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EDITORIALS
Nov 15, 2004

Auditors, don't be shy

Every annual report from the Board of Audit (BOA), an independent government body, makes dismal reading -- until you get to the bottom line. The latest says that 43 billion yen in taxpayer money was wasted and misused in fiscal 2003. That is the largest amount in 20 years. The report gives appalling...
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2004

Major science meeting in Kyoto gets under way

KYOTO -- Nearly 400 government ministers, Nobel laureates, corporate executives and leading scholars gathered here Sunday for a three-day conference to discuss the impact of scientific and technological progress on society.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2004

Princess Nori to marry Tokyo metro bureaucrat

Princess Nori, the only daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, will marry Yoshiki Kuroda, an official in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, a senior Imperial Household Agency official said Sunday.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2004

Sanctions against North Korea under study, Machimura says

The government has begun an informal study into the possibility of imposing economic sanctions on North Korea, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Sunday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2004

Imperial agency raps media for reporting engagement

The Imperial Household Agency complained Sunday it was "highly inappropriate" for news media to report Princess Nori's engagement before it was officially announced.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2004

Government to buy emission credits from firms

The government is planning to launch a system in fiscal 2006 to purchase emission reduction credits earned by private firms that implement overseas projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, government sources said Sunday.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 15, 2004

The importance of questioning fearlessly and answering honestly

"Any damn fool can answer a question. The important thing is to ask one."
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2004

Last gasp of U.S. hegemony

HONG KONG -- Sometimes it is difficult to fathom the mind of Mr. Market. After the Congress Party won the Indian election, the stock market plunged. After U.S. President George W. Bush's re-election was confirmed, markets everywhere were almost dancing with joy, seemingly oblivious to $50-a-barrel oil...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2004

Work cut out for Australia and Indonesia

SINGAPORE -- John Howard ensured his control over Australian politics for the next four years on Oct. 9 when he swept to an impressive fourth term as prime minister and his Liberal Party-led coalition increased its lead over Labour in both Houses. Howard's victory was attributed to the recent good performance...
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2004

Risks could Americanize Chinese behavior

HONG KONG -- It's a dangerous world out there and, as China is finding out, it's getting more dangerous by the day. Beijing was shocked last month when terrorists believed to be linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization kidnapped two Chinese engineers working on a dam project in a tribal area of...
MORE SPORTS
Nov 15, 2004

Japan hit for a hundred by marauding Scotland

PERTH, Scotland -- Scotland romped to a record 100-8 win over a fledgling Japan side at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2004

Loyal vote for pork politics

On Nov. 5, the Tokyo District Court sentenced Muneo Suzuki, a former Lower House member of the Liberal Democratic Party, to two years in prison for bribery, misreporting donations and perjury. Suzuki, who once served as state minister in charge of development in Hokkaido, was a key member of the LDP's...
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2004

Delegates visit sites linked to abductees

Japanese delegates in North Korea for abduction talks visited locations Saturday near Pyongyang and in other parts of the country where Japanese abductees are said to have stayed, officials in Tokyo said.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 14, 2004

LDP crew want credit where credit isn't due

It's easy to believe that once a person becomes a politician, he tends to lose touch with everyday reality as it's lived by the majority of citizens since he's usually too busy looking after his own interests. Nevertheless, a recent remark by Tsutomu Takebe, the secretary general of the Liberal Democratic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 14, 2004

Branford Marsalis Quartet: "Eternal"

Of the four musical Marsalis brothers, the oldest, Branford, has ventured farthest from the world of jazz. His stints as the director of Jay Leno's "Tonight Show" band and as saxophonist on Sting's tours caused many jazz purists to lose faith in his commitment to "serious" music. The lyrical intensity...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 14, 2004

Two Zen portals: different yet the same

ZEN INKLINGS, by Donald Richie. IBC Publishing, 132 pp., 2004 (new edition), 1,400 yen (paper). THE NEW ZEN GARDEN, by Joseph Cali, photos by Satoshi Asakawa. Kodansha International, 87 pp., 2004, 3,500 yen (cloth). One opens a book by Donald Richie with certain expectations -- namely, that it will be...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 14, 2004

TV Asahi's special five-part drama series and more

To celebrate its 45th anniversary, TV Asahi will present a special five-part drama series about Japan's favorite siblings -- Yujiro and Shintaro Ishihara. Like Elvis, Yujiro's early death has only increased the actor-singer's popularity, and since his older brother, who was responsible for making him...
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2004

Envoy calls for calm

China's ambassador to Japan, Wang Yi, said Saturday that Japan and China should seek a solution in a calm manner to the alleged intrusion of a Chinese submarine into Japanese territorial waters earlier this week.
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2004

MMC, Peugeot enter tieup talks

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and PSA Peugeot Citroen of France are in talks to form a capital and business tieup, sources at the Japanese automaker and industry sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 14, 2004

James Baluyut and +/-

Several years ago, James Baluyut decided to name -- or, more precisely, label -- his new band +/- (plus minus), a statistical term used in hockey to denote a player's effectiveness on the ice. Baluyut, who grew up near Detroit, was for most of the '90s a "sideman" in his brother's New York-based indie...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’