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COMMENTARY
May 15, 2002

Myanmar moves forward, China takes a step back

LOS ANGELES -- Fleeting images can become perceived realities. For example, images viewed positively by the American public allow U.S. political leaders to unlock foreign-aid funds -- and business leaders to go forward with ambitious foreign-investment schemes. From this perspective, Myanmar, long-spurned...
SOCCER / World cup
May 15, 2002

Hayatou, Chung state case for FIFA leadership reforms

The "Blatter Out" campaign breezed through Tokyo on Monday as Issa Hayatou, FIFA boss Sepp Blatter's rival for the presidency, and his South Korean ally, Dr. Chung Mong Joon, held a press conference to state their case for a new broom in FIFA.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
May 15, 2002

Is yen any safer than roller-coaster dollar?

Restless trading is continuing on the currency market, keeping the dollar on its recent roller-coaster ride.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2002

Moody's to release Japan debt rating soon

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Tuesday it plans to announce the results of a three-month review of the Aa3 rating on Japan's sovereign rating by the end of this month.
SOCCER / World cup
May 15, 2002

Troussier blasted

Japan coach Philippe Troussier was blasted by local press Tuesday after announcing he will miss the unveiling of the 23-strong World Cup squad on Friday.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2002

'Pain' of NTT workers acknowledged

Telecommunications minister Toranosuke Katayama on Tuesday described the transfer of 100,000 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. employees to 100 new subsidiaries as "(necessary) pain in a transitional period."
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE OKINAWA FACTOR
May 15, 2002

Nuclear pact ensured smooth Okinawa reversion

On Nov. 21, 1969, President Richard Nixon met with Prime Minister Eisaku Sato in Washington to discuss an extremely delicate issue.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2002

Tokyu Construction names Ochiai new president

Tokyu Construction Co. on Tuesday named Senior Managing Director Kazuo Ochiai as its new president, replacing Kuniyoshi Ihara, who will continue in his concurrent job as chairman.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 15, 2002

Japan's modern master of 100,000 brush-strokes

If, as the Chinese adage goes, a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, then for Japanese artist Morio Matsui, a masterpiece of 100,000 brush strokes begins with the first sweep of the bristles on canvas.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2002

NEC, Fuji Heavy to team up on battery development

NEC Corp. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. said Tuesday they will establish a joint venture later this month to develop a high-performance rechargeable battery for hybrid vehicles.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 15, 2002

East Timor truth commission faces arduous task

After a lifetime dedicated to fighting for a free East Timor, Jacinto Alves will finally see his country move to full independence Monday, when the United Nations' transitional administration steps aside to make way for the country's first democratically elected government.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2002

Nippon Life, T&D to be UFJ agents

The UFJ financial group is expected to appoint Nippon Life Insurance Co. and T&D Financial Life Insurance Co. as agents tasked with carrying out paperwork and other administrative duties related to UFJ's sales of life insurance policies, industry officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WHALE WATCHING
May 15, 2002

Greenpeace tweaks strategy to wage more effective antiwhaling campaign

If there is one group that has vociferously carved out an antiwhaling niche -- globally, but especially in Japan -- it is Greenpeace.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 15, 2002

Hawks swoop to win historic game

Nobuhiko Matsunaka led off the ninth inning with a solo homer Tuesday and lifted the Daiei Hawks to a 5-4 "sayonara" win over the Orix BlueWave in the first Japanese professional baseball game played in Taiwan since World War II.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 15, 2002

Art macht frei

"Arbeit macht frei (Work brings freedom)" were the words famously written above the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where Austrian-born artist Friedl Dicker-Brandeis was murdered in a gas chamber on Oct. 9, 1944. Friedl's life, however, had been devoted to a different, truer precept:...
JAPAN
May 15, 2002

Prince to go to Cup opener in Seoul

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal for Prince Takamado, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, and his wife, Princess Hisako, to attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup soccer finals on May 31 in South Korea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 15, 2002

Offspring of poetry's artistic polygamy

Several events this month platform the spoken and written words in new combinations: An exhibition of Japanese and French "visual poetry" opens May 15; poetry marries improvisational live jazz and shakuhachi performance; and a book launch for an anthology of new writing offers readings, music and dance....
MORE SPORTS
May 15, 2002

Ogiwara hangs up his skis

Former world champion Kenji Ogiwara, who announced earlier this month he will retire from international competition, said Monday he will formally put an end to his 20-year career.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2002

Workers' confidence up for sixth month

Economic confidence among employees with jobs close to the consumer improved in April for the sixth month in a row, but pessimists still outnumber optimists, according to a government survey released Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2002

MOX retrieval ships getting closer

OSAKA -- Greenpeace reported Tuesday that two ships on their way to Japan from Britain to collect tainted mixed uranium-plutonium (MOX) fuel and return it to England have passed through the Panama Canal.
JAPAN
May 15, 2002

35% of firms monitor staff e-mail

Thirty-five percent of Japanese companies monitor the Internet browsing and e-mail records of their employees to ensure that company online facilities are not used for private purposes, according to a survey conducted by the Japan Institute of Labor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 15, 2002

Weird science, but great art

It's the old quantity-versus-quality problem. Though there are only a couple of private contemporary-art museums in Tokyo (the Watari-Um and the Hara), their shows are almost always good and focus on providing authoritative coverage of some of the domestic and international art scenes' most important...
COMMENTARY
May 15, 2002

EU's costly quest for world leadership

LONDON -- Nowadays the European Union and the United States seem to be locked in almost permanent quarrels. One moment it's bananas, then it's steel, land mines, the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, European defense arrangements and NATO. Then it's the question of whether there should be a permanent...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 15, 2002

Cornershop: 'Handcream for a Generation'

Repetition is both the substance and the curse of pop music. It doesn't take much for even the most delicious hook to become a nagging bore once it's had a chance to pass a certain saturation point.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
May 15, 2002

Misora's ship has come in

Die-hard fans of the late Hibari Misora -- the greatest enka diva ever -- may want to book passage on the "Queen Hibari Misora cruise," a unique, if somewhat morbid, maritime event being held June 12 and 13 to mark the 14th anniversary of Misora's death at the age of 52 after a prolonged illness.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2002

Shiokawa says economy has finally bottomed out

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa on Tuesday said Japan's economy has hit bottom, citing improvements in exports, the price trend and the job situation.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past