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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 26, 2003

Hidden truths of the Hermit Kingdom

PYONGYANG: The Hidden History of the North Korean Capital, by Chris Springer, photos by Eckart Dege. Budapest: Entente Bt., 2003, 158 pp., $29.95 (paper). Although the capital of the new Hermit Kingdom is not a popular tourist destination, we now have this interesting detailed guide to the socialist...
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2003

Iran makes a nuclear deal

A droit diplomacy by Britain, France and Germany may have averted another nuclear crisis. A diplomatic full press appears to have convinced Iran that suspending its uranium-enrichment program and coming into full compliance with its obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency are in the country's...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 23, 2003

No rush to judgment

In a meeting in Heidelberg earlier this month, science historians concluded that German science between 1933 and 1945 was exploitative and unethical. The organizer of the meeting, Wolfgang Eckhart, head of history of medicine at the University of Heidelberg, said in Nature last week: "We have proven...
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Oct 9, 2003

Does ' baka explosion' indicate identity crisis brewing in Japan?

Japan has been witnessing something of a baka explosion recently. Whether or not the actual number of idiots or incidents of idiotic behavior are on the increase or not, there is certainly a sharp rise in the public irritability index, a lowering of the threshold at which people call others "baka."
COMMENTARY
Oct 6, 2003

Japan's priority: offsetting pull toward jobless recovery

U.S. President George W. Bush's military unilateralism has destabilized the world order to such an extent that, facing a dearth of low-risk, high-return investments, Western investors have descended on the Japanese stock market.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2003

Government takes abandoned arms ruling 'seriously'

The government "takes seriously" a court ruling holding it responsible for Japan's wartime abandonment of chemical and conventional weapons in China, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 30, 2003

Court finds Japan responsible for abandoned arms

In an unprecedented ruling, the Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered the state to pay a total of 190 million yen to 13 Chinese who lost relatives or suffered health problems due to weapons abandoned by the Imperial Japanese Army at the end of World War II.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2003

Motegi says he will address Okinawa-SOFA issue

Toshimitsu Motegi, the new minister in charge of Okinawa and affairs related to the Northern Territories, says he will review what Japan can do to improve implementation of the accord that governs U.S. military activities in the country.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2003

Justice minister pledges to make Japan 'safe again,' tighten border controls

Daizo Nozawa says Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has ordered him in his new job as justice minister to make Japan the "safest country in the world" again.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Sep 19, 2003

Secret treasures of southern Sonoma

The sensual impact of a vacation in the wine country is hard to beat. Hot days, cold nights, good food and meandering drives under blue skies between vineyards and wineries that range from the manicured to the seemingly long-ago abandoned.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2003

Japan to issue biometric passports by '05

Japan has decided to introduce biometric passports by fiscal 2005 to meet tightened U.S. immigration controls following the September 2001 terror attacks, government officials said on Saturday.
JAPAN / AFTER 2 1/2 YEARS
Sep 2, 2003

Koizumi's failings linked to inflexible fiscal policy

Some economists compare it to trying to lose weight by fasting when the real solution is exercise, while others talk about repairing an airplane's altimeter when it's the engine that needs attention.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2003

Firms lick their lips over flat-panel TVs

Major consumer electronics makers are rolling out the latest batch of flat-panel TVs for the all-important yearend shopping season.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Aug 28, 2003

Finding a sense of balance in the face of DSI

Every day, at a musk-melon-colored building near Okayama Station, children gather to play in a rather unusual-looking indoor playground. Guru Guru Meron Shima (Twirly Melon Island) is a privately-run day-care center for autistic and other special-needs children that started up in July. It is also, most...
COMMENTARY
Aug 25, 2003

Japan's global security role

The most important feature of Japan's latest white paper on defense is that it gives new direction to the nation's defense policy. First, the report emphasizes that developing a missile defense system is a "matter of urgent importance for defense policy."
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2003

Seoul should join interdiction group

WASHINGTON -- This fall much attention will be focused on the start of six-party multilateral talks in Beijing to stop North Korea's nuclear-weapons program. These talks, should they take place as committed to by Pyongyang last week, are a welcome development. For the first time in more than a decade,...
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2003

Japan missing out on Chinese legal advice: lawyer

Japanese firms should make better use of local legal services to control the risk of doing business in China as the country continues its progress toward the "rule of law," a Shanghai-based lawyer said at a recent seminar in Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 12, 2003

Biculturalism, accessories and recession

Biculturalism, accessories and recession
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Aug 12, 2003

Ajinomoto's amino acid products draw athletes, health-conscious consumers

Don't be surprised if you see Seattle Mariners sensation Ichiro Suzuki downing an Ajinomoto Co. amino acid drink in the dugout at Safeco Field during a baseball game.
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Aug 7, 2003

A tale of two Afans reborn

Two thousand years ago, my native Wales had 98 percent forest cover. By 1950, when I was a little lad, woodland in Wales was down to 5 percent. I was born in Neath, where coal-mining wasn't particularly heavy, and where there were still wooded parks and groves of wild trees so I didn't really feel the...
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2003

Five firms plan PC collection tieup

A Mitsubishi Electric Corp. subsidiary and four other companies will team up to collect and recycle used personal computers beginning in October.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2003

Major firms searched for bid-rigging clues

The Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday searched more than a dozen companies, including major machinery makers, in Tokyo and Osaka for evidence of bid-rigging in connection with local government construction contracts for sewage pumps.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 29, 2003

In search of senbei and more culture

Senbei fan Randall writes from California, reporting that around 1900 a Japanese gardener in San Francisco started serving cookies with thank you notes inside at that city's Japanese garden.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2003

DPJ targets watchdog official over insurance merger role

The Democratic Party of Japan filed a criminal accusation Wednesday against Financial Services Agency Commissioner Shokichi Takagi, blaming him for trying to pressure Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. to consolidate with an ailing life insurance firm last year.
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2003

Make way for the New Way

LONDON -- Politicians and gurus from around the world have been gathering in London recently for a grand conference on resuscitating the Third Way -- the hopeful idea that the future can be guided along a path lying somewhere between socialism and free-market capitalism.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

Satellite system to link ambulances, trained doctors

Researchers have developed a remote diagnostic system that can send doctors medical information on patients while they are still in an ambulance and heading for the hospital.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2003

Loose talk in chat room costs operator

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday ordered the operator of an Internet chat room to pay a total of 4 million yen to a cosmetics firm and its head because content on one of its message boards defamed them.

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