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Japan Times
JAPAN / IN WITH THE NEW
Jun 5, 2003

Seiko Noda now a force in her own right — and name

Seiko Noda, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker in the House of Representatives, wrote in her elementary school composition class that her dream was to become a politician -- and ultimately prime minister.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jun 5, 2003

National hygiene begins in the classroom

I always like to hear from readers, but it's especially nice when they provide ideas for my column. Several wrote in recently about severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 4, 2003

Is obscenity in the eye of the public?

In November 1994, Takashi Asai -- president of Uplink, a movie distribution and publishing house -- published a Japanese edition of "Mapplethorpe," a collection of 260 black-and-white photographs by the U.S. photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who died in 1989 of AIDS.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2003

Aso says sorry for claiming Koreans wanted Japanese names during war

Taro Aso, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, apologized Monday for infuriating Koreans during the weekend by claiming they voluntarily adopted Japanese names during World War II.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2003

Aso says sorry for claiming Koreans wanted Japanese names during war

Taro Aso, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, apologized Monday for infuriating Koreans during the weekend by claiming they voluntarily adopted Japanese names during World War II.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2003

Aso says sorry for claiming Koreans wanted Japanese names during war

Taro Aso, policy chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, apologized Monday for infuriating Koreans during the weekend by claiming they voluntarily adopted Japanese names during World War II.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2003

Private mail delivery kicks off

Delivery company Tokai Messenger Bb on Sunday launched limited mail delivery services, making it the first private-sector firm to take part in the state-run service since 1873.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2003

Big Issue Kansai magazine to help homeless help themselves

OSAKA -- Hoping to imitate the success of its British namesake, a company was recently set up here to publish a magazine called Big Issue Kansai, which will help homeless people earn money by selling the paper on the street.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2003

Typhoon loses some of its sting

Typhoon Linfa, the first typhoon to strike Japan in May since 1965, weakened into a temperate depression Saturday morning, after coming ashore at Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 1, 2003

Prodigy foiled in U.S. quest

A U.S. Navy officer was strolling down a deserted street in the town of Shimoda, late on the evening of April 24, 1854, when he ran into two well-dressed young Japanese who handed him a letter in Japanese. The previous month, Commodore Matthew Perry had completed his mission to have Japan sign a treaty...
Events
Jun 1, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Japan films screened free every Wednesday: The Japan Foundation Kyoto Office is inviting foreign residents to its free weekly showings of Japanese films, starting at 2 p.m. each Wednesday this month at its facility in Kyoto's Nakagyo Ward.
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2003

Ministry protests refugee newspaper story

The Justice Ministry has protested against an article run by the Yomiuri Shimbun on Thursday that said the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau is recommending that a former North Korean agent be granted refugee status, according to ministry officials.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 31, 2003

Improve your English via e-mail correspondence

Studying French from age 11, it was exciting when my school in England teamed up with another in France for correspondence exchange. Francoise and I wrote to one another for five years before fading from one another's lives. But I have never forgotten her, or her impact on my life: opening up the world...
BUSINESS
May 27, 2003

JETRO, ministries opening 14 foreign investment offices

The Japan External Trade Organization and 13 other entities, including the trade and foreign ministries, were to each set up an office Monday aiming to boost direct foreign investment in Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
May 27, 2003

Toilet manufacturer plucks success from depths of despair

Failure is but a stepping stone to success. The proverb rang dramatically true in the process of developing a new product at Toto Ltd., the major toilet manufacturer based in Fukuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 25, 2003

Time to examine different approaches toward education

The eradication of illiteracy throughout the world is an ongoing endeavor and a noble one. However, in countries where the vast majority of the population can now read and write, those populations did not, as the German poet-essayist Hans Magnus Enzensberger once said, learn to do so "because they felt...
EDITORIALS
May 25, 2003

