Search - special

 
 
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2003

New correctional reform panel launched

Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama announced Monday the inauguration of a special panel tasked with discussing correctional reform.
COMMENTARY
Mar 31, 2003

U.S. coalition unnerves allies

SAN FRANCISCO -- Although the United States didn't go to the United Nations for explicit authorization of an attack against Iraq, the Bush administration never abandoned attempts to craft a multilateral coalition in support of those efforts. But this government's view of "multilateralism" differs from...
COMMENTARY
Mar 31, 2003

Debt owed to those inclined to be soldiers

WASHINGTON -- Americans have grown used to nearly costless wars. The New York Times headlined one story: "Invading Forces Capture Key Bridge -- More American Deaths." It left readers to ponder which was the more interesting news nugget -- that a bridge was taken, or that U.S. soldiers died taking it....
CULTURE / Music
Mar 30, 2003

Setting music free on the open road

While major record labels battle Internet file-sharing to preserve the sanctity of music delivery media (CDs and whatever the hell will take their place), major artists challenge their contracts and less-than-major artists avoid the "entertainment industry" altogether. The consequence of technological...
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2003

One week into the war

It has been nine days since the United States launched its attack against Iraq. The war has not gone as many expected. The difficulties encountered by the U.S.-led coalition have raised questions about Washington's strategy and the assumptions that undergirded the allied assault. Although those doubts...
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2003

Hoya ordered to halt misleading ads for eyeglasses

The Fair Trade Commission said Friday it has ordered eyeglass manufacturer Hoya Corp. to stop making misleading claims about its products.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2003

Asahara again refuses to respond to questions by his own attorneys

Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara refused again Thursday to answer questions from his own lawyers, while victims of the cult's crimes called for him to receive the death penalty.
COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2003

China's systemic incompetence can sicken world

HONG KONG -- An ugly new strain of atypical pneumonia has medical scientists working overtime in their research laboratories across the world, as they strive to discover why a growing number of patients are now suffering and dying in many nations from this previously unknown virus that is being blamed...
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2003

25,296 without homes: survey

The number of homeless people in Japan stood at 25,296 earlier this year, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2003

Warfare that stymies protest

LONDON -- This, we were promised, would be the most politically correct war in history. Harlan Ullman, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says the strategy of conquering Iraq by "shock and awe" bombing, was devised simply because this is the most unpopular...
LIFE / Digital / NETWISE
Mar 27, 2003

Heading off spam at the pass

It's been just over a year since my personal e-mail account started getting upwards of 20 junk mails a day and I ditched it for a new, spam-free one. I created another -- simple enough when you have your own domain -- but found in mere months that I was right back where I started. Even taking great care...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 27, 2003

Black salamander

* Japanese name: Kuro sansho uo * Scientific name: Hynobius nigrescens * Description: Salamanders are considered primitive amphibians in comparison to frogs and toads. Like all amphibians, however, salamanders spend their lives in two entirely different states. The larvae are aquatic, breathing water...
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2003

Mystery disease raises new fears

The outbreak of a mysterious respiratory disease has set off alarms worldwide. Hundreds of individuals have been affected by the malady, which can result, if untreated, in death. Its rapid spread has reignited concern about the dangers of bioterrorist attacks. Although there is no evidence to suggest...
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2003

Kinki Nippon Railway facing huge extraordinary loss

Kinki Nippon Railway Co. said Tuesday it will book an extraordinary loss of 106 billion yen for the 2002 business year, primarily due to appraisal losses suffered on resort facilities and a downsizing program.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2003

Ministry gets first female division chief

The all-male citadel of the Justice Ministry's bureaucracy has been cracked open, and next week it will have its first-ever female divisional head.
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2003

Starting April 1, all MMC pay will be merit-based

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will entirely abandon seniority-based pay on April 1 in an effort to improve productivity.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2003

Songs of oppressed now serve to inspire

War and oppression leave not only legacies of death and suffering, but throughout the ages the sorrow they have also inspired songs.
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2003

The war of words

Every war breeds its own vocabulary, and the second Persian Gulf conflict has proved no exception. One thing does seem new, though. As this invasion (aka liberation) plays out 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in the world's living rooms, its singular lingo has circled the globe with unprecedented speed....
COMMENTARY
Mar 25, 2003

Weak tobacco pact reflects Japan's lukewarm attitude

The member-nations of the World Health Organization have recently approved a draft Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), putting an end to four years of negotiations. The draft is expected to be adopted at the general meeting of the WHO in May, and will take effect after 40 countries have ratified...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 24, 2003

Don't write off U.N. just yet

EDMONTON, Alberta-- The hawks in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush finally got what they wanted -- in New York, as well as in the Middle East. The U.N. Security Council is deeply divided, the U.N. system itself seems paralyzed and a preemptive war is about to win "regime change" in...
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 24, 2003

Gamba leaves it late at Kyoto

KYOTO -- Gamba substitute forward Kota Yoshihara headed in the winning goal in the 89th minute, helping Osaka rally past Kyoto Purple Sanga 2-1 on Sunday at Nishikyogoku Stadium.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 23, 2003

English text lays bare a secret

Fanc a trip to a not-so-secret but hitherto inaccessible part of Japan?
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2003

Economy top priority for new leadership

HONG KONG -- The two-week session of the National People's Congress in Beijing, which ended Tuesday, finished the political transition begun by the 16th Party Congress in November.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 22, 2003

Funny money clothed in cute cartoons

Before I came to Japan, I hadn't used money in years. It's not that I didn't have money -- I just never dreamed of taking it out of the bank and using it. That's because on my planet, the United States, money is a thin piece of plastic called a debit card, inside of which are mathematical molecules swirling...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 22, 2003

Toko Shinoda

In an interview in the 1960s, artist Toko Shinoda said it was both wonderful and terrible to be driven by something inside. She quoted Japan's woodblock print artist Hokusai. "I know what he meant when he said that at 75 he could understand a little. If he lived to be 90 he would understand more. And...
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2003

Subway workers offer prayers on sarin attack anniversary

Tokyo subway workers offered prayers and flowers Thursday at Kasumigaseki Station to mark the eighth anniversary of the Aum Shinrikyo sarin gas attack that killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2003

'Amakudari' to end at highway-firm affiliates

The transport ministry will demand the resignation of all board members of companies affiliated with four public expressway corporations who assumed their posts after retiring from the public firms, transport minister Chikage Ogi said Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2003

Gap unit collared for 16.8 billion yen in tax evasion

Gap International BV, a subsidiary of U.S. casual wear maker Gap Inc., failed to report around 16.8 billion yen in income from Gap's Japan subsidiary, sources said Thursday.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years