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COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2003

Airline clipped its own wings

The self-defeating myopia of British Airways employees and the mind-numbing ineptitude of BA management combined to produce a nightmare journey recently. I had flown flight BA 8 from Tokyo to London on Friday, July 18, landing at Heathrow's Terminal 4 around 5 p.m. I was due to catch another BA flight...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 3, 2003

Visitors to stay -- for the time being

GLOBAL JAPAN: The experience of Japan's new immigrant and overseas communities, edited by Roger Goodman, Ceri Peach, Ayumi Takenaka and Paul White. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003, 241 pp., £65, (cloth). Many in Japan have been slow to accept the fact that international labor migration does...
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2003

Questions raised as Japan steams ahead on China bullet train

The race to win the contract for the high-speed rail link between the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai has entered the home stretch, with Japan ready to pull out all the stops to beat its German and French rivals.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2003

Japan economic assessment to be upgraded

The Cabinet Office will upgrade its overall assessment of Japan's economy in its monthly report for August, due out Tuesday, government sources said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 29, 2003

Smoke lingers in government buildings

Efforts to ban smoking in central government buildings in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district are having little effect as old habits prove tough to break.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 27, 2003

Have a Bali good time at Shiseido's spa

BALI, Indonesia -- Imagine, if you will, a paradise.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 26, 2003

Thinking to build a house? Think Foothill Homes

A house is just a building. A home is filled with the warmth and individuality of its inhabitants. Which is where Robert Neil Hugo comes into the picture.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2003

Hospital network planned to combat cancer scourge

The government said Friday it will establish a nationwide network of hospitals to treat cancer as a step toward upgrading the nation's medical infrastructure.
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2003

Danger lurks for unwary young teens

Central Shibuya, one of the trendiest districts in Tokyo, is a magnet for young people. "It's exciting like New York," says an American junior high school student on home stay here. But it is also a dangerous place for naive teenagers, as illustrated by last week's kidnapping of four school girls.
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2003

Toyota looking at record output

Toyota Motor Corp. will produce a company record 6 million vehicles worldwide this year, up 2.2 percent from a projection in December, the company said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2003

Market stability doesn't placate Fukui

Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui remained cautious Tuesday over the prospects of an early economic recovery, despite recent stability on the financial markets.
BUSINESS
Jul 23, 2003

FTC seeking greater antimonopoly powers

The Fair Trade Commission wants to revise the Antimonopoly Law and obtain the power to launch investigations into suspected offenders, FTC sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 19, 2003

Insurance policyholders warned to wise up, do their homework

In a bid to prevent frailty in the life insurance sector from potentially exploding into the political and banking scenes, the House of Councilors on Friday enacted legislation allowing troubled life insurers to lower their promised payouts to policyholders.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2003

Play on Constitution's birth now timely

Since its birth in 1947, the Constitution has always been a target for revision, primarily because it was drafted by Americans rather than Japanese.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 16, 2003

From town to country, tie-dye to leather

Geography as destiny might explain the different characters of the summer's mega-festivals: Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic. The sylvan hills and babbling streams of Naeba have undoubtedly contributed to the slow insinuation of a hippie-dippie vibe at Fuji Rock, with its Field of Heaven -- at first a tie-dyed...
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2003

Imported genetically modified fluorescent fish raising concern

About 100 killifish genetically modified to emit light from their bodies have been imported from Taiwan and sold in pet shops in Japan, according to an Environment Ministry official.
COMMENTARY
Jul 15, 2003

A Japanese force for peace

The Lower House has approved a special bill that would allow Japan to aid in the reconstruction of war-ravaged Iraq. The bill is expected to be enacted late this month after the Upper House passes it. Under the new law, about 1,000 troops of the Self-Defense Forces will go to Iraq, beginning in October,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 13, 2003

Second strings

Shin Yoshida leads a double life. And everyone, including his boss, his wife and three children, knows about it.
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2003

Toward a viable dialogue

The latest round of ministerial talks between North and South Korea, which opened in Seoul on Wednesday, is a reminder that inter-Korean dialogue is alive. But prospects for reconciliation are clouded by the North's suspected nuclear-weapons program. As yet there is little hope for an improvement toward...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2003

Students test corporate waters as interns

Like many college students who gathered at a Tokyo forum earlier this month, Tomoe Yoshida believes becoming an intern at a company will help her find out what career she wants to pursue.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2003

Koizumi, Malaysian envoy meet

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi agreed Thursday to continue pressuring Myanmar to release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 10, 2003

One man's battle against mighty Monsanto

"Once you put a genetically modified organism into the environment, there's no bringing it back," farmer Percy Schmeiser told a 180-member audience last week at NPO Plaza in Osaka. Invited by organic farming co-ops and various civic groups from across the country, the 72-year-old native of Saskatchewan,...
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2003

A more flexible litigation system

Japan's system of administrative litigation -- which allows citizens to file complaints against actions taken by the central and local governments -- leaves much to be desired. Statistics show that 15 percent of complainants are rejected for lack of qualifications and other reasons, and that only 13...
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2003

Koizumi not planning North Korea trip

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has no plans to visit North Korea in September to break a stalemate with the country, the government said Monday in rebuttal to a newspaper report, but it left the door open to such a trip if conditions become favorable.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 6, 2003

Labor pains

Story ideas for "trendy dramas" usually incorporate current issues that the target audience will be interested in. A major worry of young people right now, especially those attending university, is job prospects -- and the kind of work environment they'll have to face once they do get a job. Some of...
COMMENTARY
Jul 5, 2003

Tony Blair: a casualty of war

LONDON -- As the grim business of policing a vanquished Iraq drags on, it seems less and less likely that Prime Minister Tony Blair's authority over party and country will survive. For the first time since Labour's landslide victory in 1997 the Conservatives are nudging ahead of Labour in opinion polls...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2003

Shareholder meetings no longer for the meek

Individual and institutional investors were assertive at shareholders' meetings held by many companies in late June, raising questions about low stock prices and directors' retirement allowances.

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