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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Sep 8, 2002

Judicial biases shape the American way

NEW YORK -- The first time I knew that Japan's Supreme Court was not really supreme but just another political arm of the state was when it ruled on the Sunagawa Incident. In December 1959, it reversed the Tokyo District Court's ruling that the Japan-U.S. Mutual Security Treaty was unconstitutional....
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2002

Public backs road entity privatization

A majority of the people polled by Kyodo News support privatization of the nation's four public road entities but oppose a total freeze on construction of highways that would not be commercially viable.
COMMUNITY
Sep 8, 2002

Hey Taxi!

An arm stuck out from the sidewalk and Hideaki pulled up his cab, let the customer in . . . and immediately sensed trouble.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 8, 2002

The Japanese attachment to umbilical cords

In James Joyce's "Ulysses," the hero Stephen Dedalus imagines making a telephone call to Eden using an umbilical cord as a cable. The humor of the scene derives from the wry disregard that most Westerners have for this most curious of temporary appendages, this ultimate reason for the belly-button.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 8, 2002

The 21st-century Yujiro Ishihara's brother

Several years ago, the production company that used to be headed by the late heartthrob Yujiro Ishihara staged a contest to find the "Yujiro Ishihara of the 21st Century." Among the aspiring young actors who entered the contest was Kotaro Koizumi, whose politician father was not yet prime minister. Kotaro...
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2002

More hibakusha seek recognition as sufferers of radiation sickness

Survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki asked prefectural governments Friday to recognize them as sufferers of radiation sickness.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2002

Postal panel compiles final report

An advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Friday compiled a final report featuring three plans for the future privatization of the nation's postal services.
BUSINESS
Sep 7, 2002

Forex reserves break record again

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves hit a new record for the fifth month in a row at the end of August, rising $2.98 billion from a month earlier to $456.07 billion, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / FOR KIDS
Sep 6, 2002

The bittersweet business of chocolate

Rich, creamy chocolate . . . Can you resist it? If you can, you're one in a million. Most people's appetite for chocolate seems to know no bounds. Consumers can already choose from thousands of chocolate products, and yet new variants -- such as organic chocolate bars and chocolate-flavored soya milk...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 6, 2002

Dung beetle

* Japanese name: Oosenchikogane * Scientific name: Geotrupes auratus * Description: Dung beetles are robust, powerful insects with an excellent sense of smell. They are metallic-green with a red tint and are 17-22 mm long. The antennae of this family of dung beetles end in a dull club-shape. * Where...
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2002

Home minister meets group over info security issues

The home affairs minister and representatives of a nationwide association of prefectural governors met Wednesday in Tokyo to exchange views on information security.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2002

Japan Asia invests in Okinawa firm

The holding company of Japan Asia Securities Co. said Wednesday it will acquire 51 percent of the outstanding shares in Okinawa Securities Co., based in Naha, to make the firm a group member.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2002

U.S. alliance least served by genuflecting: expert

Japan needs to think strategically and hold dialogue with the United States in that light if it wants to be a true ally, according to a former deputy chief of the Defense Agency.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2002

Osaka officials declare USJ drinking fountains safe

OSAKA -- Osaka city officials on Tuesday declared the drinking fountains at the Universal Studios Japan theme park safe.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2002

Designed to dazzle: a lacquerware celebration

The quintessential Japanese aesthetic is that of wabi sabi, a beauty associated with things that are simple, rustic, unpolished or even plain rundown. It is perhaps surprising, then, that this aesthetic is so little in evidence at an extensive exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum of one of Japan's...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2002

Sanyo touts home-use sensor to gauge sleep apnea

OSAKA -- A new sensor developed by Sanyo Electric Co. could help people with sleep apnea, and may eventually regulate the environment in which one sleeps.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2002

Zero-interest account plan poised to solve nothing

Banks don't want it. Most depositors don't need it. Many politicians oppose it. A compromise plan financial regulators are preparing is supposed to appease critics, help save the nation's weakest banks, and protect one of the key reform pledges of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. It may accomplish none...
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2002

Panel seeks new zero-interest accounts

An advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged financial institutions Monday to create fully protected zero-interest accounts by April.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2002

Plans submitted for zones with economic privileges

Municipalities, universities and businesses have put forward a total of 300 proposals to ease regulations and grant economic privileges to government-designated areas and help recession-hit regional economies, government officials said Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Sep 1, 2002

Losers sometimes prosper

There are two grown men on my futon playing with dolls, and I'm standing above them taking photos. We're all dripping in sweat, and I'm hoping my girlfriend doesn't suddenly come home and catch us at it. She might get the wrong idea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 1, 2002

Reaching for the skyline

Sixty-nine-year-old British architect Sir Richard Rogers has been one of the world's foremost architects for the last 30 years. Awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1985, he was further rewarded for his outstanding achievements with a knighthood from the Queen six years...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 1, 2002

Hitting English language-learning overdrive

The Japanese media is in the middle of another of its sporadic English-language learning frenzies, which, this time, seems to have been sparked by an Education Ministry decision to promote English conversation lessons in public elementary schools.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Koizumi, Hiranuma blast Tepco over alleged nuclear-hazard coverup

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi slammed Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Friday for allegedly falsifying reports on problems discovered at its nuclear plants.
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
Aug 31, 2002

Reactions to 9/11 as scary as the attacks

For my friend Azusa, it was supposed to be a long-waited vacation in New York City. Despite a big autumn typhoon, her Continental Air flight to Newark took off from Narita on time at 4 p.m. and she began to doze off, expecting a long flight to the East Coast as usual.
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Koizumi-Kim talks a year in the works

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's stated intention to visit Pyongyang is the result of a year of assessment by Tokyo of whether North Korea is serious about improving bilateral ties.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2002

Panel formalizes road-firm privatization report

A key government panel on Friday formalized an interim report on ways to privatize four road-related public corporations, proposing to freeze a number of pending highway projects and minimize the financial burden on taxpayers.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 30, 2002

Bad behavior hurting soccer once again

LONDON -- The beautiful game has been wearing its ugly face in the opening weeks of the season.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2002

Psychiatry confab ends with plea

YOKOHAMA -- The 12th World Congress of Psychiatry (WCP) ended Thursday at the Pacifico Yokohama convention center with a declaration calling on countries to provide the best possible treatment for those with mental illnesses.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 30, 2002

Harbor seal

* Japanese name: Zenigata-azarashi * Scientific name: Phoca vitulina stejnegeri * Description: Harbor seals are pinnipeds -- mammals adapted to life in the ocean. Their limbs are modified into flippers, each with five digits. The fore flippers are used for grooming, scratching and fighting; the hind...

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