Search - 2003

 
 
COMMENTARY
Dec 31, 2002

Koizumi losing ability to lead

The most striking impression about 2002 is that the world has become increasingly insecure. When two jetliners hijacked by suicide terrorists crashed into New York's World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, old-fashioned big-power games ended and a new struggle between civilized society and international...
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2002

Mr. Koizumi fails to measure up

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is losing his precious political capital: public popularity. He may be likened to a stage actor who no longer strikes a strong chord in his audience. The actor still has many fans, but he is falling short of general expectations. Moreover, his lines lack punch and he...
COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2002

Resist the potions of the past

LONDON -- "Capitulation bottom" is the ugly and inelegant phrase used by financial analysts in London to indicate the low point in the cycle of investor optimism and pessimism -- the point where investors give up in despair, sell their shrunken shareholdings, if they can find a buyer, and start putting...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 29, 2002

Koma Square -- a new years' tale by RK

1997-99 He woke to the sound of a prerecorded voice booming from the nationalists' minitruck rolling through their neighborhood, making the windows rattle. Shirtless on the tatami, his bare back pressed to the ribbed weave, he heard the voice as part of his dream and then part of the day, and then...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 28, 2002

Three baas for the year of the sheep!

Baa-aa! Yes, you herd me right -- it's almost the year of the sheep. It's going to be a long year of itchy sweaters and mothballs. So put on your woolies and finish writing those New Year's cards.
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2002

Resuscitate local economies

Japan's economy for 2003 poses inevitable questions. Will deflation get worse or better? How far will banks go to shed their dud loans? If the United States goes to war with Iraq, how will it affect the economy? In these increasingly uncertain times, forecasting is a tricky business. Offering stock answers...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Dec 26, 2002

Turning over new leaves

Time seems to fly by. With 2003 just around the corner, major housework operations are in order to enter the year with everything sparkling. Garden companies, too, will be busy cleaning up gardens. Pruning pine trees and cutting hedges, known as hagari (lit. "leaf-cutting") is an important part of the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 26, 2002

Arcade gem returns to glory

This is the time for bringing games back from retirement. Sega came out with new a new "Shinobi." Konami has a new "Contra." And Tecmo has brought back two great blasts from the past: "Ninja Gaiden" and "Rygar."
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2002

A bridge from science to life

The government's Biotechnology Strategy Council deEfines biotechnology as a pillar industry of the 21st century along with information technology. This perception, expressed in the council's "outline of bioEtechnology strategy" issued last week, should serve as an important guide for Japan. Such a national...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 24, 2002

Clothing homeless volunteering and kids' art classes

Donating old clothes Being the season of good cheer and giving rather than receiving, here are some ways to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 20, 2002

Liverpool fans experiencing knee-jerk reaction to team's woes

LONDON -- The phone lines to Liverpool radio stations have been red hot this week. The knee-jerk reaction in the wake of one point from the last 18 has been that Gerard Houllier has lost the plot and Phil Thompson must go.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Dec 20, 2002

The yearend holidays are groovin'; Big news for Empress "D"; party picks

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect. Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men.
EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2002

A collapse of fiscal balance

Japan faces a clear and present danger in public finance, epitomized by a crushing debt load equal to 140 percent of its gross national product. In this light, changes to the tax code for fiscal 2003, proposed by the ruling coalition last week, fall far short of expectations. It is essentially a patchwork...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 18, 2002

'Red Demon' to claim British souls

Acclaimed in Japan for the last quarter of a century as a drama director, writer and actor, Hideki Noda is set to become a major player on the world stage from Jan. 31, when his "Red Demon" opens for a near-monthlong run at the famed Young Vic in London's West End.
COMMUNITY
Dec 17, 2002

What are Japan's teens on about?

Why do Japan's teens sound so incomprehensible these days?
COMMENTARY
Dec 16, 2002

Highways amid the shambles

In its final report submitted Dec. 6, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's advisory commission for privatizing four road-related public corporations called for a halt to runaway highway construction. The report warns against the "triangle of collusion" among "road tribe" legislators, related bureaucrats...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Dec 12, 2002

Even Democrats dislike Gore

WASHINGTON -- The most frequently asked question that I have had to field from friends these past weeks is, who will the Democrats run against President George W. Bush in 2004? My answer is an honest one, if not a satisfactory one: "I have no idea, but there will be a Democratic candidate -- and he could...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2002

International ideas take shape in Lebanon

Though the word "symposium" comes from Plato's ideal of a drinking party held to facilitate philosophical discussion, most of us are familiar with its modern usage, meaning a conference or meeting. Few people, however, know about the sculpture symposium movement, started by Karl Prantl in Austria in...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 10, 2002

Last-minute mailing over Christmas

Greetings Oh Lord, it's nearly Christmas again, and those of us (and I include myself here) who still have packets and cards to be mailed abroad need to get our skates on.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 10, 2002

Tigers want Nakamura to make up his mind

OSAKA -- The Hanshin Tigers will push Norihiro Nakamura for a prompt answer on whether the free-agent slugger wants to join the Central League club, manager Senichi Hoshino said.
COMMENTARY
Dec 10, 2002

Political stability decreasing

Nearly 20 months since the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi began, popular support for the Cabinet hovers around 50 to 60 percent, down from the extraordinarily high levels of 70 to 80 percent last year.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 6, 2002

Matsui happy to hear Red Sox interested in his services

Free agent slugger Hideki Matsui said on Wednesday he is thankful for the interest the Boston Red Sox are showing in acquiring him for next season.
EDITORIALS
Dec 4, 2002

IOC stumbles but moves forward

The International Olympic Committee, at a general meeting in Mexico last week, discussed a proposal to drop three sports -- baseball, softball and the modern pentathlon -- from the 2008 Beijing Games, but in the end decided to postpone a decision until after the 2004 Games take place in Athens. IOC members...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 4, 2002

Are Petagine and the Giants a good fit?

Having lost superstar slugger Hideki Matsui to free agency and the major leagues, the Yomiuri Giants have acquired Roberto Petagine, the runnerup to Matsui in this year's Central League home run derby. The Giants have thus plugged Matsui's hole in their lineup with another Triple Crown threat, but three...
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 4, 2002

Nagashima to manage Japan squad in Athens

Former Yomiuri Giants skipper Shigeo Nagashima was named manager of the Japanese national baseball team on Monday in the run-up to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
EDITORIALS
Nov 30, 2002

A new law to help the abductees

The government is set to provide financial and other support for Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea and their family members who return to Japan. On Thursday the Lower House unanimously passed a special bill for this purpose, which is due to clear the Upper House next week and take effect Jan....
BUSINESS
Nov 30, 2002

Ministry to prop up sinking Kansai airport

To save debt-ridden Kansai International Airport Co., the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has drawn up a bailout plan to provide the semipublic airport operator with about 9 billion yen in subsidies a year and offer government guarantees on short-term bonds to be issued by the company.

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.