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CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Sep 16, 2001

Good things come in simpler packages

A Ministry of Education and Science directive that takes effect next spring will require public schools to teach a Japanese instrument in junior-high-school music classes; up to now the focus has been entirely on Western music.
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2001

KDDI corporate lines linked again

KDDI Corp. said Saturday that its dedicated international lines for corporate communications and international data communications lines were restored by 12:45 p.m. Saturday, 36 hours after being suspended in the wake of Tuesday's terrorist attacks on New York.
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Sep 16, 2001

Help heal the spirit with comfort food

After watching live the two towers of the World Trade Center come down — the blessing and the curse of modern technology and communications — and spending a very sleepless night filling my head with the horrific images of the aftermath, I slipped away to the otherworldliness of a quiet Zen temple...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2001

Travelers return from U.S.

OSAKA -- Planes from Guam and Saipan began arriving at Kansai International Airport on Saturday following the resumption of flights to and from the United States.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 16, 2001

Wreaking revenge by living well

SO CAN YOU, by Mitsuyo Ohira. Translated by John Brennan. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2000, 223 pp., 1,300 yen When I first set eyes on "So Can You," I wasn't sure what kind of book to expect. On the cover was a photo of a kind-faced, bespectacled woman in a plaid blazer who could easily pass for...
COMMUNITY
Sep 16, 2001

Fortunetelling traditions thrive on indecision

Runes, tea leaves and chicken innards. A strange group, perhaps, but all have a place in fortunetelling tradition as aids to seeking insight and resolving indecision. Now, though, soothsaying aids are growing even more motley, with recent additions including Shinjuku Station, koalas, eggplants and squid...
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 16, 2001

Lions increase lead atop Pacific League

Kazuo Matsui and Tetsuya Kakiuchi each homered and combined for seven RBIs as the Seibu Lions tightened their grip on the Pacific League by defeating the Daiei Hawks 11-8 at the Seibu Dome on Saturday.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 16, 2001

Gone but no longer forgotten

A psychological opera composed in the shadow of World War I, Erich Wolfgang Korngold's long-neglected "Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City, or Shi no Miyako)" has this year been brought to the stage three times: once in a revival of the New York City Opera's 1975 production and twice in new stagings.
COMMUNITY
Sep 16, 2001

Simply divining: A quick glossary

* Fortunetelling is the prediction of future events (or uncovering of those concealed in the past) employing methods without a logical basis. Some fortunetelling techniques (e.g., palmistry) delineate a person's characteristics to enable them to alter certain traits and thereby ensure a more prosperous...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 16, 2001

Technology improves the old grinding stone

Over the years, every step in the brewing process has been subject to a barrage of so-called technical advances. More often than not, though, these modern technologies are not as good as the traditional methods they replace.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2001

Bones of mad cow disease suspect in animal feed

The bones of a milk cow suspected of having contracted mad cow disease have been processed into meat-and-bone feed for chickens and pigs, according to the agriculture ministry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 16, 2001

Give my compliments to the chef

There are many -- the Food File included -- who believe that Kazuhiko Kinoshita produces the finest, value-for-money French food in all of Tokyo, and probably the whole of Japan. So how can it be that he and his bistro-style restaurant remain so little spoken about by the general populace, or at least...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 16, 2001

Some hairy ordeals

Fans of the long-running historical drama series "Mito Komon" (Mondays at 8 p.m. on TBS) may have been slightly put off last spring when Koji Ishizaka, the actor who had just assumed the title role, opted to play it without the character's famous wispy white beard. Mito Komon just wasn't Mito Komon without...
COMMUNITY
Sep 16, 2001

Divination business thriving, for the foreseeable future

Head bowed, eyes closed, silently intoning my birth date and a prayer-like plea for good fortune; I feel a little silly, but I'm doing as I've been told.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 16, 2001

Documenting an unprecedented disaster

Crises, it is often said, bring out the best and the worst in people. In the case of the terrorist attacks that took place in the United States on Tuesday, the best was illustrated by citizens waiting five hours to donate blood, while the worst was exemplified by service stations gouging customers for...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2001

Group seeks regionwide history text

A Japanese citizens' group is preparing to compile common teaching materials on East Asian history for use throughout the region in a bid to end disputes like the recent fight over a controversial Japanese history textbook.
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 15, 2001

Sendai boss break J. League win record

Vegalta Sendai manager Hidehiko Shimizu earned his 125th career win as a manager Friday as his teams beat Yokohama FC 4-3 in J. League Division Two action.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 15, 2001

Matsui stars as Lions rip Hawks 10-2

Kazuo Matsui went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs, including a solo homer in the four-run third inning, as the Seibu Lions triumphed over the Daiei Hawks 10-2 at the Seibu Dome on Friday night.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2001

Hansen's disease group to honor foundation chief

A union of 60 groups from 25 countries that have received financial aid to fight Hansen's disease will confer an award on Yohei Sasakawa, president of the Nippon Foundation, for his efforts in the battle against the malady.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2001

Ogi in hospital with liver ailment

Chikage Ogi, minister of land, infrastructure and transport, will be hospitalized for a week due to a liver complaint, ministry officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2001

Liabilities far exceed assets

The government's liabilities exceeded its assets by as much as 806.43 trillion yen in fiscal 2000, 28.49 trillion yen more than the year before, according to the national balance sheet released Friday by the Finance Ministry.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2001

Draft solid reform plan, Koizumi tells Cabinet

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi instructed his Cabinet on Friday to devise concrete reform measures on priority areas such as education, urban renewal, job creation within the public sector and deregulation of health care.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2001

Foreigners stay net buyers for fourth week

While major domestic players continued to unload their equity holdings, foreign investors remained net buyers of Japanese stocks last week for the fourth straight week.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2001

Insurers to launch pension firm

Nippon Life Insurance Co. and Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. said Friday they will establish a company on Oct. 1 specializing in administering corporate pension fund assets.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2001

GameCube console released, takes on rival PlayStation2

Nintendo Co. released its GameCube video game console on the Japanese market Friday, mounting a challenge to the PlayStation2 console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2001

Team to study SDF role in East Timor

The ruling coalition will send a team of lawmakers to East Timor from Wednesday to study the possible participation of the Self-Defense Forces in a U.N. peacekeeping operation there, coalition officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2001

Daikin arm to oversee China units

OSAKA -- Industrial air conditioner manufacturer Daikin Industries Ltd. said Friday it has set up a wholly owned unit in Beijing to oversee air conditioner and chemical products operations at the company's Chinese subsidiaries.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person