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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2003

Kim Jong Il vanished to weigh options

SEOUL -- It looks as if U.S. Tomahawk missiles aimed at Iraqi President Saddam Hussein have also spooked the "Great Leader" of North Korea's hunger-stricken regime. Kim Jong Il, chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, remained hidden from public view for 44 days, after he visited...
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2003

A sensible option in Iraq War

With U.S. forces closing in on Baghdad, internecine street-to-street fighting remains a possibility. One can only hope this does not happen. The war reached a decisive stage on Friday when the 3rd Infantry Division seized control of Saddam Hussein International Airport on the outskirts of the capital....
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2003

Lawmakers don't want SDF in Iraq without welcome from Arab leaders

Japan's ruling coalition said Sunday that any dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces to help with the reconstruction of Iraq would require the approval of the war-torn nations' neighbors.
COMMENTARY
Apr 7, 2003

Diplomatic tests await Tokyo

Japanese diplomacy will face a real test over the question: How will the country participate in Iraq's postwar reconstruction?
MORE SPORTS
Apr 6, 2003

Rain causes Murofushi to skip meet

World silver medalist hammer thrower Koji Murofushi skipped a trial meet at Toyota, Aichi Prefecture on Saturday, opting out of what would have been his season-opening competition due to rain.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 6, 2003

Gral's late goal earns Jubilo share of points

Brazilian striker Gral headed in an injury-time equalizer as defending champion Jubilo Iwata scraped a 1-1 draw at Gamba Osaka in the J. League on Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

State duped over 104 tons of beef

Around 104 tons of beef the government purchased through a program to help farmers cope with mad cow disease did not meet eligibility requirements, farm ministry officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

New environment tax to begin in fiscal 2005

The Environment Ministry hopes to introduce a temporary tax on coal, gasoline and other fossil fuels in fiscal 2005 in an effort to reduce the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, ministry sources said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2003

Embedded in war's twilight zone

One of the most unusual things about the quite unusual war going on in Iraq is the presence of so-called embedded reporters, or "embeds," assigned to British and U.S. ground units, aviation units, ships and headquarters throughout the combat zone. The only difficulty is trying to figure out the significance...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 6, 2003

Popping up everywhere

GLOBAL GOES LOCAL: Popular Culture in Asia, edited by Timothy J. Craig and Richard King. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2002, 310 pp. with illustrations, $24 (paper) It is commonly observed that as the political hegemony of the West has grown, so has its cultural dominance: Mickey Mouse, Elvis...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 6, 2003

Your passport to the Belgian brews

Belgium is a relatively small country and yet it boasts more specialist and boutique breweries than any other nation on earth. Tokyoites have, for more than a decade, been enjoying Belgium's finest at a handful of Belgian beer bars, like the original Brussels and more recent Belgo chains -- though, without...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

SARS scare results in lonely flights to Hong Kong

Major international airports in Japan saw a sharp decrease in travelers heading for Hong Kong on Saturday after local and international authorities issued travel warnings over severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2003

Masters of potions past

Your interest may have been aroused by a friend's story of how, after trying kanpo (Chinese herbal medicine), their pollen allergy has not been so problematic this season. Or, on the other hand, you may have been intrigued by magazine articles with eye-catching headlines like "The Chinese medicine way...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2003

A legend from Kyoto to Kerouac and way beyond

Gar Snyder is a legendary figure. The real-life original of Japhy Ryder -- traveling companion, friend and spiritual inspiration to the novelist Jack Kerouac -- he appears in that guise in Kerouac's 1959 novel, "The Dharma Bums." There, speaking as Ryder, he announces that, after study in the East, he...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Apr 6, 2003

Rock with a nasty bite

"What the hell happened to the Cobra Chicks?" I say, slapping last year's "Loaded" album onto the cafe table. Four rock chicks stare up at me from the CD jacket pulling pouty poses so effortlessly steamy that only a eunuch or a nun could resist dashing off to snap up a ticket for the next show.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

Sign-language Bible to be made for video, DVD

Two Christian associations have begun a 15-year mission to produce a sign-language Bible to be made available on video and DVD.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2003

Muslim 'jihad' not always a call to arms

HONOLULU -- In the flickering images on the television tube, anti-American Muslim demonstrators in Cairo, their faces contorted in anger, promised they would rush to Iraq to take up arms against the American invaders in a "jihad" to defend Islam.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2003

Sampling the sharp end of tradition

M shoulders have been stiff for years. I used to think the solid lump back there was simply a strange bit of bone structure I'd got somehow. In fact, I'd had my shoulder problem for so long that I had come to accept it as a fact of life.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 6, 2003

The grand illusions

Since celebrity is more a matter of exploiting opportunities than exploiting talent, this week's "Friday Showtime" (NHK-G, 8 p.m.) can be seen as an object lesson in cross-disciplinary synergy. Billed as an "astonishing entertainment" program featuring "music, comedy and illusion," the show brings together...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2003

Whole-istic medicine: being treated the traditional Chinese way

Thanks to modern medicine, many diseases that were fatal a few decades ago can now be cured. And with the decoding of the human genome, Western medicine is on the verge of taking another mighty leap forward.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2003

Ito-Yokado president to become CEO

Sakae Isaka, an Ito-Yokado Co. senior managing director, will succeed Toshifumi Suzuki as president, and Suzuki will become chairman and chief executive officer, company sources said Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2003

Finale in Baghdad may delay the peace

ISLAMABAD -- The Bush administration's race to take Baghdad, the grand finale in its military campaign, leads to many questions about what may turn out to be a much more lethal war than expected against an Islamic country. The United States may be heading toward military victory, but the conduct of the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 6, 2003

Selfishness and greed motor the American Dream

Watching the war in Iraq from the vantage point of Japan, you don't get as much of the propaganda-like white noise that accompanies the coverage if you're watching it from the United States or the Middle East. But that doesn't mean you get less information.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Apr 6, 2003

Will Hussein go out quietly?

MOSCOW -- Last week a number of American officials were saying that the war in Iraq was not unfolding as quickly as had been hoped. The remarks sound like excessive modesty because the war has actually proceeded much more smoothly than its opponents predicted.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Apr 6, 2003

Like no other country on earth

"Bom . . . bash . . . bom . . . bash . . ." The savage thud of big drums echoed off the alley walls, shook the cobbles and rattled the wonky Belgian shutters.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji