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BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2003

Toyota puts new Prius hybrid on sale

Toyota Motor Corp. launched a redesigned Prius in Japan on Monday as part of a drive to spearhead the development of environmentally friendly technology.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2003

Japan's lesson for Europe

LONDON -- At some point last year, it became fashionable to compare the economic plight of Germany and, by extension, the euro zone as a whole with the situation in Japan. As recession bit into the country that used to be Europe's motor and as the 12-nation euro area began recording declining growth...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2003

Enthusiasm for EU club has evaporated

PRAGUE -- When communism in Eastern Europe collapsed, the region's new democratic leaders agreed that joining the European Union -- fast -- must be their priority. "Back to Europe!" became the slogan, one enthusiastically backed by a majority of their populations. Yet eight months before that dream formally...
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2003

Justice served in Osaka

On June 8, 2001, a disgruntled jobless man stormed an Osaka elementary school, wielding a kitchen knife, and killed eight children and wounded 13 others and two teachers. "This is an unprecedented case of atrocity in the nation's criminal history," the Osaka District Court stated in its death sentence...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 30, 2003

Howard hoping to end revolving door in goal for Man United

LONDON -- Tim Howard, an American goalkeeper who has a tattoo on his right bicep and suffers from Tourette's Syndrome, never thought he would have the chance to play for a big Premiership club, let alone the biggest club in the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2003

Washington lays siege to WTO system

LONDON -- In the last few weeks the U.S. Congress has approved free-trade agreements with Chile and Singapore and has approved the opening of talks on FTAs with Bahrain and the Dominican Republic.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2003

Promise seen in stock rebound

With the Nikkei stock average climbing past 10,000 points for the first time in more than a year, it seems that some of the pessimism about the Japanese economy has disappeared. The index has followed an upward trend since April when it tumbled to the 7,600 level, the lowest since the bubble burst in...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 26, 2003

Life imitates art for gaijin charmers

We had a fantastic response to our "Charisma Man" competition in last week's Community Page.
COMMUNITY
Aug 24, 2003

The curious afterlife of Ada Lovelace

Celebrity is a fickle thing, as Ada Lovelace's famous father, the poet Lord Byron, learned to his cost -- sexual scandals and seesawing public opinion drove him into exile and to his death. For his daughter, however, the ups and downs of fame have mostly been posthumous.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 24, 2003

Voices from the past help explain the present

SERVING OUR COUNTRY: Japanese American Women in the Military during World War II, by Brenda L. Moore. Rutgers University Press, 2003, $60 (cloth), $22 (paper). Building on her previous studies of racial issues, gender issues and military sociology, Brenda L. Moore has analyzed and documented an unusual...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 24, 2003

Samurais are in a league of their own

With the launch of the Top League (the new professional league for rugby union in Japan) just three weeks away and the World Cup due to start on Oct. 10, it is easy to forget that there are in fact two codes of rugby.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2003

Toyota declares most income for the fourth straight year

Toyota Motor Corp. has retained its spot as the biggest declared income earner in Japan for the fourth straight year, a private research firm said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 23, 2003

U.S. a misunderstood giant

HONOLULU -- "Once the Bush administration is done attacking North Korea, will Vietnam be next?" This seemed to be the burning question in the back of many people's minds as I visited Vietnam for a series of lectures on U.S. foreign policy.
EDITORIALS
Aug 23, 2003

Falling savings rate is a warning

Until not long ago Japan was criticized -- or praised -- for its extraordinarily high savings rate, depending on how one looked at it. The United States, for one, pointed out that Japan was saving too much and investing too little, and called for steps to stimulate domestic demand and boost consumer...
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2003

Don Quijote to dispense free drugs in emergency

Discount retailer Don Quijote Co. said Wednesday it will dole out free medicine to night-time shoppers in times of emergency when pharmacists are not available at any of 10 selected outlets in Tokyo.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 20, 2003

Petagine cracks pair as Giants drop 'Stars

Roberto Petagine went 3-for-3 and belted his 21st and 22nd home runs as the Yomiuri Giants defeated the Yokohama BayStars 5-1 at Tokyo Dome on Tuesday night.
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 2003

Washington must live by the limits of its responsibility

WASHINGTON -- American troops have arrived in Liberia after Liberian President Charles Taylor fled into exile. Whether these peacekeepers, and the larger African contingents to come, will bring peace in the three-sided civil war is yet uncertain. What is certain, however, is that reconstructing Liberia...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2003

Choosing human security

The notion of "human security" has gradually but steadily gained greater international currency. Canada and Japan, especially under former Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy and the late former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, respectively, were prominent early advocates of incorporating the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 17, 2003

The ancient Chinese master Du Fu

THE SELECTED POEMS OF DU FU, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002, 174 pp., $17.50 (paper). Du Fu (712-770 A.D.) is one of the most honored of Chinese poets. He has been called (by Kenneth Rexroth who early translated him) one of the greatest poets "who has survived...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 17, 2003

Mystery cloaks Hokkaido motifs

Art is part of what makes us human. Primitive or otherwise, though, it is not only about painting pretty pictures, but also about the complex use of symbols and forms of language.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 15, 2003

Kobe case sheds bad light on kids in NBA

Sometimes in life it is best to wait before passing judgment.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 13, 2003

Yanks, Royals double up

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The game that set the American League record for most doubles ended in the most appropriate possible way.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 13, 2003

Manolito y Su Trabuco

The Japanese government can be thanked for one thing: open treaties with the Cuban government that allow the most scorching salsa players in the world to perform here on a regular basis. Perhaps the government doesn't have a choice since Japan has an unusually high percentage of Latin music aficionados....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 13, 2003

Reverend Charlie Jackson: "God's Got It"

When the Rev. Charlie Jackson was a boy, he played sacred music on Sundays and blues the rest of the week. While Jackson himself saw no irony in this, his mother had little appreciation for her son playing electric guitar on both sides of the Lord's fence and quickly steered him toward the church. Little...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Aug 13, 2003

The pot is mightier than the sword

As brutal as they may have been, many feudal Japanese warlords were passionate about the Way of Tea. In the midst of battle they would pause for a "tea break," appreciating the fleeting moment and simple joys of tea -- with bits of strategy tossed in.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2003

Fukui tickled pink by backlog for latest cell phone model

Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui on Tuesday voiced delight at having to wait two weeks to get his hands on the latest cell phone model.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2003

Uniqlo to sex up its product line as part of image makeover

Tadashi Yanai, chairman and chief executive of the company that owns the Uniqlo chain, used to liken his casual clothing stores to "vending machines" that continuously spit out products to thirsty consumers.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 12, 2003

Words of advice for the power-hungry

While we've had a few close shaves over the years, Tokyo's power grid has fortunately been spared a major, city-wide blackout. This year, the closure of 17 nuclear power generators for safety inspection led many to fret that there might not be sufficient power over the summer; fortunately demand has...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 10, 2003

Waterways of Edo life

For centuries, the boastful citizens of Edo lorded it over country bumpkins by saying, "I'm an Edokko [native of Edo] 'cause I was cleaned with pipe water when I was born and I've grown up drinking pipe water ever since."

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