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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
Jun 1, 2003

Looking back on a 'rudderless' land

In the four years since Howard French took the helm as The New York Times' Tokyo bureau chief, he has witnessed -- and covered -- the rise of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the fall of his former foreign minister, Makiko Tanaka, the scandalous accident at the uranium-processing facility in the village...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 1, 2003

Travel or reality show? A bit of both and neither

The TV Tokyo series, "Inaka ni Tomaro" ("Let's Spend the Night in the Countryside"; Sunday 7 p.m.), which started several months ago, is categorized as a travel show, but its appeal is similar to that which characterizes reality shows, namely the spectacle of people placed in real-life situations that...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 1, 2003

Black Ships of 'shock and awe'

Whatever Washington would have the world think, many people will only ever believe that the recent U.S. invasion of Iraq was for oil. However, U.S. power diplomacy of the Bush administration's "neoconservative" type is neither a new phenomenon, nor one confined to the Muslim Middle East.
EDITORIALS
Jun 1, 2003

In the hands of the language police

A nyone interested in the health of either the English language or American education might already have caught wind of a book that caused a stir when it was published in the United States in April. For those who haven't, "The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn," by Professor...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jun 1, 2003

Cool just around the corner

I held out no great hope for a positive outcome to a recent visit to the Ginza. Dante, the chef who some of you may remember from Tokyo Salon in the Vision Network complex in Omotesando, wanted me to come and taste his new Italian set dinner, which he has added to the menu at NB Club, a restaurant featuring...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 1, 2003

Shipwrecked Russians lived to tell an epic tale

With the Crimean War brewing in the eastern Mediterranean between Russia and an alliance of Turkey, Britain and France, a small Russian fleet of four ships commanded by Rear-Admiral Efimi Vasilievich Putiatin sailed into Nagasaki just a few weeks after U.S. Commadore Matthew Perry's "Black Ships" left...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 1, 2003

A cut above

After 15 years as one of the most successful and popular rikishi in the history of sumo, Takanohana called it quits Jan. 20. In his usual unflappable manner, the yokozuna (grand champion) commented at the press conference that he felt "it was a good time to retire," and though a lot of his peers have...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jun 1, 2003

The desert domain where the rhinos rule

Last of two parts We are in the Kunene wilderness region of northwest Namibia, with former F-1 star Ukyo Katayama, an NHK documentary team, a bunch of bloody-minded camels, several battered off-road vehicles, about 50 local tribesmen and Namibian wildlife artist Blythe Loutit, founder of The Save the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 1, 2003

Shame and the pious pioneer

Commodore Matthew Perry pried open the door to Japan, and the first American to pass through it was Townsend Harris.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2003

Benefits of closer Japan-U.S ties

After Iraq, the most destabilizing factor affecting Japan today is nuclear-arms development by North Korea. While aiming for a peaceful solution of the problem through dialogue, the leaders of Japan and the United States have affirmed that if North Korea escalates the situation they are ready to adopt...
BASEBALL / MLB
May 31, 2003

Takahashi snares Tigers

Lefty Hisanori Takahashi pitched eight scoreless innings before giving up two runs in the ninth in going the distance and Takayuki Shimizu smashed a grand slam to cap a five-run fourth as the Yomiuri Giants downed the Hanshin Tigers 8-2 on Friday at Tokyo Dome.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Shiokawa seeking 3% cut in public works spending

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday he hopes to cut public works spending by about 3 percent in the fiscal 2004 budget as part of efforts to reduce the size of the overall budget.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Shiokawa claims yen overvalued

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa on Friday tried to talk down the value of the yen, saying he believes it is slightly overvalued.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2003

Roh's summit of deferral

SEOUL -- Plying the Aegean like Ulysses of yore in Greek mythology -- full of self-doubt as to what awaited him at the end of his voyage if, in fact, he reached his final destination -- South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun returned from his maiden voyage to the United States on his feet, but just barely....
COMMENTARY
May 31, 2003

No place for N. Korea in postwar order?

MANILA -- Peaceful conflict resolution has ceased to be a dominant paradigm of international relations. On the contrary, with the sole remaining superpower declaring preemptive strikes to be a strategic prerogative, and Washington's military supremacy virtually unopposed, political modesty has disappeared...
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Core Tokyo consumer prices for May sank 0.4% on year

The key gauge of consumer prices in Tokyo fell 0.4 percent in May from a year earlier, a record 44th consecutive month of decrease, the government said in a preliminary report Friday.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Fujitsu sells part of stake in Fanuc

Fujitsu Ltd. said Friday it has sold part of its shareholdings in industrial robot manufacturer Fanuc Ltd. to raise funds to repay interest-bearing debts, although it still the biggest shareholder.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Resona applies for 1.96 trillion yen

Resona Holdings Inc. formally applied Friday for an injection of 1.96 trillion yen in public funds and presented a restructuring program to the government that featured cuts in personnel and expenses as a condition for the bailout.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Government sees 'freeters' as early warning sign

The government said Friday that the swelling ranks of young people forced into part-time work could dent Japan's economic competitiveness as these workers have less opportunity to hone a particular skill.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Wage-earners' spending down 1%

Spending by Japan's wage-earning households dropped a real 1 percent in April from a year earlier, the seventh straight monthly decline, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Jobless rate stuck at 5.4% in April

The nation's jobless rate stood at a near-record 5.4 percent in April, unchanged from March, reflecting continued bleak employment conditions, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Rokkasho blunder leads to failures

Oye Kogyo Co., a manufacturer of nuclear power equipment, and its subsidiary Oye Engineering Co. have filed for protection from creditors under the corporate rehabilitation law.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

April housing starts increased 1.4%

Housing starts totaled 100,276 units across the country in April, up 1.4 percent from a year earlier for the first year-on-year rise in six months, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Matsushita to restart SARS-hit China plants

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. was to resume operations Saturday at two factories in China shut down after five workers were diagnosed with SARS.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 31, 2003

Masaomi Kondo

Professor of economics at Daito Bunka University, Masaomi Kondo is also president of the Japan Association for Interpretation Studies, and senior member of the International Association of Conference Interpreters in Geneva. The scope of his interests and qualifications go way beyond economics and high-level...
BUSINESS
May 31, 2003

Life insurers' revenues, assets still spiraling down

Falling stock prices and sluggish demand left all the nation's major life insurance companies with reduced revenues and net assets in the year that ended on March 31, according to earnings reports released Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 31, 2003

Longtime expatriates all play 'Survivor'

It's not reality TV. It's reality.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 31, 2003

Flower power and the heathen gardener

It's time to water your garden. What garden? You mean you haven't planted your garden yet? Oh, you're too busy? Don't have enough space? No more excuses. I'll tell you how you can make a Japanese-style flower garden in just 30 seconds a day. Heck, you learned Japanese in 10 minutes a day, right?

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