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JAPAN
Apr 17, 2001

Japan stays glued to fence on GMO 'traceability' issue

Kyodo News Japan is the focus of mounting attention over its stance on the issue of establishing standards for foods made from genetically modified organisms, a subject taken up by a U.N. task force during a meeting in Japan in March.
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 17, 2001

Talk straight, chew gum

Give us more backup to win the World Cup. That was the message manager Philippe Troussier had for Japan's soccer fans Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 15, 2001

Prepare now for demographic changes

The rapid aging of Japan's population, combined with a steady decline in the birthrate, makes it certain that the productive-age population will begin to fall sharply in the not-so-distant future. As a result, the entire population will also start shrinking, making it necessary to redesign the economic...
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

Cabinet divided on Lee's visa

Divisions within the government of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori deepened over whether to issue an entry visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui, with five Cabinet ministers urging the reluctant Foreign Ministry for a quick decision to issue the visa.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2001

Russia's dark clouds have silver linings

LONDON -- Forty years ago Thursday, Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to go into space. Last month, the decrepit space station Mir plunged back into the atmosphere, incinerating among other things the photograph of a youthful, happy Gagarin (he died in a plane crash in 1968) that had hung on...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2001

A Japanese PM as seen from abroad

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- It is beyond the parameters of this column to plunge into the murky waters of Japanese domestic politics. But the case of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori -- and the ways this case has generally been reported in the foreign media -- calls for some scrutiny, especially since it automatically...
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2001

The great Tiger Woods debate

Semantics and politics make a familiar pair. Every other day, it seems, something crops up in the mine-strewn worlds of domestic or international politics that makes us stop and think about the meaning of words. One day it's a foreign president's legalistic musings about the meaning of "is," the next,...
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2001

Lee hasn't applied, Kono says

Foreign Minister Yohei Kono on Friday reiterated the government's official position that an application for an entry visa has not been filed for former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2001

Korean impasse is U.S.' fault

SEOUL -- "Sooner or later, the North Koreans will return to the negotiating table," said South Korea's former Foreign Minister Lee Joung Binn in an interview on the eve of his resignation. At this moment, political realities on the Korean Peninsula don't seem to justify his optimism. As the government...
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2001

Disparaging title forces video delay

Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan Inc. was forced to stop release of a psycho-thriller video after receiving complaints from autistic patients whose condition is used in the Japanese title of the video, it was learned Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Fashion school tied to tax dodge

Bunka Gakuen, the Tokyo-based operator of noted fashion school Bunka Fashion College, failed to declare some 250 million yen in income over a five-year period up to March 2000, sources close to tax authorities said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Apr 12, 2001

Environment takes back seat to U.S. economic recovery

U.S. President George W. Bush continued his personal campaign to change previous U.S. policy two weeks ago by renouncing the nation's commitment to limit industrial emissions of carbon dioxide. He did it shortly after Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman had given the...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2001

A 'cold war' in the making

The collision between a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the South China Sea reflects an emerging pattern of confrontation between the United States and China -- a development I noted in this column even prior to that incident.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 12, 2001

Playing politics is no game

It's a pity for the 24 Americans being detained on Hainan island in China that their little contretemps with the Chinese air force didn't take place a month ago, before the International Olympic Committee inspectors paid a visit to Beijing to check on its bid for the 2008 Games.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2001

Net-based labor union resolves disputes online

A cyberspace labor union set up two years ago to settle disputes via the Internet is expected to play a major role in the future as working conditions continue to diversify.
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2001

A turning point for the LDP

The result of the election to choose a new president of the Liberal Democratic Party will be announced today. This will end a domestic political vacuum that has persisted since Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori revealed his intention of stepping down, over a month ago.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Apr 10, 2001

Two-headed monster haunts Kawasaki

Are two heads better than one? Not, apparently, in Kawasaki.
COMMENTARY
Apr 10, 2001

Reasons to thank Mr. Mori

Since he took office a year ago, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has seen his popularity nosedive as a result of a series of gaffes he committed. Now that he is set to resign in late April, let me review the role the Mori administration has played.
COMMENTARY
Apr 8, 2001

Panic commands a high price

LONDON — The foot-and-mouth outbreak in Britain is not devastating British farm production. It is devastating farming's relationship with the rest of Britain. Less than 2 percent of Britain's livestock have been slaughtered either because they have the disease or because, though healthy, they might...
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Obara held in death of Blackman

Joji Obara was served an arrest warrant Friday on suspicion of fatally assaulting British hostess Lucie Blackman in July and then dumping her body in a cave, police said.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Diet seeks to curb domestic violence

The Diet passed into law Friday a bill to combat domestic violence that will allow courts to impose restraining orders to keep perpetrators away from their victims.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 7, 2001

A bibliophile's whodunit: Who is killing the book?

Who is killing the book in Japan? That is the provocative question posed by veteran nonfiction writer Shin'ichi Sano in his recent book of the same title ("Dare ga 'hon' o korosu no ka," President Sha, 1,800 yen).
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2001

Japan Inc. moves toward true accounting of books

The true standing of Japanese firms in relation to their foreign rivals is slowly becoming clear.
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2001

Mr. Milosevic behind bars

It was not pretty, but the job was done. Last weekend, Serb police arrested former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic after a 36-hour standoff at his villa. Mr. Milosevic now faces corruption charges, but officials in Belgrade are hinting that more serious charges could be added. Mr. Milosevic should...
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2001

Ex-Prime Minister Hashimoto top candidate to replace Mori

The Liberal Democratic Party's factional interests appear to have put former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto into pole position in the race to find a successor to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori.
COMMENTARY
Apr 5, 2001

Collision tests U.S.-China ties

The collision between a Chinese Air Force fighter and a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace over the South China Sea represents an unfortunate, unplanned, but nonetheless important test of the maturity of the Sino-U.S. relationship and of the Chinese leadership. Thus far, Beijing appears...
CULTURE / Film
Apr 4, 2001

Yummy, yummy, yummy, she's got love in her tummy

You know how a woman says "I'm not 16 anymore" as a prelude to making decisions and realigning her life? It's a phrase that signals her decision to stick to one guy, one career, a single brand of facial cream. Goodbye to psychedelic craziness, hello to . . . smoking cigarettes in bed, in the dark, on...
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2001

Foreign Ministry to gloss over textbook uproar

The approval Tuesday of a controversial history textbook will probably prompt a new wave of criticism from China and South Korea, where concerns have already been voiced over the original 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?