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JAPAN
May 19, 2004

Group to promote East Asian bloc

A new group was launched Tuesday in Tokyo tasked with facilitating the creation of an East Asian community, a regional economic bloc encompassing southeast and northeast Asian nations.
SUMO
May 16, 2004

Hokutoriki takes sole lead at 7-0

Grand champion Asashoryu was back in business on Saturday with a convincing win over Takamisakari, while Hokutoriki moved into sole possession of the lead at the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 16, 2004

TBS's "Sekai Fushigi Hakken" and more

Uniqlo, the no-frills clothing store that took the retail trade by storm in the late '90s, saw its fortunes take a nose dive after the turn of the century. The company has attempted to remedy the problem of poor sales with an expanded product line. However, the chairman has decided that what the company...
BUSINESS
May 15, 2004

MMC considers 10% workforce cut, shutting down two domestic plants

Struggling automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is considering a bolder restructuring plan, including a 10 percent cut to its workforce and closure of two domestic plants, sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2004

New jailers, same prison?

The stage-managed toppling of ex-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's statue will not, after all, be the image defining the Iraq war. Like the famous photo of the young girl on fire running naked to escape the horror of napalm in the Vietnam War, the photographs emerging from Abu Ghraib prison will be the...
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2004

Chinese nuclear deal buoys Islamabad

ISLAMABAD -- China's agreement to supply a second 300-megawatt nuclear power reactor to Pakistan encourages Islamabad's ruling establishment, which is eager to develop the country's nuclear energy potential in a significant way. The deal for the new reactor, to be located at Chashma in central Punjab...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 13, 2004

Lovable children of Edo -- where have you gone?

Being a Tokyoite doesn't have the same glamorous connotations as being a Parisian or New Yorker, but inside Japan, we've managed to rack up some notoriety. A Tokyo local, or Edokko (Child of Edo, as Tokyo was called before the 1868 Meiji Restoration) as many in the older generations still like to identify...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

DPJ struggles to find successor to disgraced Kan

Nobody appeared ready to take up the presidency of the Democratic Party of Japan on Tuesday as the main opposition force moved to find a replacement for departing leader Naoto Kan.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2004

349 Nippon Oil, subsidiary workers to quit

Nippon Oil Corp. said Tuesday that 349 workers, including some at its oil refining subsidiary Nippon Petroleum Refining Co., will voluntarily retire on July 1 under the two companies' early retirement program.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

DPJ struggles to find successor to disgraced Kan

Nobody appeared ready to take up the presidency of the Democratic Party of Japan on Tuesday as the main opposition force moved to find a replacement for departing leader Naoto Kan.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2004

What's next as ASEAN+3 integrates?

MANILA -- As we watch with interest the expansion of the European Union, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Three (China, South Korea and Japan) continues to make its own progress toward regional economic integration. Needless to say, there is a long way to go. But the question...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

War criminals' poems uncovered

The themes found in a newly uncovered collection of traditional Japanese verse would be familiar to any reader here: the melancholy passing of the seasons, fleeting beauty, the inevitability of death.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 12, 2004

Where everybody can be a jury member

Who are film festivals for, really? The biggest of all, Cannes, is strictly for industry professionals (or rather, anyone with enough connections to wangle accreditation). But many other festivals have turned in a more populist direction, as indicated by the ubiquity of audience awards, which make anyone...
COMMUNITY / Issues
May 11, 2004

Kidnap crisis poses a new risk

When five Japanese were taken hostage in Iraq last month, huge public concern for their safe return quickly gave way to hostility and a campaign of vilification. A disastrous public appeal by the families of three of the hostages for the withdrawal of SDF troops from Iraq encouraged the government to...
SUMO
May 10, 2004

Asashoryu starts with a bang; 31st straight win sets record

Grand champion Asashoryu overwhelmed komusubi Miyabiyama on Sunday to open the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament with a historic win.
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2004

Do all parties agree on CVID?

HONOLULU -- North Korea has agreed to participate in a six-party working group meeting Wednesday in Beijing to help lay the groundwork for the third session of the more senior-level Six-Party Talks (North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States) expected before the end of June. The...
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2004

Taiwan opposition must swallow loss to live

NEW YORK -- On March 20 the governing Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) ticket of Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu won re-election over the pan-blue ticket of Kuomintang (KMT) chairman Lien Chan and the People First Party (PFP) chairman James Soong by a narrow margin of...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 9, 2004

If only divorces were scripted by TV writers

It's easier to get a divorce in Japan than anywhere else in the world. If both parties agree, all they have to do is affix their seals to a document and their union is instantly dissolved -- no trial separation period, no grounds, no mess.
Japan Times
Features
May 9, 2004

Bridging cultures with books

Whether their parents read them fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, or even encouraged them to explore Lewis Carroll's Wonderland, most Japanese have been exposed to overseas literature from an early age, and many go on to discover the likes of Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, Michael...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2004

Steve Kimock: more than a feeling

A friend of mine calls improvisational guitarist Steve Kimock "The Master," constantly marveling at his shimmering harmonics, dynamic swings and musical "feel." What does Kimock have to say to this straightforward sort of hero worship? (Think Wayne's World's "We're not worthy!")
Features
May 9, 2004

Language aide's value went way beyond words

Being an interpreter involves a lot of time and hard work, but the job's many rewards often include a chance to get close to the action.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2004

IY Bank logs first net profit since launch

IY Bank said Friday it posted a net profit of 5 billion yen in fiscal 2003, the firm's first profit since it started operating three years ago.

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