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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 30, 2001

Is yellow journalism in vogue again?

Why do so many foreign commentators feel they can get away with anything they say about Japan?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2001

Biased history helps feed U.S. fascination with Pearl Harbor

SAN FRANCISCO -- Why does America continue to nurture a deep preoccupation with Pearl Harbor, 60 years after the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base in Hawaii? The makers of Disney's blockbuster $135 million film "Pearl Harbor" said the movie is primarily a love story, but its title, climax and cinematic...
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jul 10, 2001

Troussier has no room for hanky-panky and circus animals

Its official: Philippe Troussier is not running a circus. The Japan coach was, in tabloid-speak, "gobsmacked" last Wednesday when he was quizzed about his team selection moments after Japan had defeated Yugoslavia 1-0 to win the Kirin Cup.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 8, 2001

Survey offers solid treatment of history

THE MAKING OF MODERN JAPAN, by Marius B. Jansen. Harvard University Press, 2000, 896 pp., $35 (hardback). "The Making of Modern Japan," Marius Jansen's last work, is a reliable, solid and authoritative interpretation of Japan's recent past. It is a fitting testament to a learned man whose scholarly...
COMMENTARY
Jun 30, 2001

Time for a strategic dialogue

HONOLULU -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will have a lot to talk about with U.S. President George W. Bush when the two meet for the first time at Camp David this weekend. High on the agenda should be the initiation of a strategic dialogue aimed at redefining the U.S.-Japan security relationship....
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2001

No revisions expected after text review concludes in July

An ongoing diplomatic row with South Korea and China over some history textbooks could enter a new phase next month.
COMMENTARY
Jun 28, 2001

The right to collective defense

WASHINGTON -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is scheduled to meet U.S. President George W. Bush June 30 at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland. Most likely Koizumi will receive an enthusiastic welcome amid expectations that Japan will change.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 27, 2001

The chrysanthemum and the rose

LONDON -- Anybody turning up at London's Hyde Park to walk their dog on the morning of Saturday, May 19, could have been forgiven for thinking they'd wandered into some kind of space and time warp. Instead of a few squirrels and strollers enjoying the pale, watery sunshine, they would have found a full-blown...
COMMENTARY
Jun 21, 2001

The trouble with free trade

Japan, for all its talk about the virtues of free trade, has now invited Chinese retaliation by imposing emergency barriers on the import of some farm products from China. And that could be only a beginning. Made-in-China clothing is sweeping the chain stores. Japan's towel-makers are conceding defeat....
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2001

Urgent tasks for Koizumi

Peace and stability in East Asia in the coming years will hinge on Japan's political and economic leadership, North-South rapprochement on the Korean Peninsula, China's policies as an emerging regional power and strategies of the United States, the sole superpower.
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2001

Reform easier said than done

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi replaced former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on the grounds that he was a reformist and Mori was not. Yet Koizumi's first move was to cancel one of Mori's sensible reforms -- the bid to settle Japan's Northern Territories dispute with Moscow by first accepting the two...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 2, 2001

Glen S. Fukushima

"To me, the U.S. and Japan are fascinating, as they stand at polar extremes in the way their societies are organized. Philosophy, culture, history set Japan apart from other industrialized countries, especially the U.S. Having spent many years in both the U.S. and Japan, I enjoy assisting the two peoples...
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2001

Slyly, China extends its reach

Since early April, three Chinese vessels have been conducting marine research operations in the East China Sea, on the Japanese side of the midway line between Japan and China. These activities are based on a memorandum that the Japanese and Chinese governments exchanged in February. In accordance with...
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
May 29, 2001

Confederations Cup another step on the ladder

On Oct. 29 last year, Philippe Troussier sat, drenched in champagne, at his post-match press conference after Japan's nail-biting 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup final. The oversized fruit bowl of a trophy beside him, the Frenchman grinned like a Cheshire cat while he tried to collect his...
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2001

Charting a course as wide as the region

To understand the logic that is driving the Bush administration's redesign of U.S. military strategy, overlay two maps. The first focuses on wealth and population. It highlights Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, some of the world's richest and most important trading nations. China, India and...
COMMENTARY
May 19, 2001

Diplomacy fails to measure up

The administration of President George W. Bush has disclosed major changes in U.S. military and diplomatic strategies. These include the stepped-up deployment of U.S. missile defense systems, the discontinuation of the "two major war" approach and the overhaul of policies toward North Korea.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2001

Europeans wonder if Koizumi can deliver

BRUSSELS -- Despite the initial popularity and purported radicalism of Japan's new prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, there is no evidence yet to show he has the vision or the ability to pull the country out of its economic slump and carry through the reforms necessary to meet the regional and global...
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Prime minister's policy speech

The following is a provisional translation of the policy speech given Monday by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the 151st session of the Diet:
CULTURE / Books
May 6, 2001

Hot spot needs the 'virtual alliance'

U.S.-KOREA-JAPAN RELATIONS: Building Toward a "Virtual Alliance," edited by Ralph Cossa. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1999, 207 pp., paper. ALIGNMENT DESPITE ANTAGONISM: The U.S.-Korea-Japan Security Triangle, by Victor D. Cha. Stanford University Press, 1999, 373 pp., $49.50 (cloth),...
BUSINESS
May 2, 2001

Talk of duty-free imports riles Japanese politicians

Yet another block has been added to a diplomatic wall being built by the international community to shut out Japan's rising protectionism on farm trade.
MULTIMEDIA / TALK OF THE TIMES
Apr 30, 2001

Top JAWOC official says FIFA should have studied local culture

Yasuhiko Endo assumed the post of general secretary of the Japan World Cup Organizing Committee (JAWOC) two years ago, a position that requires all the patience and diplomatic skills he acquired during his years serving in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2001

A high price for textbook flap

Japan ignores the history-textbook controversy at its peril. While many Japanese dismiss the tempest -- exaggerated attention, they say, given to a small group of nostalgic conservatives or a freedom-of-speech issue best left to constitutional scholars -- South Koreans see the new history textbook as...
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2001

Mr. Lee comes with baggage

Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui is now on a "private" visit to Japan with a visa the Japanese government issued after days of vacillation -- and with strings attached: Mr. Lee should stay in Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture, where he will get a medical checkup, and should not conduct any political...
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2001

Tokyo-Beijing relations expected to decline despite visa conditions

Although the government cited "humanitarian reasons" in deciding to issue an entry visa to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, the Foreign Ministry recognizes the decision will have political implications and will certainly serve Tokyo-Beijing ties yet another blow.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Apr 19, 2001

Top foreign fashion brands take direct approach

As consumer spending woes continue to weigh on Japan's sluggish economy, foreign apparel makers have expanded their business by taking a more direct approach.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 5, 2001

Halfhearted effort at hosting half a World Cup

Why not let South Korea host the whole thing?
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2001

The long view on the Kurils

Can Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori stage a political comeback via his March 25 talks in Irkutsk with Russian President Vladimir Putin? Aides have hinted that he favors the "two-island" compromise solution to Japan's long-festering dispute with Russia over ownership of the so-called Northern Territories....
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2001

Conference members seeking strong economic leadership

Although Japan knows it should carry out structural reforms and stimulate domestic demand to get out of its protracted economic slump, it is still waiting for someone to take the initiative and actually do something.
JAPAN
Mar 22, 2001

Kobe Declaration a thorn in the side of diplomacy

Staff writer OSAKA -- Last year, Robert Ludan, U.S. consul general for the Osaka-Kobe region, began pursuing an issue that had lain dormant for 25 years: U.S. naval visits to Kobe.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan