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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 29, 2002

30 years of China relations aired out

Thirty years ago, the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka normalized relations with the People's Republic of China. Historically, the relationship between Japan and China has often been compared to that between Rome and Greece, since much of Japan's culture (writing system, Buddhism, handicrafts, etc.)...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 29, 2002

Modernism goes East

MODERNISM IN THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST AND JAPAN: 1918-1928, edited by Toshiharu Omuka, Kyoji Takizawa, Yoshiko Tachibana and Tsutomu Mizusawa. The Tokyo Shimbun, 2002, 254 pp., trilingual (Japanese/English/Russian), profusely illustrated, 2,500 yen (paper) In the autumn of 1920, two Russian artists arrived...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2002

Music of the J-people

Japanese pop music is crap. So say many of my friends, especially the non-Japanese ones. They reach that conclusion after noticing that the charts are full of chipmunk-voiced idols who are long on looks and short on talent -- and whose shelf lives are only slightly longer than sushi.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 29, 2002

When mourning makes straight talk taboo

The shock that accompanied the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, quickly turned into a mood of national mourning that continues to hang over the United States a year later. As a form of social behavior, mourning comes with its own protocol, and in this particular case attempts to place the attacks...
COMMENTARY
Sep 25, 2002

Strengthen Sino-Japanese ties

Japan and China will soon observe the 30th anniversary of their normalization of relations, which took place Sept. 29, 1972. The bilateral relationship was placed on a solid foundation with the conclusion of a treaty of peace and friendship in 1978. Economic relations have since dramatically expanded....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2002

Infiltration dates of suspected abductor confirmed

A North Korean agent suspected of being involved in the 1983 abduction of Keiko Arimoto in Europe entered Japan between 1978 and 1979 when other Japanese vanished, according to sources.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2002

Reform delays discouraging

Junichiro Koizumi was Japan's first prime minister to receive a mandate to push structural reforms by convincing the public that there would be no economic growth without painful reforms. It remains to be seen, however, whether Koizumi will succeed in his reforms. More than a year after launching his...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2002

Forum focuses on new oil source

OSAKA -- The eighth International Energy Forum moved into its second day Sunday with meetings between Asian energy ministers on how to cooperate more closely to ensure stable supplies in the face of mounting uncertainty in the Middle East.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Media coverage of abductions criticized

OSAKA -- Korean residents of Japan expressed concern Friday over what they feel has been excessive coverage by the Japanese media of the North Korean abductions but comparatively scarce debate over Japan's legacy of its colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Sep 20, 2002

Life lessons learned in a township dojo

In August this year, over 3,100 young people from 28 countries gathered at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo to participate in a Japan Exchange and Teaching orientation program. There to welcome the new JET recruits was Thabiso Kgosana, a South African working in his third year as an assistant language teacher...
EDITORIALS
Sep 19, 2002

The Pyongyang achievement

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il on Tuesday achieved a breakthrough, although a qualified one, in ending decades-long mutual enmity between Japan and North Korea. In fact, the outcome of the talks between the two leaders at the historic summit in Pyongyang was more...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 19, 2002

When evil guitars desecrated the Budokan

Long before the 'hoorigans' descended on Japan last summer, the arrival of another group of Englishmen was giving Japanese officials sleepless nights.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2002

Temp work seen striking happy medium

According to Shinya Sato, an executive director at Japan Staffing Services Association, the CIETT meeting held in Tokyo in April provided momentum to help spur the Japanese temp industry toward further deregulation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2002

Kim admits abductions

PYONGYANG -- Four of the 11 Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and '80s are alive but six others are dead, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during their landmark talks on Tuesday.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 17, 2002

Scientists lobby, governments demur, on Kurils international peace park

Ever since transboundary biosphere reserves were first launched, scientists in East Asia have dreamed of setting up border-straddling nature sanctuaries in both the Korean demilitarized zone and in the Kuril Islands, which encompass the long-contested Northern Territories occupied by Russia but claimed...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2002

A step forward for Japanese diplomacy

Frustrated with attempts to re-engage with the Bush administration, North Korea has reached out to alternative sources of support, sidestepping the United States for the moment by turning to Tokyo. Like a good boxer who knows how to bob and weave to elude his opponents and then land a telling blow, Pyongyang's...
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2002

Chance to make history

The meeting between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, scheduled for Tuesday in Pyongyang, will provide a historic opportunity to end decades of enmity between Japan and North Korea. Mr. Koizumi is the first Japanese head of government to visit that country. It remains...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 15, 2002

'Socialism' goes shopping at Vuitton free-for-all

As an economic power, Japan is the ideal that the rest of Asia aspires to, but it isn't merely Japan's vast material wealth that everybody envies. There's a social aspect to Japan's success that many see as even more desirable.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2002

Handshakes may not soften U.S. line

WASHINGTON -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's trip to North Korea next Tuesday is, in many ways, a double-edged sword. At first glance, the trip appears to be a positive development. In what has become the norm in Asian diplomacy of late, the surprise announcement reflects positively on Japan's...
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE OKINAWA FACTOR
Sep 13, 2002

Okinawa's free-trade zones failing to attract companies

GUSHIKAWA, Okinawa Pref. -- The Acrorad Co. factory in Okinawa's Nakagusuku Free Trade Zone looks out on more than 100 hectares of empty lots.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2002

Once again at ground zero

LOS ANGELES -- Japan is once again at a historical tipping point, what could be called a political ground zero. Japan has been at ground zero two other times in its modern history and both times the outcome was not pretty.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY ROW
Sep 11, 2002

Ambassador embarks on drive to put Aussie beef back on grill

Australian Ambassador to Japan John McCarthy is spearheading a campaign to get Australian beef back on Japanese dinner plates by taking part in a series of forums across the nation this week.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2002

Space only the first frontier for H-IIA

The government and industry alike are pinning their hopes on the successful launch of the third H-IIA rocket, due to be sent into space Tuesday on its first full-scale operational mission.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2002

Koizumi still coy on details of latest 'spy ship' incident

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi remained vague Friday on whether a suspected North Korean spy boat had entered Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan before its sighting was made public Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Sep 7, 2002

Moral obligation to war victims remains

HONG KONG -- More than half a century after World War II ended, relations between China and Japan are still marred by wartime events.
JAPAN / LEGACIES OF 9/11
Sep 6, 2002

Overreliance on U.S. market a gamble

When the United States was hit by terrorist attacks nearly a year ago, the economic fallout was predicted to be a nightmare.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2002

Koizumi likely to address ship issue with Kim

Japan will urge North Korea at the upcoming summit in Pyongyang to stop sending vessels on espionage and other shady missions in the Sea of Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda indicated Thursday, in light of the suspicious ship pursued the previous day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2002

Ethiopian envoy seeks investment boost

Although he welcomes Japan's commitment to Africa and its substantial official development assistance, the new Ethiopian ambassador emphasizes that Japanese investment, even just a little, in his country would make a big difference to its already good relations.

Longform

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