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JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Prime minister's policy speech

The following is a provisional translation of the policy speech given Monday by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the 151st session of the Diet:
BUSINESS
May 4, 2001

Disabled drivers call for more specialized options

With the nation's population aging rapidly and disabled people leading more active lives, Japanese automakers have turned much of their attention to introducing specially designed "welfare vehicles" in recent years.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 15, 2001

Love and commiseration, all in a day's work

Show-biz synergy reaches critical mass Saturday with the premiere of "Ashita ga Arusa" (NTV, 9 p.m.). The title, which translates as "there is a tomorrow," meaning you should work hard because the future is always staring you in the face, was also the title of a popular song by Kyu Sakamoto in the '60s....
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 1, 2001

Let us now praise famous men's mothers

It's spring and time for the networks to start rolling out their latest batch of series.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 25, 2001

Shisen Fukasawa

"Examples of the earliest beginnings of expressive writing go back as far as Egyptian hieroglyphic writings found on animal bones, Hindustan writings found in India, Sumerian inscriptions and Chinese characters found on tortoise shell. Of these, Chinese characters alone remain today in their original...
CULTURE / Books
Feb 20, 2001

Britain and America's struggle for Asia

INTELLIGENCE AND THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN: Britain, America and the Politics of Secret Service, by Richard J. Aldrich. Cambridge University Press, April 2000, 500 pp., 22.95 British pounds (cloth). "Foreign secretary. What do you say? I am lukewarm and therefore looking for guidance. On the whole I incline...
COMMENTARY
Feb 19, 2001

Defense issues move to the fore

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, in a policy speech to the Diet Jan. 31, stated: "Emergency legislation (designed to defend Japan in the event of foreign aggression) is necessary to ensure the security of the state and the people. I intend to initiate considerations in this regard." Earlier, on Jan. 26,...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2001

Afghanistan and the gods of little things

God's preferences on dietary matters are well-known: no pork for Jews or Muslims, no beef for Hindus, and no saturated fats or refined sugar for the Western upper-middle class. But this is the first time he has taken such a strong line on haircuts.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

Mori highlights reform, recovery, IT

Introduction At the opening of the 151st session of the Diet, as the prime minister of Japan charged with the affairs of state as we mark the turn of the century, I would like to state my views as I once again brace myself to bear forward the burden of responsibility in this historical era.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

Mori highlights reform, recovery, IT

Introduction At the opening of the 151st session of the Diet, as the prime minister of Japan charged with the affairs of state as we mark the turn of the century, I would like to state my views as I once again brace myself to bear forward the burden of responsibility in this historical era.
COMMUNITY
Jan 28, 2001

Float, crab, shrimp and base

There was something profoundly shocking about sitting on the sidelines to watch a hefty adult male throw himself between the legs of a teenage girl and then try forcibly to get into her underwear. How could this be right? Self-defense techniques for women are to be applauded, but this was too close to...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 28, 2001

Beauty can be ugly -- insouciant Frenchman

What makes a great photographer? An artist usually needs to have special skills or unique concepts, but a photographer in a well-lit studio with the right equipment and beautiful models can get by even without good timing if he uses enough film and then selects the best images.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2001

Bureaucratic reform date set

Basic reform principles for Japan's civil service and special public corporations will be drafted by June, Ryutaro Hashimoto, minister in charge of administrative reforms, said Thursday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 1, 2001

Eye-openers for the new year

GREETINGS FROM EROS!: Hokusai and the Erotic Calendar-Print. Richard Lane, bilingual (Japanese/English) text. Tokyo: Kawade Shobo, 2000. Unpaginated, profusely illustrated -- color plates, b/w photos, 3,800 yen. Sending calendar prints as New Year salutations was one of the amenities of traditional...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 28, 2000

Down's diagnoses defied

Hope was not in the prognosis that doctors gave to Chie Myo, after examining her first son, Shunsuke, at the age of 3 months. They diagnosed the baby as having been born with Mongolism, a derogatory term previously used for Down syndrome, and predicted that he would not live long, saying a mere cold...
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2000

Mori allots 250 billion yen toward IT 'revolution'

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Monday unveiled the breakdown of a 700 billion yen special budget that places special emphasis on efforts to realize an information technology "revolution" in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 14, 2000

Network crusades for dogs in distress

If the pope were to visit Yokohama, he would have to consider Kiyoto Kitaura for sainthood, for the modern-day St. Francis is nothing short of a godsend to animals in need.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2000

Mori names new Cabinet

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori unveiled his new Cabinet on Tuesday evening, retaining six key ministers and making a surprise decision to appoint former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto ahead of a major administrative realignment that will take place on Jan. 6.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2000

Obstacles in the road to a toxic-free future

The international community comes together in Johannesburg, South Africa this week (Dec. 4-9) under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program to conclude the draft of an historic treaty to rid the world of its most toxic and harmful chemicals.
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2000

Japan officials scratch heads over uninvited guest Fujimori

Japanese government officials are vexed over reports that former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, who disappeared Wednesday afternoon from a Tokyo hotel, hopes to stay in Japan for an extended period of time.
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2000

Japan to propose culture exchange with South Korea, China

Japan will propose to China and South Korea this week that the three neighbors designate 2002 a special year of cultural and personnel exchanges in an effort to promote mutual understanding and friendship, government sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2000

Residency given despite false 'war orphan' claim

Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka granted a special residency permit Tuesday to a 39-year-old Chinese man and his family who arrived in Japan in 1994 and passed themselves off as the blood relatives of a Japanese "war orphan."
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 12, 2000

A long, reflective sip of sake's craft and science

Sake's history goes back centuries and centuries, but just how many is a matter of debate. Regardless of the answer, over the last century or so gains in sake-brewing methods and technology have been exponential.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2000

Vietnam proves a reluctant reformer

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Foreign investors have not been showing any confidence in Vietnam's Doi Moi (liberalization) program recently. Socialist market economics, Vietnamese-style, have not proved as attractive as the Chinese version. After the initial euphoria of the early 1990s, when foreign companies...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 28, 2000

Keeping it plain and simple for the serious sake drinker

Some of the best sake can be tasted these days at modern, shiny, artsy-craftsy sake pubs. These present some of the most lively and interesting environments in which to hang out with nihonshu. But sometimes, what we seek in a sake pub is more of an out-of-the-way feeling. Sometimes its anonymity that...
EDITORIALS
Sep 25, 2000

The Whitewater washout

The independent counsel investigating U.S. President Bill Clinton in connection with the Whitewater scandal has determined that neither the president nor his wife "knowingly participated in any criminal conduct . . . or knew of such conduct." The investigation, announced Mr. Robert Ray in a summary released...
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2000

Current 'soft' Myanmar policy was threatened by Suu Kyi's detention

Foreign-policy makers are relieved -- at least for now -- that their long-standing policy of "constructive engagement" toward Myanmar survived its biggest potential challenge with Thursday's release of prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from 12 days of effective house arrest.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2000

Tokyo disaster drill features SDF in big way

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's annual major disaster-relief drill Sunday will feature the participation of Self-Defense Forces troops on an unprecedented scale -- 7,100 service members, 1,090 vehicles, 80 aircraft and five ships -- at 10 venues throughout the capital.

Longform

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