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JAPAN
Dec 1, 2001

Jobless rate hits 5.4%

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 5.4 percent in October, hitting a record high as more people lost jobs due to corporate restructuring, the government said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 1, 2001

Uses for the Japanese Proficiency Test

Tomorrow, foreigners from all over the world, from China to Mars, will be sitting for the Japanese Proficiency Test.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2001

Africa: building a better future

Next week's ministerial meeting in Tokyo on African development offers a special opportunity for Japan and other development partners of Africa to renew their commitment to building a better future for that region's 300 million children. Their future ought to be a matter of global concern: In this era...
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2001

Elderly folks bond in makeshift cafes

Tokyo's Suginami Ward is making a name for itself as an area where senior citizens can meet at least once a month and chat over a cup of coffee, tea or cocoa at a private home or assembly hall converted into a makeshift cafe by volunteers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2001

'Ecomoney' refurbishes society

"Ecomoney," Japan's version of the Local Exchange and Trading System that started on Vancouver Island, Canada, in 1983, is increasingly being promoted to allow participants to offer or receive services in welfare, education and the environment in their communities.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2001

Lee Teng-hui on a mission to save his vision of Taiwan

NEW YORK -- Taiwan will hold an election Saturday to choose members of the national Parliament, mayors and county magistrates. The outcome will have a lasting impact on Taiwan's future -- in particular on its relationship with China.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2001

'Ecomoney' refurbishes society

"Ecomoney," Japan's version of the Local Exchange and Trading System that started on Vancouver Island, Canada, in 1983, is increasingly being promoted to allow participants to offer or receive services in welfare, education and the environment in their communities.
Japan Times
Events
Nov 27, 2001

Kyoto locals slam fall traffic jams

KYOTO -- The Arashiyama area, situated in the northwestern part of this ancient city, is famous for its colored leaves at this time of the year and the many temples that serve as sightseeing spots for enjoying the natural beauty.
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...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 25, 2001

'Prince of Knitting' spins a good yarn

KYOTO -- Being male and knitting for a living has earned Mitsuharu Hirose the reputation of being somewhat "strange." Parading about on television in women's knit tops and makeup probably played a part as well. But that doesn't needle Hirose one little bit.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2001

South Korean author protests mayor's 'sangokujin' remark

When Shinjuku Ward Mayor Takashi Onoda referred to "sangokujin" in a speech on Nov. 13, Shin Sugok could not believe it.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2001

Nation struggles with drug abuse

A suspended prison term handed down six years ago was not enough to stop the 34-year-old gas station worker from using amphetamines, which had already badly damaged his life.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 21, 2001

Beauty of body and spirit

It was an extraordinary sight. Guests at the Canadian Embassy Gallery's opening party for artist Claude Descoteaux could not keep their hands off the exhibits. Here, a young woman slid her hand over gleaming bronze hips. There, a man shyly stroked the calf of a leaping, athletic male.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2001

Children must make own mistakes, own victories: designer

KISHIWADA, Osaka Pref. -- Although she is a fashion designer, people more commonly ask Ayako Koshino's advice on raising children.
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

Hell on four wheels

It is a bad, humiliating start to the day. Usually, I can get from my office to the platform of JR Tamachi Station in about 10 minutes. Today it has taken just under 50 minutes.
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

Charting a route through the obstacle course

Whoever said "It's a jungle out there" must have been talking about Tokyo. Or perhaps it's more of a gigantic maze, with buildings squashed together, and stations with stairs and escalators going in every direction -- all filled with crowds of irritated people.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2001

Dismal outlook for Sri Lanka's president

The political crisis is Sri Lanka appears to be worsening, and in the latest government's call for a ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- fighting a long and bloody battle for the independence of the island's minority Tamil-speaking population -- one can sense a state of near panic,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 18, 2001

Aiming for the heart

ONE FOOT IN LAOS, by Dervla Murphy. Overlook Press, 2001, 284 pp., $27.95 (cloth) Dervla Murphy's journeys as a travel writer, usually in the remoter, poorer parts of the world, are made, appropriately enough, in the old manner -- on foot, by donkey or mule, or on decrepit trucks or buses on their last...
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.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Public seen in step with boosted SDF role

The Self-Defense Forces are finally crossing the line to participate in a real war for the first time in their history, even though their role will be limited to logistic support.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Ward floats shopping bag tax

In the first local government tax of its kind in Japan, Tokyo's Suginami Ward is pushing a plan to impose a 5 yen levy on each plastic bag handed out at shops and supermarkets.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Public seen in step with boosted SDF role

The Self-Defense Forces are finally crossing the line to participate in a real war for the first time in their history, even though their role will be limited to logistic support.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 17, 2001

John Roderick

The twin subjects of China and Japan dominated the 39 years that John Roderick spent as an AP correspondent. When Americans were barred from the People's Republic, he was based in Tokyo, becoming acknowledged as the No. 1 China watcher for the Associated Press. He had begun building his firsthand knowledge...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

More workers embrace early retirement

As economic woes prompt companies to pare down workforces and job-security anxiety grows amid widening cracks in Japan's storied lifetime employment system, at least one new breed is rising from the ashes -- older workers who are eager to pocket a payoff and branch out in a new direction.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

CD industry aims at aging music buffs

The Japanese compact disc market is finally showing signs of recovery, but only after manufacturers set their sights on a different demographic -- those aged between 30 and 60.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2001

Expatriates in Japan uneasy over Northern Alliance advance

Many Afghans residing in Japan distrust the Northern Alliance and do not support its recent seizure of Kabul.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 15, 2001

Scent of a stickleback

We all know why we find certain people attractive and want to form relationships with them. Those special people might be more than usually compassionate, intelligent or funny -- or might be physically well-endowed in some way. And neurologists know which areas of the brain become active when we meet...
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2001

Expatriates in Japan uneasy over Northern Alliance advance

Many Afghans residing in Japan distrust the Northern Alliance and do not support its recent seizure of Kabul.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2001

Survey details male, female eating habits

Around 50 percent of men in their 20s through their 40s have at least one enjoyable meal in the company of other people every day, according to a national nutrition report released Thursday by the health ministry.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Surname law now said out of sync

After years of debate and shifting social trends, legislation that would allow Japanese married couples to keep separate surnames may finally hit the Diet floor.

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