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COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2002

Smiling Koizumi guarded on free trade

SYDNEY -- All sweetness and light, plus a dash of pay dirt. That about sums up the three-day foray into Australia by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. A free-trade agreement, or FTA, got no further than free-talking. A security protocol including the United States as a third party came a few...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 5, 2002

Naturalized entrepreneur jumps conservative obstacles

It's bad enough for a would-be entrepreneur that Japan is suffering a protracted economic slump and the country is bound -- still -- by archaic business practices.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 5, 2002

Death and the old maid

"Tokyo Friend Park II" (TBS, Monday, 6:55 p.m.), hosted by veteran announcer Hiroshi Sekiguchi, is a prime example of the mindless, pointless game-show genre. The main idea is to match up two complementary celebrities who will work together to win prizes for themselves and selected viewers. Because the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
May 5, 2002

Vineyards of New World beckon in warm weather

Only a decade ago, adventure and good value were tough to find in Japan's wine market. Wine lovers traded news of secret finds. We carried treasured bottles back from trips overseas. We called up buddies and huddled together to relish the long-saved treat of a wine unavailable in Japan. The rituals bore...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 5, 2002

Memories are made of this

TOKYO CENTRAL: A Memoir, by Edward Seidensticker. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002, 256 pp. with b/w photographs, XXXVI. $30 (cloth) Translator extraordinaire, historian and beloved pedagogue, Edward Seidensticker has given us the definitive English versions of "The Tale of Genji" and the...
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2002

A plastic menagerie for kids of all ages

"Instead of only children, we started to think about what we could sell to people in their 30s, 40s or 50s."
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
May 4, 2002

Shibuya museum links tobacco, salt past and present in curious harmony

To the uninitiated, the combination of tobacco and salt in a museum is a curious one.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 3, 2002

When one-size-fits-all schooling doesn't fit

There's a boy in our building who doesn't go to school. Ever. Nine-year-old Kenji missed 40 days of school last year, then refused to go back at all after the spring break. He says that he "can't breathe" at school and that his stomach hurts whenever he's in the building.
JAPAN
May 2, 2002

South Koreans in Osaka plan culture workshop

OSAKA -- A group of young South Korean residents in Japan will launch a three-day performing arts workshop here Friday in a bid to increase awareness throughout the local community of traditional South Korean culture.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
May 2, 2002

The life and times of a Manchurian girl

NEW YORK -- The New York Times' recent reprinting of a cartoon showing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat gagged and bound to a chair while Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presses him to "say something! do something!" made me think of Rikoran, known today mainly as Yoshiko Yamaguchi.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 1, 2002

Tracking systems try to tackle food safety

Shoppers are now being invited to check with their own eyes that what something is labeled is what they actually eat.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2002

Inventors advised to take out patents

Amid the prolonged recession, more people are trying their hand at inventing in the hope of making a fast fortune.
COMMENTARY
Apr 30, 2002

How long will Koizumi last?

LONDON -- Voter disillusionment with Junichiro Koizumi's performance as prime minister has grown from an apparent lack of progress in clearing up bad bank loans, his inability to force through privatization of public corporations, limited action on deregulation and his failure to reform the Liberal Democratic...
EDITORIALS
Apr 29, 2002

The importance of conserving forests

Forests play a vital role in preventing global warming and building sustainable societies. So the need to protect and develop them can never be stressed enough. Japan's substantial forests make it a notable example. In brief, that is the message of the government report on forests and forestry released...
SOCCER / World cup / EXCERPTS FROM PHILIPPE TROUSSIER'S BOOK
Apr 29, 2002

The national team should take priority

"Passion'' is the story of Japan soccer team coach Philippe Troussier, his struggle to make it as a player and manager and his travels around France, Africa and Japan. In the book, Troussier also details his philosophy and thinking as he prepares for the World Cup in June. In this, the seventh of 10...
MORE SPORTS
Apr 29, 2002

When in Latvia, bring your own doctor

Ryan Kuwabara is a key member of Japan's national ice hockey team currently playing at the Pool A World Championships in Sweden. Kuwabara, a Japanese-Canadian who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens and now stars for Japan Ice Hockey League champion Kokudo, has agreed once again to keep a journal chronicling...
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2002

Foreign-relations awards bestowed

Japan on Monday announced the foreign recipients of its biannual awards, honoring 32 people from 19 countries, with Icelandic and Luxembourg nationals appearing on the list for the first time.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2002

Labor unions rally to urge Koizumi to focus on jobs

Labor unions staged daylong rallies across Japan on Saturday to mark May Day with a call on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to safeguard their jobs in the face of near-record unemployment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 28, 2002

Where history was made

As supreme commander of the U.S. Occupation of Japan, Gen. Douglas MacArthur had his share of faults. His temper rattled members of his staff and an open disdain for authority enraged his boss, President Harry S. Truman.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 28, 2002

Stop the presses

At 7 p.m. on Oct. 11, 1946, it was quiet in The Japan Times newsroom in central Tokyo. The deadline for the next day's first edition had passed, and day-shift editors were ready to pack up and leave. Then, with no prior warning, a surprise visitor appeared in their midst.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 28, 2002

Rugby World Cup qualifiers set

Japan's World Cup campaign will begin with a game against South Korea on June 16 at Tokyo's National Stadium, the opening match of the third and final round of the Asian qualifiers, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2002

Watchdog to track abuse of Osaka immigration detainees

OSAKA -- About two dozen local residents representing five nongovernmental organizations have launched a watchdog group to track alleged human rights abuses at the West Japan Immigration Detention Center near Osaka.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 27, 2002

Trey bien! Hanshin hurler Moore off to hot start

Don't be fooled by the menacing fu-manchu and the pitcher's glare. Hanshin Tigers left-hander Trey Moore is actually a friendly, down-to-earth family man from Texas, but don't tell opposing hitters that.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2002

The Yasukuni dilemma again

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Sunday once again brought to the fore a dilemma that emerges every time a Japanese prime minister visits the shrine, which is dedicated to the spirits of 2.5 million war dead as well as those of Class A war criminals. The dilemma,...

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