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JAPAN
Mar 5, 2003

Hearing-impaired man strives to hone sign skills, study at U.S. university

Yuji Sato, who is hearing impaired, has a motto: to be like an "active volcano" as long as he lives.
COMMUNITY
Mar 4, 2003

Japan gets keen on green for Paddy's Day party

The great, the good and the goths of trendy Harajuku are in for a shock on March 16, when the chic shopping district will be taken over by Tokyo's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
Mar 2, 2003

Weighing in on the 'real Japan'

Murray Sayle, 76, likes to tell how he was delivered by the same doctor as Australian Prime Minister John Howard; how he lived a few streets away from him and went to the same high school, and then the same university.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 2, 2003

Wild frontier in the land of fire and ice

Hokkaido is a rough-cut northern diamond, both in shape and in its hidden natural riches -- as well as the sparkle of snow and ice of its long Siberian winters.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 2, 2003

The Great North

"It is Japan, but yet there is a difference somehow.'' -- Isabella Bird, 1878
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2003

Household spending continues slide

Kyodo News
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2003

Scholars fear dangers of igniting patriotic fervor

Scholars from Japan, South Korea and China warned against a resurgence of nationalism in Japan when they gathered at a symposium on history textbooks and related issues this week in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 27, 2003

How much pain can your brain take?

Japanese TV became famous abroad in the 1980s and created an image of Japan for outsiders that still lingers. The shows were the gaman taikai (endurance contests), where members of the public carried out tasks in which they suffered pain: The winners were the ones who endured the most.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2003

Teacher molester gets token term

OSAKA -- The Osaka District Court sentenced a 51-year-old former junior high school teacher to a suspended 30-month prison term Tuesday for molesting a 13-year-old female pupil last October.
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2003

Asia losing a great leader with the departure of Kim

MANILA -- As resident representative of the Friedrich-Naumann Foundation for six years in South Korea, I was given the honor of meeting Kim Dae Jung on several occasions both as leader of the opposition and as president. Kim is internationally renown primarily as a political and economic reformer and...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 25, 2003

Bidding a farewell to arms in Japan

When a bullet strikes the car in which one is riding, the sound -- a sharp, metallic "WHAP!" -- is unmistakable. This writer has heard it twice in his life, and I hope the second time will be the last.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Feb 24, 2003

Hardest part will be rebuilding

MOSCOW -- A homeowner's golden rule is buy or build -- but never rebuild. The costs of adding a closet to your kitchen almost equals your mortgage; additional insulation ruins your budget; a new bedroom kills your credit.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2003

Singing the karaoke blues

Japan has given much to world culture. Kimono, anime, sushi and ikebana are just some of the words that have become so well-known abroad they don't even need translating. But one pastime has come in the past few decades to represent Japan perhaps more authentically than any other activity -- and that's...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 23, 2003

Neglected poet gets his due

JUST LIVING: Poems and Prose of the Japanese Monk Tonna, edited and translated by Steven D. Carter. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003, 243 pp., $49.50 (cloth); $18.50 (paper) Tonna (a pen name often romanized as Ton'a) was a poet and lay-monk who lived from 1289 to 1372. Born as Nikaido Sadamune...
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2003

Bill seeks to ensure genetic engineering doesn't get out of hand

The government is facing an unusual challenge -- regulating a science that has not yet proved harmful.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2003

Ethnic schools hit extra test rule

Officials of schools for foreign residents urged the education ministry Friday to allow their students to take university entrance exams without having to pass a separate qualifying test.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2003

Professors targeted in blackmail bid

Some 60 professors at public universities have been sent messages alleging their "secrets" were known and would be made public unless they paid money, the education ministry said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2003

ASEAN official eyes political, cultural cooperation

The relationship between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations should encompass political, security and cultural cooperation, as well as economic concerns, a senior ASEAN official said Monday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2003

Cigar maker hopes to light up Japanese market

Altadis, the world's leading cigar maker, is set to increase its share in the small but fast-growing Japanese market by primarily targeting fashion-conscious young professionals, according to the firm's Asia-Pacific sales manager.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 16, 2003

A world of fashion at your fingertips

Whether they're designers in search of inspiration, wardrobe masters or mistresses in the theater or movies, students, or just lovers of beautiful things, those interested in the history of women's clothing no longer have to beat a path to Kyoto to see the world's largest private collection of fashion...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 16, 2003

When you need a hand ...

Married with two children, 46-year-old Kumiko Mashima thinks her life is just about perfect. She met her loving husband through an omiai -- a formal introduction arranged by a go-between with a view to marriage -- and they both adore their daughters. But before she found her way into her husband's arms,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

Shiga 'eco-village' lures many disciplines

HIKONE, Shiga Pref. -- Rooftop solar panels provide energy and heat water. Rainwater is collected and used for washing and toilets. Kitchen waste and leaves are composted into fertilizers for crops. People work on farms and community businesses.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 15, 2003

Local boy with a liking for the finer things in life

Living in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "furusato" (hometown), it seems likely that Hisataka (Issa) Koizumi is related.
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2003

33% of high school grads fail to find job

One in three high school students looking to start work in April had failed to find a job as of Dec. 31, suggesting this is the toughest job market ever faced by graduating students, according to a survey released Friday by the education ministry.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2003

Loan sharks feasting on ballooning number of people deep in debt

With the economy in the doldrums for years and unemployment at a record high, Japanese are racking up debts, falling prey to loan sharks and declaring bankruptcy by the thousands.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 13, 2003

Yokohama mayor targets bureaucracy, apathy

First in a series of articles focusing on young politicians with the potential to change Japan. These articles will appear every other Thursday. KANAKO TAKAHARA Staff writer Yokohama Mayor Hiroshi Nakada is hoping to use the city, which has a population of some 3.5 million people, as a platform from...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NETWISE
Feb 13, 2003

Japanese get real on 2 Channel

It was 1975 when University of North Carolina graduate student Steve Bellovin developed a handful of short programs to facilitate communication via UUCP (Unix-to-Unix Copy) between the University of North Carolina and Duke University. The scripts were later rewritten in the computer language "C" and...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 13, 2003

Have we got the will to survive?

"State of the World 2003," this year's edition of a report published annually by the Worldwatch Institute, arrived in my mailbox several days before the shuttle tragedy, but it sat on my desk unopened until the morning of Columbia's fiery descent.

Longform

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