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JAPAN
May 9, 2001

Tokyo says it understands Bush's missile defense plan

Japan expressed "understanding" Tuesday toward the controversial new defense strategy announced last week by U.S. President George W. Bush.
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Koizumi vows no sanctuaries from reform

The Prime minister's main policy points (Full text) The following is the gist of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's policy speech delivered Monday in the Diet.
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Tanaka, Chinese foreign minister talk

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and her Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan agreed Monday to work together to improve soured bilateral relations, a Foreign Ministry official said.
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2001

Think you're safe? Think again

Japan has long enjoyed a reputation for being one of the safest countries in the world. It's said that you can trust your neighbors here. That there's little need to be constantly worried about your belongings. That you can walk the streets safely at night.
JAPAN
May 5, 2001

Deportation move decried

The government's decision to deport the man claiming to be the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il without officially confirming his identity is apparently a diplomatic consideration aimed at steadying Japan's troubled relations with Pyongyang.
JAPAN
May 5, 2001

Pyongyang leader's 'son' expelled to China

The government on Friday morning deported to China a man claiming to be the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, along with his three companions.
BUSINESS
May 5, 2001

Competition fuels plastic tank firm's quest for market share

As global groupings of carmakers force auto parts makers to intensify domestic competition, Inergy Automotive Systems SA, a French plastic fuel-tank maker, is gearing up to take a larger bite of the fuel tank market in Japan with its advanced technology and worldwide activities.
JAPAN
May 5, 2001

Covert entry puzzling, analysts say

Japanese experts were divided over why a man claiming to be Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of Pyongyang leader Kim Jong Il, tried to enter Japan under an alias with a forged passport.
JAPAN
May 5, 2001

Aging U.S. POWs still await slave labor redress

OSAKA -- For 56 years, Ben Comstock, 82, an American captured by Japanese forces on Wake Island in December 1941, has been waiting.
JAPAN
May 4, 2001

Humanitarian groups yet to hit their stride

Staff Writer When the Diet was immersed in heated debate in 1992 over whether to send Self-Defense Forces troops to Cambodia for U.N. peacekeeping operations, Toshihiro Shimizu thought that something very important was missing from the discussions.
COMMENTARY
May 3, 2001

Bush administration's Asian policy gets off to a rocky start

HONOLULU -- The Bush administration's first 100 days have been rocky ones as far as Asia policy is concerned. The positive spin emanating from President George W. Bush's initial meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen quickly degenerated into a potential tailspin in Sino-U.S. relations after the...
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
May 3, 2001

Turn the PM into a man of the people

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is right to suggest amending the Constitution to allow the people to elect the prime minister directly. The government of Japan currently lacks the ability to make quick and firm policy decisions. The Japanese tradition of decision-making by a consensus of powerful individuals...
JAPAN
May 3, 2001

Tanaka, Choi mull mending ties

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and South Korean Ambassador to Japan Choi Sang Yong agreed Wednesday that an apology issued in 1995 by then Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama should be the basis for resolving the issue of a controversial Japanese history textbook.
JAPAN
May 1, 2001

Release of bilingual CD aims to soothe Tokyo-Seoul discord

Cultural exchanges between Japan and South Korea have made steady progress since the first deregulation of Japanese popular culture in South Korea in 1998, according to Kiyomi Kaneko, secretary general of the Foundation for Promotion of Music Industry and Culture (Promic).
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
May 1, 2001

Bored over in Cordoba

After "Le Flop" in Paris in March, Japan gave us "El Yawno" in Cordoba on Wednesday, holding Spain scoreless for 92 minutes until a moment of madness from Koji Nakata led to an injury-time winner from substitute Ruben Baraja.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 30, 2001

One man's fight for the unvarnished truth

My historian friend Richard Minear tells me that Saburo Ienaga has been nominated for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He then follows up on this news by sending me Ienaga's autobiography, which he has translated, "Japan's Past, Japan's Future: One Historian's Odyssey" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001).
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2001

Yamasaki eyes draft to revise Article 9

Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Taku Yamasaki has drawn up a tentative draft for constitutional revisions that include changing the wording of Article 9 to clarify that Japan will maintain land, sea and air forces and has the right to self-defense, political sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 30, 2001

A real chance for change?

LONDON -- Is Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi so different from other Japanese politicians that he can succeed in enforcing radical change in the political and economic system of the country?
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Koizumi floats popular vote for nation's prime minister

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has broken the norm in his Cabinet lineups, on Friday called for revising the Constitution to introduce a popular vote for the nation's top leader.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2001

Exec cites potential in Net data centers

Despite whatever attractive content it may offer, a dot-com firm is doomed to failure if it cannot provide its customers with quick and smooth access to data through its Web site.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2001

Hijackers' daughters to get visas

The Foreign Ministry will issue visas to three women who have been living under political asylum in North Korea due to their parents' activities in the former Red Army Faction, their support group said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2001

G7 finance meeting to test caliber of Koizumi's reforms

New Liberal Democratic Party President Junichiro Koizumi, set to become prime minister today, will see his resolve toward fiscal and economic structural reforms tested this weekend in Washington by the world's major economic powers.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2001

Tsushima coast guard on alert

TSUSHIMA, Nagasaki Pref. -- A small fishing boat from South Korea sat tied to a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat last week at Izuhara port in the Tsushima Islands.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2001

Lee to arrive today for heart checks

Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui was scheduled to arrive in Japan today for a five-day trip to receive medical checkups for a heart condition after Tokyo granted him an entry visa Friday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 20, 2001

Use agriculture safeguards sparingly

Japan is set to impose emergency restrictions on three Chinese agricultural products, imports of which have risen markedly in recent years: leeks, shiitake mushrooms and rushes for tatami matting. It is the first time Japan has decided to invoke "safeguards," temporary import curbs recognized by the...

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