Search - member

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2001

Execs lament poor English of Japanese

Selecting English as its official language was not easy for Nissan Motor Co., but it helped facilitate a smooth tieup with Renault SA of France, Nissan Chairman Yoshikazu Hanawa said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2001

Does self-defense justify Afghan war?

SEOUL -- Even as the scope of combat operations in Afghanistan widens and their scale intensifies, the legal basis for waging war under international law grows ever more tenuous. According to U.S. President George W. Bush, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were an act of...
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

Charting a route through the obstacle course

Whoever said "It's a jungle out there" must have been talking about Tokyo. Or perhaps it's more of a gigantic maze, with buildings squashed together, and stations with stairs and escalators going in every direction -- all filled with crowds of irritated people.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

The long road to a barrier-free Japan

Compact size. Lightweight. High-speed. Extra new features. Appealing design. Competitive price. Manufacturers have long focused on criteria like these in their quest for successful product lines. In the single-minded pursuit of profits, though, consumers unable to adapt themselves to standardized products...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 18, 2001

Too much of a good thing

YAKUZA PERFUME, by Akahige Namban. New York: Blue Moon Books, 2001, 206 pp., $7.95 (paper). This curious book is an American-published pornographic novel that purports to be written by a Japanese. Though its main aim is to excite, its interest lies in the cultural assumptions it makes, these rendered...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Public seen in step with boosted SDF role

The Self-Defense Forces are finally crossing the line to participate in a real war for the first time in their history, even though their role will be limited to logistic support.
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2001

British firm eyes communications technology niche

After forming a partnership with a major Japanese electronics company, nCo Tec ventures Ltd., a venture capital firm based in Britain, is gearing up to promote European ventures involving communications technology in the Japanese market, according to George MacRitchie, a partner in nCo Tec.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Public seen in step with boosted SDF role

The Self-Defense Forces are finally crossing the line to participate in a real war for the first time in their history, even though their role will be limited to logistic support.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2001

No plan to allow female ascension: Aso

Taro Aso, policy chief of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said he thinks it is too early to consider revising a male-only inheritance law for the Imperial family to allow a woman to ascend to the throne.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Nov 15, 2001

Travel the world in a tree-lover's heaven

When I arrived at Los Angeles airport in June, my friend Joan Juenemann was there to meet me. My stay in California was to be only three days, but Joan had kindly prepared an itinerary taking in one garden with its own unique character each day.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 14, 2001

Where do we go from here?

Almost 20 minutes into my interview with Aidan and David, two members of the Montreal-based band Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Aidan said that he didn't think my questions were very good and that the interview was a waste of time. He expressed himself not angrily but with genuine frustration at my transparently...
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2001

A smoother path for economic treaties

Can a rookie Cabinet member undergo a political makeover in only five months?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 11, 2001

Back in brass -- and loving it

In the '60s and '70s, when rock was king, for any North American teen who dreamed of musical fame, learning to play the electric guitar with suitably straddle-legged machismo was the only route to nirvana. Taking up other unfashionable instruments like the trumpet, saxophone, tuba, clarinet, squeeze...
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2001

Calls for Cabinet shakeup dog Koizumi

Speculation that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will reshuffle his Cabinet sometime after the current Diet session ends Dec. 7 has not ebbed, despite his repeated denials.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2001

Police to get submachineguns to fight terrorism

Police in 28 prefectures will be issued with 1,379 submachineguns by the end of March to combat terrorism, the National Police Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2001

Doctors prescribe antiaging therapy

A U.S. doctor promoting the new field of antiaging medicine said Friday in Tokyo that the public should do away with stereotypes of the elderly as sickly and unproductive and to think instead of extending life's "usable years."
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2001

Afghan man tells Osaka court of Taliban brutality

OSAKA -- An Afghan man suing the Japanese government for not granting him refugee status testified before the Osaka District Court on Friday of the cruelty inflicted upon him and his family by the ruling Taliban in his home country.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2001

Calls for Cabinet shakeup dog Koizumi

Speculation that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will reshuffle his Cabinet sometime after the current Diet session ends Dec. 7 has not ebbed, despite his repeated denials.
COMMENTARY
Nov 10, 2001

Pakistan's uncertain future

NEW DELHI -- Much before America's declaration of war on terrorism forced Islamabad to turn against its own creation, the Taliban, Pakistan faced an uncertain future. During a four-hour stop in Islamabad in March 2000, U.S. President Bill Clinton warned Pakistanis in a televised address about the "obstacles...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2001

Howard ahead as election draws near

SYDNEY -- In these days of crisis -- as Australia sends troops to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan and thousands of boat people try to reach Australia illegally -- what more does Prime Minister John Howard need to win a national election this coming Saturday?
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2001

Tobacco tax increase eyed

The ruling coalition is considering raising the tobacco tax 1 yen to 2 yen per cigarette in fiscal 2002 to help compensate for an expected shortfall in government revenues amid the prolonged economic slump, coalition officials said.
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 9, 2001

FIFA generally satisfied with Japan's venues

Having completed their check of all the 10 Japanese venues for the 2002 World Cup, the FIFA inspection team on Thursday expressed their overall satisfaction with the preparations in Japan but also commented on the poor condition of the pitch at Saitama Stadium and the problems with traffic control around...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2001

For many Arab regimes, the 'war on terror' begins at home

BEIRUT -- The United States has long divided Arab regimes into two broad categories: the friendly, pro-Western "moderate" ones and the less friendly, "radical" ones. Since Sept. 11, two key "moderates' -- Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- have undergone a drastic change of status in American eyes. Only arch-villain...
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2001

Foreign cash reserves hit record high

Foreign-exchange reserves hit a record high of $405.7 billion at the end of October, up $8.69 billion from the previous high set in September, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Nov 8, 2001

Japanese firms urged to better protect patents

Having lost its edge as a mass-production base, Japan's future economic prosperity depends on its innovativeness in offering high value-added products and services.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat