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LIFE / Travel
Apr 24, 2001

A tale of two Thai tribes

BAHN BOON YEUN, Phrae Province, Thailand -- Small, wild-haired figures in ragged clothes move barefoot through the moonlit mango grove. Some carry archaic muskets as long as spears, others squat beside soot-stained shacks murmuring to each other in the darkness. Inside a big wooden house at the heart...
MORE SPORTS / THE DUKE OF HAZARDS
Apr 24, 2001

Baker-Finch happy talking golf -- for now

Ten years ago, Ian Baker-Finch won the British Open. It seems like a long time ago. He no longer plays professional golf.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2001

Mexico keen to boost ties with Japan

The new democratic government of Mexico is eager to strengthen ties with Japan and promote cultural exchanges between the two countries, the Central American country's new ambassador to Japan said Monday.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 24, 2001

Lonesome locomotives left in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- There aren't many obstacles in the way of exploring Lebanon's crumbling train stations. But at St. Michel, once the hub of the nation's now-defunct rail network, a man eyeing my camera says I need permission to look around.
COMMENTARY
Apr 24, 2001

Economy keeps Blair on top

LONDON -- All being well, there will be a general election in Britain on June 7. It is not yet official but it seems almost certain.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2001

Turkey thanked for handling of hostage crisis

Foreign Minister Yohei Kono on Monday afternoon thanked the Turkish government for securing the release of all the hostages detained by a group of gunmen at a hotel in Istanbul, including an unknown number of Japanese.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2001

Food delivery firms beset by slump, glut

Consumer cooperatives and companies delivering food door-to-door face rough going amid prolonged lackluster consumption and fierce distribution competition.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2001

Japan loses bid to oversee U.N. talks on arms control

In the runup to a key international arms-control conference in New York in July, Japan has already missed one of its primary targets -- securing the post of chairman for its senior arms-control expert.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2001

Seven rules for privatizing government assets

When approaching a major decision relating to new laws or measures, leaders should give careful consideration to existing examples of efforts by other countries to solve the same underlying issues and their subsequent success or failure.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Unaffiliated voters reject bloc members: survey

Unaffiliated voters do not want the ruling Liberal Democratic Party or its coalition partner, New Komeito, to gain seats in July's House of Councilors election, according to a recent Kyodo News poll.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2001

Dollar likely to stay firm against yen

The U.S. dollar is likely to be firm against the yen in Tokyo next week as uncertainty over Japan's politics and economy continues to restrain the currency, dealers said.
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2001

Diplomatic tests await Japan

In just the past six weeks, with Japan plunged into a political vacuum following the virtual declaration of resignation by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, several incidents have occurred that have shaken the world: the simultaneous fall of stock prices in Japan, the United States and Europe; the withdrawal...
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2001

Textbook serves Japan poorly

A junior high-school history textbook edited under the direction of a nationalist group, the Japanese Society for Textbook Reform, continues to stir controversy both here and abroad. The textbook recently received the green light from the Education and Science Ministry after the editors accepted all...
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Taiwan's Lee arrives in Japan for checkup

OSAKA -- Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui arrived in Japan on Sunday evening for a five-day stay to have a medical checkup, a visit that China says will be met with a "necessary reaction."
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

E-mail pals nabbed for stealing 500,000 yen in Okinawa

A pair of men who apparently met two weeks ago on the Internet were arrested Sunday for stealing 500,000 yen from a coffee shop in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, after threatening an employee with a knife, police said Sunday.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Emergency agricultural import curbs invoked

Japan will invoke a temporary emergency import curb today on three agricultural products, mainly from China, marking the first time Japan has invoked such measures under the ordinary safeguard mechanism of the World Trade Organization.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Koizumi poised to clinch poll, prime ministership

Former Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro Koizumi was running far ahead of his main competitor, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, in the LDP presidential primaries Sunday, virtually assuring his victory to replace Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

FTC asked to probe NTT marketing tactics

A Japan-based affiliate of British telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless PLC has asked the Fair Trade Commission to probe sales practices by Japan's dominant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone group over the Myline service for registering preferred carriers.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Virtual-reality therapy launched

The National Cancer Center Hospital is introducing a virtual-reality exposure therapy to ease cancer patients' pain and nausea, according to hospital officials.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Matsubara wins second term in Nagoya mayoral race

NAGOYA -- Nagoya Mayor Takehisa Matsubara defeated two independent candidates in the mayoral race Sunday to win his second term in office.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 23, 2001

Kosaka blasts grand slam for Lotte

Lotte shortstop Makoto Kosaka drilled a grand slam to highlight a five-run sixth inning as Lotte climbed into first place in the Pacific League standings with an 8-1 victory over the Kintetsu Buffaloes at Chiba Marine Stadium on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Apr 23, 2001

Moscow exiles a mogul with good taste

The Kremlin wins one: President Vladimir Putin's bitter critic, Media-Most media empire, is dead. Its assets have been transferred to pro-Kremlin stockholders, its journalists have been fired or silenced and its owner, Vladimir Gusinsky, is hiding abroad.
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2001

Signs of political upheaval on the horizon

A preliminary election tomorrow for the new president of the Liberal Democratic Party will decide how a total of 141 votes cast by representatives of the party's local blocs will be shared among the four candidates. Final results will be determined by the election in which 246 LDP Diet members will cast...
EDITORIALS
Apr 23, 2001

Minimum restraint in the Middle East

Violence flared again in the Middle East last week, with a tit-for-tat confrontation in Gaza that briefly threatened to escalate into a wider war. Although the incident ended with condemnation of Israel, both at home and abroad, for what was widely viewed as a military and diplomatic fiasco, the lesson...
MORE SPORTS
Apr 23, 2001

Shintani beats Yamashita to win women's national judo title

NAGOYA -- Tsukuba University student Midori Shintani upset Sydney Olympic bronze medalist Mayumi Yamashita in the final Sunday to capture her first title of the women's open national judo championship.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Crested ibis chick valiantly attempts to hatch

NIIGATA -- A rare crested ibis chick struggling to enter the world on Sunday continued its attempts to crack its shell from the inside after poking a small hole in the shell at a preservation center on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, officials said.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2001

Musharraf sets his sights on illegal guns

ISLAMABAD -- Stemming the flow of thousands of illegal weapons throughout Pakistan is not an easy task, but the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf has promised this month to do just that with its launch of an aggressive cleanup campaign.

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