Auguries in a coffee cup

Eight years ago, there was no such thing as a Starbucks coffee shop in Japan. Now they are part of the landscape; in the big cities, you can often find two or three of the ubiquitous stores with the round green logo within a couple of blocks of each other. That might sound like the ultimate definition...
BUSINESS
May 24, 2003

Shiokawa not sold on Thai FTA

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa and Somkid Chatusripitak, deputy prime minister of Thailand, remained divided Friday over whether to launch talks on a bilateral free-trade agreement, according to a ministry official.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2003

Nonlife insurers show mixed fortunes

Three of the nation's six major nonlife insurer groups posted a net loss in fiscal 2002, due to hefty valuation losses on their securities holdings, according to parent-only financial statements released Monday.
COMMENTARY
May 18, 2003

A regime to quell nuclear fear

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Any real solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis will ultimately be a "grand bargain" with military, economic, political and diplomatic components. Fashioning that deal will require aggressive and creative thinking. The lack of trust in Pyongyang and Pyongyang's lack of trust...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 18, 2003

Dusty wellspring of a 'cultural gem'

Chen Village's simple appearance belies something profound. This dusty hamlet of fewer than 3,000 people has had an impact on Chinese culture far out of proportion to its size, since this is where Taijiquan was born.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 17, 2003

Defensive perfume: to use, just fling it

It was a bad Japan day. After a full day of teaching into the evening, the train was too crowded to find a seat on the way home, and just as I was taking up the old Japanese horse tradition (sleeping while standing), a drunk "salaryman" sidled up and accosted me with bad English for an entire 30 minutes....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 14, 2003

A 'smashing' place for pots

It was 20 years ago today . . . that the famous Kikuchi Collection of Modern Japanese Ceramics was shown to "smashing" reviews at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The 300-piece collection sparked a great interest in modern and contemporary Japanese ceramics that has continued to this day. The...
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2003

Myanmar's gestures are not enough

Once again, the military government in Myanmar has made a symbolic gesture to placate international critics. The release of political prisoners is always welcome, but the government in Yangon does not question its right to use the opposition as pawns. The game must stop; nothing less than systemic reform...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 11, 2003

Koreans make good moves

THE KOREAN DIASPORA IN THE WORLD ECONOMY, edited by C. Fred Bergsten and Inbom Choi. Washington D.C.: Institute for International Economics, Special Report 15, January 2003, 180 pp., $25 (paper) In recent years, increasing attention has been given to the social and economic role of diasporas -- communities...
COMMUNITY
May 11, 2003

Shaking off the shogun's shackles

"The world is wider than we can imagine," said the novelist Iharu Saikaku (1642-93). It's a pregnant thought under a regime doing its utmost to narrow the world. A contemporary of Basho's, Saikaku shows us a restlessness of spirit quite different from the monkish poet's. "There's nothing," declared Saikaku,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 10, 2003

Law unto himself meets Japanese country singer

Hearing a great cover of the country song "All You Ever Do Is Hurt Me" as he descended into Kenny's Country Music Station one Saturday evening in 2001, Chicago-born Dan Rosen wondered who the American woman singing it was. Imagine his surprise, then, when he looked at the stage and heard "this big, really...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Foreign reserves hit new record

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves at the end of April hit a new record high for the fifth straight month, rising by $3.26 billion from a month earlier to $499.44 billion, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 8, 2003

More breathing space in the classroom

Last month, just before the new school year started in Japan, I ran into a neighbor at the supermarket. She's a bit high-strung and gets worked up over school matters, so I try to avoid her. But she collared me by the cabbages and dropped her voice to a dramatic whisper. "Have you heard? The Suzukis...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 8, 2003

Shoppers' power coming to the aid of sustainable development

Few environmentalists or economists doubt that the G-7 must take an active role in promoting environmental protection and economic prosperity in the developing world. To date, however, though the G-7 nations -- the economic powers of the developed North -- have dispensed substantial aid to the developing...

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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