn raids across Australia, gun-toting security police bashed down doors, questioned Indonesian residents, then carted off private papers to check for suspected terrorist activities. Surely this is Hollywood? No, it's "she'll be right, mate" Australia.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2002

Victims of over-zealous media weigh new human rights bills

The media are both Kenichi Ino's worst enemy and strongest ally.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2002

Russian youth dodge conscript military

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- It took a while to get the young deserter to talk. Roman had fled his army unit and was staying with Tatiana Barykina and her family, and they could see the scars on his wrist and sense the pain that hung upon him like a millstone.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 3, 2002

Meet a pianist and 'genius' chimpanzee on a poll-to-Pole journey

On Oct. 27, by-elections were held in seven districts throughout Japan for Diet seats that had been vacated by politicians forced to resign over scandals. If you weren't aware of this, don't feel bad. Not many people were. Average voter turnout was only about 33 percent. The media didn't pay much attention...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2002

Chiyoda Ward smokers start coughing up fines

A young man near JR Kanda Station on Friday became the first person to be fined under a smoking ban on some streets in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Nov 2, 2002

Pollution-weary Amagasaki pitches potato patches

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- It's hard to believe that the smoggy, traffic-laden industrial zone stretching from the Hanshin Line's Amagasaki Station to the shores of the Inland Sea was once a thriving sweet-potato belt.
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2002

Mr. Putin's worst nightmare

Events of the last few weeks should have put to rest any naive belief that anyone, anywhere is somehow safe from the dangers posed by terrorism. The cowardly bombing of a Bali nightclub and the hostage-taking in a Moscow theater last week are only the most recent attacks by terrorist groups with a taste...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2002

Poverty and poor health go hand in hand

NEW YORK -- Poverty cannot be defined solely in terms of lack of income. A person, a family, even a nation is not deemed poor only because of low economic resources. Little or no access to health services, lack of access to safe water, illiteracy or low educational level and a distorted perception of...
COMMUNITY
Oct 27, 2002

Putting the best face on death

People are said to look peaceful in death. But imagine if a deceased's family were to gaze fondly at their loved one only to find the face garishly caked with foundation, rouge and lipstick. Horrifying, or what?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 23, 2002

They don't make revolutions like this anymore

Way back when I was in college, images of Cuban rebel leader Fidel Castro (or Che Guevara, his right-hand man) were to be seen everywhere. Posters hung in student apartments and dorms, in teachers' offices, and in clubs, cafes and shops that catered to the campus crowd. The scruffy yet charismatic figure...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2002

Keeping tradition afloat

Outside, the air reeks of traffic fumes and it's the usual hurly-burly of inner-city Tokyo. But inside, in a small workshop abutting the Koto Ward Office in Toyo, the sweet scent of cedar fills the room. Two men work together, planing, sawing and chiseling golden-brown timbers into the elegant lines...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2002

Okinawan music's healing embrace

"I've always felt that my role in life is to heal people through my music," says Yuriko Ganeko, a 54-year-old Okinawan singer and sanshin player. Ganeko, who favors purple eye shadow, heavy perfume and hoop earrings, was recently in Tokyo to promote her newest album, "Uta Asobi (Song Play)."
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2002

Bali blast brings war home to Australians

SYDNEY -- In the wake of the Bali bombing, Australia's relations with Indonesia, never much better than guardedly cordial at the best of times, have sunk to a new low.
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2002

More restrictions on Hong Kong rights?

HONG KONG -- For five years, people in Hong Kong have been worrying about restrictions on their rights and freedoms that could result from laws on treason, secession, sedition and subversion, mandated by the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past