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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 11, 2003

Koreans make good moves

THE KOREAN DIASPORA IN THE WORLD ECONOMY, edited by C. Fred Bergsten and Inbom Choi. Washington D.C.: Institute for International Economics, Special Report 15, January 2003, 180 pp., $25 (paper) In recent years, increasing attention has been given to the social and economic role of diasporas -- communities...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
May 11, 2003

A versatile jazz, classical and Latin lover

The typical image of Latin jazz comes mainly from salsa. Certainly, large bands playing fast-tempo dance music peppered by a hot horn section, thumping bass, razor-sharp piano and a small contingent of percussionists comprise the most common -- and perhaps most exhilarating -- form of Latin jazz.
COMMUNITY
May 11, 2003

Shaking off the shogun's shackles

"The world is wider than we can imagine," said the novelist Iharu Saikaku (1642-93). It's a pregnant thought under a regime doing its utmost to narrow the world. A contemporary of Basho's, Saikaku shows us a restlessness of spirit quite different from the monkish poet's. "There's nothing," declared Saikaku,...
LIFE / Travel
May 11, 2003

Deals on wheels

There are 60 Japan Cycling Association-sponsored Cycling Terminals throughout Japan, including 11 in Hokkaido and five in Kyushu, with the rest scattered fairly evenly throughout Honshu.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 11, 2003

Bailing the banks while letting the debtors die

Reportedly, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has decided to address suicide, which has becomes something of an epidemic over the past decade as the economy continues its skid into the void.
COMMENTARY
May 11, 2003

New round of hope for India, Pakistan

ISLAMABAD -- The latest indications of an emerging peace process between India and Pakistan, South Asia's two nuclear armed neighbors, have momentarily brightened prospects for stability across the region.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 11, 2003

English 'samurai' feted in a hostile land

Anyone who's read James Clavell's "Shogun," or seen the TV mini-series of the same name, is already indirectly acquainted with William Adams, the first Englishman to settle in Japan after a solitary ship of the Dutch trading fleet he was piloting drifted ashore in present-day Oita Prefecture in April...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 11, 2003

Changes in consumer concerns

CONSUMER POLITICS IN POSTWAR JAPAN: The Institutional Boundaries of Citizen Activism, by Patricia Maclachlan. Columbia University Press, New York, 2002, 270 pp., $18.50 (cloth) This excellent study richly evokes the struggle and frustrations of Japanese consumer organizations in the post-World War II...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO
May 11, 2003

Family biking weekends for a song

UTSUNOMIYA -- Comfortable lodging for a family of four, with meals, for less than 20,000 yen? Yes, it's possible, even in Japan. That's all my family paid for a very enjoyable overnight in Utsunomiya, at a public facility that promotes bicycling.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 11, 2003

In praise of tireless women

In Japanese, a jagged stretch of coastline is referred to as riasu, which is taken from the Spanish word "rias." The word is most commonly used on the northwestern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, or Galicia, which is characterized by hundreds of small coves that provide homes for a rich variety of sea...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 11, 2003

Moon over Matsushima

"God made me the messenger of the new heaven and the new earth of which he spoke in the Apocalypse . . ."
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2003

Keeping a lid on SARS

Japan's health authorities are beginning to make a concerted effort to prevent the spread of the SARS epidemic. No case of severe acute respiratory syndrome has been reported in Japan so far, but health officials leave open the possibility that the deadly virus might be brought into the country by people...
MORE SPORTS
May 10, 2003

Sorenstam takes charge

Annika Sorenstam shot a 2-under-par 70 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead in the Nichirei Cup World Ladies tournament, her last tournament before playing in the PGA Tour's Colonial.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Mexico FTA talks set to continue

Senior government officials from Japan and Mexico will hold talks Thursday in Mexico City to accelerate negotiations for a bilateral free-trade agreement, an official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

IMF exec calls for inflation target

An official of the International Monetary Fund suggested Friday that the Bank of Japan adopt an inflation target.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

ANA to give up some airport space

All Nippon Airways Co. plans to return part of its rented office space at Kansai International Airport to the airport operator by the end of October, according to informed sources.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Malfunction sends Japan Net Bank offline

A computer malfunction shut down Japan Net Bank's online deals for 22 hours through Friday afternoon, the company said.
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2003

The purpose of U.S. power

HONOLULU -- President George W. Bush declared victory in the war against Iraq last week. Anyone expecting the president to bask in success would have been surprised by the speech: Bush made clear that Iraq is merely one campaign in the ongoing war against terrorism. A perfunctory reading of the administration's...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 10, 2003

Everything on line for Bolton, West Ham in season finales

LONDON -- As much as both managers are saying they will treat it as "just another game" nobody is convinced by the attempts of West Ham's Trevor Brooking and Sam Allardyce of Bolton to take the pressure off their players as the Premier League season draws to an end on Sunday.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Softbank posts second net loss

Softbank Corp. said Friday its group net loss worsened in the year through March 31 due to hefty outlays to attract new subscribers to its broadband Internet service.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Sorting out the recent fuss over pension funds, share prices

Thought Tokyo stock prices could fall no further? Think again. Corporate pension managers are poised to sell between 2 trillion yen and 3 trillion yen worth of stocks in the coming months -- and think tanks estimate that figure could double.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Lending falls 64th month in row

The balance of loans by banks fell 4.6 percent in April from a year earlier, the 64th straight month of decline, the Bank of Japan said Friday in a preliminary report.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Money supply shows slack growth

Japan's most closely watched money supply gauge rose only 1.4 percent in April from a year earlier for the lowest growth in 9 1/2 years, while the balance of quasi-money, mostly in time deposits, fell 1.6 percent, the Bank of Japan said Friday in a preliminary report.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2003

France deserves far better than the dock

SEOUL -- For those old enough to remember the climactic U.N. Security Council face-off in 1962, during which the United States confronted the Soviet Union with incontrovertible evidence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, there's a lesson here. When America's U.N. ambassador, Adlai Stevenson, accused his Soviet...
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2003

Let market forces decide corporate fates

WASHINGTON -- America's series of corporate scandals have demonstrated the power of the market to discipline errant businesses. Market forces can also rehabilitate firms, unless Uncle Sam decides to shoot the economy's wounded.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 10, 2003

Fukudome breathes life into Dragons

Kosuke Fukudome nailed a three-run homer in the eighth inning and singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth as the Chunichi Dragons came from behind to beat the Yomiuri Giants 7-5 at Tokyo Dome on Friday for their third straight win.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Ikuta against using postal savings to prop up stocks

Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta said Friday he is against calls for the new public postal corporation to dump more funds from postal savings and insurance into the flagging stock market.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 10, 2003

Law unto himself meets Japanese country singer

Hearing a great cover of the country song "All You Ever Do Is Hurt Me" as he descended into Kenny's Country Music Station one Saturday evening in 2001, Chicago-born Dan Rosen wondered who the American woman singing it was. Imagine his surprise, then, when he looked at the stage and heard "this big, really...
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

DBJ eyes stake in Mizuho venture

The governmental Development Bank of Japan plans to take a stake in a joint venture that Mizuho Financial Group Inc. wants to form by July to help rehabilitate troubled corporate borrowers, sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2003

Consumer pessimism lifts slightly

The key index of consumer confidence in Tokyo rose 1.7 points in April from the previous month to 40.5, up for the first time in two months, the government said Friday.

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