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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.
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2001

One year on for Mr. Putin

Surveying his first year in office, Russian President Vladimir Putin has reason for some satisfaction. The political situation has stabilized, a withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya has been announced and the economy is growing. Russia faces a much brighter future than it has at any time in the...
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Civil servants' suicide rate rises

The number of government officials who committed suicide in fiscal 1999 rose for the fifth straight year to 138, 14 more than the previous year, according to a survey released Friday by the National Personnel Authority.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Obara held in death of Blackman

Joji Obara was served an arrest warrant Friday on suspicion of fatally assaulting British hostess Lucie Blackman in July and then dumping her body in a cave, police said.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Emergency economic package announced

The government finalized a package of emergency economic measures Friday that sets a two-year limit on major banks' disposal of their riskiest bad loans, limits their shareholdings and calls for a stock-buying body to buy company shares they hold.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2001

More days off, less pay: NKK plan

Major steelmaker NKK Corp. plans to force managers to take two days' leave -- paid at only 65 percent of their normal daily wage -- every month in an effort to reduce labor costs, company officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Diet seeks to curb domestic violence

The Diet passed into law Friday a bill to combat domestic violence that will allow courts to impose restraining orders to keep perpetrators away from their victims.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Rice farmer ends family tradition by turning to flowers, vegetables

AKITA -- Masakazu Miyakawa, 38, a resident of the village of Ogata in Akita Prefecture, sat in his flower seedling greenhouse one April night three years ago, worrying about his farm.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years