Search - 2003

 
 
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2004

Suspects to get notebooks to record interrogations

Beginning next month, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations will begin printing and distributing formatted notebooks in which criminal suspects can keep records of interrogations by police and prosecutors.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 28, 2004

Zen and the art of Beatnik haiku

JACK KEROUAC: Book of Haikus, edited and with an Introduction by Regina Weinreich. Penguin USA, 2003, 240 pp., $13.00 (paper). Jack Kerouac (1922-69), the King of the Beats, started writing haiku with the belief that this short poetic form was an avatar of Zen, and he pursued both haiku and Zen to his...
COMMUNITY
Mar 27, 2004

Ability to get up and go anywhere is true power

In India, he went to Darjeeling for one reason only: to drink tea.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2004

Ex-North Korean spy wants hand in collapse of Kim's empire

KITAKYUSHU -- On Aug. 30, 1993, four North Korean agents slipped over the 38th parallel into South Korea. Disguised as South Korean soldiers, their mission was to spy on U.S. and South Korean forces near Panmunjun.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2004

Subway commuters overcharged

Teito Rapid Transit Authority said Thursday it overcharged passengers who used its fare adjustment machines under certain conditions for about one year due to a programming error.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 26, 2004

Hanshin Tigers translator Sasaki thinking big

Players from overseas have established a solid presence in Japan, playing an indispensable role in Japanese baseball over the years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2004

Recycling law spurs sales of used PCs

Sellers of used personal computers are enjoying brisk trade, partly because consumers are now required by law to spend several thousand yen on sending PCs they no longer need back to manufacturers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2004

Mitsubishi Fuso recalls 112,000 vehicles

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. announced Wednesday it will recall about 112,000 large vehicles due to defective wheel hubs that have caused a series of accidents.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 25, 2004

Grizzlies defying expectations

NEW YORK -- Let's have a big round of applause for Hubie Brown, whose Grizzlies are an astounding 43-26. Other than team president Jerry West, who unflinchingly branded his team "dangerous" to me prior to the exhibition season, I imagine no one else figured Memphis, which began last season 0-8 under...
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2004

JAL hoping for revival with JAS under its wing

The Iraq war and the outbreak of SARS have dealt a severe blow to Japan Airlines System Corp., the holding company of Japan Airlines Co. and Japan Air System Co.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2004

Health ministry ties lung cancer drug to 444 deaths

Some 444 people are thought to have died from the side effects of the lung cancer drug Iressa, which Japan approved in July 2002, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 24, 2004

He loves me, he loves me not

Hana to Alice Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Shunji Iwai Running time: 135 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "Shunji Iwai has a shojo manga (girls' comic) sensibility," producer Takenori Sento once explained to me.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2004

Hokkaido police skimming tip of iceberg?

After earlier denials, Hokkaido police officially came clean and admitted in early March that one of the force's stations had misappropriated funds meant for rewarding informants.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2004

Rice harvested by children to be donated to Cambodia

The U.N. World Food Program and a Japanese nongovernmental organization will ship to Cambodia 32 tons of rice harvested by children in Japan to help poor women and children in developing nations.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2004

Fast Retailing set to exit fruit, vegetable market

Fast Retailing Co. said Monday it will terminate its fresh food business after abandoning hope of turning a profit from selling premium vegetables.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2004

Troops in Iraq set to get down to business

The Ground Self-Defense Force troops deployed to the city of Samawah in southern Iraq will commence their humanitarian aid mission later this month.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2004

JR East Suica card now used for shopping, dining

Holders of the latest version of East Japan Railway Co.'s Suica electronic train fare cards can now use them for shopping and dining at JR stations.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 23, 2004

More big sizes and outdoor pursuits

Big sizes So many of you responded to the reader looking for larger sized clothes. Here are some more tips.
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2004

BOJ Governor Fukui's first year

On Saturday Mr. Toshihiko Fukui completed his first year as governor of the Bank of Japan. His policy so far has followed basically the same line as that of his predecessor, Mr. Masaru Hayami. Still, he has made a difference in style: He has acted swiftly, and sometimes boldly, under his own initiative,...
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2004

Farewell to 'Sesame Street'

There are some American icons we would not miss too much if they were to disappear tomorrow. Starbucks, McDonald's, Britney Spears: Despite their popularity here, they all have perfectly adequate local equivalents. Japanese would still be able to drink coffee, eat hamburgers and listen to annoying pop...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 21, 2004

A different kind of matrimony

TWINKLE, TWINKLE, by Kaori Ekuni, translated by Emi Shimokawa. New York: Vertical Inc., 2003, 172 pp. $19.95 (cloth). This is an excellent translation of Kaori Ekuni's 1991 novel, "Kira Kira Hikaru," a popular best seller that was made into a very good film by Joji Matsuoka the following year.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 21, 2004

The claustrophobia of a criminal mind

NO REASON FOR MURDER, by Ayako Sono. ICG Muse Inc, 2003, 422 pp., 3,000 yen (cloth). Reading crime stories can be a claustrophobic experience. Entering the criminal mind is not unlike squeezing into the airless tunnels of a rodent.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 21, 2004

TV Asahi presents "Kinkyu Kensho Special" and more

One of the biggest news stories of 1987 was the bombing of a Korean Airlines flight over the Indian Ocean. Two North Korean agents posing as Japanese citizens were believed to be responsible for the bombing. One committed suicide before he could be arrested in Bahrain. The other, a young woman named...
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2004

Peace movement revives for protests on Iraq war

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets around Japan on Saturday, the first anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led war on Iraq, to call for the end of the occupation and the withdrawal of Self-Defense Forces troops.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Mar 21, 2004

Bush morphs into a scrappy candidate

WASHINGTON -- Mid-March is a time of significant anniversaries:

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go