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JAPAN
Aug 6, 2002

Hibakusha promotes peace through student encounters

HIROSHIMA -- A group of American teenagers sat in a circle in rapt silence, listening to a 72-year-old Japanese woman speak.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Aug 5, 2002

Failure to cap deposit insurance means banking system will fester

Starting in April 2003, the government will no longer protect deposits when banks fail and instead introduce a "payoff" scheme offering partial protection of up to 10 million yen per depositor per bank.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Aug 3, 2002

Solstice weekend under the fog; Camping with the aliens

I knew it was going to be an interesting weekend the moment my press armband arrived in the mail marked No. 13, though I'm not superstitious enough to turn my back on an event like the Solstice Music Festival.
EDITORIALS
Aug 2, 2002

Diet stood in the way of reform

The 192-day regular Diet session that ended on Wednesday will be remembered more for what it did not achieve than for what it did. In brief, it failed in two critical areas: political reform and economic revival. While politics bogged down in a quagmire of corruption, deflation dragged on, with no recovery...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2002

Postal authorities hope to tap print club revival

Instant photo sticker machines such as the "print club" booths seen in video game arcades, supermarkets and train stations a few years back are again the rage, prompting postal authorities to ponder the potential profits of allowing such photos as personalized stamps.
COMMUNITY
Aug 1, 2002

TV news move boosts campaign to secure international channel

On July 25th, in a stunning about face, News Corporation announced the continued broadcast of the 24-hour news channel, Foxnews.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 28, 2002

Images of harmony between man and nature

THE SIGN OF LIFE, photographs by Yoshiko Seino, text by Asako Imaeda. Tokyo: Osiris, 2002, unpaginated, 60 full-page plates, 7,000 yen (cloth) In her text to this important collection of photographs, Asako Imaeda writes of its "strange harmony, a precarious harmony that is the result of the introduction...
COMMENTARY
Jul 25, 2002

Home of the brave, land of the snitches

WASHINGTON -- Washington "will do everything conceivable, everything humanly and technologically possible to preserve our way of life and our citizens," says Tom Ridge, director of the U.S. Office of Homeland Security. Unfortunately, the Bush administration seems ready to threaten our way of life in...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 25, 2002

Health insurance, pension cash claims and odd-job search

It's been quite surprising to receive so many "thank yous" from readers, but more surprising has been that they come not only from Japan but from all over the the world. It seems a lot of people who have lived in Japan in the past and moved on read the column at www.japantimes.co.jp to keep up on things...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 25, 2002

You never know what you might catch

The physician's report might have gone something like this: "The patient, H., was perhaps the most powerful man in the world and, as such, enjoyed the best medical care available. Despite this, in his late 30s he became irrational and insecure and developed tyrannical tendencies. H.'s illness may have...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 25, 2002

Drive to halt pork 'n' ride tide

The rivers of Nagano Prefecture still flowing as nature intended may yet survive. If they do, it will be largely due to former (and perhaps soon to be re-elected) Gov. Yasuo Tanaka, whose "no more dams" policy directly challenges pork-barrel politicians who for decades appear to have put construction-industry...
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2002

DoCoMo to license i-mode service to Telefonica Moviles

Cellular giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to license its i-mode mobile Internet access technology to Spain's Telefonica Moviles group.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jul 21, 2002

Right down to the nitty-gritty grains

Rice is not, as most readers know, simply rice. Good sake is made from proper sake rice, and cheaper sake is made from much less expensive rice. In fact, most run-of-the-mill sake is made with rice bought from the local agricultural co-op, and often the purchaser knows nothing about it other than it...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jul 21, 2002

They're out there, they're really out there

When I was a student in the United States during the 1970s, a classmate of mine went to a record shop in a large city and asked if they had any Japanese music. The shopkeeper excitedly pulled out a brand-new album titled "Koto and Shakuhachi" and talked about how wonderful and exotic the music was. Since...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 20, 2002

Tadashi Shinozuka

Dr. Tadashi Shinozuka says that his interdisciplinary speciality is concerned with the prevention and management of health problems associated with travel.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 20, 2002

Kyoto's unique guide gives you tour to remember

It's unfortunate that I can't join one of Johnnie Hillwalker's world famous walks. His tours -- Walk in Kyoto, Talk in English -- are scheduled come rain or shine on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (excluding national holidays). I am in the city for the weekend.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2002

Study finds rampant abuse of elderly

Many elderly people are being battered by family members and nursing-home employees, according to a research group.
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2002

The little cell phone that could

What is the single most annoying product of modern technology -- at least when other people use it? If letters to the editor of this newspaper are any indication, the clear winner is the cell phone. It seems that many, if not most, of us experience a surge of irrational irritation when we see people...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 11, 2002

Sperm commit hara-kiri

Aldous Huxley is most famous for "Brave New World" (1932), but among scientists working on sperm competition and reproductive biology his "Fifth Philosopher's Song" (1920) is also well-known:
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2002

ODA projects face more outside scrutiny

The Foreign Ministry unveiled Tuesday a 15-point reform plan on official development assistance that will boost third-party inspections of aid projects and strengthen cooperation with nongovernmental organizations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jul 7, 2002

As benchmarks rise, honjozo takes a hit

Last year, sake production dropped below 1 million kiloliters for the first time since the industry's postwar recovery. Much of this drop was seen in the realm of cheap sake and honjozo, whereas the higher grades of junmaishu and ginjoshu stayed the same or made very modest production gains. Fewer people,...
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2002

Increase in computer virus reports seen

The number of reports of computer virus damage in Japan in the first six months of the year has already surpassed the total for all of 2001, software firm Trend Micro Inc. said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2002

New public postal corporation faces funding problems

A public postal corporation scheduled to be created in April must be capitalized at 14 trillion yen and have a capital adequacy ratio of 4 percent, mirroring the requirements imposed upon several domestic banks, posts minister Toranosuke Katayama said Thursday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 4, 2002

Welcome to the world's most successful societies

Ants have an amazing lineage. They have been around for at least 100 million years, since the middle of the Cretaceous Period, and for at least the last 50 million years they have been among the most abundant of all insects. We think we're successful? Our population has recently topped 6 billion, but...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 4, 2002

Solving the nation's waste problem and raising bilingual kids

Everyone is aware of the problem of garbage. With Tokyo alone throwing away 6,000 tons of food a day, kitchen waste in particular is a practical as well as a moral concern.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jul 4, 2002

Summertime fun to seek, avoid

It's been more than a year since Nintendo released Game Boy Advance -- a much, much more powerful Game Boy with a bigger, color screen and several times more processing power.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jul 4, 2002

A woodland to call not my own

On May 31 this year, our woodland here in Kurohime was finally designated as a Nagano Prefectural Trust, whose aim is to foster the rehabilitation of abused and neglected woodland, and to return it to greater and balanced biodiversity through continuing research and education.

Longform

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