Search - question

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 9, 2002

Back from the brink

The German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) said that people not drawing on 3,000 years of tradition are living on the edge of extinction. How, then, did Japanese craftsmen recover from the trauma of World War II, when their proud traditions, seemingly tainted by recent history, were thrown...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 9, 2002

Alec Empire

Alec Empire is a terrorist, let there be no question about that. Slide one of his records onto your grandmother's gramophone while she's making a cup of tea and then, on lowering the needle, watch her writhe in agony until she can take no more and commits seppuku with a knitting needle. Then again kids,...
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2002

North Korean ship searched after refusing to be boarded

Coast guard personnel and police inspected an uncooperative North Korean freighter Monday in Chiba Prefecture but found nothing unusual and believe a tip about suspicious men in wet suits that led to the search was a hoax, a senior Japan Coast Guard official said.
COMMENTARY
Jan 8, 2002

India set to keep full press on Pakistan

NEW DELHI -- The biggest question now is whether war will break out between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. Although no right-minded citizen in either country wants war, many forget that Pakistan has thrust an undeclared war on India for years, bleeding India noticeably. Thus the aim is not...
COMMENTARY
Jan 7, 2002

Fine-tuning needed for globalization

In the new year, the world will have to grapple with daunting political and economic challenges that surfaced toward the end of the 20th century. The terror attacks in the United States on Sept. 11 -- which The Economist called the "the day the world changed" -- complicated the problems.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2002

New national nursing-care system gives the poor short shrift: survey

About half of local government heads think the national nursing-care insurance system introduced in April 2000 lacks measures for helping people with low incomes and for coordinating facilities, according to a survey conducted by Kyodo News and its associated newspapers.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2002

More troubling than another spy boat

SEOUL -- Pyongyang surely can be said to have stepped over the line once it is confirmed that the suspected spy boat that played tag with the Japanese Coast Guard last month was indeed from North Korea. The incident has led Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his administration to perform an...
EDITORIALS
Jan 6, 2002

Back to work, back to 'normal'

On the one hand, 2001 zoomed by, didn't it? It seems just an eye-blink since we were last cleaning up after New Year's feasts and fireworks, sitting in traffic jams to get back home and gearing up for the Monday-after return to work. It is a well-established fact that the older we get, the more often...
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
Jan 5, 2002

Writing: A craft that anyone can learn

"Speeches are not magic. A speech is essentially a combination of information and opinion written on paper and spoken. If you can have a thoughtful conversation, you can probably write and give a thoughtful speech."
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 4, 2002

Medic's lifesaving mission

Human rights activist Dr. Masaki Tada leads a double life. He has just returned from Peshawar, Pakistan, where he struggled to save the lives of Afghan refugees with the meager resources at his disposal. In Japan, he plays a very different role -- as president of Josai Hospital, a modern, fully equipped...
BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2002

Accelerating deflation, slack investment to keep economy weak in 2002

Although an anticipated economic recovery in the United States may help Japanese fortunes during the latter half of 2002, the overall tone of the domestic economy will remain weak due to accelerating deflation and slack capital investment.
EDITORIALS
Jan 1, 2002

For a new strategic calculus

One of the lessons of 2001 was that overwhelming military power has its uses. A relentless assault by a global coalition against a primitive country can bring a government to its knees. The chief question for the year ahead is whether we have also learned that the resort to military options reflects...
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2002

Innovative banking upstarts struggle to establish foothold

New, innovative entrants into the domestic banking sector have struggled to establish themselves amid the turbulent business climate.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Jan 1, 2002

Don't let 'star' staff dazzle your judgment

Assessing performance ought to be every manager's meat, the one area in which he or she strives to obtain as fair and equitable a result as possible. Yet as we at IMG work with Sports Illustrated to produce our annual "Sportsman of the Year" gala, I'm frequently reminded of the capricious and mysterious...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2002

Bad times spark new breed of lottery fan

Masao Kitasawa, 58, is a lottery fan. He buys about 10 lottery tickets a week, spending roughly 10,000 yen a month to "dream a little."
BUSINESS
Dec 31, 2001

The euro's tangible new legacy

On New Year's Day, many traditional Japanese performance arts come into their element. Rakugo is a time-honored version of standup comedy. Well, sit-down really, since the kimono-clad performer actually sits on a cushion and uses nothing but a towel and a fan as props -- any kind of prop that may be...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2001

Russia's free press loses another battle

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- In July 2000, I joined Russian reporter Grigory Pasko and two carloads of fellow journalists in a visit to Irina Grebneva, a newspaper editor who had been jailed for five days in the Pacific port of Vladivostok, Russia. Her crime was making the governor look stupid and corrupt by...
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Tokyo rejects Pyongyang's 'brutal piracy' accusations

Japan rejects North Korea's accusation that the sinking of an unidentified ship after a shootout with Japanese patrol boats was "an act of piracy," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Japan increasingly embraces dancing

Japan is increasingly embracing all kinds of dancing.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Government decides to build airport off Okinawa

The government has selected an environmentally controversial plan to build an airport for civilian and U.S. military use on a reef off the Henoko district of Nago on the main island of Okinawa, government officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Takuma enters guilty plea

OSAKA -- The man accused of storming into an elementary school in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, and stabbing to death eight children in June pleaded guilty Thursday, saying he wants to atone for the crime with his own life.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2001

How to harmonize science and technology with humanity

The 20th century was the greatest century in human history thanks to the tremendous progress made in science and technology. The advancement of science and technology has given us a higher living standard, and the information-technology revolution has dramatically expanded our intellectual playing field....
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 27, 2001

No Christmas cheer this year

Christmas, or more precisely ohshogatsu (the New Year), is a time when most people in Japan can take a vacation. But not for the top rugby players at high school, university and company level.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2001

Death sentence sought for senior Aum figure

Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded the death sentence for a former senior member of Aum Shinrikyo over his involvement in a series of murders committed by the doomsday cult, including the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
Japan Times
JAPAN / STAGING A COMEBACK
Dec 26, 2001

Reforms shake higher education's foundations

Scholars at Japan's universities have long been criticized for enjoying "splendid isolation" within their ivory towers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Dec 26, 2001

Tower's pop fire flickers?

A lot of people in the music biz -- not to mention regular music fans -- were shocked by reports that surfaced last week to the effect that all or part of Tower Records' Japanese operations will be sold.
EDITORIALS
Dec 25, 2001

Beyond the farm-trade row

Japan and China, which had been mired in a drawn-out farm trade dispute since April, managed to reach a last-minute settlement avoiding a head-on confrontation late last week. Tokyo withdrew its threat to slap full-scale import curbs on three Chinese products: leeks, mushrooms and rushes (used in tatami...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Dec 25, 2001

Budget reflects change in course

The compilation on Monday of an 81.23 trillion yen general account budget for fiscal 2002 highlights a significant shift of authority in the drafting of national budgets -- an area long dominated by the Finance Ministry.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2001

End to full deposit guarantee sparks fear of regional banks

Dr. Masao Sekine can't stop the bankers from coming. They come with gifts, friendly conversation and advice. But what he really wants is peace of mind.

Longform

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