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BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2003

Government upgrades economic assessment

The government on Thursday upgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in two months, owing to rising exports and production spurred by a robust recovery in the U.S. economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2003

Shiatsu to soothe the nervous Chihuahua?

Dog owners will readily say that just being around their pets helps ease their stress. But beyond petting and feeding, how can owners return the compliment and relieve their animals' tension? Or else just pamper them to the max?
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 19, 2003

A helping handyman

Watching Didier Courbot at work, you would probably think he was a nut.
COMMENTARY
Nov 19, 2003

Freedom of choice and the ACLU don't quite go together hand in hand

WASHINGTON -- Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union, has written to ask me to become a "card-carrying member" of the ACLU. She explains: "There is no higher calling, nor greater reward, democracy can offer an individual than the opportunity to stand up for fundamental freedoms...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 16, 2003

'Home-drama' in your own home

THE FILMS OF YASUJIRO OZU (Box One; Five DVD Discs). Shochiku Home Video, Japanese dialogue, no subtitles, illustrated booklet, 23,500 yen. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963), one of Japan's finest and most influential film directors. Shochiku Co. Ltd., the...
BUSINESS
Nov 14, 2003

Corporate pension plans on the verge of collapse

Faced with huge investment losses brought on by depressed stock prices and the prospect of baby boomers nearing retirement, corporate pension funds are on the verge of collapse.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 13, 2003

East Tokyo welcomes artists in bid to revitalize historic district

When woodblock print master Ando Hiroshige created his famed "One Hundred Views of Edo," the eastern part of the capital was a bustling commercial and cultural hub.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Delay likely for SDF's Iraq orders

The government will probably postpone Cabinet approval of a basic plan to send Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq until after next week's special Diet session, officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2003

Tokyo pauses briefly to fete 400th year

From his 14th floor office window, Tsunenari Tokugawa can almost see the exact spot where his ancestors settled four centuries ago. It's just a few blocks away -- but it might as well be in another universe.
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2003

Deflation still Koizumi's bane

With the ruling coalition having won Sunday's House of Representatives election, albeit with a smaller majority, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is expected to stick with his structural reform agenda.
Japan Times
JAPAN / ELECTION 2003
Nov 11, 2003

Scandal-tainted politicos ousted

The results of Sunday's election may have left a bitter taste in the mouths of some of the nation's big names.
Events
Nov 9, 2003

KANSAI : Who & What

Kagawa woos tourists with discounts, gifts: Every tourist who visits sightseeing spots or hotels in Kagawa Prefecture after crossing the Seto Ohashi Bridge through March 31, 2004, will receive a discount, a package of "udon" noodles or other incentives.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Nov 9, 2003

In a community of like-minded spirits

Psychedelia, for most people, was all about bad fashion and, of course, bad trips.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2003

Pension crisis brings on number crunchers

The future of Japan's public pension system remains uncertain, and polls indicate the issue is a key concern of voters ahead of Sunday's House of Representatives election.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2003

Baghdad embassy staff to stay despite Spain exit

Japan has no intention of withdrawing its embassy officials in Baghdad despite Spain's decision to do so in the wake of continuous rebel attacks in Iraq, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2003
Nov 8, 2003

Campaign financing still high, murky

"Five pass, four fail."
EDITORIALS
Nov 7, 2003

Another keyword in campaign

What should be done to rebuild Japan's tightly-knit, bureaucrat-led society? The question is gaining urgency as local governments clamor for greater autonomy. In response, the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is moving toward streamlining the complex system of grants and subsidies,...
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2003

Government may dispatch civilians, not troops, to war-torn Baghdad

The government is planning to dispatch civilians rather than Self-Defense Forces units to provide humanitarian assistance in Baghdad, government sources said Thursday.
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Nov 6, 2003

'Grotesque' cuts too close to the bone

Do the suffocating pressures of Japanese society produce monsters? Does trying to live by men's rules drive women crazy? These are two of the questions posed by Natsuo Kirino in her powerful new novel, "Grotesque."
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2003

DPJ includes reformists in prototype Cabinet

The Democratic Party of Japan will give Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka and former Vice Finance Minister Eisuke Sakakibara posts in its Cabinet if it wins control of the government in Sunday's election.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 5, 2003

Borderless abstraction

The Oxford Dictionary of 20th Century Art defines Op Art as: "an exactly prescribed retinal response . . . repeated small scale patterns arranged so as to suggest underlying secondary shapes or warping or swelling surfaces."
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2003

Experts find falls in electricity usage correlate with disaster-zone damage

Japanese researchers may have found a way to immediately gauge the severity of earthquakes and other natural disasters by viewing sudden drops in electricity usage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 5, 2003

A flying start to 'artistic autumn'

In Japanese, there is a saying "geijutsu no aki." Literally, it means "artistic autumn"; in practice it means autumn is the best time to enjoy the arts, when the weather is pleasant and bright before the hectic and cold yearend. This month -- with many foreign dance companies and contemporary performance...
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2003

Voters put Tanaka, Kato scandals behind

As Makiko Tanaka and Koichi Kato try to stage their political comebacks, voters in their districts appear to have dismissed the money scandals that forced them out of the Diet and instead believe they can change politics for the better.
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2003

Campaign rhetoric faces tougher scrutiny

Few voters in Japan -- or lawmakers for that matter -- ever took a serious look at political party election pledges, knowing they were simply vague policy slogans with little substance.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2003

Election campaign under way

Campaigning kicked off Tuesday for the Nov. 9 general election, with a total of 1,159 candidates tossing their hats into the ring.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 29, 2003

An artist in a land of ice and snow

Jorg Schmeisser traveled to Antarctica on the icebreaker Aurora Australis in 1998. The result was a series of works -- etchings, drawings and paintings -- that became "Breaking the Ice," a major exhibition showing in Kyoto and scheduled for Tokyo and Yokohama, that explores the majesty and uncanny beauty...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 26, 2003

The Road Ahead

The heat built up as our five-hour bus ride from Delhi took us toward the searing Thar Desert. Then, after clocking up 260 km heading south on the national highway, buildings began to grow as we approached Jaipur, capital of the state of Rajasthan. Our journey may have been equivalent to traveling between...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 26, 2003

Revealing more to life and death

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF YUKIO MISHIMA, by Henry Scott Stokes. Tuttle Publishing, 2003, 271 pp., $16.95, (cloth). One afternoon in the late 1960s, Henry Scott Stokes received a visit at the Tokyo office of the London Times from the writer Yukio Mishima, who declared to the startled young journalist, "You...

Longform

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