Search - works

 
 
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2003

Diet debates remain superficial

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's economic policy is coming under increasing criticism from the opposition parties. They have mainly condemned him for failing to produce either reform or growth, and have pointed out that his battle against deflation is reaching deadlock. That criticism -- which is not...
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2003

Ministry sees state bond issues rising

The value of government bonds issued to cover the fiscal 2006 budget deficit is expected to hit 45.5 trillion yen, 25 percent higher than the planned issuance for the 2003 budget, according to a report released Wednesday by the Finance Ministry.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 5, 2003

Interesting mix of foreign players, coaches and manager for 2003

Foreign players for 2003: Who's who?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2003

No welcome mat for North Korea escapees

On a rainy night in fall 1996, a Japan-born tractor driver in North Korea dived into the fast and muddy current of the Yalu River on the border with China in a last-ditch attempt to escape the hunger and poverty that had plagued his family for decades.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Feb 5, 2003

Fennesz

The Austrian guitarist Christian Fennesz has made a name for himself in the rarefied worlds of ambient and avant-garde electronica with what could be called acoustic music, a preference that prompted one Japanese writer to describe his art as "laptop folk." Fennesz retains the clarity of his acoustic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Feb 5, 2003

Baka Beyond: "Heart of the Forest"

Before we get into the new album by the world-beat collective, Baka Beyond, let's get something straight about the name. In Japan, "baka" may be what you call your boss behind his back, but this four-letter word also denotes the pygmy tribe indigenous to the rain forests near the Cameroon/Congo border....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Docs find flu drug dearth hard to swallow

Pediatrician Jiro Tsukada says that being stingy has become part of his job.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 4, 2003

Refunded cash for working at home and a sumo day out

Greetings Greetings from 10,000 meters -- I am beginning this week's column from somewhere high over the Pacific Ocean on United Flight 897 bound for Tokyo.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 3, 2003

Beware of the risks of inflation targeting

America borrows to keep growing. China grows to keep standing still. And Japan stands still to keep from falling apart.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2003

Editor suspended for Chimura story

The editor in chief of the Shukan Asahi magazine has been suspended over an article published in the weekly without the permission of a couple who have returned to Japan after being abducted by North Korean agents, it was learned Saturday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jan 31, 2003

Rice works well as a finale or as the main event

When dining at a fine Japanese restaurant, after the raw, fried, vinegared, steamed and simmered courses, if you still have room, the final savory course of rice — gohanmono — appears. It might also be called o-shokuji, or simply meshi, the colloquial word for rice.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2003

Diet enacts extra budget for 2002

The Diet on Thursday passed an extra budget for fiscal 2002 that allocates 3 trillion yen to ease the negative impact of the accelerated disposal of nonperforming loans at the nation's banks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jan 31, 2003

Reunited with past loves: Oh, how sweet they are

Like many of us, William's love of the grape began with a sip of a sweet wine, in his case a thimble-full of late-harvest Gewurtztraminer offered by his mother to a curious 12-year-old. Even all these years later, he still claims to remember that sense of sticking one's head into an armful of lilies,...
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2003

IT lets people keep tabs on parents from afar

Advanced information technology allows people to check up on the living habits of elderly parents living in faraway places.
COMMENTARY
Jan 30, 2003

Making waves over foreign policy 'realism'

HONOLULU -- One of the advantages of living in Hawaii is that you get to spend weekends at the beach. I spend mine with the Grizzled Old Vet, a longtime observer of East Asia who has spent a lifetime straddling academia and the minefields that litter the Beltway. Between waves, the Gov (as I will call...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2003

Iraqi crisis highlights strains in trans-Atlantic relations

LONDON -- Since the end of World War II, Western Europe has usually sided with the United States in global conflicts. Except for a few national exceptions, such as France's criticism of the Vietnam War, trans-Atlantic solidarity has been the order of the day from the Cuban missile crisis through the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 30, 2003

Haven't I seen you somewhere?

Clones -- identical creatures built from the same DNA.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2003

Sony posts record quarterly sales

Sony Corp. said Wednesday its group sales and net profit for the October-December period each hit record quarterly highs, bolstered by strong performance in its film, electronics and game businesses.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 29, 2003

And this year's ceramics winners are. . .

Awards. We all love them, whether they are for movies, music, or for sports personalities. The art world here in Japan is no different, and there are many awards to honor those who have excelled in their respective art forms.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 26, 2003

Stories about the storytellers

FIVE MODERN JAPANESE NOVELISTS, by Donald Keene. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003, 144 pp., $24.50 (cloth) In this new book, the doyen of Western scholars of Japanese literature introduces the writing of five novelists with whom he has worked and reminisces about his relationships with them....
LIFE / Travel
Jan 26, 2003

A warrior's hometown goes prime-time

Ohara, a tiny village nestled in the mountainous region of northern Okayama Prefecture, is usually pervaded by a sense of tranquillity. Its landscape is one of rice fields punctuated by gently rising hills and the infrequent sound of a passing train.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2003

Still time to rewrite script ending in war

WASHINGTON -- The U.N. inspectors in Iraq have suddenly taken front stage. But the process is a sideshow. The real issue is whether an invasion is necessary to protect the West.
BUSINESS
Jan 25, 2003

Daihatsu, FAW Huali tie up on compact SUV production

OSAKA -- Daihatsu Motor Co. said Friday it has agreed to provide technology to China's FAW Huali (Tianjin) Motor Co. to manufacture Daihatsu's Terios compact sport utility vehicle.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 23, 2003

Chips with everything makes for a hi-tech mess

If you think that your computer, being such a modern, hi-tech device, is -- or surely must be -- environmentally friendly, then think again.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2003

Toyota to sell cars that know they are about to have a crash

A new car safety feature from Toyota Motor Corp. doesn't wait for a crash to happen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 22, 2003

On a personal journey with the koto

While visiting Tokyo recently, saxophonist and composer John Zorn praised Michiyo Yagi, saying, "She's an example of a new kind of musician that can play all different styles of music in her own personal way."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 22, 2003

This 'Pilgrim' is hardly progress

After the bubble economy burst in 1991, disillusionment and emptiness were felt throughout Japan. When "Pilgrim" was first performed in 1989 by The Third Stage Theater Company, however, most people foresaw only continuing prosperity, fueled by rising stock and property prices and the strengthening yen....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 22, 2003

Roy Haynes: "Love Letters"

With his steady stream of work stretching back nearly six decades, it's hard to think of a jazz figure drummer Roy Haynes has not played behind. He started out with Lester Young, then switched over to Charlie Parker. After that, he played with Stan Getz and Sarah Vaughan. Then from the '60s through the...

Longform

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