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COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2004

What's next as ASEAN+3 integrates?

MANILA -- As we watch with interest the expansion of the European Union, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Three (China, South Korea and Japan) continues to make its own progress toward regional economic integration. Needless to say, there is a long way to go. But the question...
COMMENTARY
May 3, 2004

Koizumi's open-ended legac

On April 26 the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi entered its fourth year in power. Following his three-year rule under the slogan "No growth without reform," the Japanese economy is finally on a recovery track.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
May 2, 2004

Ryuichi Hirokawa: Picture this . .

With soldiers silhouetted against dramatic desert sunsets, or helicopters swooping over cityscapes, most mainstream-media photographs we see of the war in Iraq are nothing if not models of artistic composition and taste.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2004

The return of SARS

China has reported several cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, one year after declaring victory over the disease. The news comes on the heels of a new study that suggests that SARS might spread through the air. Troubling though these developments are, in some ways they are encouraging....
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 30, 2004

Downloadable discrimination

There has been a lot of press recently not just on foreign crime (again), but on unethical methods of collecting data on foreigners.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2004

Japan grills isle intruders; China demands their release

Police on Thursday questioned seven Chinese activists who landed on disputed territory in the East China Sea the previous day and plan to hand them over to prosecutors for allegedly violating immigration laws.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2004

Terror-at-sea bill wins approval

A House of Representatives committee unanimously approved a bill Wednesday to tighten measures aimed at countering terrorist attacks on ships and ports.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2004

Longer prison term for rape urged

Rapes are on the increase, a government panel said Tuesday, proposing that prison terms for the crime be lengthened.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 17, 2004

A 'kitchen sink' filled deep

Strange, but true: These days, the chance of seeing a quality Japanese "kitchen sink" (domestic) drama about ordinary people's everyday lives is rarer than the opportunity of watching yet another reworking of Shakespeare, Chekhov or Tennessee Williams. Now, though, and until the end of the month, theatergoers...
COMMENTARY
Mar 9, 2004

Perilous drop in readership

One long-standing trend in Japan has been the "shift away from print" -- an aversion to serious reading. For example, in the past four years, book sales have continued to decline. Compared with other countries, the books being read woefully lags in quality and quantity.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2004

Kawaguchi urges U.N. engagement in Iraq

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, meeting Sunday with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in Tokyo, called for active engagement on the part of the United Nations in Iraq's reconstruction, Japanese officials said.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2004

Service to rat online on illegal aliens a racist ploy: Amnesty

Amnesty International Japan on Friday called on the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau to stop its recently launched service to field e-mail tips on suspected illegal aliens, saying it promotes racism.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2004

France win of China rail bid denied

The transport ministry on Monday denied that France has beaten Japan and Germany in a bid to provide technology for a planned high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2004

Pilots, cabin crew at airlines seek shorter exposure to cosmic radiation

Pilots and cabin crews of Japanese airlines urged the government Friday to protect them from exposure to high-altitude cosmic radiation.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 6, 2004

Player power and disloyalty becoming endemic in English game

LONDON -- There is a new game sweeping English football and the rewards can run into millions for the lucky winners.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2004

Japan halts Indonesia chicken imports over bird flu

Japan said Monday it has suspended imports of poultry meat from Indonesia in response to an outbreak of avian flu there.
COMMENTARY
Jan 27, 2004

Changing the Constitution

Constitutional revision looms as a major political issue in Japan. It was a key agenda item at the January conventions of the two largest political parties, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan. The LDP decided to draw up a revision plan in 2005, the 50th anniversary of the...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2004

Protesters rally in Tokyo against dispatch of troops to Iraq

Thousands of protesters gathered Sunday in Tokyo to demonstrate against the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to Iraq on the eve of the government's expected announcement that the go order would be given to send a core ground unit.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2004

Japan to maintain import ban on U.S. beef

The United States failed Friday to persuade Japan to lift its import ban on U.S. beef during bilateral talks in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2004

Defense chief heads out on European swing

Defense Agency Director General Shigeru Ishiba departed Sunday on a six-day trip to Britain, the Netherlands and France to discuss international efforts to rebuild Iraq.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2004

GSDF advance unit given Iraq marching orders

Japan on Friday took another step closer to deploying troops in Iraq, with Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba issuing an order for the dispatch of an advance team of Ground Self-Defense Force personnel.
COMMENTARY
Dec 26, 2003

Blair's overcast breaking up

LONDON -- As the old year turns, life is looking a little brighter for the besieged British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his team, thanks to a few lucky breaks.
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2003

500 to 700 ground troops to be sent to Iraq

Japan plans to dispatch between 500 and 700 personnel from the Ground Self-Defense Force to areas centering around Al-Muthanna province in southeastern Iraq, which include the city of Samawah, government officials told ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers Monday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 9, 2003

Burden of proof impossible to bear

It may not have been exactly what the government has in mind by the cliche "international cooperation," but dozens of ordinary Japanese folk recently gave up a precious Sunday to help out foreigners in trouble.

Longform

The sun shines from behind a waving Philippine flag at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
Eighty years after the Battle of Manila, old foes forge new ties