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JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Chirac cancels March trip to Japan

French President Jacques Chirac has canceled a visit to Japan scheduled for mid-March, saying he will stay at home because of the tense international situation, Japanese government officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2003

Artist to bedazzle Yokohama

Starting in April, Hiro Yamagata will bombard onlookers in Yokohama with images of an ever-changing universe.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2003

Persecuted for centuries, Iraq's Assyrian Christians once again wary of their future

LONDON -- Iraq's 1.2 million Assyrian Christians -- remnants of the Assyrian empire and the only people who still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus Christ -- are once again the victims of circumstances beyond their control. Unlike the Kurds, the Assyrians are all but ignored in discussions over Iraq's...
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2003

Trans-Atlantic arrogance defeats unity

LONDON -- One of the most depressing features of the past few weeks has been the arrogance displayed by political leaders. With some leaders, power goes to their heads. They are surrounded by sycophantic underlings and protected by posses of security guards. The media are bludgeoned by press offices...
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2003

Gates courts LDP leadership over 'e-Japan' deal

In an unprecedented attempt to encourage the Japanese government to adopt Windows for a planned electronic government project, Microsoft Corp. founder and Chairman Bill Gates said Tuesday that he will reveal Microsoft's most tightly guarded secret -- the operating system's source code.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2003

Japan plays down North Korean missile provocation

The government tried Tuesday to play down the impact of North Korea firing a surface-to-ship missile into the Sea of Japan, saying launches of short-range missiles do not violate the Pyongyang Declaration.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 26, 2003

Shibui to miss Nagoya Marathon

Yoko Shibui, who injured her left knee while training in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, will miss the upcoming Nagoya Marathon, sponsors said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 26, 2003

Theatrical history in the making

This production is the stuff of theater history: Don't miss it. That, essentially, is all that needs to be said about the miraculous new staging of "Pericles" by Yukio Ninagawa.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Feb 26, 2003

Bright Eyes: "Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground"

Connor Oberst has hidden under the moniker Bright Eyes for more than five years now, but he began recording in 1994 at the ripe old age of 14. From the start, his salted-wound confessionals and distraught delivery left precious little middle ground between fans and detractors. Some made him out as the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Feb 26, 2003

Back to life, back to reality

LONDON -- More so than in any previous era, the development of modern art has been characterized by a healthy international cross-pollination of styles and movements. I have on many occasions remarked, sometimes disparagingly, on the strong influences Japanese artists have absorbed from their Western...
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2003

U.S. kin of veterans eye war items' return

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has received an increasing number of inquiries from the families of U.S. World War II veterans concerning the personal belongings of Japanese soldiers taken from battlefields, officials said Monday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 25, 2003

Bidding a farewell to arms in Japan

When a bullet strikes the car in which one is riding, the sound -- a sharp, metallic "WHAP!" -- is unmistakable. This writer has heard it twice in his life, and I hope the second time will be the last.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2003

Koizumi names moderate Fukui as central bank chief

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday nominated former Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Toshihiko Fukui, who is not considered an aggressive deflation fighter, as the new BOJ chief, according to government sources.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2003

Sumo head stung for elder rights

The Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered the current head of the Tatsunami sumo stable to pay 175 million yen to his predecessor in return for receiving his rights to operate the stable.
COMMENTARY
Feb 24, 2003

Reform of the fourth estate

I was stunned by recent media reports that Takuhiko Tsuruta, president of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, had become a whistle-blowing target. At a company shareholders meeting, a proposal demanding Tsuruta's dismissal from the board was presented by an editor and shareholder of the newspaper. Tsuruta...
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2003

Singing the karaoke blues

Japan has given much to world culture. Kimono, anime, sushi and ikebana are just some of the words that have become so well-known abroad they don't even need translating. But one pastime has come in the past few decades to represent Japan perhaps more authentically than any other activity -- and that's...
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 2003

Don't ignore greater threat

HONOLULU -- The big debate raging in Washington these days is over which country poses the greater threat: North Korea or Iraq (with some throwing Iran into the mix, just to keep the old "axis of evil" intact).
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2003

Karzai sends out a reminder

Visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday called on the international community to continue providing support to help rebuild his nation, even while the eyes of the world are focused on Iraq.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 22, 2003

Connie Chung

CNNj, a team product of CNN and JCTV, is to launch in March a new service for Japanese viewers. It plans to combine content from three of CNN's award-winning networks, and to increase the use of the Japanese language in its news and feature programs. Amongst the U.S. shows that it will make accessible...
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2003

Bridgestone's profits surge 161%

Bridgestone Corp., Japan's biggest maker of automobile tires, said Friday that its group net profit in the business year through December 2002 surged 161 percent to 45.38 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Feb 22, 2003

Publisher Kodansha slips into red

Kodansha Ltd. fell into the red for the first time since World War II in the year through Nov. 30, due to weakening magazine sales, a company spokesman said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Feb 22, 2003

Time proves relevant for aging Japan hands

"Oh really?" the girl says to me -- with the "r" stretched so painfully the word sounds as if it has been ripped from the back of her throat.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 22, 2003

Onda to miss Grand Prix final

Yoshie Onda, who is nursing an injured right leg, will skip the upcoming Grand Prix figure skating final, officials of the Japan Skating Federation (JSF) said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 22, 2003

Men get naked for a year of good luck

Talk about male bonding! Have you ever gotten together with your buddies, stripped down to your thongs and paraded around the neighborhood? In groups of 10 to 12 people at night? In midwinter? No? Well, get with the program -- men in Okayama have been doing this for 400 years. Since I know you are dying...

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly