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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Aug 23, 2002

Living like a local

Murdo Maclean is no longer shy about wearing a loincloth and jumping into ice-cold rivers. In fact, it has become an annual event for the red-haired Scot, who has just finished his second year as a coordinator for international relations (CIR) in the town of Ogata, Oita Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2002

Law grad opts for freelance reporting, not elite track

With an average monthly income of just 150,000 yen, Maiko Morimoto is the exception among graduates of the University of Tokyo's law department, which has turned out a slew of elite bureaucrats and lawyers.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2002

Uncertainty overshadows Earth summit

The largest United Nations gathering in history is to start in Johannesburg in nine days' time, with nations reflecting on the progress -- or the lack of it -- toward achieving a more sustainable world over the past decade and wrangling over how to do a better job in the future.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 15, 2002

A load of computer clubs and a wad of financial advice

This column may be produced in Tokyo, but the newspaper circulates nationwide and indeed is read online worldwide. So we feel we are not doing our jobs properly to focus on Tokyo alone. While we have heard of a Macintosh computer group in Osaka, there must be others -- and in Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo,...
COMMUNITY
Aug 11, 2002

Seeing is believing: Junichi Yaoi's experiences with the supernatural

Junichi Yaoi's otherworldly encounters took place decades ago, but in his memory, it's as if they happened yesterday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 11, 2002

We are more than just numbers, aren't we?

On Aug. 3, something interesting happened on the TBS newsmagazine "Broadcaster." Following a report on the new computerized resident registry network, commonly referred to as Juki Net, which would go into effect the following Monday, the show's presenter apologized for not covering the topic fully when...
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2002

'Eco-city' title elusive in Japan

KYOTO -- Nagoya may have taken the No. 1 spot in a recent contest ranking the nation's municipalities on their environmental initiatives, but its overall score illustrates that many hurdles remain before any Japanese city can truly be called eco-friendly.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2002

Koizumi, ministers unite on austerity

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi agreed Thursday with his key economic ministers to compile an austere budget for the next fiscal year, which begins in April 2003, ministers said.
COMMUNITY
Jul 30, 2002

JET membership up in numbers, diversity

For the past 15 years, the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program has greatly helped promote Japan's internationalization.
COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 2002

Chinese media's coverage of U.S. proves balanced

HONG KONG -- A study of the Chinese media, commissioned by a bipartisan American congressional panel -- the U.S. China Security Review Commission -- has found that the controlled Chinese press, in its reporting on the United States, appears to be relatively balanced overall.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2002

Straw to visit, meet with Kawaguchi

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will make a three-day visit to Japan next week for talks with Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on regional and global topics of common concern, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jul 3, 2002

Make way for the gloom

Mr. Hyde is waiting to be interviewed in the chicly decrepit confines of Casa del Japon, a Western-style house in Azabu that was the residence of China's ambassador to Japan before World War II and is now a bar and restaurant.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2002

Koizumi predicts German soccer victory, while flying home with Schroeder

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Saturday predicted Germany's success in the World Cup soccer final, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed confidence that Japan's slumping economy would recover soon.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 20, 2002

Making the right computer choice is no big struggle

In answer to Stephen Harris, who's seeking to finally enter the computer age and is looking for the right machine for him, this is a huge subject, and largely a matter of personal preference.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jun 17, 2002

How to avert the risk of war with China

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In the rolling green countryside of West Sussex in South England, there is an estate called Wilton Park. Some readers of this column may be familiar with the place and the institution it has become: "Wilton Park conferences" occur throughout the year bringing together politicians,...
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2002

Foreigners sit new admission test

Foreign students on Sunday took the first of new biannual tests for non-Japanese seeking admission to Japanese universities.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jun 14, 2002

Furigan fears prompt school safety drills

Journalists who write columns love to tie up their topics with current events. Still, I never thought I'd write about the World Cup soccer finals. I don't follow the sport, and I didn't see any connection between my education column and the international tournament. Until I saw the handout my kids brought...
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2002

Shiokawa to fill in G7 on tax-cut plans

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday that he will tell Japan's Group of Seven partners that the nation is ready to bolster its fragile economy by cutting taxes and accelerating the disposal of bad loans held by Japanese banks.
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2002

Japan, China need cooling-off period before launching cooling-off forum

When they met during an international business conference on the southern Chinese island of Hainan in March, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Chinese counterpart, Zhu Rongji, agreed to inaugurate a high-level comprehensive forum for dialogue on economic topics.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2002

Make the world a better place for children

From May 8 to 10, the streets of New York City were adorned by the presence of 60 heads of state and their bodyguards, 3,000 government officials, 3,000 nongovernmental organizations and children from 180 countries. They were delegates of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children,...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 31, 2002

Encouraging kids to think for themselves

"Is it really OK for school to be this much fun?"
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 9, 2002

Welcome to a new page, welcome to a new column

Welcome to a brand new new weekly column that will provide a forum for readers to help one another, and for myself and Ken Joseph, of Japan Helpline, to help you. We will be printing your letters, offering personal input and bringing in experts on a regular basis to help answer your queries on living...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 8, 2002

Remembering times passed

Outside it was a cold and rainy spring day in Tokyo's residential Bunkyo-ku. Inside the 300-seater Sanbyakunin Gekijo theater, though, excitement filled the air as people milled around trying to get hold of standby tickets for Gekidan Subaru's latest production, "Philip's Reason."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2002

Something for the little people

When it comes to the media, children haven't really been given much scope for expression. There are television programs and magazines designed for kids, but very few in which the target audience is also a part of the creation process. Some people want to change that.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 4, 2002

Being a broad, living in Japan, pub crawling!

While most of the population sits back and takes a deep sigh over Golden Week, Caroline Pover will be working her socks off. True, next week she will be on the Izu Peninsula, within a stone's throw of a beach. But she'll be there also to work, not play.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
May 2, 2002

20 years of writing on the wild side

The biological exuberance of the equatorial region is staggering to behold. Walking through a temperate forest (as one might find in many areas of northern Japan, the northern United States or across much of central Europe), it is commonplace to have a clear view for hundreds of meters -- even to the...
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2002

Toothless global-warming bill

Domestic global-warming debate is heating up as the Diet discusses a bill to revise the nation's global-warming prevention law and prepares to approve the Kyoto climate accord for ratification. The centerpiece of this law will be a new national scheme -- a Kyoto Objective Achievement Plan -- to cut greenhouse...
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2002

Japan, U.S. to hold inaugural government-business meet

Japan and the United States on May 10 will hold the inaugural meeting of a government-business forum under a new framework for bilateral economic talks, a U.S. trade official said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2002

Nationwide HIV support network set up

A nationwide network to support people infected with HIV and people with full-blown AIDS has been established by Hiroshi Hasegawa, who is HIV-positive.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?