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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 24, 2002

And for your comic delight: The Suzuki Show

Contrary to popular belief, what's good for the goose is not always good for the gander. When Makiko Tanaka was ousted as foreign minister, tears helped crystallize a victim image that guarantees her political longevity. On the other hand, those of Muneo Suzuki, the main victim of Makiko's victimhood,...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 24, 2002

Tune in for the final stretch

Next Sunday, Nippon TV's irreverent variety show "Denpa Shonen," the prototype of bizarre Japanese reality-TV programs, will once again end its long successful run with a pledge to be reincarnated in the near future. On Saturday at 9 p.m., however, there will be a special two-hour installment summing...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 24, 2002

Helmsdale: A spot of haggis and ale, lads?

Helmsdale is not so much a pub as a shrine to the "water of life," known to the ancient Gaelic peoples as uisge beatha and to their modern-day descendants as whisky. Almost every inch of space is devoted to it, from the groaning shelves of classic single malts arrayed behind the counter to the empty...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 24, 2002

Shimoda sounds a literary lament

SAN FRANCISCO -- A foreigner in Japan is an outsider by default, a fact foreign residents have lamented for centuries in what is now a ritualized barstool grievance: "I've lived here for so long, learned the language, love my natto, but still . . . "
EDITORIALS
Mar 23, 2002

Taiwan flexes its muscles

There appears to be a new confidence in Taiwan these days. The island government senses new diplomatic opportunities and is wasting no time in exploiting them. That is understandable, but Taipei must also be cautious. Over-reaching will only anger China, which is ever sensitive to the status of the island...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2002

Democracy gains a foothold in Cambodia

WASHINGTON -- Official returns have confirmed a broad sweep of Cambodia's ruling party, the Cambodia People's Party, in the country's first local elections. Critics in the U.S. policy community cite these elections as proof that democracy has failed in Cambodia. By their measure, elections are the sole...
SUMO
Mar 23, 2002

Musashimaru downs Kaio, moves one win away from title

OSAKA -- Yokozuna Musashimaru shoved down ozeki Kaio for his 12th win at the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament on Friday and moved to within a win of taking home the championship hardware for the 10th time in his career.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

Daiwa announces tieup with Agricole

Daiwa Bank Holdings Inc., the nation's fifth-largest banking group, on Friday announced a business alliance with French bank Credit Agricole SA.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2002

Target nonperforming loans, not deflation

While there is good reason to be concerned about the state of Japan's economy, analysts wrongly target deflation as the main villain in this tale. Contrary to received wisdom, Japan's economic slump is not the result of price deflation. Nor are aggressive expansions of fiscal and monetary policies the...
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

Peru no longer a favored destination of Japanese ODA

Japanese official development assistance for Peru has plunged sharply amid a chill in diplomatic ties over the fate of Alberto Fujimori, the former Peruvian president of Japanese descent.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

U.S. airlines set to switch Narita slots

Transport minister Chikage Ogi indicated Friday that Japan will allow Delta Air Lines to transfer some of its slots to FedEx Corp. at Narita airport, as the United States has requested.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

BOJ is almost positive in latest economic assessment

The Bank of Japan on Friday upgraded its economic assessment for the first time in 20 months, citing improvements in exports and inventories.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 23, 2002

Personal agenda with Taisho feminist literature

Woken earlier in the day, Anne Sokolsky was so sleepy she assumed me to be a Japanese woman speaking bad English rather than the other way around. A rocky start dispelled by the wide-awake vivacity with which she approached me at Tokyo's Yotsuya Station midafternoon.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

Asian economies looking stronger

Asian economies -- other than Japan -- are expected to stage a strong rebound this year thanks to a faster-than-expected recovery in demand for information technology products resulting from the U.S. economic recovery, Nomura Research Institute said.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 23, 2002

Erich A. Berendt

After several years' membership in The Asiatic Society of Japan, Erich A. Berendt was elected to the society's council. Since 2000 he has been serving conscientiously and actively as the society's president.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 23, 2002

Gods and sea monsters: culture quiz

It's time for another Japanese culture quiz!
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

Mitsubishi Materials plans to sell Osaka's OAP Towers

Mitsubishi Materials Corp. plans to sell its 50 percent stake in OAP Towers, a building in Osaka, to a company outside its group, the company said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

Sumitomo Life to raise 150 billion yen

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. said Friday it will raise 150 billion yen in perpetual subordinated loans from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and other concerns by the end of March in a bid to strengthen its financial standing.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

80% of companies hesitant to adopt group tax system

Some 80 percent of companies said they are hesitant about adopting a new group taxation system to be introduced in fiscal 2002, due to a 2 percent surtax on profits that could result in higher taxes overall, according to a recent poll conducted by Daiwa Institute of Research.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

Snow Brand Foods to sell additives unit to Nissho Iwai

Snow Brand Foods Co., a meat processor and subsidiary of Snow Brand Milk Products Co., said Friday that it will sell its imported food additives operation to trading house Nissho Iwai Corp. on March 31.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2002

A silver lining in Gujarat state's riots

The death of around 800 people in the recent riots in Gujarat state was a sobering reminder of the primeval passions and tribal savagery that can be unleashed so ferociously at a moment's notice in India. They were an antidote to the unbridled optimism that saw only an emerging information-technology...
SUMO
Mar 22, 2002

Maru stays on top

OSAKA -- Yokozuna Musashimaru shook off the challenge of sekiwake Kotomitsuki on Thursday to post his 11th win of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament and remain one step ahead of ozeki Kaio and No. 11 maegashira Takanowaka.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Mar 22, 2002

Japan stifles Ukraine

OSAKA -- Japan's first match of this World Cup year ended in success on Thursday as it beat Ukraine 1-0 at Nagai Stadium in Osaka.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2002

Invest in the world's future

In rural areas of Bangladesh, most girls marry at a very young age -- not because they wish to, but because their families cannot afford to send them to school.
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2002

America's dangerous nuclear posture

The leak of a Pentagon report on the U.S. nuclear posture has unleashed a storm of controversy. Critics argue that it lowers the threshold at which the United States will use its nuclear weapons. That is not necessarily true. The cornerstone of the U.S. posture continues to be deterrence. The real concern...
MORE SPORTS
Mar 22, 2002

Revenge time: Bunnies jump all over Seibu

It was time for a little payback.

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’