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JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Textbook furor won't sour relations: Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry believes a junior high school history book written by nationalists will not spark diplomatic problems with China or South Korea as the two countries have not demanded the text be rewritten, ministry officials said Saturday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 8, 2001

Mixing Iggy, Ziggy and Zepp

Meet Hiroshima-san -- a diminutive, pixie-faced bottle-blond who favors either skinny polyester shirts held half-open with a chain or grungy sweaters. He is the owner of Boys Town Cafe, a gem of a juke joint (sans box) about to celebrate its seventh year on Friday in the back streets of Naka-Meguro....
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

Float like a mayfly, sting like a bee

With Golden Week only a few weeks off, serious fly-fishing enthusiasts throughout Japan are staying up late tying new flies in preparation. Now is the best time of year for fly-fishing because this is when mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies start hatching at many rivers across the country, making trout...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

Swap the city for quasi-nature

Going camping can be a thrilling prospect for city dwellers with little exposure to nature in their everyday lives. The peace and quiet, the clean air, the open sky, forests, mountains and rivers . . . these things can outweigh some of the hardships of camping, some of the things that people might forget...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

How to find your climbing inner child

"We enjoyed climbing trees as kids, but it's difficult to keep on doing that as an adult. Rock climbing is good because you can become a kid again and climb as much as you like," says Makoto Kitayama, president of the Japan Freeclimbing Association.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Fake 5,000 yen bills surface in Osaka

OSAKA -- Around 70 counterfeit 5,000 yen bills bearing the same serial number have been discovered in Osaka Prefecture this year, police said Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 8, 2001

You say you've got woman troubles?

This week, on "Ningen Yuyu" (Educational, Monday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.), NHK will explore the malaise that is afflicting many young Japanese women right now. The four-night series, "Hyoryu suru Shojotachi (Drifting Girls)," will use conversations with experts and documentary footage to show how many young...
COMMUNITY
Apr 8, 2001

Keeping your eyes on the skies

In November 1999, the Leonid meteor storm returned, brighter in the night skies than it had been for 33 years, prompting many to turn out to watch the spectacular celestial show.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

Putting your best foot forward

When the mountains are blanketed with the fresh, green leaves of spring, it's peak hiking season. Hiking has always been a popular activity as it presents a challenge surmountable for most people, regardless of age. It's easy to prepare for and not as risky as rock-climbing or other hardcore outdoor...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Apr 8, 2001

A toast to wine's new world

As recently as the early '90s, consumers in Japan needed perseverance to track down good, affordable wines. Wine was still perceived as a special-occasion beverage, requiring the intervention of an expert in formal attire. Top Tokyo restaurant wine lists revealed an obsession with French trophy wines,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 8, 2001

When leaders meet the press head-on

U.S. President George W. Bush's announcement that he will no longer hold "formal" press conferences in the East Room of the White House was met with derision and shrugs by the American press. On Salon.com, Gary Kamiya accused Bush of fleeing reporters "with his larynx between his legs," while Helen Thomas,...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 8, 2001

Jesus Christ superstars

"We're Napalm Death and we're from Birmingham, England," vocalist Barney tells Shibuya's Club Quattro.
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Apr 8, 2001

Rice grains of wisdom

I spent five years cooking in fine dining restaurants in the U.S., and yet I was not quite prepared for life as an apprentice in a Japanese kitchen.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 8, 2001

Twitching to get out in the field and bird

Birders, bird-watchers, bird-spotters, ornithologists, listers, twitchers or birding dudes: Whatever you want to call them, they are the people -- a friend, a family member or maybe an eccentric relative -- who creep about at all hours of the day spotting, studying, grilling, scoping, twitching or, in...
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2001

Mizuho Financial Group unveils business plans

The Mizuho Financial Group, one of four megabanks created through recent bank mergers, has unveiled business outlines for the two banks it plans to launch in April 2002 after reorganizing its three constituent banks.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

Up close and personal with the ocean

You can enjoy spectacular views along Japan's seashore by boat, but the best way to get up close and personal with the wonders of the coastline is by sea kayak.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

Adventures unlimited

Still undecided about which direction to head in and what to do once you get there? If you seek English-language guidance or simply want to enjoy outings with like-minded people, then check out the International Adventure Club, a Tokyo-based voluntary club that hosts regular outings.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 8, 2001

High-flyin' BlueWave best Buffs

Koichi Oshima went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and Tatsuya Shindo hit a three-run homer Saturday as the Orix BlueWave beat the Kintetsu Buffaloes 9-7 in Kobe to hold onto the lead in the Pacific League.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Digital legend aims to fill technology gap with $100 computer

Digital technology is evolving at stunning speed, slashing the prices of all sorts of digital gadgets and linking numerous countries through the ever-growing World Wide Web. But these developments fail to satisfy Kazuhiko Nishi, who wants tools created to tear down the technological and language barriers...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

A white river runs through it

White-water rafting is more than an aquatic roller-coaster ride. Surging torrents and treacherous whirlpools threaten, while riverbed rocks bump violently against the small rubber boat. And there is always the chance that you could be thrown overboard and into the merciless current.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 8, 2001

Meditations on the Tao of soba

For a place that evinces such effusive praise ("one of the best soba shops in the world," says at least one connoisseur), Take-yabu has a remarkably undemonstrative presence. In fact it manages to be so self-effacing, few people realize it's there at all.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 8, 2001

Jubilo clips Antlers to stay on top of J. League

Jubilo Iwata, in a confident and entertaining performance, maintained the J. League Division One lead after beating last season's triple-crown winning Kashima Antlers 2-1 on Saturday at Tokyo's National Stadium.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Apr 8, 2001

Moreno comes of age

Escaping paternal shadows can be tricky for a musician, especially if that musician's name happens to be Lennon, Marley or Dylan. Brazil's Moreno Veloso, however, probably shares more in common with Nigeria's Femi Kuti. Both are sons of superstars in their native countries who virtually created their...
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Study shows Isahaya project not viable

A report released Saturday by a civic group calling for the suspension of the Isahaya Bay land reclamation project in Nagasaki Prefecture says the 249 billion yen cost of the project will outweigh its economic benefits.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2001

Ministers back curbs on China farm imports

Eight Cabinet ministers on Friday confirmed a policy of invoking a temporary emergency import curb on three agricultural products, mostly from China, government officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Space agencies agree to unite rocket efforts

Three government-affiliated space agencies signed an agreement Friday to cooperate in technological development following mishaps with the government's launch of rockets in 1999 and 2000, officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Ishihara to review bus sales from environmental angle

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Friday that he will review the metropolis' practice of selling its old buses to countryside operators from an environmental viewpoint, following a report last week that criticized the transaction.

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