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EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2005

Falling short of 'San Francisco'

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan had hoped that the summit of world leaders that has been held this week would yield another "San Francisco moment": a coming together of nations that produced a renewed commitment to international law and the institutions that would help implement it. He is...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 17, 2005

Kingsley-Rowe Potter

MADELEY, England -- As many retired English people like to do, June Kingsley-Rowe Potter lives in the countryside. She takes her dog on long-distance walks around Madeley. She cares for her garden. She volunteers for charity work, and enjoys traveling. For her research into local history, she reads ancient...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2005

Disaster responses redefine 'Third World'

BANGKOK -- "If America and Thailand were both hit by natural disaster, Thais would handle it better," a Thai lawyer once told me.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2005

Six-party talks resume

The six-party talks to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis have resumed in Beijing. With a month of consultations at hand, negotiators should be ready to agree on a joint statement that outlines the basic principles of any deal. A failure to release that statement will suggest that there is no basic...
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2005

Competition heats up in household energy market

Fierce competition is heating up among electric, gas and oil companies to win more household customers and increase sales.
COMMUNITY
Sep 13, 2005

Readers Write Back

Readers respond to recent topics on the Community Page
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2005

Sound-bite tactics pay huge dividends

Turning his back on the Liberal Democratic Party's traditional campaign strategy and gambling his political career, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi turned the political landscape upside down with a historic landslide victory in Sunday's election.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 11, 2005

Desperate drones are content to be 'conned' into buying a condo

As long as I've lived in Tokyo I've received phone calls from condominium salespeople. In the past, these solicitations seemed accidental, as if the salespeople had dialed my number at random. But in the last five years the calls have been more deliberate. The salespeople know where I live -- not just...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 10, 2005

Just 14 more mountains to climb for jackpot 100

Some long-term visitors to Japan choose to count the days. Others make the decision to suck every drop of juice out of the opportunity. Take Ginger Vaughn, for example. She falls most definitely into the latter category -- and all power to her facial and calf muscles!
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2005

Hospices cool to cancer patients with HIV: poll

Almost half of the nation's hospices are reluctant to accept terminal-stage cancer patients with HIV, due to lack of experience or facilities to treat them, a survey showed Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2005

Urban support seen as key for Horie

ONOMICHI, Hiroshima Pref. -- A small office in front of JR Onomichi Station attracts hundreds of visitors daily as the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election draws near.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 4, 2005

The aged better off heading for the hills on their limited pensions

The main opposition parties claim that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's attempt to make the upcoming Lower House election a referendum on postal reform is simply a scheme to deflect public attention away from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's fiscal failures under his leadership. Consequently,...
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2005

It's spoilers vs. holdouts against change

Tuesday's start of campaigning for the Sept. 11 Lower House election marked the beginning of fierce battles not only among party leaders but also candidates under the spotlight.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2005

1,132 candidates face off for Lower House election

Campaigning for the Sept. 11 House of Representatives election officially kicked off Tuesday with 1,132 candidates throwing their hats in the ring for 480 seats.
COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 2005

The meaning behind Koizumi's moves

On the surface, most elections are about personalities, false promises and special interests. But Japan's general election Sept. 11 is about a deeper historical reconciliation -- the effort to resolve differences between the country's cultural and behavioral preferences, and the organizational practices...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 31, 2005

The nature of the mind

Shunmyo Masuno calls his works "expressions of my mind," and they have the power to stir up depths of emotion and even tap into the subconscious. They are not psychedelic paintings, however, nor are they virtual reality installations -- they are gardens. And the man who creates them is a Buddhist priest....
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Aug 30, 2005

MBAs, names and clothes

Business schools On the subject of business schools in Tokyo, Temple University was recommended, writes Scott. He is currently a student at Montreal, Canada's McGill University and they have a good MBA program in Tokyo called MBA Japan taught through English.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 30, 2005

Spoiled pooches live the good life

Whether it's "wan-wan," "bow-wow" or "ruff-ruff," dogs in Japan are all speaking the same language: life here ain't too dog-gone bad.
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2005

Japan's green economic edge

There are two meanings to the axiom that the 21st century is the century of the environment: (1) Global environmental problems will become more serious, and (2) environmental problems will be the driving force of economic development.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2005

Southeast Asia watches Koizumi's gamble

SINGAPORE -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took an unprecedented political gamble in dissolving the Lower House and calling a snap general election for Sept. 11 -- after the Upper House rejected his postal privatization bills Aug. 8. The privatization of Japan Post symbolizes Koizumi's reform plans...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2005

MPD trio to join Beirut probe into assassination

Japan will send three police experts to help a U.N. team investigate the February car-bombing assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, according to sources.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 23, 2005

Old clothes and capsule delight

Waste not, want not Elizabeth in Kyoto Prefecture is leaving Japan in a month's time, having spent two years here.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 23, 2005

Press freedom

Earlier this year, journalists from the Okinawa Times and the Ryukyu Shimpo were stunned to learn that they would not be allowed to cover the return of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit from Iraq.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2005

Asian chance after Annan

The term of Kofi Annan as U.N. secretary general (SG) expires Dec. 31, 2006. Countries and individuals have begun to position themselves to succeed him. If Asians are to have a credible chance of filling what should rightfully be their turn at the job, their discussions and negotiations in the next six...
COMMENTARY
Aug 22, 2005

Victor's logic in hindsight

Every August Japan is filled with prayers for the 3.1 million Japanese who died in the Pacific War and feelings of resentment against the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This August, which marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, Japanese media have done intensive reporting to...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 21, 2005

All together now, as yesterday's no-no becomes the status quo

When I first arrived in Japan in the 1960s, I was friends with a Western sociologist who was genuinely frustrated. When he went around surveying public opinion, he said that he found Japanese people to be stubbornly reserved and conservative. Apparently, those who responded to his questions about social...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 20, 2005

Wenger still confident Gunners can contend for Premier title

LONDON -- What is becoming an increasing bitter rivalry resumes at Stamford Bridge on Sunday when Premiership champion Chelsea play F.A. Cup winners Arsenal.
EDITORIALS
Aug 20, 2005

First step of the peace process

Israel has begun its unilateral withdrawal of troops and evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. This is the first time that settlements have been dismantled from land that Israel occupied in the third Middle East War (1967). There have been reports of small-scale clashes between settlers...
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2005

Statements befitting future conduct

On Monday, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued a statement apologizing for Japan's past colonialism and aggression. He also decided that day not to visit Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japan's militarism in the 1930s and '40s. Instead, he visited and...

Longform

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