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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jul 28, 2002

Moronic student textbooks

MOSCOW -- When you visit a recently independent nation, ask what kind of elementary school textbooks their kids are reading. I must say the textbooks my kids use are horrific.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 28, 2002

A mother lode of beauty and horror

THE STONE OF HEAVEN: The Secret History of Imperial Green Jade, by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark. Orion, 2002, 352 pp., 8.99 British pounds (paper) This book is one of a newly emerging genre: history told from the viewpoint of a single item. Other studies have already looked at subjects that ranged...
COMMUNITY
Jul 28, 2002

Into the unknown Sea of Okhotsk

The Bering Sea, 1999. A wave-dashed shore ahead; leaden skies above. The way the rough sea was lifting and pitching and rolling our ship was not promising. I could just make out a bleak and deserted beach backed by lush knee-high vegetation, with a low, steep bank beyond. Somewhere there, 250 years ago,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 28, 2002

Look at her, she's dying to lose some weight

If there is still any question whether China has finally joined the so-called industrialized world, the current diet-aid scandal should put it to rest. Only an industrialized nation with a population that eats enough food on a daily basis to worry about extra kilos can support an industry dedicated to...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 28, 2002

Taking a shortcut to enlightenment

THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING BUDDHISM, by Gary Gach. Alpha Books, 2002, 408 pp., $18.95 (paper) Half a billion people in the world consider themselves Buddhists, and millions of Westerners have embraced the religion and its tenets. For the uninitiated, and even for some initiates, Buddhism...
JAPAN
Jul 27, 2002

Ishihara threatens road entity

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara on Friday threatened to withdraw the financial support of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for Metropolitan Expressway Public Corp. if the entity decides against building expressway links sought by the capital.
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2002

Takuma conceived of massacre in 1984

OSAKA -- Mamoru Takuma, who stands accused of fatally stabbing eight schoolchildren in June 2001, told the Osaka District Court on Thursday that he came up with the idea of committing a massacre when he was arrested for rape in 1984.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2002

Accused train gropers sometimes victims?

On the morning of April 13, 1999, freelance writer Naoki Ito was on a rush-hour train in Tokyo, heading home after working all night. Just after the train left Ikebukuro Station, a high school girl turned to him, grabbed him by the wrist and said, "Cut it out."
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2002

Koizumi set to issue financial stability directive

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi indicated Thursday he will instruct his Cabinet ministers to step up measures to stabilize the financial system and reassure bankers before the imposition of a cap on all bank deposit guarantees in April.
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2002

Ministry hints it may sue Moody's over bond rating

The Finance Ministry has hinted it may seek compensation for any damage caused by the downgrading of Japan's credit rating by U.S.-based Moody's Investors Service Inc.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 25, 2002

Health insurance, pension cash claims and odd-job search

It's been quite surprising to receive so many "thank yous" from readers, but more surprising has been that they come not only from Japan but from all over the the world. It seems a lot of people who have lived in Japan in the past and moved on read the column at www.japantimes.co.jp to keep up on things...
COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 2002

Chirac sets out to win voters' hearts

PARIS -- Once again, some 150,000 people lined the Champs Elysees on July 14 to watch the Bastille Day parade. At noon, President Jacques Chirac received 6,000 guests at the traditional party held in the palace gardens. At 1 p.m., as he has always done since his first election in 1995, he gave an interview...
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Jul 23, 2002

Managing growth differs from growing one's firm

The news in business has been full of falling stars lately. "Is it just me," a friend asked the other day, "or does it seem as if half of the CEO supernovas from two years ago have crashed and burned?" In light of the economic turmoil I could understand how he had gotten this impression, but could not...
SUMO
Jul 22, 2002

Chiyotaikai takes yusho as Asashoryu slips up

Ozeki Chiyotaikai clinched his second championship on the final day of the Nagoya Basho as sekiwake Asashoryu lost his third bout to Wakanosato, thereby forfeiting his chance to compete in a playoff with Chiyo.
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2002

Will Jiang cling to power?

HONG KONG -- As top politicians in the Communist Party of China consult and confer with each other at Beidaihe during their annual seaside retreat, one key question facing them is whether 76-year-old President and CPC Secretary General Jiang Zemin will seek to extend himself in office.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

Deaths linked to dieting aids from China increase to four

The number of people who have died after taking slimming products imported from China has increased to four, according to a Kyodo News tally based on announcements by the health ministry and local governments.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 21, 2002

Flawed assumptions that courted disaster

PEACE, POWER AND RESISTANCE IN CAMBODIA: Global Governance and the Failure of InternationalConflict Resolution, by Pierre P. Lizee. Macmillan/St. Martin's Press, 2000, 206 pp. (cloth) According to the famous dictum, war is the continuation of politics through other means. Is the reverse true? Is politics...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 21, 2002

Basement beats and eats

So what do hip young French eat when they go out clubbing these days? Actually, that's a trick question. Nobody feels like eating much when there is a first-rate DJ working the turntables. But that doesn't mean there's nothing worth eating on the menu at La Fabrique Paris, the cutting-edge club-cum-diner...
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2002

Business chiefs grapple with ethics of corporate behavior

KARUIZAWA, Nagano Pref. -- Business leaders grappled Friday with the question of what principles should guide corporate behavior.
Japan Times
JAPAN / HONING ENGLISH
Jul 19, 2002

English education at early age gains momentum

Don't worry about grammar; listen more and enjoy speaking.
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2002

Dialogue: Pyongyang's only option

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi's visit to South Korea over the weekend, coming after the naval clash between North and South Korean patrol boats in the Yellow Sea in late June, has served to spotlight the volatility of inter-Korean relations. The diplomatic fallout from the sea battle, in which the...
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2002

Expert predicts patients' rights will come slowly to Japan

KYOTO -- It is often the case in Japan that the decisions of the family are more respected than those of the individual when considering someone's personal affairs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 14, 2002

Olu Dara's bringing it all back home

Olu Dara has just finished his sound check at Club Quattro when he breaks into a grin and waves enthusiastically from behind his mike. An instant later, he's hopped off the stage, bounded across the floor and is proffering his hand, as eager for the interview as a school kid for recess.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 14, 2002

Living outside the box

The days of Japan as the No. 1 business model for the world are long gone, but a new and perhaps more interesting model combining Japanese and Western elements seems to be developing. Unfortunately, the transition from a system based on lifelong employment, seniority and unthinking loyalty to one's company...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 14, 2002

The trouble with today's disaffected youth

Long before he said "no" to America and became the controversial governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara was one of Japan's most important postwar novelists, more influential than Mishima, if not as gifted. His most famous work, "Taiyo no Kisetsu (Season of the Sun)," is certainly the last word on youthful...
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2002

Iraq debate moves to the fore

LONDON -- "Where you stand depends on where you sit" goes the old political adage. And this was never more true than in the case of Iraq and what, if anything, should be done about this troublesome tyranny.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2002

Postal services bills clear Lower House

The House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon approved a package of postal services bills, paving the way for the enactment of the controversial legislation during the current Diet session.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat