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JAPAN
Mar 5, 2004

Boards of education face overhaul

Education minister Takeo Kawamura asked the Central Education Council on Thursday to overhaul the 55-year-old board of education system.
EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 2004

Opportunity for mutual prosperity

In the not so distant future, China probably will eclipse the United States as Japan's largest trading partner. That could happen before 2008 when Beijing hosts the Summer Olympics. Setting the pace of China's economic growth is investment in infrastructure, whose momentum is expected to increase in...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Mar 4, 2004

Pottering in a paradise too easily lost

Whenever I get the chance I like to spend time in Okinawa, which is where I am writing this. As I said to my long-suffering editor, who is getting this article in longhand, I am here to work on the first draft of a novel in Japanese, so I sit at a table loaded with books and dictionaries, a big window...
COMMENTARY
Mar 4, 2004

China shines as host at arduous standoff

HONG KONG -- The second round of the six-party talks in Beijing on North Korea's nuclear weapons program went off relatively well even though there was no breakthrough. While the United States and North Korea may not agree on much, both agreed that China had done an excellent job as host and mediator....
Japan Times
Features
Feb 29, 2004

Pooch paradise

A dog's life in Japan can be about as close to canine heaven on earth as it gets.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 29, 2004

Romania takes high road in AIDS fight

NEW YORK -- The Romanian government's serious commitment to improve access to treatment, increase outreach activities, build an effective partnership with the private sector and improve health infrastructure has led to dramatic progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
EDITORIALS
Feb 26, 2004

An endorsement from Mr. Annan

With Japan taking an important part in the reconstruction of Iraq, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's five-day visit here, starting last Saturday, could not have come at a better time. His trip has given Japanese government leaders -- including not only Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2004

Japan misses the big picture

Japan needs to see its strategic security through a wider lens than the resource concerns of its powerful economic ministries. Japan's decision to fund the development of Iranian oil "against Washington's objections" ignores this principle.
JAPAN
Feb 25, 2004

British example cited in climate effort

The international community should strive to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent from current levels by 2050, the head of Britain's Office of Science and Technology said Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 24, 2004

McEnglish for the masses

American sociologist George Ritzer coined the term McDonaldization to describe how a method of production that originated in fast food restaurants is sweeping through every aspect of society.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2004

Japan's Iraq role wins praise of Annan

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday won a desperately needed endorsement from U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for Japan's engagement in postwar aid missions in Iraq.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2004

Kawaguchi urges U.N. engagement in Iraq

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, meeting Sunday with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in Tokyo, called for active engagement on the part of the United Nations in Iraq's reconstruction, Japanese officials said.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Feb 23, 2004

Casting calls begin for vice presidency

WASHINGTON -- Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has the Democratic nomination for president nearly wrapped up with his victory in Wisconsin last Tuesday, giving him victories in 15 of the 17 primaries and caucuses contested to date. There will be some mopping up, and then a cakewalk to his hometown of Boston...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 22, 2004

A first step to understanding the homeless

The mayor of Kawasaki, Takao Abe, is currently under attack from a group of city residents who don't want a planned homeless shelter put in their neighborhood. Last month, Abe rejected the residents' request for a meeting to hear his explanation of why a disused chemical factory in the Tsutsumine district...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 20, 2004

England internationals wielding far too much power

LONDON -- We like to be different in England. We drive on the wrong side of the road. We drink warm beer, our plugs have three pins instead of two and when our football fans go abroad, they tend to fight rather than make new friends.
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2004

Perils of internecine war in Iraq

What is most disturbing about Iraq is that the security situation there continues to deteriorate, even as the country prepares to take over the reins of government from the U.S.-led coalition at the end of June. In particular, terrorist and guerrilla attacks over the past two weeks reveal an ominous...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 18, 2004

We just can't get enough

With Valentine's Day just past, let's pay tribute to one of the most enduring love affairs of our time -- that between Japan's gallery-going public and France's Impressionist artists. It's the Real Thing.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2004

Currency depreciation won't spur growth

UBUD, Bali -- In a fruitless and pointless exercise, economic policymakers and businesses fret endlessly over the international value of currencies. This is because interventions to guide foreign-exchange valuations tend to be costly and may have only a temporary effect at best.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 17, 2004

Posting food to the U.S. and big clothes

U.S. posting rules Dear Lifelines; Is there some new prohibition against sending Japanese foods to the U.S.?
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 16, 2004

Judging our parties by policy is the best policy

In the United States, it is the routine work of think tanks and business organizations to examine the voting behavior of each legislator.
EDITORIALS
Feb 15, 2004

Romance by the numbers

You have to hand it to Singapore: It is doing its best to lose its longtime image as the nanny state of Asia. In fact, with the launch earlier this month of the now annual "Romancing Singapore" campaign, it is behaving less like a nanny and more like a madam.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2004

Whistle-blower law in the pipeline

Three decades after Hiroaki Kushioka exposed a price-fixing cartel involving his employer in the trucking industry, the government is working on what would become Japan's first-ever law to protect whistle-blowers in private-sector firms and government organizations.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2004

Koizumi promises Palestinians that Tokyo will do what it can

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi promised Palestinian ministers Friday that Japan will provide as much financial support as possible to help them overcome economic difficulties and continue efforts to reach peace with Israel.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 14, 2004

Handling anger via growth, creative expression

After her father died in 1996, Chizuko Tezuka found herself more and more depressed. Eventually the emotion was so overwhelming that she took absence of leave from her post as associate professor in Keio University's International Center in Tokyo, and sought help.
JAPAN / LABOR PAINS
Feb 13, 2004

Medical sector faces hard choice amid aging society

As Japan gropes for solutions to the imminent labor shortage amid the rapidly graying population, the failure of a private-sector project to import nurses is a bitter reminder of the hurdles involved in attracting and keeping foreign professionals here.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 11, 2004

Timeless message of divine 'Angels' rings loud and clear

They've pulled it off again! Almost exactly a year ago the team at tpt (Theatre Project Tokyo), led by the renowned American director Robert Allan Ackerman, got Tokyo theater in 2003 off to a great start with their stunningly moving production of "Bent," cast entirely from the young actors who took part...

Longform

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