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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 15, 2003

Expressing pathos amid alienation

A GESTURE LIFE, by Chang-rae Lee. Hew York: Riverhead Books, 2000, 356 pp., $14 (paper). UNDERKILL, by Leonard Chang. Hew York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2003, 356 pp., $24.95 (cloth). THE INTERPRETER, by Suki Kim. Hew York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003, 294 pp., $24 (cloth). For most Americans, until fairly...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2003

Closed schools finding new leases on life

With schools closing left and right amid the nation's declining birthrate, necessity is forcing cash-strapped local governments to come up with creative ways to reuse such facilities, many of which are aging.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2003

Nations pledge $4.5 billion to advance Sri Lanka peace talks

Donor nations pledged Tuesday to provide some $4.5 billion in aid to Sri Lanka over the next four years to help facilitate peace talks with rebel forces, which have been suspended for two months.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2003

Nations pledge $4.5 billion to advance Sri Lanka peace talks

Donor nations pledged Tuesday to provide some $4.5 billion in aid to Sri Lanka over the next four years to help facilitate peace talks with rebel forces, which have been suspended for two months.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2003

Sri Lanka envoy offers leadership role to rebels

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe proposed Monday the establishment of a provisional administrative structure for the rebel-dominated northeastern region of Sri Lanka.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2003

Sri Lanka envoy offers leadership role to rebels

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe proposed Monday the establishment of a provisional administrative structure for the rebel-dominated northeastern region of Sri Lanka.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2003

Sri Lanka envoy offers leadership role to rebels

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe proposed Monday the establishment of a provisional administrative structure for the rebel-dominated northeastern region of Sri Lanka.
EDITORIALS
Jun 10, 2003

Mr. Abbas in the hot seat

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is a brave man. He took his job knowing that his every move would be attacked from three sides: by Israelis, by Islamic militants and by the Palestinian leadership he replaced, in particular Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat. And within...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 8, 2003

The police should be mapping out a future

Every year, the National Police Agency sponsors a nationwide traffic safety promotion campaign that is mainly carried out at the community level. In my neighborhood in Tokyo, the campaign involves setting up tents that are manned by local volunteers.
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2003

Myanmar shows its true colors

The arrest of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and other top officials of the National League for Democracy, or NLD, should shatter any illusions about the Myanmar government's commitment to reconciliation in that country. The widespread popularity of Ms. Suu Kyi and the prodemocracy forces is a threat to the State...
COMMENTARY
May 25, 2003

Clouds over Blair's parade

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is riding high these days. His popularity ratings have never been better, and he is about to receive U.S. government honors unparalleled by any non-American since British statesman Winston Churchill. World leaders flock to see him, and he moves among the people...
COMMENTARY
May 24, 2003

A boost for Japan-China ties?

China has been attracting much attention in the international community of late for both positive and negative reasons. On the positive side, as the confrontation between the United States and North Korea intensifies, and the positions of Japan and South Korea remain delicate, China is playing the role...
EDITORIALS
May 23, 2003

Al-Qaeda sends world a warning

A series of bomb attacks last week killed hopes that the threat from al-Qaeda was diminishing. Experts worry that the string of apparent successes in the international war against terrorism might even trigger more attacks. Ominously, the terrorists are focusing on softer targets, proving once again that...
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2003

World must find peaceful solutions to WMD problem

BRUSSELS -- The international community was deeply divided on how to effectively deal with the potential threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Evidence that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein continued to maintain such an arsenal has yet to emerge from the rubble of the recent conflict.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

ASEAN needs to rise from '97 ashes

With many of its member nations still unable to recover from the impact of the region-wide financial crisis of the late 1990s, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations must "reinvent" itself so it can play a significant role in the regionalism that is emerging in East Asia, a think tank expert from...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2003

Tokyo under pressure to do more to upgrade ASEAN state economies

The success of Japan's proposal for a comprehensive economic partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations depends greatly on Tokyo's "strong interest and capacity to assist ASEAN's industrial upgrading and competitiveness," said Hank Lim, director for research with the Singapore Institute...
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Apr 24, 2003

Challenging English at 65

April is traditionally the time of new beginnings in Japan, at school and at work. Novelist Sae Shuichi, however, makes it a practice to embark on a new project every five years. At 55, for example, he took up kendo. And at 65, as detailed in his latest book, "65-sai Ojisan no Eikaiwa Benkyo ga Tanoshiku...
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2003

Shiokawa pushes idea of Iraq fund

Japan should urge other countries and international organizations to set up a fund to handle reconstruction aid for Iraq, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2003

Japan's role in rebuilding Iraq

With the collapse of the Iraqi regime of President Saddam Hussein, the focus of international attention has shifted to the issues of postwar governance and reconstruction. The question for Japan is specifically what it should and can do in the rebuilding process -- a question that depends crucially on...
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2003

Divisions over Iraq offensive dominate Japan-Europe forum

ATHENS -- The rift between the United States and "Old Europe" over the Iraq war was the biggest cause for concern among Japanese participants at a Japan-Europe symposium held here recently.
COMMENTARY
Apr 14, 2003

China stumbles on SARS and Pyongyang

LOS ANGELES -- Mistake-making is a common occupation of governments everywhere, but lately the Chinese government has made two monster blunders that uncomfortably reopen the question of whether China has made all that much progress after all. The issues concern North Korea and severe acute respiratory...
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2003

Aceh peace accord breaking apart

Separatist rebels in the Indonesian province of Aceh have fought the government for more than a quarter of a century. Last December, Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement (known by the initials GAM) signed a peace agreement. Hopes that the accord would yield an enduring peace have been betrayed during the...
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2003

Japan shuns talk of Pyongyang leaving NPT

As a three-month waiting period North Korea had to observe to officially withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty ended Thursday, Japan refused to acknowledge the validity of its neighbor's actions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 9, 2003

Complex reasons to paaaarty!

Judging from the scene in Roppongi Friday night, no one would suspect that U.S. and British warplanes are blasting Iraq, French auction houses are facing a boycott, and the world's art market has landed in the toilet. It was happy time here on the Tokyo contemporary art scene. With smiles on their faces,...
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Matters tied to North Korea dominate 'blue book' agenda

Japan's most pressing diplomatic task is to resolve issues related to North Korea, including its suspected development of nuclear weapons, according to the annual Foreign Ministry "blue book," which was endorsed Tuesday by the Cabinet.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 30, 2003

Setting music free on the open road

While major record labels battle Internet file-sharing to preserve the sanctity of music delivery media (CDs and whatever the hell will take their place), major artists challenge their contracts and less-than-major artists avoid the "entertainment industry" altogether. The consequence of technological...
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2003

Attack mandate valid: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Monday that he believes the U.S. already has enough of a U.N. Security Council mandate to go to war in Iraq.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 16, 2003

Hard-hitting Bangkok PI knows how to Thai one on

ASIA HAND, 1992, 277 pp.; COLD HIT, 1999, 330 pp.; MINOR WIFE, 2002, 297 pp.; by Christopher G. Moore. Heaven Lake Press, Bangkok (all three books priced at $11.95) Canadian novelist Christopher G. Moore, a former law instructor from British Columbia, has been described as "The Hemingway of Bangkok."...
COMMENTARY
Mar 15, 2003

U.S., ROK narrow the gap

HONOLULU -- Debates are raging among the security policy communities in the U.S. and South Korea over North Korean motives and intentions and how best to deal with Pyongyang. There seems to be only one point upon which all agree: no solution to the current standoff is practical unless Washington and...

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