search

 
 
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

Yamanote adds English and standing room

Come April, Tokyo's Yamanote Line will be kinder to English-speaking foreign passengers.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

54 people killed in holiday traffic accidents

The National Police Agency said Friday that 54 people died in traffic accidents during the Jan. 1-3 New Year's holidays, up by seven from the same period last year.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

JET Program doing its job but in need of reform: expert

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Program has improved English education in Japan and has promoted mutual cultural understanding between Japanese and people from other countries since its inception in 1987, according to the chairman of the program's evaluation committee.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

Theater eyes alliance with Globe

The nation's oldest Kabuki theater in the town of Kotohira, Kagawa Prefecture, is working to forge an alliance with Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, according to Kotohira Mayor Masaomi Yamashita.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2002

New blue-chip index planned

The over-the-counter stock market plans to create a new index of blue-chip issues in April to attract more investors to the market.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2002

Mazda lets buyers fine-tune Roadster

If you are a fan of Mazda Motor Corp.'s Roadster, shopping for your next new car might be a little different than what you expect.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2002

Chuo Mitsui logs bad-loans criteria

Chuo Mitsui Trust & Banking Co. has adopted interest rate-based criteria to clarify the definition of problem loans.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

Politicians' assets average 46 million yen

Members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly possess assets worth 45.86 million yen on average, down 45 percent from four years ago, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 5, 2002

13 another lucky number for 'surimono' albums

David Bull is as insistent as he is stubborn. No sooner has he sat me down beside his workbench (the only warm room in the house), with younger daughter Fumi (16) creating a Web page on the computer on top of the "kotatsu," then he is demanding how much I know about "hanga" (woodblock prints).
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 5, 2002

The trucks and bolts of perfect massage

Anyone who has spent some time in Asia has become familiar with massage. You can get all kinds of massage here: Japanese "shiatsu," Chinese foot massage, Thai, Vietnamese and even Swedish massage. But all the different methods can be confusing. Let me set it straight for you.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2002

Yoshimoto hopes to give Chinese TV comic relief

OSAKA -- Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., a major Osaka-based entertainment company, plans to enter the comedy entertainment business in China, the president of the company said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

20 treated at hospitals for choking on 'mochi'

Twenty people in Tokyo, mostly elderly, received treatment at hospitals this week after choking on traditional "mochi" rice cakes, the Tokyo Fire Department said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

More to laser surgery than meets the eye

Corneal laser surgery may be a sight for sore eyes for people suffering from nearsightedness or those just tired of wearing glasses, but experts warn that people considering the increasingly popular operation need to be well-informed about the procedure and its possible results before going under the...
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2002

Telecom body predicts 3% annual growth through 2006

The value of domestic sales and exports of telecommunications equipment and devices is expected to grow by an average 3.3 percent annually over the next five years, the Communication Industry Association of Japan said in a recently released report.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

Health law designed to cut 'lifestyle illnesses'

The health ministry plans to draft a law to make local governments design health promotion plans to prevent diseases related to smoking and other vices, ministry officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

TSE has positive start

The Tokyo Stock Exchange kicked off 2002 on an upbeat note Friday, with share prices forging ahead along a broad front during the half-day session.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 5, 2002

Hiroshi Ito

When he was a merry little boy in Seijo in the '50s, Hiroshi Ito disliked having to practice playing the piano. As often as he could, he escaped to play outdoors with his friends. When he advanced to Meiji University, however, with the aid of an instruction book he taught himself to play the banjo. Once...
EDITORIALS
Jan 4, 2002

In Argentina's present, Japan's future?

The New Year has been anything but festive in Argentina. Thousands of Argentines have taken to the streets, banging pots and pans, but they are venting frustrations, not celebrating. Their target is the country's political class, which has dithered and postured as Argentina has slid into an economic...
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2002

Dads take child-care leave at own risk

Minoru Omoishi, 35, took three months' leave in 1999 to care for his newborn triplets.
COMMENTARY
Jan 4, 2002

Globalization's Faustian pact

LONDON -- The glories of globalization are taking on the specious glitter of a Faustian pact. We human beings have been promised that capitalism will never die; the threats of crashes, revolution and depression have been banished by vigorous free markets and judicious state interventions, all held in...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 4, 2002

Auction house strikes out with bogus Ichiro bat

A good friend of mine collects sports memorabilia and contacted me last month with an interesting tale.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 4, 2002

Kwansei Gakuin prevails in Rice Bowl

The collegiate champion Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters not only beat the X League champion Asahi Beverage Challengers but also shut down criticism that the annual national championship game should not be played between the college and company leagues.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2002

Holidaymakers begin crawl back home

Major train stations and airports nationwide saw massive crowds Thursday as New Year's holidaymakers began returning to their homes ahead of the resumption of business today.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2002

Blizzard disrupts traffic across central Japan

The season's coldest air mass so far brought heavy snow and disrupted air and land traffic Thursday in much of central Japan.

Longform

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