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EDITORIALS
Sep 28, 2002

Pyongyang must tell the full story

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's meeting Friday with the families of those abducted by North Korean agents made it unmistakably clear that the understanding and support of those relatives -- and of the Japanese public in general -- is essential to progress in the normalization talks that are expected...
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2002

FTC clips ANA's wings with warning over cuts to Kyushu flight fares

Faced with a warning from the Fair Trade Commission, All Nippon Airways Co. said Thursday that it will withdraw its plans to offer new discount fares for flights between Tokyo and the three Kyushu airports of Fukuoka, Miyazaki and Kagoshima.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2002

A sustainable recovery for developing Asia?

The strong global recovery that was widely expected to take place in the latter half of 2002 has not materialized. On the contrary, increasing uncertainties are undermining the confidence of consumers and investors worldwide, and the speed of economic recovery in the industrialized world is likely to...
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2002

A harmful exception to the rule

Banking reform in Japan continues to disappoint. The general perception is that both authorities and banks are mostly taking stopgap measures, such as the Bank of Japan's plan to buy bank shares. Another notable example of expediency is the de facto reversal of the government decision to abolish full...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 25, 2002

From the mailbox: What's wrong with Ichiro?

Wayne: Have there been any negative or questioning press comments about Ichiro's (Suzuki) recent slump in batting here in Seattle? From my perspective it almost looks like he might be hiding a health problem; he seems to have no fire in the belly and is almost running on empty, so to speak. Also, do...
BUSINESS
Sep 24, 2002

Madrid conference brings together key mortgage industry players

MADRID -- Changes in Japan's mortgage industry are likely to cause a spurt in mortgage lending and a great deal of price competition, ultimately leading to a shakeup in the the country's mortgage industry, according to Michael Lea, president of Countrywide International Consulting Services.
COMMENTARY
Sep 23, 2002

EU immigration issue heats up

LONDON -- The enlargement of the European Union, with the addition of up to 10 more states and dozens of new local cultures and minorities, is approaching.
EDITORIALS
Sep 22, 2002

Like it or not

You won't have learned it in English class, but if you have chatted with an English-speaking teenage girl lately, or, better yet, overheard her talking on the phone, you're sure to have encountered it. We're referring to that innocuous little word "like." Not the way the grammar books use it ("I like...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2002

State inspectors check reactor coverup records

Government inspectors conducted on-the-spot examinations Saturday of the inspection records of 11 reactors at five nuclear plants of three utilities embroiled in damage coverup scandals, the government said.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Koizumi hints rice aid to North Korea may resume

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Friday that Japan may resume rice aid to North Korea before normalization of bilateral relations.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2002

Testing times for the U.N.

In finally taking the vexed issue of war with Iraq to the United Nations, U.S. President George W. Bush has presented the organization with a double-edged test of credibility. Will it lift its performance and remain relevant to U.S. foreign policy on Washington's terms, or in doing so will it be seen...
BUSINESS
Sep 21, 2002

Government will draft new measures in October to cull bad loans: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday the government will devise measures next month to accelerate the disposal of nonperforming loans held by the nation's financial institutions.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2002

Abductees' families kept in dark

North Korea gave Japan the dates eight of its abducted nationals died, but the Foreign Ministry withheld the information from the next of kin until it was reported in a newspaper, government officials said Thursday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 20, 2002

Ronaldo's greed becoming legend indeed

LONDON -- Next Wednesday -- thighs, hamstrings, knees and transfer request permitting -- Ronaldo will make his belated debut for Real Madrid when the European Champions play Belgium's KRC Genk in a Champions League tie at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2002

Baby-products firm pushes male child-care leave

In a society where raising a child is perceived as more of a burden than a joy, what can a corporation do to change this mind-set?
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2002

Abductees' families express grief, rage over death reports

Relatives of some of the 11 Japanese who were abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s voiced deep grief and indignation Tuesday after learning that only four of them are alive and one remains missing.
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2002

Playing at democracy

Palestine Authority President Yasser Arafat is coming under increasing pressure to adopt democratic reforms. In an important development, the traditionally passive Palestinian Parliament appears to have taken up the call for real change. Mr. Arafat has so far responded with his old tricks: talking a...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 18, 2002

Yuki Ogura: The other side of modern

Visitors to the current exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo might be excused for thinking they'd been misled. Instead of encountering a display of works expressing the essence of 20th-century Japanese art, perchance, or the challenge of assimilating Western artistic techniques, this...
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2002

Mortgage-lending confab aims to fire up European market

The movers and shakers of Europe's mortgage-lending industry are to attend an unprecedented conference that starts in Madrid on Sept. 22 in an effort to find solutions in light of globalization and ensuing difficulties they currently face -- including dilution within the financial services industry and...
EDITORIALS
Sep 13, 2002

Loophole or slipknot?

I f Mr. Supachai had any idea of easing into his new job, that fantasy was recently put to rest. On Aug. 30, the WTO ruled that tax breaks offered U.S. export companies violate international trade rules. In response, the European Union can impose billions of dollars in sanctions against the United States....
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2002

Farm ministry files complaints

The farm ministry filed criminal complaints Thursday against the former chiefs of three sales offices of a Nippon Meat Packers Inc. subsidiary on suspicion of defrauding the government out of nearly 10 million yen.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 13, 2002

Handshakes may not soften U.S. line

WASHINGTON -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's trip to North Korea next Tuesday is, in many ways, a double-edged sword. At first glance, the trip appears to be a positive development. In what has become the norm in Asian diplomacy of late, the surprise announcement reflects positively on Japan's...
COMMENTARY
Sep 13, 2002

Koizumi gambles for results

I'm not sure whether to be cautiously optimistic or pessimistic about Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to North Korea next Tuesday, but either way, "caution" is the watchword.
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Sep 13, 2002

"Artemis Fowl," "Egg Drop"

"Artemis Fowl," Eoin Colfer, Puffin Books; 2002; 282 pp. "Stay back, human. You don't know what you are dealing with."

Longform

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