Search - world

 
 
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2001

Japan to support intellectual property rights at last

With the Internet age advancing rapidly in Japan and elsewhere around the globe, it may seem a rather belated move -- but perhaps better late than never.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2001

Special loan program in Asia may be extended

Japan may extend a special yen-loan program worth 600 billion yen beyond its planned expiration next spring to help Asian neighbors hit by a global slowdown and the economic fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2001

Human security panel kicks off two-day meeting

The Commission on Human Security, an independent body dedicated to exploring ways to reduce human suffering and insecurity, began a second two-day meeting Sunday in Tokyo, with panelists focusing on development and conflict prevention.
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

From 'shashin' to snapshots

Shashin, the Japanese word that came to mean "photograph," was used quite differently when it first entered everyday language here. Derived from the two characters for "reflect" and "true," it arrived in the early Edo Period from China, where it was used to refer to portraits that were thought to express...
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

Wright's modern masterpiece comes back to life

All too often in this country, modern buildings of architectural and historical value are bulldozed to make way for new commercial development. The "lucky" ones may be granted a stay of execution, if only to survive as unused and lifeless monuments.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 16, 2001

If you're going to pop the cork, do it in style

Recently, we asked professionals from the Tokyo restaurant-and-wine scene to share their tips for worthy holiday wine splurges and to tell us their favorite dishes to match. Their ideas may inspire the right present for a wine aficionado. You might also consider sampling these top picks in a New Year's...
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Dec 16, 2001

Japan gets into the swing of things

The swing revival never really got going in Japan. Maybe it was an age thing. Though Japanese young people cotton on to nearly every American trend, swing wasn't quite a product of youth culture. Instead, it was championed by folks who listened to Nirvana or the Red Hot Chili Peppers as teenagers and...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Dec 16, 2001

Get high on romance this Christmas Eve

Christmas used to be a nonevent in Japan. But, due to a variety of factors, suddenly Christmas Eve was up there with Valentine's Day as a romantic night for a hot date. And Santa's look was revamped for sexy young girls in need of a little red dress for the occasion.
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
Dec 15, 2001

Image of reconciliation for Myanmar

With the confidence-building period between Myanmar's military regime and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (Daw Suu) now past the one-year mark, most dissidents have grown more suspicious of the military regime as the country's economy deteriorates and the cost of living rises.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2001

End of the line for Mr. Arafat?

Violence in the Middle East has claimed many political careers, but throughout the long struggle that pitted Arab and Palestinian against Israeli, Mr. Yasser Arafat has been a survivor. He overcame internal factional struggles and Israeli assassination attempts to lead the Palestinian people within reach...
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2001

November bankruptcies surge 10% to new high

The number of corporate bankruptcies last month rose 10 percent from a year earlier to 1,683, setting a new record for the month of November in the postwar period, a credit-research agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Japan to cohost global conference on child sexual exploitation

Japan will cohost an international conference in Yokohama next week to reconfirm an international commitment to eliminate the sexual exploitation of children, according to the Foreign Ministry.
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.
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2001

Current account surplus up 14%

Japan's surplus in the broadest measure of foreign trade rose 14 percent in October from a year earlier to 865.1 billion yen, marking its second consecutive month of increase, the Finance Ministry said Thursday in a preliminary current account report.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Dec 14, 2001

Every child gets to be a musician here

My 7-year-old is learning to play a uniquely Japanese instrument. The shamisen? No. The koto? No. Like virtually every other first-grader here, my son is learning to play the kenban hamonika (keyboard harmonica).
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2001

Japan to get Xbox console Feb. 22

The chief operating officer of Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that the Xbox game console will be launched in Japan on Feb. 22 as scheduled.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2001

Afghan conference adopts appeal

A three-day conference in Tokyo on the reconstruction of Afghanistan closed Thursday after adopting a comprehensive appeal that local nongovernmental organizations in Afghanistan be left in charge of the task.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2001

Device to scan body shape promises better-fitting goods

It takes just under a second for a head -- and less than two for a whole body -- to produce the data necessary to create a precise 3-D model of your shape.
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....
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 13, 2001

Mario, Mike and miscellaneous madness

Some recent observations from the world of sports:
JAPAN / LAST CALL FOR SAKE
Dec 13, 2001

Sake brewers seeking to please palates overseas

NIIGATA -- When movie star Robert De Niro visited Hokusetsu Shuzo's cellar in the village of Akadomari on Sado Island in fall 1998, he reportedly held up a 10-year-old bottle of sake and said he wanted it shipped to his restaurant in the United States.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 13, 2001

When sex roles reverse

Why don't men do more to help raise their children?
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Dec 13, 2001

If you go down to the woods today . . .

By this time of year, with temperatures dropping fast and the wind whipping up, the leaves of deciduous trees have almost all fallen. I love to see them coming down, revealing intricate networks of boughs and branches.
LIFE / Digital / TANGLED WEBS
Dec 13, 2001

Multiple eyebrows raised over Microsoft settlement

Since Microsoft Corp. and the U.S. Justice Department submitted their proposed settlement agreement, legal experts have been scratching their heads over how incredibly favorable it is toward Microsoft.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 13, 2001

License not always key to success

In 1982, Atari released a game based on the Steven Spielberg movie "E.T."

Longform

Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.
As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows