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COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Sep 5, 2002

Unions build political power

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W. Bush spent Labor Day just like he did last year. He attended a union picnic in Pennsylvania. The difference is that last year he was courting the steelworkers. This year it was the carpenters. He and his advisers seem intent on improving his showing among union...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 5, 2002

Reaching out to Japanese hit on Sept. 11

Nearly a year ago, on Sept. 11, the Japan Helpline undertook its most difficult aid effort since the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck Kobe back in 1995.
BUSINESS
Sep 4, 2002

Stocks sink to levels last seen in '80s

Tokyo stocks tumbled Tuesday on broad-sector selling by speculative investors, sending the benchmark indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange to levels last seen in the early 1980s.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2002

Ship may be identified Sept. 24

The government plans to identify a sunken ship it is trying to salvage, which was suspected of being a North Korean spy ship, about a week after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Sept. 17 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 1, 2002

The pros and cons of character typing

If you need help with a problem and want to make a bunch of celebrities feel good, check out Nippon TV's "Power Bank" (Sunday, 12:30 p.m.). For each episode of the show, individuals register as "helpers," meaning people with some kind of skill or experience, and when a viewer requests assistance, this...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Koizumi to visit Pyongyang Sept. 17

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will make a landmark one-day visit to Pyongyang Sept. 17 for talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the government announced Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2002

Panel formalizes road-firm privatization report

A key government panel on Friday formalized an interim report on ways to privatize four road-related public corporations, proposing to freeze a number of pending highway projects and minimize the financial burden on taxpayers.
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2002

GDP report expected to show 0.2% growth

Government reports this week are expected to show Japan's economy expanded slightly in second quarter and pulled out of recession, thanks to growing exports, according to a survey released Monday by Bloomberg News.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2002

Republican 'criticism' no war-stopper

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- An interesting debate broke out in Washington last week about the possible war against Iraq. The discussion isn't just about whether to go to war; it has morphed into a quarrel about whether top Republicans are breaking ranks with U.S. President George W. Bush and seeking to reverse...
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 25, 2002

Your planet needs you!

From the depths of our oceans to our atmosphere's ozone layer, there is little doubt that the global environment is taking a beating. Even so, most of us are still waiting for someone else to take action, which is why the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development starting this week in Johannesburg,...
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2002

Hospital chief, specialist to resign over coverup of deadly malpractice

The head of Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital and its leading heart specialist will resign over a malpractice case in which a 12-year-old girl died after undergoing heart surgery last year, it was announced Friday.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 16, 2002

Japanese rugby gears up for professionalism

Summer used to be a time for rugby players to either relax or pursue other sporting interests. Between the end of season tour (which generally involved a lot of drinking with a little rugby thrown in) and the start of preseason training in late August there was plenty of opportunity to pursue other interests....
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 16, 2002

Savage, Keane top scene as show begins

LONDON -- After almost 40 years of reporting the beautiful game nothing should come as a surprise.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 15, 2002

A load of computer clubs and a wad of financial advice

This column may be produced in Tokyo, but the newspaper circulates nationwide and indeed is read online worldwide. So we feel we are not doing our jobs properly to focus on Tokyo alone. While we have heard of a Macintosh computer group in Osaka, there must be others -- and in Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sapporo,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 11, 2002

Book industry cries murder

Although everyone agrees that the Japanese publishing industry is in trouble, there is less consensus as to the causes. Book and magazine sales have been declining for five years and book revenues for last year were at roughly the same level as a decade earlier; indeed, some say that if it were not for...
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Press secretary seeks to redefine role

Hatsuhisa Takashima, newly appointed as the first press secretary for the Foreign Ministry to come out of the private sector, vowed Friday to be a new breed of government spokesman.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2002

Koizumi seeks prudent budget requests

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told his ministers Friday to strictly screen their budget requests for fiscal 2003 because of the government's austerity policy, the top government spokesman said.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2002

Fukuda says no plans yet for extra fiscal 2002 budget

The government has no plans at present to draft a supplementary budget for fiscal 2002, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2002

Gov. Davis goes where Bush fears to tread

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- A remarkable event occurred this week in California -- one that should cheer environmentalists around the world who were angered by the Bush administration's rejection of the Kyoto treaty on global warming.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2002

Koizumi slams 'amakudari' gravy train

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ordered his Cabinet ministers Tuesday to take steps to halt "amakudari," the practice of senior bureaucrats retiring early to join government-affiliated organizations as highly paid executives, because of the corruption that can result.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

Deaths linked to dieting aids from China increase to four

The number of people who have died after taking slimming products imported from China has increased to four, according to a Kyodo News tally based on announcements by the health ministry and local governments.
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2002

Japan prepared to intervene again in money market

The nation's currency policy remains unchanged, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday, indicating Japan is prepared to intervene in the foreign-exchange markets to stem the rapid gains by the yen.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2002

Vice health chief resigns in scandal

Lawmaker Kazuaki Miyaji tendered his resignation Monday as senior vice health minister to take responsibility for allegedly using his political influence to help the grandson of a key supporter get into Teikyo University's medical school.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Improved conditions needed to draw ASEAN brains: panel

An informal government panel basically agreed Thursday to seek improvements to Japan's immigration and social environments to attract more experts and engineers from Southeast Asia, the panel's chairman said.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2002

Dollar's rapid fall must be checked: Shiokawa

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday that the rapid decline of the dollar must be checked before it reaches the 115 yen level.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat