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BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 16, 2001

Ishii strikes out nine batters as Swallows blank BayStars

Lefty ace Kazuhisa Ishii combined with Tomokazu Teramura on a two-hitter as the Central League-leading Yakult Swallows blanked the Yokohama BayStars 7-0 at Jingu Stadium on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2001

BOJ again downgrades outlook for economy

The Bank of Japan downgraded slightly its assessment of the economy for the third consecutive month Wednesday, admitting that the likelihood of a recovery by the end of the year is fading.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 16, 2001

Five years later, a friend remembered

He was probably the greatest basketball player you have never heard of. Such was the fate of my friend Derek Smith, who died five years ago last week at the age of 34, while on a cruise from New York to Bermuda.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 16, 2001

Wild answer to the deer problem

KAMIKITAYAMA, Nara Pref. -- It was a rainy Monday in July when Fumio Minamiura came across a shocking scene: a stray dog trotting along with the head and fore-parts of a young deer in its mouth. Blood was still dripping from the fresh kill.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2001

Venture capitalists bank on restructuring mood

During the heady days of the information technology boom of the late 1990s through early 2000, many foreign venture-capital firms were lured to Japan in search of Internet-related business startups.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 16, 2001

Slow and steady wins the dispersal race

Humans have an anthropocentric tendency to look down on "cold-blooded" reptiles. We even use the term "cold-blooded" in a derogatory way to criticize people who seem somehow less than human.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2001

Myline phone service leaves 5.5 million applicants waiting

Myline registration is lagging far behind schedule due to insufficient computer capacity, a telecommunications industry group said Wednesday in an apology statement.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2001

Fruits of U.S. economic expansion eluded many American families

FREDRICKSBURG, Virginia -- We're supposed to remember the 1990s as a period of economic expansion unlike anything the United States had ever seen. But to Oya Oliver and the rest of the staff at the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank, that decade always looked a little different than the official story that...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2001

So you think you're some sort of wiseguy?

Love, Honour and Obey Rating: * * * * Japanese title: London Dogs Director: Dominic Anciano and Ray Burdis Running time: 103 minutes Language: English Now showing "Oi, mate, what'ya up to this weekend?" "Dunno. Nothin' special -- maybe a spot of snooker." "How d'ya fancy making a film with us,...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2001

The powerful roar of distant waves

Nami Rating: * * * * Director: Hiroshi Okuhara Running time: 111 minutes Language: Japanese Now showing Are we all going to end up slaving 24/7? The Japanese have long led the way to an all-work, no-play future, but now the Americans, writes Martin Kettle in Guardian Unlimited, are catching up....
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2001

Envoy conveys Seoul's regret over Koizumi's visit to shrine

South Korean Ambassador to Japan Choi Sang Yong said Tuesday that his government "strongly regrets" Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Monday to pay homage to Japan's war dead.
BUSINESS
Aug 15, 2001

Nikko launches Web site offering M&A marketplace

Nikko Securities Co. has set up a Web site to provide free information on mergers and acquisitions to undercapitalized companies.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2001

Tanaka may go to peace treaty anniversary event

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka may visit San Francisco on Sept. 8 to attend a series of ceremonies to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the San Francisco Peace Treaty that officially ended Japan's war with the United States and other countries, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 15, 2001

ISL collapse threatens future of Toyota Cup

The future of the Toyota Cup, including this year's game in November, has been thrown into doubt as a result of the bankruptcy of marketing company ISL, Japan Football Association (JFA) vice president Junji Ogura said Monday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2001

Decline in busts belies widespread drug use: NPA

A total of 8,986 people allegedly violated the Stimulants Control Law in the first half of this year, down 632 from the same period last year, according to a recent police survey.
BUSINESS
Aug 15, 2001

Singles' consumer confidence falls

Consumer confidence among single-person households fell in the April-June period from a year earlier for the second consecutive quarterly fall, according to a government survey released Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 15, 2001

The prime 'rogue state'

For the Japanese, the first half of August is a period of soul-searching, remembering those who died in World War II and renewing our hopes for world peace. But more than half a century after the end of the war, and in spite of the termination of East-West confrontation, the world today remains a potentially...
BUSINESS
Aug 15, 2001

Increasingly good massage chairs gain popularity

OSAKA -- Demand for electric massage chairs is steadily growing as more and more people seek attention akin to the touch of a professional masseur in the comfort of their own homes.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 15, 2001

Flights of fancy

Like a captivated child watching a magician's tricks, we demand to know "how?" How, that is, did a surge of Italian creativeness 600 years ago seemingly lay the foundations of the modern world?
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2001

Strong quake shakes north Japan

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 jolted northern Japan on Tuesday morning, the Meteorological Agency said.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2001

Text of Koizumi's Yasukuni statement

The following is the Foreign Press Center translation of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's statement on his visit to Yasukuni Shrine:
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2001

New religions target negative image

An umbrella group of new religions will provide telephone advice beginning Nov. 1 in an attempt to dispel negative images associated with new religions.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 15, 2001

Icons of a forgotten femininity

Western culture is replete with empowering images of women, from the warrior Amazons of Greek mythology to Wagnerian Valkyries to computer game and movie heroine Lara Croft. Western women are spoiled for choice when it comes to assertive role models. Japan, on the other hand, has always cherished a more...
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Aug 15, 2001

Is U.S. about to dump strong dollar policy?

There are growing calls in the United States, particularly from within the business community, for an end to Washington's strong dollar policy.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2001

Compromise visit could dilute 'Koizumi effect'

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision Monday to bring forward his controversial visit to Yasukuni Shrine may have saved face for opponents at home and abroad to a certain degree.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2001

State considers installation of train platform barriers

In an effort to equip more urban train platforms with automatic sliding gates to prevent people from falling onto the tracks, the transport ministry will request funds in the fiscal 2002 budget to conduct a survey on the matter, ministry officials said Tuesday.

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