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Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2003

North Korea escapees form help group

A group of escapees from North Korea announced Wednesday they have formed an association to help support them in Japan.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Feb 6, 2003

Delving deeper into the snows

At the end of my column last week, there I was on the Antarctic Peninsula pondering the pink hue of "watermelon snow" and wondering where had I heard about colored snow before.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2003

Victims of '68 poisoning case report disorders

Half the women who responded to a survey of victims of dioxin-contaminated cooking oil in 1968 say they have since suffered disorders in their reproductive organs, a victims' support group said Wednesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 4, 2003

Kitting out the big man in Japan

If this writer had to pick a Tom Hanks film to depict his three-and-a-half decades of life in this country, it would be a tossup between "Forrest Gump" and "Big."
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2003

'A bad day' for us all

We have felt this before. Watching the fiery remains of space shuttle Columbia streak across the blue Texas sky Saturday was like being forced to relive the past. Didn't we experience the same disbelief, sadness and horror when a flash fire killed three Apollo astronauts during a launch pad test in 1967?...
COMMUNITY
Feb 2, 2003

New furrows in the field of medicine

It is often said that medicine in Japan is still far behind the West. This is true, unfortunately, in terms of patients' rights advocacy, malpractice-prevention measures, the medical education system, and hospital amenities and working conditions.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 2, 2003

One-man media airs his views

It's 10 a.m. Sunday, and TBS TV's "Sunday Japon" show is getting under way. American entertainer Dave Spector, a regular panelist, shares the stage with a former porn actress, a Korean journalist and a member of the Diet. After an hour of exchanging ripostes with the others on major international and...
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2003

Changing Pyongyang's ways

The response to my Jan. 10 article "Pyongyang is the real victim," which blames the United States for its mishandling of the North Korean nuclear problem, tells me two things: First, Japan Times articles are followed abroad much more widely than I realized; second, many believe firmly in the incorrigibly...
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

Kawaguchi criticizes Iraq over violations

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi condemned Iraq on Friday for failing for more than a decade to carry out its obligations under United Nations resolutions, and urged Baghdad to clear suspicions over its possession of weapons of mass destruction.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2003

Economy top priority: Koizumi

Admitting that the Japanese economy is struggling to find a way out of the recession, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made clear Friday that reviving the economy will be his top priority for this year, declaring he will take "all available policy measures" to fight deflation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2003

Lifetime of missed chances

LONDON -- On Jan. 22, two of the world's leading powers celebrated the 40th anniversary of a remarkable reconciliation. At the historic Palace of Versailles, France's President Jacques Chirac and Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder toasted a treaty signed in 1963 by their visionary predecessors, Charles...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2003

Iraqi crisis highlights strains in trans-Atlantic relations

LONDON -- Since the end of World War II, Western Europe has usually sided with the United States in global conflicts. Except for a few national exceptions, such as France's criticism of the Vietnam War, trans-Atlantic solidarity has been the order of the day from the Cuban missile crisis through the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2003

Can we trust 'Davos man'?

The rich, the powerful and the famous last week descended once again on the Swiss village of Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). This year, the assembled luminaries pondered the loss of "trust" that has sapped institutions worldwide. The question is a vital one. Of the many...
COMMENTARY
Jan 27, 2003

The war dead deserve better

I was stunned by news reports that Junichiro Koizumi recently made his third visit as prime minister to Yasukuni Shrine. After his two previous visits drew strong protests from China and South Korea, and after he struggled to justify the visits, officials in both countries must be amazed and angered....
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 26, 2003

Cleaning up Japan is one tall order

Thanks to improved nutrition, the height of the average Japanese person has increased considerably since World War II. Nevertheless, many Japanese, especially those over a certain age, despair over what they believe is their short stature.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Whether crisis or not, sumo's show must go on

Of all the crises that the institution of sumo is said to be confronting -- and there are many -- yokozuna (grand champion) Takanohana's announcement last Monday of his retirement is being regarded by some as particularly ominous.
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Japan, U.S. together on Pyongyang

Japan and the U.S. agreed Friday that they and South Korea should consult closely with each other in dealing with the standoff over North Korea's development of nuclear weapons if and when the United Nations Security Council takes it up.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2003

Trendy teas try to give soda, coffee a run for their money

With a couple of Starbucks and at least one other big-name coffee shop within easy walking distance, not long ago Tomohiro Tsuchiya would have been better off opening his little cafe somewhere else.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2003

Talks to seek return of U.S. base land

Japan and the United States have reached a basic agreement to start talks on the return of idle land in four U.S. military facilities in Yokohama, according to Japanese government officials.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 23, 2003

Who are these people?

From where does all this good music spring? Through the good offices of the caring, quality-conscious trading community, which goes to great pains to ensure, in a manner likened to eugenics, that the "seeding" of the musical gene pool is as pure and defect-free as possible before the recording is prepared...
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2003

Economy, foreign attack bills lead new Diet session

The Diet convened its 156th session Monday, with the economy and a set of bills to give the government more powers in the event of an attack topping the agenda.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jan 20, 2003

Intellectual alienation spawns hazy polic

WASHINGTON -- The main purpose of my visit to Washington at the beginning of 2003 was to carry out discussions on U.S. perspectives, policies and strategies for the Doha Development Round, in particular, and global economic policy in general. Meetings were held with U.S. government departments, foreign...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2003

The folly of inflation targets

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said recently the next governor of the Bank of Japan must take aggressive action to fight deflation, giving rise to expectations of inflation targeting among government and ruling coalition officials. I doubt, however, that inflation targeting will cure deflation. In...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2003

Calls to revive military draft are off base

HONOLULU -- The prospect of a war on two fronts against North Korea and Iraq in addition to the battle against terror and the new campaign for homeland security has sparked calls for a return to the U.S. military draft.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jan 19, 2003

Paradise retained

Palawan is variously cited as the Philippines' "last frontier," "the world's best-kept secret" and "a nature-lover's dream."
COMMUNITY
Jan 19, 2003

The danchi and postwar society

At the time, they were homes most Japanese could only dream about. Within their thick concrete walls, they were equipped with such mod cons as flush toilets and stainless-steel kitchen sinks, and they even had separate bedrooms -- for parents and children.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2003

eo 20030119a1.xml SYSTEM INHERENTLY UNFAIR Calls to revive military draft are off base

HONOLULU -- The prospect of a war on two fronts against North Korea and Iraq in addition to the battle against terror and the new campaign for homeland security has sparked calls for a return to the U.S. military draft.

Longform

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