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ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 28, 2002

Insights from alumni are just one perk of the job

As a university professor, March ought to be a pleasure. There are no classes and few meetings. It is, though, a bittersweet month. Students who have become an integral part of the fabric and rhythm of my life are graduating. Most of the names and faces will fade, but many will be remembered, and a few...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2002

Occupation and terrorism: Israeli-Palestinian politics from the barrel of a gun

JERUSALEM -- The political battle continues in the Middle East through gun barrels rather than across negotiating tables.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Mar 28, 2002

Zen gardens wondrous to behold, and not

I like nothing better than to go and explore gardens and to let my imagination ponder on what's to be seen. Kyoto has plenty of places just waiting to be discovered, and the best way to go and see its gardens and temples is either on foot or by local bus.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 28, 2002

Bunnies slip past Bears in final

It may be a Canadian game, and it was being played in Japan, but when all was said and done, it was the Swedish connection that came through at crunch time.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2002

Don't apologize to Li Peng

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Get out the bunting! Li Peng is on his way! One of the people that former U.S. President Bill Clinton described as the "butchers of Beijing" and now chairman of the National People's Congress, or China's "rubber stamp" Parliament, Li was the Chinese premier at the time of the Tiananmen...
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2002

Developing a new perspective

In an era of unprecedented prosperity, it is important to remember how unevenly this vast wealth is spread. More than 1 billion people -- one-fifth of the world's population -- must live on less than $1 a day; nearly half the population survives on twice that amount. There has long been agreement that...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

New postal players face flat-rate service

New players in Japan's postal services would be obliged to set flat rates nationwide for ordinary mail of up to 250 grams after partial liberalization in 2003 under government-drafted legislation, Liberal Democratic Party officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

DaimlerChrysler man to head MMC

DaimlerChrysler AG's representative to its partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will take over the presidency of the Japanese carmaker from Takashi Sonobe, MMC sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Honda bucks declines in local market

Honda Motor Co. reported an 18.8 percent year-on-year gain in domestic sales in February for a second consecutive monthly rise, but the four other big Japanese automakers continued to post declines, according to data released Tuesday by the companies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2002

Explosive issues dominate Arab summit

BEIRUT -- Arab summits may deal with any matter of common concern to the 22 member states of the "Arab Nation." The matter may be "ordinary" or "emergency," but in practice the more or less permanent emergency of Palestine has furnished 90 percent of their resolutions. Only occasionally have other issues...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Mar 27, 2002

Stanton Moore: 'Flyin' the Koop'

Stanton Moore has been the drummer for New Orleans' favorite funky jam band, Galactic, since the early '90s. That band earned its following the old-fashioned way, by playing hard and heavy music to make audiences groove. Moore's solo projects, however, lean more toward jazz, but without ever leaving...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Mar 27, 2002

Groove is in the House

Ambitious is the word that comes to mind when looking at the publicity material for the inaugural New York-Tokyo Music Festival. Scheduled to take place in the Big Apple May 23-26, the event will feature live performances by a variety of Japanese artists, including Towa Tei, Ken Ishii and Mondo Grosso....
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Big banks continue to write off bad loans

The nation's 13 major banks are expected to book a combined 7.5 trillion yen in loan-loss charges for the business year to March 31, about 1 trillion yen more than the 6.44 trillion yen previously estimated, banking sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Hiranuma frets over EU plan to curb steel imports

Trade minister Takeo Hiranuma said Tuesday he is worried that a reported plan by the European Union to join the United States in curbing steel imports will hinder the world's free-trade regime.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Kansai No. 2 runway edges forward

OSAKA -- Some 240 airport and construction officials attended a ceremony Tuesday at Kansai International Airport to mark the building of a second runway, projected for completion by 2007.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Mar 27, 2002

Pet Shop Boys: 'Release'

More than 16 years ago, Neil Tennant emerged as the Noel Coward of dance pop when he and fellow Pet Shop Boy Chris Lowe exhorted all the young dudes to "make lots of money." Like the playwright, Tennant sauntered on to the scene fully jaded, his wit already acerbic, his ironies prickly with cynicism....
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Securities protection funds to merge

Local and foreign funds designed to protect securities investors in the event of brokerage failures are expected to merge by July, industry sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2002

Getting back to where it began

The career of Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1919), as it unfolds in a new retrospective at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, is like watching art history run backward. Its culmination -- the glowing colors and dynamic abstraction he made his own -- introduced a whole new visual vocabulary to Western...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Warring factors may lock yen above 130

The yen has given up much of its recent gains and now sits just about where it did earlier in the year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 27, 2002

Humans' distance laid bare in two close-ups on 'intimacy'

Theater Project Tokyo's current, compelling double bill, "TPT Futures 2002," grapples head-on with how, as time and circumstances change, people deal with the eternally fraught business of maintaining or severing their intimate ties with others.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 27, 2002

Putting a 'gloss' on exhibitions

A computer-geek friend of mine recently posed an interesting problem to me: "If you wanted to save a document so that it was easily accessible 100 years from now, what format would you use?"
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Mar 27, 2002

O-Ne: '2624'

I ask Tokyo duo O-Ne why their long-awaited debut album is called "2624." Is that a combination of the ages of the two chicks in the band? Is that when the world's gonna finally end? Or is that the black-market price in pounds sterling for a ticket to see England whip the ass of Argentina in the upcoming...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Mar 27, 2002

Macha: 'The Ride'

After the disbanding of their Gainesville, Fla.-based prog-rock group Emperor Moth, multi-instrumentalist brothers Joshua and Mishco Makay moved to Athens, Ga., where they formed Macha. The shift from one thriving college town to another -- and a backpacking trip through Southeast Asia -- changed their...
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Asahi Kasei, Dupont unit ink pact

Asahi Kasei Corp. and a unit of U.S.-based DuPont on Tuesday said they will set up a joint venture in China to produce polyacetal, a resin often used in automobile parts.
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 2002

Double-edged law for juveniles

The Liberal Democratic Party is preparing a bill designed to deal with "social conditions detrimental to the sound development of juveniles" -- conditions that induce or encourage sex and violence on the part of children. Although there is no question about the need to promote the healthy development...
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2002

Getting tough on bid rigging

Japanese newspapers are awash with scandals over bidding for public works projects. Japan's construction industry, which accounts for more than 10 percent of the nation's employed workers, is the world's largest. It is unconscionable that this important industry has become a hotbed of collusion among...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji