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BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2003

METI to expedite use of storage batteries

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will expedite the use of "electric power storage batteries" charged at night to prevent daytime power shortages, METI officials said Thursday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 18, 2003

Responsibility to protect against state abuse

KUALA LUMPUR -- The annual Asia-Pacific Roundtable is an invaluable opportunity to take the pulse of Southeast Asian thinking about security issues. This year's meeting, the 17th, featured the usual U.S. bashing -- a predictable response to overwhelming American power and the Bush administration's readiness...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2003

Choosing human security

The notion of "human security" has gradually but steadily gained greater international currency. Canada and Japan, especially under former Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy and the late former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, respectively, were prominent early advocates of incorporating the...
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 17, 2003

Igawa is the inspiration as Tigers rip into Giants

Hanshin lefty Kei Igawa pitched the distance to notch his 15th win of the year as the Tigers defeated the Giants 5-1 at Tokyo Dome on Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 17, 2003

Rite of assembly

Suddenly, in the middle of New York City -- or Vienna, or Rome, or Tokyo -- a crowd starts to gather, randomly summoned via the Internet. Each person holds a piece of paper, glancing around, watching the others for a signal. Then silently, the crowd galvanizes, coalesces, swarms and -- with no forewarning...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 17, 2003

The ancient Chinese master Du Fu

THE SELECTED POEMS OF DU FU, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002, 174 pp., $17.50 (paper). Du Fu (712-770 A.D.) is one of the most honored of Chinese poets. He has been called (by Kenneth Rexroth who early translated him) one of the greatest poets "who has survived...
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 17, 2003

New Okinawan theater completes missing link in performing arts

It is a dream come true for Tatsuhiro Oshiro, a native Okinawan and Akutagawa Prize-winning novelist and playwright.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 17, 2003

Combining the best of two worlds

DRAGON BONES, by Lisa See. New York: Random House, 2003, 368 pages, $24.95 (cloth). THE SAMURAI'S DAUGHTER, by Sujata Massey. New York: HarperCollins, 2003, 304 pages, $24.95 (cloth). It is no coincidence that, besides having Eurasian female authors, both of these books feature female detectives with...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 17, 2003

Taking shape: Prehistoric art and us

In the 19th century, scientists finally junked the Biblical idea of a seven-day divine Creation -- with man, at the pinnacle of the process, being fashioned from clay on the sixth day.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Aug 17, 2003

Black widows striking back

MOSCOW -- Animalistic labels stick to terror. Adolf Hitler's commandos were called werewolves; terrorist cells in Turkey in the 1970s, gray wolves; now the Russian media have christened Chechen female suicide bombers black widows.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 17, 2003

Mystery cloaks Hokkaido motifs

Art is part of what makes us human. Primitive or otherwise, though, it is not only about painting pretty pictures, but also about the complex use of symbols and forms of language.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 17, 2003

Adding color to pre- and postwar mentalities

During the ceremony to mark the 58th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba blasted the United States for "worshipping nuclear weapons as God" -- a statement that, understandably, received a great deal of media attention. And while U.S. President George Bush, who is advocating...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 17, 2003

Monastic comparisons and the rightness of left

MONASTIC DISCIPLINE: Vinaya and Orthodox Monasticism, an Attempt at Comparison, by George Sioris. Chiang Mai: The Knowledge Center, 375 pp., 495 baht (paper). LEFT VERSUS RIGHT, by George Sioris. Chiang Mai: The Knowledge Center, 150 pp., 195 baht (paper). George Sioris, a Greek scholar on Asia and a...
EDITORIALS
Aug 16, 2003

Time to reconfirm postwar values

It seems that the Showa Era (1926-89) -- a turbulent period best remembered for the Pacific War -- is fading fast into the past. Reinforcing that impression is the fact that a bill designating April 29 as "Showa Day," a national holiday dedicated to the memories of the Showa Era, passed the Lower House...
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 16, 2003

Uehara is rock solid as Giants blank Tigers

Yomiuri ace Koji Uehara scattered six hits over the distance for his first shutout win of the year as the Giants defeated the Hanshin Tigers 3-0 at Tokyo Dome on Friday, snapping their losing streak against the Central League frontrunners at five.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2003

Enronization of the Bush administration

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush has become the new Kenneth Lay. As chief executive officer of the former juggernaut Enron Corp., Lay presided over a network of deception and malfeasance that led to one of the greatest investor ripoffs in U.S. corporate history. Enron inflated reported income and...
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2003

Itochu inks Iraqi oil import contract

Itochu Corp. has signed a contract to import Iraqi crude oil between October and December, an official of the trading house said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2003

Kamei now concerned over U.S.-EU farm proposal

Agriculture minister Yoshiyuki Kamei voiced concern Friday over a joint proposal issued by the United States and the European Union on World Trade Organization farm trade talks, ministry officials said.
COMMENTARY
Aug 16, 2003

Bridging the U.S.-EU gap

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair sees it as his duty to try to bridge the gap that has widened between America and Europe since U.S. President George W. Bush came to power. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, European support for America was instantaneous and sincere, but American attitudes and behavior...
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2003

WTO rejects Japan's U.S. complaint

The World Trade Organization issued a final report Thursday rejecting Japan's claim that U.S. antidumping duties on corrosion-resistant carbon steel flat products violate WTO rules.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2003

July power output posts record decline

Electric power output slipped 12.5 percent in July from a year earlier, reflecting declining demand for air conditioning amid lower-than-average temperatures nationwide, the Federation of Electric Power Companies said in a preliminary report Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 16, 2003

Friends, the biggest of Japanese ships

This summer I opened an "omiyage" shop on our local beach in an attempt to help promote Shiraishi Island.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2003

A turnaround remembered

HONOLULU -- August stirs memories of the darkest hours in the complicated 150-year history of America's relations with Japan.

Longform

The volunteer lifesavers of Nishihama Surf Lifesaving Club never know what's in store at the start of their day.
It's no simple day at the beach for Japan's volunteer lifesavers