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COMMENTARY
Jun 24, 2001

In diplomacy, two tracks is better than one

There is a better than even chance that this is the only article you will ever read about the Asia Pacific Roundtable that was held earlier this month in Kuala Lumpur. That's a pity. Not only because the meeting has some history behind it -- this year marked the 15th annual get-together -- or because...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2001

Europe confronts new reality

LONDON -- From the moment that George W. Bush won the U.S. presidency, Europeans sensed that they were entering an new era. After eight years of generally good understanding with his predecessor, Bill Clinton, they now faced a man whose world view would not necessarily be in tune with theirs. As the...
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2001

Counselors struggle with Ikeda trauma

OSAKA — The June 8 slaying of eight children at Osaka Kyoiku University Ikeda Elementary School shocked the nation.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2001

Reporters are asked for a little common courtesy

OSAKA — Anger on the part of the local community toward the way the media reported on the slaying of eight children at Osaka Kyoiku University Ikeda Elementary School and on the aftermath prompted mental care experts Sunday to demand an end to what they call psychologically damaging coverage.
Events
Jun 12, 2001

Osaka still investment 'black hole'

OSAKA — With Osaka's economy still in the doldrums, city and prefectural officials are renewing efforts to bring more foreign direct investment to the region.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2001

Why NMD is good for Asia

CANBERRA -- There have been many objections to America's plan for a national missile defense system.
COMMENTARY
Jun 2, 2001

Tests for Koizumi's 'vision'

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi faces a tough diplomatic test as he braces for his first overseas trips since taking office. On June 30 he will meet U.S. President George W. Bush at Camp David. In late July, he will attend the summit of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations in Genoa, Italy....
BUSINESS
Jun 1, 2001

Shiokawa eyes abolition of capital gains levies

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa plans to call on the ruling parties to consider an early abolition of the withholding tax on stock transactions.
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2001

Rampant piracy posing political problems for Southeast Asia's policymakers

Piracy is alive and well in Southeast Asia, and it is posing political problems for policymakers. Piracy incidents in and around the Straits of Malacca and Singapore have recently increased at an alarming rate -- in both number and severity. But these modern pirates are a far cry from the swashbuckling...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 13, 2001

Death and the maidens

TBS's "Sekai Fushigi Hakken," currently the longest-running quiz show on commercial TV, was also one of the first series to combine education and entertainment in a way that didn't compromise either. Whereas the previous record-holder, "Naruhodo the World," which went off the air several years ago, presented...
JAPAN
May 12, 2001

Aging workers escape woes with song

Japan's middle-aged corporate warriors, who sustained the nation's postwar era of high economic growth and worked aggressively through the days of the economic bubble, are facing difficulties amid the prolonged economic slump, corporate restructuring and bankruptcies.
JAPAN
May 3, 2001

Peacekeeping shackles hobble Japan

Staff writer The 1991 Persian Gulf War marked a turning point in Japan's involvement in international security efforts, triggering a debate that paved the way for the nation to participate in U.N.-led peacekeeping missions. Ten years later, however, Japan is still debating how far it can go.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2001

Myanmar solutions require three-way talks

Myanmar's junta, the State Peace and Development Council, is engaged in secret reconciliation talks with democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi. For now, exiled dissidents and ethnic opponents of the junta watch cautiously from the sidelines. Any solution to Myanmar's problems, though, will have to consider...
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2001

The crew's home; now what?

HONOLULU -- The release of the crew of the American EP-3E reconnaissance plane from Chinese "protective custody" may have defused the crisis but hardly represents the end of this affair. Meetings are now under way between U.S. and Chinese officials to deal with the aftereffects. While both sides agree...
COMMENTARY
Apr 3, 2001

Slaves to enduring myths of the Civil War

America's Civil War is still being fought. Mississippi voters will be going to the polls in April to decide the fate of their state flag. Virginia Gov. James Gilmore recently scrapped his state's annual proclamation honoring Confederate History Month. After an emotional debate, the Georgia legislature...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 18, 2001

Tsuyoshi Akiyama

According to Dr. Tsuyoshi Akiyama, until rather recently psychiatry as a branch of medicine did not receive in Japan the recognition it merits. He, however, made psychiatry his specialty. His reasons at the time were very specific.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2001

Crime rise fuels quest for security

Increasing numbers of people are flocking to the home-security sections of their local hardware and do-it-yourself stores on weekends amid reports of a growing crime wave in Japan.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 6, 2001

Two perspectives on a gray tomorrow

CARING FOR THE ELDERLY IN JAPAN AND THE U.S.: Practices and Policies, edited by Susan Orpett Long. Routledge: London, 2000. 358 pp., $100. By the year 2025, some 26 percent of Japan's population will be over 65 years old, meaning that society and families will need to cope with the various needs of...
COMMUNITY
Mar 4, 2001

Japanese estate agent right at home in London

"I'll have the agreement drafted by Monday, then fax it over," Kazuyuki Nakamura was saying to a client over the phone last week in northwest London. "It's not your property? So who is the landlord? Well, he can appoint you to collect (rents) on his behalf. Otherwise we can, but then that will cost you;...
COMMUNITY
Mar 1, 2001

Spreading the word of Zen

They don't hold formal conferences or seek out media coverage of their more than 20 years of charitable work in Myanmar. Rather, members of the Asian Buddhist Association put their time into the project itself and traversing Japan drumming up interest among grassroots Buddhist groups, nongovernmental...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 25, 2001

Tim and Lee Pierce

Ever since they first came to Tokyo nearly 30 years ago, Tim and Lee Pierce have been committed, reliable, community people. Separately and as a duo, they have allied themselves to associations that appeal to them. They came as parents, and are now grandparents, whose conversations often bring in mention...
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2001

Osaka leaders' talk fest serves up more than usual platitudes

KYOTO -- When the Kansai region's leaders gather here every year for a two-day seminar to discuss the regional economy, corporate heads, economists and local government officials pontificate on issues ranging from information technology to employment.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2001

Symposium discusses African conflicts

The key to resolving and preventing conflicts in Africa is empowering citizens and decentralizing political systems currently controlled by power elites, participants at a two-day Tokyo symposium on African conflicts agreed Thursday.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 12, 2001

Into the heart of darkness

What is it about deeply rural places and deeply strange religion and sex? In the United States, one has the stereotype of the hills of Appalachia as refuges for snake-handling preachers and cousin-marrying hillbillies. In Japan, one has the mountains of Shikoku in Masato Harada's "Inugami," where ancient...
COMMUNITY
Feb 11, 2001

Shinto priestess finds freedom while minding duties of past

On summer weekends, Kugenuma Beach turns into a parody of the nearby metropolis' encroachment on the holidaymaker, with girls in bikinis and 20-cm platform sandals struggling across the sand while loudspeakers on towers belch J-pop at 50-meter intervals, making it difficult to find a moment for quiet...
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2001

CD-ROMs aid the visually impaired

KYOTO -- Yuko Shiomi, a professional narrator with the radio station KBS Kyoto, speaks into a microphone. Her role is that of "Kakuunsai," a fictional character depicting a distinguished calligrapher.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2001

CD-ROMs aid the visually impaired

KYOTO -- Yuko Shiomi, a professional narrator with the radio station KBS Kyoto, speaks into a microphone. Her role is that of "Kakuunsai," a fictional character depicting a distinguished calligrapher.
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2001

Bush can win over African Americans

WASHINGTON -- America's 2000 election was essentially a tie. President George W. Bush won among whites, but received only about 10 percent of black votes. What he should do to reach out to minorities has generated a torrent of political commentary.

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