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COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2001

Blow away Big Tobacco's smoke screen

In an interconnected world, we're seeing ways that globalization may help or hinder our lives. Take the tobacco industry: It is using innovative means to bypass fledgling government tobacco control policies, particularly in developing countries. It is riding a wave to open regional trade in East Asia...
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2001

Long wait over for royal couple

The waiting is now over for the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, who celebrated the birth of their first child -- a girl -- on Saturday, 8 1/2 years after their wedding.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2001

Royal baby expected to bring 14 trillion yen boost to economy

The birth of a royal baby is expected to motivate the Japanese to spend 14 trillion yen, providing welcome stimulus to the decelerating economy.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 2, 2001

The life of the party

The yearend holiday season brings a flurry of parties, rich dinners and the popping of corks. For those of us who love wine, this time of year presents a few dilemmas as well. There's the torture of finding the right bottle to give the boss or a gourmand in-law who has tried everything. Then we mull...
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2001

Fujitsu to halt U.S. output of flash chips

Fujitsu Ltd. said Friday that it will stop producing flash memory semiconductors in the United States early next year due to cooling demand for the product worldwide amid falling prices.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2001

328 at Foreign Ministry penalized for fund misuse

A total of 328 Foreign Ministry officials were punished Friday for illicitly pooling more than 200 million yen in public funds, using about 160 million yen for mostly unofficial purposes over 6 1/2 years, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2001

Internet exchanges planned for Japan-China anniversary

Japan is planning to promote online exchanges with China in cultural, scientific and other fields next year when the two countries commemorate the 30th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties, according to Foreign Ministry officials.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2001

Elderly folks bond in makeshift cafes

Tokyo's Suginami Ward is making a name for itself as an area where senior citizens can meet at least once a month and chat over a cup of coffee, tea or cocoa at a private home or assembly hall converted into a makeshift cafe by volunteers.
COMMENTARY
Nov 30, 2001

Pyongyang's missed chances

HONOLULU -- North Korea never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. The latest example occurred last week when Pyongyang precipitated yet another breakdown in the North-South dialogue process, thus dealing a staggering blow to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's beleaguered "sunshine policy"...
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2001

Capital spending may drop in '01 despite planned rise

Actual fiscal 2001 capital outlays by Japanese firms are expected to shrink due to the effects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States despite corporate plans that would have resulted in a second year of increase, Industrial Bank of Japan said.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2001

20% of telephone calls go mobile

Calls between mobile phones accounted for 20.5 percent of all telephone usage in Japan in fiscal 2000, up from 15 percent a year earlier, the telecommunications ministry said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2001

Lee Teng-hui on a mission to save his vision of Taiwan

NEW YORK -- Taiwan will hold an election Saturday to choose members of the national Parliament, mayors and county magistrates. The outcome will have a lasting impact on Taiwan's future -- in particular on its relationship with China.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2001

Electronics firms reach agreement to join forces

OSAKA -- Four consumer electronics retailers, including Joshin Denki Co., said Wednesday they have reached a basic agreement to tie up.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 29, 2001

The battle is for second

The door to the haunted house creeks open and a terrified man with a mustache and chattering teeth peers in.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2001

Seoul-inspired markets publish shopping guide

A market in Tokyo and another one in Yokohama, both based on Seoul's Dongdaemun market, a collection of popular South Korean fashion shops, have published a guidebook for shoppers.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2001

Aum says it wants to pay compensation

The Aum Shinrikyo religious cult, accused of carrying out the fatal sarin gas attacks in Tokyo's subway system in 1995, has opened a software development firm and resumed ties with followers in Russia, members said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

Kokusai, BTM brokerages to merge

Kokusai Securities Co. and two Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi brokerage units announced Monday they will merge as part of efforts to increase operational efficiency.
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2001

Japan set to jump the gun with SDF

Since the Diet enacted antiterrorism legislation enabling the Self-Defense Forces to provide logistic support to the U.S.-led war efforts in Afghanistan, there have been mounting calls in Japan for expansion of the SDF's activities abroad. These moves defy Japan's war-renouncing Constitution.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 26, 2001

Jungle Pocket takes Japan Cup

Japan-trained horses monopolized the scene yet again as they swept the top spots in the Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday, the second day of the year's biggest international racing event here. It was the fourth-straight Japan Cup victory for the home team, a first in the event's 21-year history....
COMMUNITY
Nov 25, 2001

Key insight spells riches for Hollywood nail care magnate

All it took for a small dental supply business to become the world's largest independent manufacturer of nail products was one man's realization that some of his biggest buyers of dental acrylics weren't dentists at all they were manicurists.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 25, 2001

Book Bites

TOKYO CONFIDENTIAL: Titillating Tales From Japan's Wild Weeklies, edited by Mark Schreiber. The East Publications, 2001, 257 pp., 1,400 yen (paper) Grown men in diapers? Couples going all the way in the back seats of Tokyo taxi cabs? Mothers stalking their daughters? Companies that rent out wedding guests?...
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 2001

German lessons for Korea

SEOUL -- Koreans have come to cherish Germany's experiences, as many see this country's unification saga as an important, if not the most important, point of reference. Korea's unification will probably be more difficult and complex than Germany's unification in October 1990. Koreans have one major advantage,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2001

South Korean author protests mayor's 'sangokujin' remark

When Shinjuku Ward Mayor Takashi Onoda referred to "sangokujin" in a speech on Nov. 13, Shin Sugok could not believe it.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?