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COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jan 24, 2002

A case for campaign finance reform

WASHINGTON -- Controversy is raging about the Enron collapse. Is it a political story? Is it a criminal story? Is it a business story? Is it a story about personalities? The Enron story is all three. The real question is which category is the most important. and that all depends on your perspective....
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2002

Coast guard vessels to mount 30mm machine guns

The Japan Coast Guard will install long-range machine guns on its larger patrol vessels in the wake of last month's shootout with an unidentified ship in the East China Sea, coast guard officials said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2002

Activating the Kyoto treaty

The international agreement on climate change, better known as the Kyoto Protocol, is expected to take effect later this year, perhaps in September. But the United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is conspicuously absent from the ratification process. The U.S. boycott is certainly a serious...
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2002

Rule out leadership change

At the beginning of 2002, the political situation in Japan appears relatively stable. Compared with 2001, which witnessed a series of radical changes, the new year is likely to see Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pushing his reform plans ahead on the back of his huge popularity.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2002

Kyoto pact bills head for the Diet

The government will submit three bills to the ordinary Diet session that convenes Monday to realize Japan's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Jan 19, 2002

Coffee shops on different tracks in Japan

Three specialty coffee chains from Seattle -- Starbucks, Tully's Coffee and Seattle's Best Coffee -- are aggressively expanding their business in Tokyo, changing the face of the capital with the rich aroma of espresso.
BUSINESS
Jan 19, 2002

State expects flat growth in fiscal 2002: Shiokawa

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Friday he expects flat economic growth in fiscal 2002, a slight improvement from the estimated 0.1 percent contraction for fiscal 2001.
BUSINESS
Jan 19, 2002

Insurance body vice chief steps down

The Life Insurance Association of Japan said Friday its board accepted a proposal to replace vice chief Yuzuru Fujita, president of Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co., with Shinichi Yokoyama, president of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Fujita is leaving because he wants to focus all his energy into efforts...
JAPAN / PROTOCOL PURSUIT
Jan 18, 2002

Emissions-trading plan put on back burner

Staff writer Until recently, trading in carbon dioxide emissions seemed destined for early introduction in Japan. The launch of such a system, however, is being put off as the government postpones key policy decisions to curb global-warming emissions.
JAPAN / PROTOCOL PURSUIT
Jan 17, 2002

Carbon tax stuck in detour to Kyoto

This is the first in a three-part series on Japan's struggles to curb global warming gas emissions. Staff writer The dust is finally settling.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2002

Experts push government to protect intellectual property

A group of experts has called on the government to adopt a set of 100 drastic reform steps to protect intellectual property rights as part of efforts to make Japan a world leader in the knowledge-oriented economy by 2010.
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2002

Koizumi's trade plan hailed by Megawati

Compiled from wire reports JAKARTA -- Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Saturday embraced Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's vision of cooperation linking Northeast and Southeast Asian countries.
BUSINESS
Jan 12, 2002

J-Phone to launch 3G service in June

Mobile phone company J-Phone Co. said Friday it will start a third-generation mobile phone service June 30.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2002

Afghan aid could cost up to $20 billion

Afghanistan will need up to $20 billion over the next decade to cover the cost of its reconstruction, according to an unpublished preliminary estimate by the World Bank.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2002

Argentina: A nation too few believe in

LONDON -- Five presidents in 12 days; riots and looting that have left 32 dead; the biggest default on sovereign debt in history; and the prospect of a return to military government or a toned-down, spruced-up version of fascism lurking around the corner. What is wrong with Argentina?
BUSINESS
Jan 6, 2002

Koizumi hints at more public funds for banks

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has pledged to take every possible step to avert financial crisis, hinting at yet another injection of public money into banks suffering from bad loans.
EDITORIALS
Jan 5, 2002

Flicker of peace in a unipolar world

Uncertainty envelopes the world as it moves into the second year of the 21st century. U.S. President George W. Bush, who launched a "new war" against international terrorism after Sept. 11, is resolved to carry on the campaign in 2002. It is ironic that the end of the Cold War -- which supposedly marked...
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2002

Telecom body predicts 3% annual growth through 2006

The value of domestic sales and exports of telecommunications equipment and devices is expected to grow by an average 3.3 percent annually over the next five years, the Communication Industry Association of Japan said in a recently released report.
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2002

Innovative banking upstarts struggle to establish foothold

New, innovative entrants into the domestic banking sector have struggled to establish themselves amid the turbulent business climate.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2001

A step back after the euro?

LONDON -- Shopkeepers in Germany say they have never seen so many crisp 1,000-mark (about $500) bills as in the past month -- the last before the new euro replaces the mark.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Koizumi rules out plans to call election anytime soon

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday ruled out any plan to call a general election in the near future, placing the implementation of his structural reform programs at the forefront.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Panel releases guidelines for law schools

An education ministry advisory panel has compiled guidelines for setting up graduate facilities for the study of law, to be introduced in April 2004.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2001

Land-buy aims to halt airport plans

A network of citizens' groups opposing the construction of an airport on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, have acquired a plot of land where the airport is slated to be built, members of the network said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2001

A dormant Islamic state concept

SINGAPORE -- Malaysia's ruling National Front coalition government has withdrawn from circulation a booklet "Malaysia Is an Islamic Country" to allay growing fears among the significant non-Muslim minority that the multiracial country which tolerates many faiths would be turned into an Islamic state....
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2001

EU readying for new challenge

Leaders of the European Union, meeting in Brussels last weekend, agreed to set up a broadly represented advisory body next March to draft recommendations for EU reform. The agreement marks another milestone on the road to an enlarged EU. Half a century following the creation of a common European market,...
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Dec 18, 2001

Japan aiming to boost E. Asia

What can Japan do for Asia? Does Japan want to be part of Asia's soccer fraternity? It's a long-standing question, but now maybe some answers are emerging.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2001

Lift age for retirement, medical services: proposal

A government strategy drafted with Japan's graying society in mind proposes increasing the mandatory ages for retirement and eligibility for medical services, according to the draft outline obtained by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2001

Treaty on deadly chemicals to go before Diet soon

The government will submit a landmark international treaty banning the production and use of the world's most toxic and harmful chemicals to the Diet for ratification early next year, government sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 6, 2001

Cabinet approves budget plan modified to please coalition

The Cabinet has endorsed guidelines for the fiscal 2002 budget, in which a 30 trillion yen cap on new government bonds for that year forms the centerpiece of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms.

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