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BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2001

Pundits see Japan-China spat as just the beginning

The recent trade dispute between Japan and China over three farm products was a harbinger of future trade friction between the two countries, according to pundits.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2001

Sumitomo Mitsui sees 150 billion yen loss

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. announced Wednesday a sharp increase in loan-loss charges and large losses in its shareholdings, prompting it to revise its 2001 earnings forecast from a consolidated net profit of 180 billion yen to a 150 billion yen net loss.
COMMENTARY
Nov 11, 2001

North Korea guards its antiterror card

SEOUL -- The message conveyed in a newspaper interview was crystal clear: "The North Koreans are missing an opportunity to play a responsible role by not joining us," said Thomas Hubbard, the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea. "We'd like to see North Korea join in international concrete actions to stamp...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 4, 2001

Putting fear and hope on the genome map

Future historians might well classify this week as typical of the early 21st century, in that there is a flurry of reports linking specific genes to human diseases, and at the same time there is a voice warning against seeing genetics as a "magic bullet," the solution to all our problems.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2001

LDP panel sets schedule on tax reform

Senior officials on the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel agreed Wednesday to compile a proposal for securities tax reforms by early October.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2001

Lee looking to alter landscape of Taiwan's politics

TAIPEI -- Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui is looking to forge a new political group after legislative elections are held in December.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2001

Numerous problems slow efforts to safely scrap retired Russian nuclear submarines

BOLSHOI KAMEN, Russia -- Propped up onshore amid heaps of scrap metal at the Zvezda shipyard is one of the largest vehicles ever to cruise the planet -- the five-story hulk of a submarine that once carried intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the United States.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2001

Cabinet OKs caps on fiscal 2002 general spending

The Cabinet on Friday approved fiscal 2002 budgetary request guidelines that will cut general expenditures by some 900 billion yen to around 47.8 trillion yen, marking the biggest contraction ever.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2001

Trade, security top agenda

SYDNEY -- A new regional security mechanism involving the United States, Japan and Australia that risks offending China is high on the agenda of Australian Prime Minister John Howard for his Tokyo visit.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2001

OECD policy equals fiscal imperialism

There has been a lot of noise over the issue of tax laundering and tax havens. While much of the focus of publicity will be on stopping money-laundering associated with criminal activities, the subtext of it all will be to restrain tax competition. Despite the initial aim to limit "harmful tax competition,"...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2001

Judges may get say in fate of mentally ill

Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Friday he is considering legislation that would require judicial authorities to determine whether institutionalization is necessary for psychiatric patients who commit crimes.
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
May 16, 2001

The sweet sound of a good cause

Historically, the Japanese geinokai (entertainment world) has been slow to catch on to the idea of the charity concert/release. But now Ryuichi Sakamoto, a la Bob Geldof and the Band Aid famine-relief project, has put together an impressive array of Japanese and overseas talents on a track called "Zero...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 6, 2001

Don't forget your TOEFL

With my older son now poking his way through the college-application process, pursuing schools mostly in the States and often being mistaken for a nonnative English speaker, I am uneasily reminded of a time 20 years past when I too applied for higher education from within Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2001

Yamasaki eyes draft to revise Article 9

Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Taku Yamasaki has drawn up a tentative draft for constitutional revisions that include changing the wording of Article 9 to clarify that Japan will maintain land, sea and air forces and has the right to self-defense, political sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Bill on data protection approved by Cabinet

The Cabinet approved Tuesday a privacy protection bill designed to set a legal framework to regulate the acquisition and dissemination of personal information for commercial use.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 26, 2001

Russians living 'la vida loca'

This semester I am teaching a Dostoevsky course. Implausible plots, stumbling dialogues, everybody in love with everybody, romantic triangles overlap like mating frogs, passions mount, money changes hands and is thrown into the fire -- the normal Dostoevsky stuff.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2001

History will affirm Kim's heroism, vision

SEOUL -- A classical drama consists of five acts. Usually, the key part occurs in the third act. In this regard, the North Korea policy of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung may have something in common with classical theater.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 1, 2001

FIFA's football family is fatally dysfunctional

Sepp Blatter, the head of soccer's world governing body FIFA, invariably refers to the world's soccer community as "the football family." Unfortunately, it's a terribly dysfunctional family.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2001

Annan waits on re-election decision

Visiting U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Wednesday that he will announce in March whether he will run for a second term as head of the United Nations.
BUSINESS
Jan 18, 2001

Amway Japan chief looks to raise firm's public profile, sales

In an effort to combat a decline in sales amid stagnant consumer spending, Amway Japan Ltd. President Stephen A. Robbins is determined to raise the direct selling firm's public profile by forming alliances with major Japanese companies.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2000

120 nations sign treaty targeting top toxic threats

In a recent set of marathon talks that went down to -- and past -- the wire, delegates from more than 120 countries hashed out the first international treaty designed to eliminate some of the world's most toxic chemicals.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2000

Gender equality measures urged

An advisory panel to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori submitted a report Monday recommending broad measures to promote gender equality in Japan.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 10, 2000

Japan's new goodwill ambassador to the UNEP

Tokiko Kato Tokiko Kato is every bit as energetic and candid in person as she appears on stage. Best known as a singer and musician, Kato is also a poet and painter, and serves on the board of the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan. Though her schedule is hectic, it is by choice, and she has energy to...
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2000

LDP panel set to extend housing loan tax breaks

The tax panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party basically agreed Wednesday to maintain tax breaks for housing loans for two to three years, albeit on a reduced scale, sources within the party said.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2000

Bill foot-dragging belies pluralist goal

The postponement of debate on a bill that would grant limited suffrage to foreigners until next year at the earliest has prompted long-term foreign residents of Japan to question whether the nation is serious about embracing the foreign population.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2000

Young people called on to help end exploitation of children

The active participation of young people is key to the successful global effort to fight sexual exploitation of children, according to an adviser to an international conference on the issue scheduled next year in Yokohama.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2000

Fujimori confirms resignation intent

Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori Monday confirmed he intends to resign within 48 hours, just hours after all 14 members of his Cabinet tendered their resignations in protest of his surprise decision.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2000

Transparency crucial to corporate survival

Most companies will face a crisis at one point, but it's not necessarily the crisis itself that will dictate that company's future, but rather how it is handled.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell