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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 11, 2002

Pretend you win some, you lose some

For the second year in a row, NHK commemorates the end of the Pacific War with a drama special based on a novel by Hisashi Inoue. Last year, it was Inoue's epic about a Tokyo family, "Aozora no Tango." Sunday at 9 p.m. on NHK-G, it will be a more lighthearted tale set shortly after the war.
COMMUNITY
Aug 11, 2002

One god to rule them all

All new regimes know their enemies. Having swept away the forces of the shogunate, the architects of the 1868 Meiji Restoration found themselves facing another foe. This fifth column was invisible: Its ranks were made up of yokai (ghosts) and bakemono (monsters), kappa (water sprites) and tengu (goblins)....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 11, 2002

We are more than just numbers, aren't we?

On Aug. 3, something interesting happened on the TBS newsmagazine "Broadcaster." Following a report on the new computerized resident registry network, commonly referred to as Juki Net, which would go into effect the following Monday, the show's presenter apologized for not covering the topic fully when...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 11, 2002

Book industry cries murder

Although everyone agrees that the Japanese publishing industry is in trouble, there is less consensus as to the causes. Book and magazine sales have been declining for five years and book revenues for last year were at roughly the same level as a decade earlier; indeed, some say that if it were not for...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 11, 2002

Vietnam Alice: It's summer, so lighten up

The Vietnamese know all about hot weather. And one of their ways of dealing with the heat has been to make their food light and appetizing. Using plenty of aromatic herbs, colorful garnishes and condiments that are fragrant yet not overwhelming to the palate, theirs is the most subtle cuisine in all...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Aug 11, 2002

Bible scholar questions value of religion without substance

If something lacks substance, it is not to the taste of Bible scholar Michiko Ota. Thus, she contends, humans are better off without religion if that religion has lost its substance.
EDITORIALS
Aug 10, 2002

Fears of an Orwellian government

The government launched a nationwide resident registry network Monday, with several municipalities refusing to join it. The controversial system, known as Juki Net, has many people wondering whether it is designed to promote convenience for residents or to tighten the government's grip on basic personal...
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 10, 2002

Giants show no mercy to Carp

Hideki Matsui extended his lead in the Central League home run race with his 29th and 30th homers of the season as the Yomiuri Giants overwhelmed the Hiroshima Carp 15-1 Friday night at the Tokyo Dome.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Ministry targets alien plants, animals

The Environment Ministry on Friday outlined the need for a new system to curb the negative effects of alien species that have the potential to ravage Japan's natural environment and biodiversity.
COMMENTARY
Aug 10, 2002

Chen's contradictory roles won't work

HONG KONG -- When Chen Shui-bian ran for president of Taiwan more than two years ago, he distanced himself from his political party, the proindependence Democratic Progressive Party, promising he would be president of all the people of the island, regardless of political affiliation. But on July 21,...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Mie towns join national registry after holding out

Two Mie Prefecture towns that had vowed not to join the national resident registry network made an about-face Friday morning and connected to the system.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
Aug 10, 2002

Japanese firms fight back against Chinese copies

A Panasonic CD player, Sony headphones, Toshiba batteries. An extensive array of well-known, Japanese-made products is displayed at an office in Beijing, giving the impression that they are designed to promote imports.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Ministry targets improved home security measures

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry is seeking to promote better home security, including stronger locks to deter break-ins and lights and alarms aimed at making neighborhoods safer.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Osaka kids to get cooler classrooms

OSAKA -- The Osaka prefectural board of education plans to install air conditioners in all regular classrooms at prefectural high schools beginning in fiscal 2004, it was learned Friday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 10, 2002

No cause to gloat over U.S.

LONDON -- Some Japanese company presidents and board chairmen have probably been laughing quietly to themselves over the scandals that have engulfed some large American companies from Enron to Xerox and WorldCom. After all the lectures they have heard from Americans about the superiority of American...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Seniors willing to pay more, rely on children less: poll

Elderly people are more willing to pay their own way rather than rely on their children or the social security system, but their financial worries are mounting, according to a Cabinet Office survey released Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Communities are offered cash to reduce pollution

The Environment Ministry plans to tackle global warming by paying community groups for their reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, ministry officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2002

Record 7 million lost their jobs in 2001

About 7.01 million workers lost their jobs in 2001, marking the largest exodus ever, according to an annual report on employment released recently by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, which started compiling relevant figures in 1991.
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2002

Japan Telecom to sell off part of engineering unit

Japan Telecom Holdings Co. said Friday it has agreed to sell off part of an engineering subsidiary to Australian-based construction and real estate company Bovis Lend Lease Corp. in an effort to concentrate on its core telecommunications business.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Former Foreign Minister Tanaka tenders Diet resignation

In a surprise move, former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Friday tendered her resignation to the House of Representatives in an apparent move to take responsibility for allegations that she misappropriated her secretaries' salaries.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Nakano to vie for leadership of DPJ

Kansei Nakano, a top-ranking member of the Democratic Party of Japan, officially announced Friday that he will run for head of the main opposition party next month, the eighth person to join the race.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Crime hits record high on Japan's mean streets

The number of criminal cases in the first half of this year hit a record 1,351,727, up 4.9 percent from a year earlier, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2002

Cops search USJ; exec admits error

OSAKA -- Osaka police searched two Universal Studios Japan offices Friday in connection with the unauthorized use and storage of explosives at the Hollywood theme park.
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2002

Nippon Ham rating may be slashed

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Friday it has placed Nippon Meat Packers Inc.'s A3 senior unsecured long-term debt rating under review for possible downgrade, following the mislabeling scandal at the meat processor's subsidiary, Nippon Food Inc.
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2002

Foreigners end six-month buying spree

Nonresident investors turned net sellers on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya bourses in July for the first time in six months, with a record number of stocks sold.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight