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EDITORIALS
May 22, 2003

A fairer sharing of pensions

A government advisory council on social security is considering a proposal to split company-retirement pensions between husbands and wives. The primary aim is to guarantee pension rights for full-time housewives (those not working part time) in recognition of their household work and other duties such...
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2003

Euro's supporters face uphill battle in Britain

LONDON -- If a strong economy and a strong currency are meant to go hand in hand, the 12-nation euro zone is disproving conventional wisdom, and posing stiff challenges for policymakers with implications for the wider world economy.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 22, 2003

Reading the mind through the face

Victorian Englishmen were not known for feeling comfortable displaying their emotions. Charles Darwin, exceptional in so many other ways, was like his countrymen in this regard, and considered the display of emotions in adult humans to be vestigial, something left over from our evolutionary past. That...
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Report cites flat economy, mounting risks of SARS

The economy remained flat in May, the government said Tuesday. In its monthly economic report, the government also described the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome as a risk factor.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

BOJ decides to pump more cash into system

The Bank of Japan decided Tuesday to pump still more money into the economy amid falling stock prices, a rising yen and the bailout of Resona Bank.
BUSINESS
May 21, 2003

Bill imminent to let insurers shirk on yields

The tripartite ruling coalition approved Tuesday an amended bill that would allow life insurers to cut yields guaranteed to policyholders, resulting in a possible cut in payouts, coalition officials said.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2003

BOJ pumps 1 trillion yen into financial mart

In an effort to maintain stability in the financial system, the Bank of Japan on Monday provided financial institutions with 1 trillion yen via purchases of discount bills.
EDITORIALS
May 19, 2003

Iran's challenge to nonproliferation

The list of international nuclear problems continues to grow. The U.S. war victory over Iraq has presumably ended concerns about that country's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. North Korea's nuclear program is the current focus of international attention. Now the U.S. is ringing the alarm over Iran's...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 18, 2003

Dusty wellspring of a 'cultural gem'

Chen Village's simple appearance belies something profound. This dusty hamlet of fewer than 3,000 people has had an impact on Chinese culture far out of proportion to its size, since this is where Taijiquan was born.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 18, 2003

Top-floor Tokyo

It was 10:30 on a cloudy weekday morning in May, and 40-year-old Masakazu Meguro and his coworkers who make up Calcio Atleta las Manos were happily spending the morning of their precious day off to playing "futsal."
BUSINESS
May 17, 2003

Corporate responsibility in spotlight

If you make up the rules, you've got an excellent chance of winning the game.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 17, 2003

APEC calls for urgent SARS action

Business leaders from member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum wrapped up on Friday a four-day meeting in Tokyo, urging their governments to take decisive action to combat the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Asia.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 17, 2003

Yumi Miyazaki

This year Yumi Miyazaki celebrates a milestone anniversary. One of Japan's earliest ballet masters, she says her career has progressed very naturally. "I feel I have lived five lifetimes in one," she said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 17, 2003

New broom sweeps Seisen into the 21st century

Virginia Villegas was delighted to be asked to return to Japan last year to assist the then head of Seisen International School in Yoga, Tokyo. "When Sister Concesa Martin was elected to the General Council in Rome, I was asked to take over as headmistress," she explains, warm, direct and very perceptive....
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 16, 2003

Strachan looking to complete Southampton's transformation

LONDON -- To mull over a defeat the previous day when he was manager of Coventry City, Gordon Strachan went for a Sunday morning walk.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2003

From Myanmar to Mae Sot

MAE SOT, Thailand F rom a distance, the textile factories near Mae Sot, Thailand, loom like fortified castles. The main buildings resemble fully encased airplane hangers. Cement walls enclose the compounds, though sometimes these, in a decorative touch, are plastered with white stucco. Entrance is via...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2003

Dam Politics

Poverty haunts the people of Myanmar but those who live in remote, landlocked Karenni State are among the poorest of the poor. Karenni, Myanmar's smallest state, is also the least populated with less than 250,000 inhabitants, many of them landless. Communication is poor and there is little employment....
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2003

A great leap forward in China?

Back-to-back calamities are forcing China's leaders to adopt new approaches to governance. A government accustomed to ruling without challenge is now under pressure to restore public confidence in its leadership. Hopes that this might lead to more broad-based political reform are premature, however....
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2003

Myanmar's gestures are not enough

Once again, the military government in Myanmar has made a symbolic gesture to placate international critics. The release of political prisoners is always welcome, but the government in Yangon does not question its right to use the opposition as pawns. The game must stop; nothing less than systemic reform...
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...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Corporate revitalization body rolls up its sleeves

The Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan, the government's latest attempt to deal with the nation's bad-loan mess and resuscitate ailing companies, launched full-blown operations Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

Japan Post to create model offices in bid to reform

Japan Post will try to improve its operations by creating 12 model post offices around the country so employees at its 24,000 outlets can learn about cost-cutting measures and improving productivity, Japan Post President Masaharu Ikuta said in a recent interview.
BUSINESS
May 7, 2003

BOJ board members noted policy's failings

Several members of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board said at an emergency meeting March 25 that quantitative monetary-easing steps taken by the central bank did not produce the desired effects in stimulating the economy, according to minutes of the talks released Tuesday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 4, 2003

The Great Sasuke faces up to political reality

Two recent news items prompted an interesting digression in Asahi Shimbun's unattributed "Tensei Jingo" column April 23. Making initially veiled references to Lower House lawmaker Kenshiro Matsunami's alleged links with underworld figures and the election last month of professional wrestler the Great...
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2003

Hong Kong's blurred sense of identity had a role in SARS fiasco

HONG KNG -- In the end, it took the Chinese Communist Party's nine-member Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) 5 1/2 months to take a public stand on handling the current atypical pneumonia crisis with much greater openness. Guangdong Province experienced the first outbreak of the previously unknown disease...
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2003

Gambling with retirement pay

Experts and the media said the writing was on the wall. Just over three years later, the nightmare became a reality.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat