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EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2001

Let's not forget basic research

In its guidelines for the next fiscal year's budgetary requests, the government has permitted a 5 percent hike in science and technology promotion spending, making an exception in the 10-percent cut in general expenditures and public-works spending. This is a real treat amid the deflationary climate....
JAPAN / History
Aug 30, 2001

A half-century of media pigeonholing

Japan is a nation of children who were led astray by their military, re-educated under the benevolence of the United States, and rose to become America's important ally. It became a nation of salaried men and office ladies gaining, for a few brief years, through international trade what it had failed...
BUSINESS / THE WRITERS' SPIN
Aug 30, 2001

Internet bank's accidental author is by no means an accidental Sony man

Staff writer Hiroki Totoki is a Sony Bank director and an accidental author.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2001

Boy Bands II Men Bands

On July 9, the day after the Backstreet Boys announced on MTV that their tattooed bad-boy member A.J. McLean was entering a rehabilitation facility for "alcohol and depression," advertisements appeared in the Japanese dailies announcing the Boys' Japan dome tour in November. Tickets, however, would not...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2001

Trends in life learning for senior citizens

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- So much talk about globalization issues nowadays overshadows a couple of other equally important current developments: the longer life span of individuals and their wish to lead a meaningful period of time as silver-haired "senior citizens."
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 28, 2001

Carmakers had shaky start until oil shock hit market

Staff writer In 1957, Toyota Motor Corp. shipped two samples of its Toyopet Crown sedan to the United States as the first Japanese cars exported to that market. Nissan Motor Co. followed with Datsun compacts in 1958.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2001

Researchers may defy embryo ban

A research association has drafted guidelines on cloned human embryos that will advocate their creation for use in regenerative medicine, but ban the act of cloning humans, the group said.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 26, 2001

Engine of a nation's modernization

A HISTORY OF JAPANESE RAILWAYS: 1872-1999, by Eiichi Aoki, Mitsuhide Imashiro, Shinichi Kato and Yasuo Wakuda. Tokyo: East Japan Railway Culture Foundation, 2000, 256 pp., 5,000 yen (cloth). Few industries have a more illustrious history than that of the railroad. From its birth in the 19th century...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 26, 2001

Shaping the future:the politics of language

LANGUAGE PLANNING AND LANGUAGE CHANGE IN JAPAN, by Tessa Carroll, Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 276 pp., 40.00 British pounds (cloth) Most countries consider their official language to be an area of state responsibility requiring "planning" by government agencies or special institutions. Language, from...
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

Japan, U.S. to discuss environmental project

Japan and the United States will begin expert-level environmental talks in September aimed primarily at boosting cooperation in the development of technologies needed to better forecast and prevent global warming, government sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

Ministry aims for science, math boost

The education ministry has selected around 1,000 elementary and junior high schools nationwide to participate in a new program aimed at boosting students' math and science abilities.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 25, 2001

Where there's a will (to return), there's a way

Endre Hules is fretting about his kids. "I never imagined it would be so hard to leave them with a baby sitter. I feel incomplete."
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Aug 24, 2001

Brazilian scores with high school soccer

Akita Prefecture has traditionally been famous for its rice. But, in recent years, the quality of young soccer talent coming out of the area's high schools has caught the media spotlight.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

'Super science schools' in the works

The education ministry plans to select 20 high schools for nurturing a new generation of researchers and engineers who can compete on a global basis, ministry sources said Wednesday.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

Just please don't ask 'why?'

The first questions John Williams is always asked about "Ichiban Utsukushii Natsu (Firefly Dreams)" are the "whys": Why are you in Japan? Why did you shoot a film using only Japanese actors? The answers, Williams says, don't come easy, "because I never imagined I would end up making a film here."
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2001

Conductor Comissiona passes the youth baton

When Sergiu Comissiona arrives in Japan later this month to embark on the final leg of this year's Asian Youth Orchestra tour, it's likely that the baton he always conducts with will feel a little heavier than usual. This year marks the acclaimed Romanian-born conductor's eighth season with the AYO....
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2001

Space agencies to be integrated

The science and technology ministry decided Tuesday to integrate three government-affiliated space agencies and create a new space development organization by fiscal 2003.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 19, 2001

Atlanta plays host to karate championships

ATLANTA -- Rebel yells gave way to kiai (fighting shouts) when over 1,000 karate enthusiasts from five continents gathered in Atlanta recently for the Okinawa Karate-do World Championships.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 19, 2001

Survival of the cutest at sweltering summer weddings

For most Japanese, the broiling heat of August evokes images of shaved ice, cold watermelon, chilled beer and ghosts -- all of which are supposed to add a shiver to the season.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2001

Submarine to seek Ehime Maru items

A Japanese submersible vehicle sent to assist in the salvage of the Japanese fisheries training vessel Ehime Maru, which sank off Hawaii after being struck by a U.S. submarine in February, will search the seabed to recover the personal effects of the crew, the education ministry said.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2001

Virus scare downs ministry computer

The education ministry says it temporarily shut down a computer system Thursday due to fear that it may have been hit by the fast-spreading computer virus Code Red 2, which has caused damage mainly in the United States.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 18, 2001

Visitors' deep-seated terror: Asian toilets

It's hard to say which culture is more enamored with the Western-style toilet -- the Japanese or the Americans. While in Japan, the Asian-style squat toilet still rules, the Western-style sit-down toilet is making inroads. In fact, most new homes are equipped with the Western "porcelain god."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 18, 2001

Joe Grace

"To all those who remember me in Tokyo, be certain that there is life after retirement. You've just got to find your niche," Joe Grace said.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2001

Co-opting new elites divides Communists

"The 'Three Represents' is completely elitist," Cabestan said, referring to Jiang's well-publicized formulation for making the party represent the "most advanced production technology, the most advanced culture, and the broadest interests of the people."
MORE SPORTS
Aug 16, 2001

Japanese cheerleaders dance to beat of San Francisco 49ers gridiron drum

If you thought names such as Ichiro Suzuki and Hideo Nomo were the only Japanese on the American sports scene, think again.

Longform

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