Search - 2002

 
 
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2005

Postwar reconciliation with rest of Asia in peril

Bilateral relations between Japan and the United States during the four years Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has been in office have often been characterized as a "honeymoon."
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2005

Inagaki faces prison for investor product sales

Prosecutors demanded a two-year prison sentence Thursday for former Cabinet member Jitsuo Inagaki, who is charged with illegally selling 24 million yen worth of investment products.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2005

Correct unfair trade practices, China told

Japan urged China to correct trade practices it believes are unfair, including higher tariffs on photo film and auto parts, in an annual report released Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2005

Tepco head replaces scandal-hit peer

The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan will appoint Tsunehisa Katsumata, president of Tokyo Electric Power Co., as its new chairman, federation sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

Red tape strangling deregulation efforts

Dr. Hirofumi Kawakita's plan to use the government's newly created special structural reform zones to launch a pediatric emergency medical service in Tokyo soon led him into a Kafkaesque nightmare.
Rugby
Apr 1, 2005

Rugby fans tell IRB: Give the 2011 World Cup to Japan

If the Japan Rugby Football Union is on the lookout for a theme song for its bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup, it could do a lot worse than the Ray Davies penned, "Give the People What They Want."
MORE SPORTS
Mar 21, 2005

Japanese cheerleader achieves NFL dream

In the summer of 1994, Tomoko Kojima was watching an NFL preseason game in San Diego as a part of her home-stay program. But it wasn't the Chargers or the visiting San Francisco 49ers that caught her attention. Instead, she couldn't keep her eyes off the cheerleaders.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 12, 2005

International symposium to focus on kids' health

As director of the Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine at the National Center for Child Health and Development in Setagaya,Tokyo, Dr. John Ichiro Takayama is right now an especially busy man.
COMMENTARY
Mar 7, 2005

Let taxes spur carbon cuts

On Feb. 16, the Kyoto Protocol, aimed at curbing the air pollution blamed for global warming, took effect. To become valid, the accord had to be ratified by at least 55 countries, including developed countries that accounted for at least 55 percent of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions...
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2005

Ito deems banks ready for end of unlimited deposit insurance

Japanese banks nationwide are prepared for April 1, when the government will remove its full guarantee on ordinary bank accounts, according to Tatsuya Ito, state minister in charge of financial services.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2005

China can't use its leverage

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts -- In the North Korean nuclear crisis, there is a major difference between having leverage and the ability to use it. China has the former, but not the latter. North Korea has both.
COMMENTARY
Feb 21, 2005

Pyongyang toeing 'red line'

North Korea shocked the world with its announcement Feb. 10 that it will "indefinitely" stay away from the six-party talks on its nuclear arms program and that it already has nuclear weapons.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Feb 11, 2005

Sweetest temptations

Japan's unique take on Valentine's Day sees women present their men with chocolate on February 14th, while the recipients reciprocate, often with branded trinkets or jewelry, one month later.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2005

McDonald's Japan posts first profit in three years

McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) said Thursday it returned to profit in 2004 for the first time in three years.
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2005

North Korea trade can slip through any sanctions cracks

Five a.m. in Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market: A Setagaya Ward sushi chef chooses a 4,800 yen box of sea urchin from North Korea over a 6,500 yen box shipped from Hokkaido.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2005

Tokyo's volunteer-guided tours invite tourists to meet the locals

and Noboru Suzuki.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2005

Foggy North Korean shuffle

BRUSSELS -- Recent events in North Korea have been interpreted in various ways and, generally, the wish has been father to the thought. The truth is difficult to discern, but indications are that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has placed himself firmly behind a reform program that may finally bring...
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2005

A reason for long-term unity

The World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held last week in Kobe under the auspices of the United Nations, has produced concrete results, notably the Hyogo Framework for Action, a 10-year global action plan for reducing disaster risks, and an agreement to build a tsunami early-warning system in the...
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 14, 2005

North Korea picks Ri, An

Sanfrecce Hiroshima midfielder Ri Han Jae and Albirex Niigata midfielder An Yong Hak have been named to the North Korean national team for the upcoming final-round World Cup qualifier against Japan, the two J. League teams said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2005

China's Yasukuni ire 'puzzles' Japanese

For Tokyo native Mie Kondo, 31, Yasukuni Shrine is no more than a scenic area she used to visit with her family and a sightseeing spot to which she still likes taking visitors.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2005

Underground economy expected to boom

"No money and you're dead" is essentially what yakuza characters in novels and comic books say, and they mean that literally.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 4, 2005

Racism is bad business

The Community Page has commented at length on socially-sanctioned exclusionary practices in Japan. However, it has rarely touched upon their quantifiable, longer-term effects.

Longform

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