Search - article

 
 
CULTURE / Books
Aug 5, 2001

From the outside looking in

THE DONALD RICHIE READER: 50 Years of Writing on Japan. Compiled, edited and with an introduction by Arturo Silva. Stone Bridge Press, 2001, 238 pp., $19.95 (paperback). Full disclosure: I've known Donald Richie for more than 20 years and, like many people who have known him for a long time, I count...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2001

Blame misplaced in Okinawa rape case

I am deeply disturbed, although not surprised, by the news that Japanese weeklies are harassing the young woman who claims to have been publicly raped in late June in Okinawa. Even Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka evidently blames her for having been out so late, drinking, in a bar frequented by American...
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 2001

Making decentralization work

In a recent report, a state panel urged the central government to transfer more tax-collection power to local governments and help them secure their own tax revenues. I have no objections to the proposal, made by the Decentralization Promotion Committee in its final report to Prime Minister Junichiro...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 29, 2001

Talking about the weather is no longer so boring

We tend to take weather forecasts with a grain of salt. Some people leave their umbrellas at home unless the probability of precipitation is over, say, 40 percent, while others keep a collapsible in their bag at all times because they don't know what to believe. We know it's raining because we are getting...
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Jul 26, 2001

The next big thing

www.sciam.com/2001/0801issue/0801scicit4.html Back in 1995, the domestic electronics and telecom industries were about to unleash the Pride of Japan on the world: PHS. Ooops. We just went with full cellular handsets instead. A few months later, a big consortium was telling us we wouldn't be able to take...
COMMENTARY
Jul 22, 2001

Bush places the country on autopilot

NEW ORLEANS -- The nation is reeling in the aftermath of a startling revelation from the White House: For the first time in its history, the United States is functioning entirely without an executive branch.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2001

Can Japan's 'pied piper' pull it off?

In July 2001, two very different people offer hope to the people of Japan. One is baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, the star of the Seattle Mariners. His cool looks and great hits suggest the possibilities of the sporting dream across the sea. The other is Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, with his wavy...
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Jul 12, 2001

Foreign plants are right at home in Japan

I have always been interested in the natural origins of plants. Where does a particular plant come from? How and when did it come to this country? Geographic botany investigates the distribution of plants around the world.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 5, 2001

A vote of confidence for MLB balloting

Kudos to Ichiro Suzuki. The Seattle Mariners right fielder was recently selected by fans to start the 50th All-Star Game in the Emerald City next week. Not only did he lead the majors with 3,373,035 votes, he becomes only the 13th position player in league history to start the mid-season classic as a...
COMMENTARY
Jul 2, 2001

A more active Japan would benefit Asia

LOS ANGELES -- Alarm bells will start sounding across Asia in August. That's when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to visit Tokyo's most famous Shinto shrine, Yasukuni, which honors not only Japan's war dead since the 19th century but also, inconveniently, convicted war criminals, including wartime...
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2001

Time for a strategic dialogue

HONOLULU -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will have a lot to talk about with U.S. President George W. Bush when the two meet for the first time at Camp David this weekend. High on the agenda should be the initiation of a strategic dialogue aimed at redefining the U.S.-Japan security relationship....
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2001

Bad-loan disposal urged over profits

How many bad loans did banks write off in fiscal 2000? How many years will it take for banks to dispose of all their bad loans?
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2001

Is Canberra doing right by its refugees?

SYDNEY -- Nowhere was the poignancy of World Refugee Day on June 20 felt more acutely than in Australia. Here, the plight of thousands of refugees held in detention camps gnaws at the national conscience.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2001

Is Japan moving to the right?

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in a discussion with U.S. experts on Asian problems. Several of the U.S. participants stated that the new junior high-school history textbook issued by Fuso Publishing Co. was a "swing to the right." Since Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka has said publicly...
COMMENTARY
Jun 24, 2001

In diplomacy, two tracks is better than one

There is a better than even chance that this is the only article you will ever read about the Asia Pacific Roundtable that was held earlier this month in Kuala Lumpur. That's a pity. Not only because the meeting has some history behind it -- this year marked the 15th annual get-together -- or because...
COMMENTARY
Jun 23, 2001

Past still weighs heavily today

LONDON -- Those of us who were involved in the Pacific War look with suspicion and a tinge of fear at manifestations of Japanese nationalism, especially if it has ethnic or militarist overtones.
COMMUNITY / THE PARENT TRIP
Jun 22, 2001

Sho-chan's send-off

In Japan, leave-takings are marked with fanfare. Parties, gifts, speeches, photos, train-platform farewells, never-ending waves goodbye and bows -- the Japanese really know how to say sayonara. As a long-term resident of Japan, I have been on the receiving end of these rituals many times. But the most...
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2001

Mrs. Tanaka passes her first test

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's first official trip to Washington has ended with a measure of success. In a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, reportedly held in a friendly atmosphere, she reaffirmed the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and exchanged views on missile defense and...
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2001

Fans of all stripes come together for the rock of ages

There were Mods, rockabillies, psychobillies, surf punks, indie rockers, metalheadz and Uniqlo/Gap kids. There were 12-year-old girls, 40-year-old salarymen, 18-year-old boys, young couples with toddlers and at least one very pregnant woman.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2001

No plans to join U.S. missile initiative: Nakatani

Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani on Sunday ruled out any imminent plans for Japan to join the newly proposed U.S. missile defense initiative.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2001

State can be valuable captain in privatized firms

Despite Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's claims that privatization is a concept undergoing a rethink and should be considered carefully before implementation, the truth is privatization has been thriving for some time abroad.
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2001

Debate fails to bring up Tanaka issue

The first one-on-one debate Wednesday between opposition leaders and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi once again revealed the opposition's lack of ability to corner the nation's leader.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

War victims to speak out against contentious history text

About 40 people, including war victims, from several parts of Asia will speak against a recently approved Japanese history textbook at a two-day meeting in Tokyo starting Sunday.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2001

Courage in South Asia

This week marks the third anniversary of Pakistan's nuclear tests. Those blasts followed India's own tests by a few days. Although both governments denied that the explosions posed a threat to regional peace and stability, the tit-for-tat exchanges marked a dangerous escalation in the situation in South...
CULTURE / Art
May 30, 2001

How a legend is born

Born Lenny Hilton McGurr, he first picked up a spray can in 1970, aged 15. An only child from a lower-middle class Manhattan home, graffiti provided him with "a solution to my identity crisis" -- a crisis brought on by the news he was adopted.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 27, 2001

Who says that women can't have it all?

Several weeks ago, this column covered TBS's romantic comedy series "Love Story," in which Miho Nakayama plays a not-so-successful book editor whose employer tries to force her to quit by assigning her to its most difficult author. Though, as with all "trendy dramas," this one is mainly about love, Nakayama's...
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2001

Charting a course as wide as the region

To understand the logic that is driving the Bush administration's redesign of U.S. military strategy, overlay two maps. The first focuses on wealth and population. It highlights Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, some of the world's richest and most important trading nations. China, India and...
COMMENTARY / World
May 24, 2001

Rampant piracy posing political problems for Southeast Asia's policymakers

Piracy is alive and well in Southeast Asia, and it is posing political problems for policymakers. Piracy incidents in and around the Straits of Malacca and Singapore have recently increased at an alarming rate -- in both number and severity. But these modern pirates are a far cry from the swashbuckling...
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
May 24, 2001

Foreign managers bring change to corporate life

Takashi Sato of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. fears he may be transferred because of his poor command of English -- a potentiality that was unthinkable until last year.

Longform

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