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COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2002

Measuring China's pulse online

The spread of the Internet in China is turning out to be a boon for China watchers in Japan. The Web now serves as an outlet for news not found in newspapers or on television but that can be deemed important and valuable. It also offers an opportunity to learn about the real feelings Chinese people have...
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

Aid-policy coordination to help fight terror

Japan and the United States will expand cooperation in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism to include closer aid-policy coordination for Afghanistan and other strategically important countries, government sources said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
May 30, 2002

Chirac chooses neutral team

PARIS -- Not so long ago, a majority of the EU members had leftist governments. Most have since shifted to the right, starting with Spain followed by Austria, Portugal, Italy, Denmark and, on May 16, the Netherlands -- despite very low unemployment figures under the Socialist Cabinet.
EDITORIALS
May 30, 2002

The only way to clear debt burden

Stock prices for Japan's top banks have been rising lately despite the huge deficits they have suffered in the business year that ended March 31. Increases in loan losses are good news in the sense that they reflect progress in bad-debt write-offs. In the same year, the nation's seven banking groups...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 30, 2002

Japan urged to push for Chile FTA

Japan should gear up for pushing a bilateral free-trade agreement with Chile to expand business in South America, a Chilean business leader urged.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 29, 2002

Top business lobbies tie knot, hope to better sway politics

The Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) and the Japan Federation of Employers' Associations (Nikkeiren) merged Tuesday to become the Japan Business Federation, hoping the more powerful business lobby can wield greater influence over government policies.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 28, 2002

Runway now in land holdouts' backyard

NARITA, Chiba Pref. -- Crops rustling in the wind appear to be trembling because of the jetliner taxiing nearby, its fin visible above the walls surrounding the farm.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Project team proposes early implementation of fuel cells

A project team working to promote the development of fuel cell technology on Monday proposed that the deadline for easing and abolishing regulations related to the cells be moved forward to 2005 from 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2002

Perils of undervalued yuan

I am concerned that China could repeat Japan's mistakes in economic policy. In Japan's high-growth years, the yen became increasingly undervalued, pegged at 360 to the dollar, while the nation's productivity kept increasing. Exports were profitable and the manufacturing industries built up excess production...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
May 26, 2002

Phew: There and back again

Hiromi Moritani looks like a typical, well-heeled matron. Her chic black ensemble is a touch artier than the average mother's wardrobe, but sitting in her record label's office, her conversation dwells on the perils and pitfalls of being a mom. Hearing her fret over her young son and the evening's dinner...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 26, 2002

Wartime suffering that didn't count

JAPAN'S COMFORT WOMEN: Sexual Slavery and Prostitution During World War Two and the U.S. Occupation. By Yuki Tanaka. Routledge, London, 2002, 212 pp. $24.95 This is by far the best book available on this sordid chapter in Japan's history. Yuki Tanaka's sophisticated and textured assessment of Japan's...
BUSINESS
May 25, 2002

Orix to buy into Nippon Steel units

Orix Corp. said Friday it will buy a 90 percent stake in the Nippon Steel Corp. group's leasing unit and a 10 percent stake in its automobile-leasing firm, possibly in July.
JAPAN
May 25, 2002

Kyoto Protocol to be ratified by Cabinet on June 4: Oki

The Cabinet will ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on curbing global warming on June 4, Environment Minister Hiroshi Oki said Friday.
COMMUNITY
May 25, 2002

Ocean photographer passionate over dying seas

He stands on the prow of a ship, camera ready for the perfect shot of dolphins as they leap skyward. He directs film and video for movies and TV to amaze viewers with images of whales. And he dives with underwater equipment to record the life of the oceans. Meet Bob Talbot, indisputably the most respected...
EDITORIALS
May 22, 2002

A middle way to whaling

Whaling is an emotionally charged, politicized issue. It is also highly nuanced. Unfortunately, its details are often lost amid the sound bites and oversimplifications of polarized rhetoric.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 22, 2002

Generous with their talents

Nestled among the markets, cafes and residential manshon of northern Nogizaka in Tokyo's Minato Ward is a tiny studio theater called Studio Akasaka Playbox.
BUSINESS
May 22, 2002

Caribbean may end up top banana in paper manufacturing

Banana paper may provide cash-strapped Caribbean countries with the best hope for a brighter future.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 22, 2002

From the edges of 'reality'

At the most basic level of classification, most paintings can be assigned to one of two broad but fairly clear-cut categories: representational or abstract. This is to say that what appears on the canvas has generally evolved either from people, places or things found in the real world; or from ideas...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WHALE WATCHING
May 18, 2002

Arguments of whalers, opponents both have merit, writer believes

Hiroto Kawabata is one of the few people who bring a measure of equanimity to the whaling debate, where knee-jerk reactions are often the rule and reasoned debate the exception.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2002

Foreign companies slightly optimistic, survey shows

Most foreign companies in Japan expect business confidence to remain flat over the next six months, although there are signs of improvement on the horizon, according to a joint survey recently released by foreign chambers of commerce.
COMMENTARY
May 15, 2002

EU's costly quest for world leadership

LONDON -- Nowadays the European Union and the United States seem to be locked in almost permanent quarrels. One moment it's bananas, then it's steel, land mines, the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, European defense arrangements and NATO. Then it's the question of whether there should be a permanent...
BUSINESS
May 14, 2002

Toray's group net profit plunges

Toray Industries Inc., a manufacturer of synthetic fibers, said Monday its group net profit plunged 77.6 percent to 3.8 billion yen in the fiscal year ended March 31 as overall demand weakened amid the severe business environment.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2002

Unilateralism is not the way

CANBERRA -- As the sole remaining superpower, not only does the United States have no peer competitor, its dominance is unmatched across a whole range of issues and areas of activity in world affairs.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2002

British design firm consolidates in high-tech Japan

As finance companies and huge multinationals reconsider their positions in Japan, a ground-breaking British design firm is seizing the opportunity to consolidate in a market that is "very, very important" to its strategy.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 12, 2002

Brewing it naturally isn't so easy

In recent years, there has been increased interest in organic sake. To legally specify something as organic or organically produced is difficult, at least in countries that have begun enforcing the standards that are needed to ensure safety and quality, as well as the protection of the environment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 11, 2002

Takanao Muramatsu

Bright and bouncy Harajuku in Tokyo has been good to a lot of people. Takanao Muramatsu published a book, "Harajuku Success Story," for which he interviewed more than a hundred people who succeeded in business in Harajuku. The trendy district has been good to Muramatsu too. He commemorated the name in...
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

Panel urges drastic, extensive action to ensure Japan is competitive again

If Japan is to regain its competitiveness, the government must take drastic and extensive action to increase research and development and make the country a base for value-added industries, according to a report Friday by a government panel.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
May 10, 2002

No molds barred

These fuzzy fellas aren't cute at all. In fact, they often grow to stink. If you're not careful, they'll attack your food faster than the class glutton. What are they? Mold spores.

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