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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 23, 2004

Hiring, firing by the book in nicest possible way

Tom Nevins, a leading expert on Japanese rules of employment and personnel policy and practices, must have the busiest "meishi" in business. Not only does it open up, offering four sides of information, but contains a discount card for the many books he has written. A name card within a name card, so...
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2004

Jobless hurting nation's growth rate

An increase in the number of young people who do not attend schools, get jobs or receive job training will probably pull down Japan's potential growth rate during the 2000-2005 period, according to a think tank report.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 23, 2004

Thi Diu Nguyen

The ancient Dong Son period in Vietnam left a treasured legacy of artistic and cultural accomplishments. Two years ago when Tokyo artist Dr. Frederick Harris was setting up a foundation to benefit Vietnamese art students, he gave it the significant name Dong Son. He invited Thi Diu Nguyen to be art adviser...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2004

Activist arrested for unauthorized pill sales

Police on Friday arrested peace activist Chiyo Takahashi and three other people on suspicion of selling unapproved medicine.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2004

Aichi's futuristic expo to spotlight the past with 10,000-year-old mammoth

Shuttle buses without drivers, trains floating on magnetic fields and other visions of the future will be on display at the Aichi world fair next year. But Expo 2005's centerpiece will be rooted deep in the past -- the frozen remains of a woolly mammoth.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2004

Civil rights lawyer blasts U.S. over detention of chess legend

An American civil rights lawyer hired to breathe new life into chess legend Bobby Fischer's efforts to fight deportation to the United States accused U.S. officials on Monday of "grotesque" abuse of their powers and threatened to take the case to the Supreme Court.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 19, 2004

Foreign branding

Being called a 'gaijin' is not unusual or harmful, says Cai Evans Before I start, let's get one thing straight: I am well aware that the term "gaijin" has pejorative overtones and that its etymology is grounded in a history of discrimination and exclusion.
COMMENTARY
Oct 18, 2004

Balancing work with other ways of life

LONDON -- Alan Milburn, the British secretary of state for health, resigned last year to "spend more time with his family." This excuse has often been used to cover some misdemeanor or a falling out with colleagues, but in this case it seems to have been genuine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Oct 17, 2004

Venturing intrepidly to a tropical idyll

As soon as the taxi driver pulled out into Singapore's Orchard Road, he began to talk. Babble, actually.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 17, 2004

Five years in Japan, a lifetime of influences

ONE HUNDRED SENTENCES WRITTEN ON FANS, by Paul Claudel, translated by Robin Magowan. Blair Atholl: Fras Publications, 2004, 28 pp., £6.50 (paper). Although the Catholic diplomat, poet and dramatist Paul Claudel (1868-1955) lived in Japan for only five years, from 1921-1925, when he was the French ambassador,...
Features
Oct 17, 2004

In another language of crime and detection

Qiu Xiaolong, 51, says his first encounter with mystery fiction occurred around age 14 or 15, when he read Sherlock Holmes stories during the Cultural Revolution. "Of course I read the book by stealth at the time," he recalls. Japanese mystery films shown in China years later provided another source...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2004

Top court holds state to account for Minamata

The Supreme Court on Friday held the state responsible for the spread of Minamata disease after January 1960.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2004

Koizumi told to iron out differences with LDP over postal privatization

A former Cabinet minister demanded Thursday that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reach a compromise with the Liberal Democratic Party over his plan to privatize the nation's postal services.
JAPAN
Oct 14, 2004

Death penalty upheld for rapist-murderer

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death sentence for a 62-year-old man convicted of murdering a woman who reported him to police for sexually assaulting her.
EDITORIALS
Oct 14, 2004

A peace overture from Taiwan

Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian last weekend bid to improve relations with China. In his National Day speech, Mr. Chen called on Beijing to resume long-stalled talks and help build confidence and lower tension across the Taiwan Strait. Critically, he seems willing to resume talks on the basis of the...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 14, 2004

New options raise the stakes in the 'Name that Baby' game

Since middle names are not used in Japan, the parents of a newborn need only agree on one name for their offspring. This is probably just as well: Choosing a kanji name involves a whole host of complex considerations, and while some couples settle on a name written in kana (Japan's phonetic script),...
JAPAN
Oct 13, 2004

Cabinet clears bill to punish gang rape, beef up sentencing

The Cabinet on Tuesday endorsed a bill on tougher sentencing, including raising the maximum prison term for a single crime to 20 years from the current 15, and establishing penal provisions for gang rape.
BUSINESS
Oct 13, 2004

Workers see benefits in performance-linked pay

Aika Momma is a financial adviser at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. with a renewable one-year contract and he -- along with a growing number of young professionals -- is happy with his situation.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2004

Spaniard wins world Monopoly title

A Spaniard captured the World Monopoly Championship after building up a fortune from just $1,500 -- in fake money -- and ruthlessly forcing three other would-be tycoons from Europe into bankruptcy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2004

Extraordinary Diet session likely to be fiery affair

A war of words between the ruling and opposition camps over political funding is expected when the extraordinary Diet session kicks off Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 9, 2004

Gone fishin' and fishin' and fishin' . . .

I've never understood why people go fishing -- why would you go fishing if there is the possibility of not catching anything? Would you buy a ticket to the movies if they told you that you might not be able to watch the movie? Of course no one would buy a ticket, unless maybe it was to see a movie about...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 9, 2004

Real Madrid already on defensive over signing of Owen

LONDON -- It usually means the kiss of death for a coach and it is almost unprecedented for a player to be given a vote of confidence, but Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has spoken up for his non-striking striker Michael Owen, who has come under fire after failing to score since his arrival from...
EDITORIALS
Oct 8, 2004

Kyoto Protocol comes to life

In a surprise move, the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to endorse the ratification of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Environmentalists worldwide hailed the move, which allows the Kyoto agreement to go into effect. In fact, the Russian decision owes less to environmental calculations...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Oct 7, 2004

A 'theme park' that's an eco-friendly dream

I recentl went down to Nagasaki Prefecture to spend time with a dear old friend, Takekuni Ikeda, who lives on a little wooded peninsula jutting into Omura Bay. He's an incredible man.

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