Search - people

 
 
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Parties begin campaigning for Tokyo assembly election

Campaigning for the June 24 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election — widely viewed as the political prelude to July's House of Councilors poll — officially got under way Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 16, 2001

No one can replace this man in my life

I admit it -- I forgot about Father's Day. But before all you fathers start wagging your fingers at me and threatening to send me to bed without dinner, I'd like to redeem myself by writing a Father's Day column.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2001

Time for the suits to make way for dresses

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Japan is going through an interesting period of political change. Or is it? A Japanese colleague in Cambridge who was in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago came back to say that it was only an interlude and that the government of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would only last a few months,...
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2001

Sakaguchi in favor of hibakusha law revision

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi called Friday for a law on medical allowances for atomic bomb survivors to be revised so it covers survivors living outside Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2001

Backers of Chinese press in Malaysia mobilize to defend its freedom

KUALA LUMPUR -- Despite stringent mass media laws, Chinese newspapers in Malaysia have built a reputation for objective, balanced and accurate political reporting and analyses. This widely-held perception among all ethnic groups in multiracial Malaysia -- Malays, Chinese and Indians -- often stands in...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

870,000 subscribers make Koizumi e-zine No. 1?

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday launched the inaugural edition of his e-mail magazine, which, with more than 870,000 subscribers, perhaps makes it one of the largest e-mail magazines in the world. The number of subscribers is ballooning by the minute, the government's public relations division...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Law revised to prevent minors from using phone dating clubs

In a bid to crack down on child prostitution, the Diet on Thursday passed a bill revising a law controlling the sex industry to prohibit people under 18 from using telephone dating clubs.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jun 15, 2001

Japan owes Troussier a 'Merci'

Poor South Korea. Get blitzed 5-0 by France in the Confederations Cup opener, making Japan feel a whole lot better about life after Philippe Troussier's boys lost by the same score in Paris on March 25. Go out of the tournament on goal difference, while Japan finish top of Group B following wins over...
COMMUNITY
Jun 15, 2001

You're not leaving the table till you finish those vegetables

Some nights, I drift off to sleep feeling as smug as if I'd just outwitted the devil. My husband has clued in to my little G spot of contentment, so when he wants to get on my good side, he knows to whisper: "Rio ate lots of vegetables today."
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2001

Nation scrambles to catch up in online education

In a belated attempt to get up to speed in the field of e-learning, Japan's educational institutes and companies are scrambling to offer online education programs and cash in on the burgeoning field.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2001

Korean summit fails to meet expectations

SEOUL -- Under normal circumstances, the meaning of a great event should become clearer in retrospect than in prospect. Yet on the first anniversary of last year's Korean summit, confusion rather than clarity reigns. In a sense, a year is too short a time to know if real change has occurred, setting...
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2001

Long-term gain worth the pain

Japan's gross domestic product in the first quarter of the year dropped 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, or 0.8 percent at the annualized rate, according to figures released Monday by the Cabinet Office. Economic indicators since April also show the economy is decelerating. Mr. Heizo Takenaka,...
COMMENTARY
Jun 14, 2001

Solving Asia's nuclear-waste dilemma

Nuclear energy is news again. It has always been an issue for some people -- environmental activists and energy industry groups -- but nuclear power has largely faded from public consciousness, despite periodic incidents that highlighted fears of a catastrophic mishap at a nuclear power plant. The luxury...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

Aum's request to end surveillance is rejected

The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday rejected a request by Aum Shinrikyo to void a decision by the Public Security Examination Commission to place the sect under surveillance by security authorities.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 14, 2001

When a little profit exacts a high price

Public-works projects, such as the bungled reclamation of Isahaya Bay in Kyushu and Tokyo's ill-conceived Ken'odo ring road, exemplify the bureaucratic myopia that is razing Japan's natural heritage. But the destruction is not always on a grand scale, nor solely the handiwork of public servants. Private...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2001

585,000 sign up for Koizumi's e-mail magazine

More than half a million people have registered their e-mail addresses to subscribe to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's e-mail magazine to be launched today, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Jun 14, 2001

A green oasis in the Osaka urban desert

Historically a city of merchants, Osaka is generally thought to have little greenery. But at its very heart, on the eastern portion of Nakanoshima, a small island sandwiched between the Dojima and Tosabori rivers, there is a lovely patch of green known as Nakanoshima Rose Garden.
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Jun 14, 2001

Going somewhere?

www.orbitz.com The five biggest U.S. airlines got together on Orbitz to offer cut-rate fares and other travel specials. But since United, American, Northwest Delta and Continental don't belong to any of Asia's ticket cartels, you're not gonna get a discount if you're living in Japan (the regulations...
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2001

Envisioning a reformed Iran

Iran's President Mohammad Khatami has won a second term in office. While his margin of victory was larger than in 1997, Iran's hardliners are probably not too worried. They still control the power ministries in the revolutionary government and command the loyal support of religious conservatives nationwide....
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2001

Lower House OKs Hansen's bill

The House of Representatives approved a bill Tuesday to compensate current and former Hansen's disease patients who suffered under the government's segregation policy.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 13, 2001

And now, the greatest heroine on earth

The Invisible Circus Rating: * * * *Japanese title:Yukaihan Director: Adam Brooks Running time: 93 minutes Language: EnglishOpens July 7 at Yurakucho Subaru-za As we know from Julia Roberts, it's hard to be a heroine in Hollywood and stay that way. By heroine, I mean the classic, old-school types...
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2001

Low growth is the price of reforms

Japan will have to endure low economic growth over the next two to three years as the nation undergoes radical reforms, a key government economic panel said in the draft of a reform blueprint to be released later this month.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2001

Man killed 'elite' kids in hope of being hanged

OSAKA — The man who was arrested Friday in the fatal stabbing of eight pupils at an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, said he committed the crimes in a bid to be sent to the gallows, sources said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2001

Discord in the Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry has been mired in an internal struggle between Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and senior ministry bureaucrats. The faceoff shows no signs of ending, although Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has issued a warning to both Mrs. Tanaka and Vice Foreign Minister Yutaka Kawashima. Mrs....
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2001

JAL to equip its fleet to handle heart attacks

Japan Airlines will equip its fleet with medical equipment to provide emergency care to passengers who suffer heart attacks, beginning with long-distance international routes in autumn.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2001

LDP begins search for preventative measures

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Monday held its first meeting to discuss possible measures to prevent similar incidents to last week's massacre of eight schoolchildren by a man with a history of psychiatric illness.
Events
Jun 12, 2001

Osaka still investment 'black hole'

OSAKA — With Osaka's economy still in the doldrums, city and prefectural officials are renewing efforts to bring more foreign direct investment to the region.
Events
Jun 12, 2001

City hopes rentals will curb bike glut

OSAKA — The city of Osaka, infamous for illegal car parking, has long had another parking problem: bicycles.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2001

Panel to guide U.N. AIDS fund

The Group of Eight major countries have reached a basic agreement on the framework of a fund proposed by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to promote the international crusade against AIDS, G8 sources said.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2001

Security dialogue signals rise in New Delhi's global stature

In a belated but significant move amid increasingly murky relations among major players in the Asia-Pacific region, Japan and India are making last-minute preparations to inaugurate a high-level security forum.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.