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EDITORIALS
Aug 9, 2001

Argentina's turn in the spotlight

There has been a dangerous complacency in the world of international finance since the Asian financial crisis of 1997. Although that contagion spread through emerging markets with breathtaking speed, once the crisis was weathered, talk of real global financial reform was first muted and then seemed to...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 9, 2001

Teetering Toto scores on own goal

A rush of adrenaline ran through my inebriated body when I read the Toto results one Saturday evening a few months back. Hang on, better check that again, was my thinking at the time. According to the numbers on my computer screen, I had all the day's numbers correct with only three games to be played...
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Aug 9, 2001

Hidden treasures in south Kyushu

Aside from the feral horses and the splendid views from Cape Toimisaki, southeastern Kyushu is known for its "living fossils": the cycads.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2001

With election over, focus turns to reforms

The Tokyo stock market has reacted little to the ruling coalition's victory in last month's Upper House election, as the outcome was well within expectations.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2001

MSDF unit sent to Ehime Maru site

Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani on Wednesday ordered the dispatch of about 130 Maritime Self-Defense Force members to Hawaii to assist the U.S. Navy in salvaging the Japanese fisheries training ship Ehime Maru.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2001

Stock market slump drives business confidence down further

Business confidence deteriorated further in the April-June period from the previous quarter to its lowest level in 21/2 years, mainly on a continued decline in stock prices and exports, the government said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 9, 2001

Wolverine mouse regenerates heart tissue

In the movie "X-Men," humans with genetic mutations displayed supernatural powers: telepathy, weather control, telekinesis, the ability to create magnetic fields, etc. All clearly sci-fi, comic-book stuff, above nature . . . or was it?
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2001

Jusco to open more stores in 2002

OSAKA -- Supermarket chain operator Jusco Co. plans to open more than 10 new stores in the 2002 business year, company sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2001

Feelings run deep about Yasukuni

Staff writer Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi says he simply wants to pay his respects for those who died for Japan.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2001

Smart phones to link with Coca-Cola machines

Co. and trading house Itochu Corp. said Wednesday they will launch a joint trial service linking DoCoMo's multimedia cellular phones with beverage vending machines in Tokyo's Shibuya and Odaiba districts in September. After subscribing via i-mode, DoCoMo's cellular-based Internet service, users will...
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2001

Support for U.S. bases may be cut

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa hinted that defense spending, including its financial support as host nation for the U.S. military, will be reviewed for possible cuts in the fiscal 2002 budget, a senior government official said.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2001

Public service seeks longer leave for caring

The National Personnel Authority submitted a report to the government Wednesday requesting that public servants be granted leave to care for children aged up to 3, officials of the organization said.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2001

Maid, machinist get life for murder

OSAKA -- A former maid and her male acquaintance were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for robbing and strangling her employer in 1999 in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, and dumping his body in Aomori Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2001

Shiokawa vows to prevent negative growth

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa reiterated Wednesday that the government will take all necessary measures to prop up the economy if it falls into negative growth on an annual basis.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2001

War criminal kin's widow on peace quest

Shizue Sugano, 60, a relative by marriage to Class-A war criminal Koki Hirota, embarked on her antiwar pilgrimage in 1994.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2001

Civil servants may face second year without a raise

For the second year in a row, the National Personnel Authority has recommended withholding a pay raise for employees of the central government in a belt-tightening move reflecting the severity of the economic downturn.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 9, 2001

Injunction process hopeless; fate of Bullfrog Pond sealed

The fate of Bullfrog Pond now rests in the hands of a Tokyo District Court judge, but the wheels of justice turn slowly in Japan. The court has yet to grant a crucial injunction, and hearings have dragged into their third month. Meantime, the pond in Tokyo's Minato Ward, known as Gama-ike, is being destroyed....
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2001

Eyes wide open

French auteurs rediscover the human condition French cinema has long been identified with auteur filmmaking of a certain kind. While the idea of a highly personal cinema shaped by obsessions and concerns of the director is a good one, for too long this has been used to justify overly intellectualized,...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2001

'Victor . . . pendant qu'il est trop tard'

Rating: * * * *Japanese title: Victor -- Chiisana Koibito Director: Sandrine Veysset Running time: 88 minutes Language: FrenchNow showing Realist cinema, even at its best, tends to have a very flat view of reality, one that involves merely capturing the world around us as we perceive it. But there's...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2001

Director Veysset knows her characters by heart

Sandrine Veysset has only made three films so far, but it would be no exaggeration to call her one of France's most talented directors. Her debut, "Will It Snow for Christmas?" took a Cesar (French Academy Award), her follow-up "Victor . . . pendant qu'il est trop tard," grabbed a Critics' Award at Rotterdam,...
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 8, 2001

Giants to Tigers: sayonara

Yoshinobu Takahashi blasted a game-tying solo homer and Akira Eto singled home the "sayonara" run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Yomiuri Giants picked up a 7-6 comeback victory over Hanshin and ended a five-game losing skid against the Tigers on Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome. With the score tied...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2001

'Louise (Take 2)'

Rating: * * * * Director: Siegfried Running time: 110 minutes Language: FrenchOpens Aug. 18 at Shibuya Cinema Society 'Louise (Take 2)" is a "road movie" in the most truthful, undiluted sense of the term. And yet it is far, far removed from the liberating buoyancy of ordinary road movies in which...
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2001

Tokyo schools for disabled to get contentious history text

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education voted Tuesday to use a controversial history textbook at three public schools for disabled children.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2001

Siegfried finds a home on streets with no name

In an industry where self-advertisement is practically a prerequisite, filmmaker Siegfried is amazingly reticent about his personal background. From his refusal to disclose his last name to his disdain of promotional tours and interviews, Siegfried is and remains a mystery.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2001

Daiei to sell off Printemps Ginza

Supermarket chain operator Daiei Inc. announced Tuesday it will sell its full stake in subsidiary department store Printemps Ginza SA to reduce its own debt.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2001

MHI, GE in talks on diesel engines

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is in negotiations with General Electric Co. to supply its U.S. rival with diesel engines used to generate electric power, company sources said Tuesday.

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