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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2002

No winners in Shenyang case

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Now that a little time has gone by, and peoples' attention is distracted by the World Cup, it is time for a little quiet thinking about the implications of the Shenyang incident. This was the incident in which Chinese police forcibly removed five North Koreans from the Japanese...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2002

Developing Asia's publishing industry

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- A very interesting conference took place earlier last month in Bangkok with the participation of leading publishers from around Asia. As with many such specialized events, its impact mainly reached people in the publishing industry rather than the public at large. But, because...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Efforts to preserve Ainu language gain momentum

An independent television producer and an Ainu-language teacher recently released a compact disc featuring traditional Ainu stories in a bid to pass down the indigenous minority's language.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Jun 15, 2002

Famed sculptor's mannequins wear evolution of Western haute fashion

The Sugino Costume Museum is ensconced among campus buildings in a quiet residential area in Tokyo's Meguro district frequented by college boys in the days before World War II who were curious to glimpse female dressmaking students in stylish Western clothes.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

World War I POW camp found in Hyogo

ONO, Hyogo Pref. — A local historical committee has recently confirmed that wooden structures in a neighborhood here were once part of a World War I prisoner-of-war camp that housed nearly 500 German and Austrian prisoners.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2002

Defense Agency deals democracy a blow

The mushrooming scandal at Japan's Defense Agency highlights the ongoing struggle between advocates of free speech and government secrecy. The clumsy and duplicitous handling of this affair by the Koizumi administration leaves even the most cynical observers of government speechless.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Man hurt in morning earthquake

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 jolted eastern and northeastern Japan, including metropolitan Tokyo, on Friday, injuring one man, the Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

New Kansai runway faces delay

The transport ministry on Friday sharply lowered its forecast for passenger demand at Kansai International Airport off Osaka, indicating that the scheduled opening of a second runway in 2007 could be delayed.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Emperor, Empress to visit Europe

The government decided Friday on the itinerary for Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko's official visit to Poland and Hungary, and stopovers in the Czech Republic and Austria, next month, government officials said.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Japan, U.S. may hold own meetings on water, energy

Japan and the United States are considering convening separate international environmental meetings on water and energy problems in the leadup to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, government sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

World Cup fever grips the nation as Japan advances to second round

OSAKA — Japan was upbeat Friday as its national team beat Tunisia in a make-or-break match in Osaka to secure a place in the second round of the World Cup soccer finals.
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2002

Corporate bankruptcies fall for first time in five months

May saw 1,696 corporate bankruptcies, a drop of 1.6 percent from a year earlier and the first fall in five months, credit research agency Teikoku Databank Ltd. said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Nakatani says he takes full responsibility for Diet furor

Defense Agency head Gen Nakatani said Friday he is taking full responsibility for the turmoil in the Diet following the suspected attempt by senior ruling party members to withhold a report of a probe into the information disclosure scandal.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Ruling bloc rams medical bills through committee

The ruling coalition rammed a set of medical reform bills through a House of Representatives committee meeting Friday, laying the groundwork for an increase in the ratio of medical expenses paid by salaried workers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Suzuki faces arrest over lumber bribe

Public prosecutors may question senior lawmaker Muneo Suzuki next week on allegations he received 5 million yen in bribes from a Hokkaido lumber firm when he was deputy chief Cabinet secretary in 1998, and seek his arrest, law enforcement sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Report to put heavy pressure on airport execs

OSAKA — The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry's downward revision Friday of the projected number of takeoffs and landings at Kansai International Airport is likely to increase pressure on officials here to postpone the completion date for the second runway beyond 2007.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 15, 2002

S. Korea stuns rattled Portugal

INCHEON, South Korea -- A well-taken goal by Park Ji Sung sealed a famous 1-0 victory for South Korea against Portugal in Incheon on Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 15, 2002

Phil Richardson

Long, long ago, in a preflight age, diplomats and expatriate businessmen in Japan expected their lives to be leisured until the arrival of the next ship with its communications from home offices. Phil Richardson does not belong to such a remote past, but his timing places him at the end of another era...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 15, 2002

The coming imperial hooligan regime

A couple of weeks before the beginning of the World Cup soccer tournament, I went into the local grocery store on my island. Yes, this tiny island has a grocery store -- with four aisles! (sorry, no salad bar). We don't need more than one store, because only 800 people live here on Shiraishi Island....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 15, 2002

The gallery, house, studio and reputation Jay built

Consider this e-mail sent in early May: "What a beautiful day . . . hope you're enjoying the sunshine. It was like living in a rain forest here last week. Finally all my guests have gone, I caught up on sleep, and feel refreshed. Lovely!"
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2002

Postal entities in Europe seek tieup on express mail

Deutsche Post and other European postal firms have asked Japan's Postal Services Agency to conclude tieup arrangements on express mail delivery services, the head of the agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Study on aging finds most seniors active, healthy

The majority of elderly people in Japan are physically in good shape and socially active, according to the fiscal 2001 white paper on aging in society submitted and approved at Friday's Cabinet meeting.
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2002

Tax Commission policy advocates stiffer burdens

The government's Tax Commission on Friday compiled its basic policy for fundamental tax reform over the medium and long terms, aiming for fiscal reform by securing tax revenues.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2002

Sports bars tap into new thirst for soccer

As Japan screamed into the second round of the World Cup with a win over Tunisia on Friday, sports bars in Tokyo lapped up a surge in customers.
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2002

Kawasaki Steel, GMH sign accord

Kawasaki Steel Corp., the nation's third-largest steelmaker, said Friday it and Germany's Georgsmarienhuette GmbH (GMH) have signed a comprehensive tieup accord in the field of special steel bars.
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2002

Ecuador minister to explore family history in Japan

Ecuador trade chief Richard Moss' eight-day visit to Japan beginning June 23 will be a sentimental journey.
COMMENTARY
Jun 15, 2002

Japan remains very abnormal

When the framers of Japan's postwar Constitution included the much-debated Article 9 prohibiting the nation from ever having armed forces or from ever going to war, they had a reason. They saw Japan as a nation with an incurable propensity to slip into militarism.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’