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COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2003

A bigger Europe may not be any better

LONDON -- A few days ago in Athens, the birthplace of democracy, EU leaders approved a major expansion of the European Union that will embrace 10 new members and 73 million more European citizens.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2003

EU troubles will also expand

LONDON -- The symbolism could hardly have been better. Against a background of the columns of ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy, 25 government leaders signed documents that will bring into the European Union countries that spent much of their postwar existence under communist dictatorship....
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2003

DPJ's Kan to meet with Hu in Beijing

DPJ President Naoto Kan will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao on April 16 in Beijing, an executive lawmaker of the party said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 2003

Sino-Japanese cooperation is key

Over the past two years, relations between Japan and China have been a little awkward because of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which is seen by Chinese as a symbolic legacy of Japanese militarism. Now, however, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi's three-day visit to China...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Apr 7, 2003

U.S. racks up victories, and a huge debt

WASHINGTON -- After months of ducking the question of how much the war would cost, President George W. Bush sent Congress a request for just under $80 billion in new funds. It responded by moving quickly, with both the Senate and House Committees approving bills to give the president his money, but it...
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2003

Diet turbulence likely in second half

As the Diet moves into the second half of its 150-day regular session, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration appears headed for more difficult times, politically and economically. The first half ended without a major hitch. The fiscal 2003 government budget -- the most important legislative...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2003

Risks of selected 'free trade'

A marked trend in world affairs since the 1980s has been a series of bilateral and regional free-trade agreements, or FTAs, in Australasia, the Americas and Asia, not to mention Europe. Japan, having largely stayed out of these, is now at least contemplating the idea with some selected trade partners....
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2003

A dirty war in Thailand

Last month the prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, declared war on drugs, vowing to rid his country of the scourge within three months. The goal is ambitious, if not impossible. Human rights groups reportedly express fear that the campaign has become reckless and dangerous; they claim that...
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Mar 25, 2003

The Rules of Clout: the whens and hows of granting favors safely

The story has passed its first blush now, and has faded in public memory into just another head-shaker about the apparently out-of-control lifestyles of CEOs. But the saga of how a star stock analyst, Jack Grubman, allegedly upgraded a stock as a favor for Sandy Weill of Citigroup, who in turn pressured...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 18, 2003

Tokyo's immigration bureau gets makeover at new location

"Are you sure this is the place?" our driver inquired.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2003

Politicians fail to fill predecessors' shoes

With tension building over Iraq as the United States steps up military preparations, North Korea's nuclear saber-rattling threatens stability in Northeast Asia. War fears are clouding economic prospects worldwide.
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2003

The perils of arms control 'lite'

Last May, U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a treaty that mandates deep cuts in both countries' strategic nuclear arsenals. Last week, the U.S. Senate ratified the accord. While any nuclear arms reductions are to be welcomed, this document is troubling. It is...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 11, 2003

Building projects defy huge cash woe

Until a year ago, the tallest structure I could see from my apartment in Hashimoto, Kanagawa Prefecture, was the neon sign for the local Denny's. Not any more.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Mar 11, 2003

Four essential errors that you should make before assuming the CEO mantle

Winter is here with a vengeance, and the ski slopes are alive with CEOs who have nothing better to do than hone their powder skills -- and think about what might have been. Many will no doubt be replaying the miscalculations and misjudgments that led to their current difficulties. Yet the curious thing...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Mar 9, 2003

Rifts widen for U.S. ahead of war vote

WASHINGTON -- We wait and watch. Iraqi President Sadaam Hussein is cooperating. Or is he? He is destroying some missiles that United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix says are too powerful. But is that enough? U.S. President George W. Bush does not seem convinced. "Pure showmanship and more stalling,"...
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2003

Sleep apnea cited for two dozing train drivers

The driver of a helper locomotive on a freight train nodded off at the controls on the JR Sanyo Line in Hiroshima Prefecture last month, possibly due to sleep apnea, sources at Japan Freight Railway Co. said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2003

Sharon pushes peace process aside

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has announced the formation of a new government. The new 68-member coalition promises to be unwieldy: It is composed of Likud and three smaller parties that have little in common. While the new government can muster a majority in Parliament, it is unlikely to be able...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NETWISE
Feb 27, 2003

Avoiding the 'mojibake' bugaboo

Just about everyone uses e-mail today, and many of us in Japan do so in English, Japanese, and other languages as well. But anyone who corresponds in Japanese via e-mail knows that we still have a long way to go in terms of ensuring that our e-mail reaches the intended recipient both intact and readable....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 26, 2003

Freed jazz

Musicians can be extraordinary in so many different ways. John Coltrane was on a radical quest for enlightenment until the day he died. Bill Evans could voice chords in ways no one else ever imagined. Like a cat, Theolonius Monk could step off an edge and always land on his feet. And Miles Davis? You...
EDITORIALS
Feb 24, 2003

Cozy business-political ties die hard

The question of politics and money remains very much alive in Japan. It was the subject of intensive debate at Thursday's special session of the Lower House Budget Committee. Central to the debate was the legality of corporate donations to political parties, a question that has taken on new meaning in...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Feb 22, 2003

Antiwar fever rises as the economy sinks

WASHINGTON -- Two big questions have dominated Washington this week. When will this horrible, cold winter end? And when will the war in Iraq begin? While they are different subjects with different consequences, they are getting about equal time in the capital's conversation content.
EDITORIALS
Feb 21, 2003

Clarify refugee policy

The incident in which four North Korean citizens who had fled from their country entered a Japanese school in Beijing and asked for asylum in Japan has posed a sobering question concerning Japan's refugee policy. Acting on lessons from the incident at Japan's consulate general in Shenyang last May, the...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2003

Democracy in Myanmar going nowhere

Myanmar has no formal greeting words. A surprise? But we have variations that are more practical to our lives, depending on the time and circumstances. If you meet someone along the way, the most common words are: Where do you come from? Where are you going? Or, how are your father's, mother's or your...
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2003

Japan's role in solving Iraq issue

How should Japan deal with the Iraq crisis? The question is gaining urgency as the United States gears up for a military campaign. Yet the government has so far given only vague answers, though the ambiguity is not difficult to understand. During a Diet debate on Wednesday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi...
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2003

Fukuda laments differences of opinion over Iraq

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda expressed concern Wednesday that the rift between the United States and European countries skeptical of Washington's case against Iraq is sending "the wrong message" to Baghdad.
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Feb 7, 2003

Osaka survey follows ethnic lines

OSAKA -- While Osaka's foreign residents are divided on the need to provide information for medical services in foreign languages, they are in general agreement that schools should teach more about the history, language and culture of other countries.
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2003

Diet debates remain superficial

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's economic policy is coming under increasing criticism from the opposition parties. They have mainly condemned him for failing to produce either reform or growth, and have pointed out that his battle against deflation is reaching deadlock. That criticism -- which is not...
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2003

Iraq presents Japan with fresh headache

Although the government has declined to state publicly whether it will support a U.S.-led war on Iraq, it has recently been considering how it might help the United States in the event of a conflict and how it can assist in the postwar rehabilitation of Iraq and surrounding countries.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 2, 2003

Analyst urges Russia to look West

THE END OF EURASIA: Russia on the Border Between Geopolitics and Globalization, by Dmitri Trenin. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2002, 351 pp., $24.95 (paper) If nations were people, then Russia would have post-traumatic stress syndrome. Over the past decade, the former...

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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