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COMMENTARY
Dec 21, 2001

Public servants untouched by economic woes

On Dec. 10, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's winter bonus was 5,692,492 yen this year, and other Cabinet members received 4,155,717 yen. These are huge sums in these harsh economic times.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2001

Thailand's FTA idea has bureaucrats troubled

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's recent unexpected proposal for a free-trade agreement has Japanese policymakers tearing their hair out.
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2001

EU readying for new challenge

Leaders of the European Union, meeting in Brussels last weekend, agreed to set up a broadly represented advisory body next March to draft recommendations for EU reform. The agreement marks another milestone on the road to an enlarged EU. Half a century following the creation of a common European market,...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2001

Sri Lanka's chance of ending conflict is bigger than ever

Ranil Wickremesinghe, the newly installed Sri Lankan prime minister, has been in a tense struggle to form a government of national consensus.
EDITORIALS
Dec 13, 2001

Collapse of a BWC review conference

Despite the perceived threat of biological weapons that has been heightened by the anthrax attacks in the United States, a review conference on the Biological Weapons Convention in Geneva broke down in disarray last weekend. To the angry disappointment of its allies, including Japan, it was the U.S....
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2001

A lesson from Mr. Schroeder

Attention here has been focused on Japan's unprecedented response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States. Germany also has been grappling with the same issue amid a similar historical legacy. While Germany, too, has decided to send military forces to assist the U.S.-led coalition, the debate...
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2001

Jichiro execs 'knew of tax evasion'

Former executives of the scandal-hit Jichiro labor union were aware it was allegedly evading tax by not declaring commission income from insurance companies in the 1990s, labor and investigative sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2001

Japan set to ratify '94 treaty on Soviet energy

In a rather belated move, Japan is set to formally join a key post-Cold War international treaty calling for the liberalization of trade and investment in energy in Russia and the other former Soviet republics.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2001

Firms slow to calculate gas emissions

A little more than 50 percent of 389 of the nation's leading companies have calculated their greenhouse gas emissions, according to a survey released on Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2001

Judge who bought sex from teens fired by Diet

The Diet's Judges Impeachment Court said Wednesday it dismissed a Tokyo High Court judge convicted of paying for sex with teenagers.
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2001

Expanding access to international trade

WASHINGTON -- The United States has forced medieval totalitarianism into retreat in Afghanistan. Still necessary is expanding the access of countries like it to the global economy.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2001

Aum says it wants to pay compensation

The Aum Shinrikyo religious cult, accused of carrying out the fatal sarin gas attacks in Tokyo's subway system in 1995, has opened a software development firm and resumed ties with followers in Russia, members said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2001

Japan set to jump the gun with SDF

Since the Diet enacted antiterrorism legislation enabling the Self-Defense Forces to provide logistic support to the U.S.-led war efforts in Afghanistan, there have been mounting calls in Japan for expansion of the SDF's activities abroad. These moves defy Japan's war-renouncing Constitution.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2001

Japan, Thailand to explore free trade

Visiting Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra came up with a new approach Tuesday to get his country and Japan on the road toward a free-trade agreement.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2001

G20 OKs plan to block money for terrorists

OTTAWA — Finance ministers of the Group of 20 nations agreed Saturday to freeze the assets of terrorists and implement a sweeping U.N. resolution against terrorist financing in a show of support for U.S. goals following the Sept. 11 attacks.
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2001

Tanaka deserves much better

Japanese politics were never famous for their logic. But the fuss surrounding Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka plumbs new depths.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2001

Koizumi gives WTO accord his blessing

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday welcomed the previous day's accord by World Trade Organization trade ministers to launch new multilateral trade negotiations.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2001

Koizumi gives WTO accord his blessing

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday welcomed the previous day's accord by World Trade Organization trade ministers to launch new multilateral trade negotiations.
EDITORIALS
Nov 9, 2001

ASEAN dares to dream

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has once again demonstrated its willingness to dream. This year's summit meeting, held this week in Brunei, ended with a call to conclude a free-trade area with China. It is a seductive vision, but it is hard to envision the project's success: ASEAN is already...
EDITORIALS
Nov 2, 2001

Tasks for the corporate TSE

The Tokyo Stock Exchange acquired a new legal status as a corporation, effective Thursday, shedding its 52 years' standing as a nonprofit organization. This welcome step follows the global trend of incorporation of stock exchanges. The new TSE has the blessing of those concerned, including market players,...
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2001

BOJ's Sept. 18 vote to ease monetary policy passed 8-1

The Bank of Japan decided by an 8-1 vote to ease monetary policy at its policy board meeting on Sept. 18, according to minutes of the meeting released Thursday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2001

Constituents mattered most to Soichiro Ito

BERKELEY, California -- For the people of Miyagi Prefecture's 4th district, the generational shift in Japanese politics has just arrived. On Oct. 28, Shintaro Ito was elected to represent Miyagi's 4th district in a special by-election to replace his father, Soichiro, who passed away on Sept. 4.
OLYMPICS
Oct 25, 2001

New president outlines JOC plans

New Japanese Olympic Committee president Tsunekazu Takeda said Wednesday that he would like to send Japanese athletes to the Salt Lake City Olympics in February as long as the Winter Olympic Games go ahead.

Longform

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