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BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2001

Fence-mending over, friendship committee goes to work

Taking its cue from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's largely successful fence-mending trip to China, Japan will formally inaugurate a blue-ribbon troupe to prepare for an extravaganza commemorating the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2001

Courts may get say on mentally ill

A Liberal Democratic Party panel has compiled a draft for new legislation to allow district courts to play a key role in deciding on the hospitalization of people acquitted of crimes due to mental illness, party sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2001

Cult brush tars modern faiths

Almost half a year after Nissan Motor Co.'s Murayama plant was shut down, the automaker announced in July it was considering selling a large portion of the 1.39-million-sq.-meter property to a Buddhist organization.
OLYMPICS
Oct 25, 2001

New president outlines JOC plans

New Japanese Olympic Committee president Tsunekazu Takeda said Wednesday that he would like to send Japanese athletes to the Salt Lake City Olympics in February as long as the Winter Olympic Games go ahead.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2001

Plan for mentally ill criminals criticized

Mental health workers on Wednesday urged the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to scrap plans to establish special facilities to confine mental patients who have committed serious crimes, arguing the facilities would reinforce prejudices.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 25, 2001

Tales from the well-made crypt

Fifty years ago, archaeologists used an oil-rig drill to bore 53 meters below the surface of a mound in Gordion, Turkey, the ancient capital of Phrygia. Underneath the limestone-rich earth was the oldest intact wooden structure in the world, a 5 x 6 meter chamber dating from the eighth century B.C. The...
CULTURE / Art
Oct 24, 2001

The sublime city and state of mind

Art history, like the military kind, is written by the victors. Thus Florentine Giorgio Vasari's encyclopedic "Lives of the Artists," published in 1550, is a propagandist's account of his home city's starring role in the artistic and intellectual phenomenon we now call the Renaissance.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 24, 2001

Sophisticated tastes and surprising connections

Most of the action in the art world takes place out of the public eye in small, discreet galleries like the one run and owned by Noriko Togo, catering to the sophisticated tastes of a well-heeled clientele. Togo shows me around her gallery's latest exhibition, "Beyond the Visible World," which brings...
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2001

Public to have say in 'green' dams

The infrastructure ministry decided Monday to introduce an environmental assessment program allowing residential participation in the planning of public flood-control dam projects, ministry sources said.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2001

Obituary: Joseph R. De Roo

Joseph R. De Roo, missionary and scholar of Japanese language and culture, died of subarachnoid hemorrhage Thursday in Tokyo, his religious associates announced Sunday. He was 69.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2001

Koizumi, Jiang begin talks on economic aid, terrorism

SHANGHAI -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Jiang Zemin began talks Sunday evening to discuss bilateral issues, including Japan's future economic cooperation with China, as well as global efforts to tackle terrorism.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2001

APEC leaders begin 2-day meet

Compiled from AFP-Jiji, Kyodo SHANGHAI -- Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum kicked off a two-day summit Saturday afternoon, focusing on the global effort against terrorism and measures to reverse an economic slowdown in the region.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2001

For Okinawan actress, concept of family key to lasting peace

From its dialect to its cuisine, many may think that Okinawa Prefecture is one of the most distinctive places in Japan. But for elfin Okinawan actress Tomi Taira, the core of human satisfaction is universal -- the desire to be part of a happy family. This desire exists everywhere, be it in her home islands...
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2001

China ODA set to be trimmed

The government and ruling coalition parties on Friday approved a development assistance plan that would scale back aid to China and shift the focus to environmental conservation measures, officials said.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2001

U.S. needs to engage China in wake of terror attacks, security expert says

The United States should try to improve relations with China under the new security environment following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and that will require "careful and realistic diplomatic management on many fronts," an American expert on East Asia told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 18, 2001

Tomb raiders for racial equality

Today, Oct. 18, is the feast day of Luke the Evangelist: physician, saint, author of the book of Acts and companion of Paul. It is thanks to Luke, the most literary of the four gospel writers, that we learn about the human aspects of Christ's life -- such as the enduring Nativity scene.
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2001

Imperial Japanese Navy trombone returned after more than 50 years

More than 50 years after being discarded in the chaos of a Pacific island combat zone, an Imperial Japanese Navy trombone has been returned to Japan -- in a condition nearly as good as when it left the factory.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Oct 14, 2001

P-chan gets started under the right track

Have you ever seen the Woody Allen movie "Radio Days"? In it, Woody grows up with his family, living snug-as-bugs in a tiny room underneath the Big Dipper on Coney Island. Every time a roller coaster careens overhead, the walls shake and objects pogo off the tables. Of course, nobody notices. It was...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 14, 2001

David Mitchell experiments with success

Like his complex and cleverly constructed novels, a conversation with British writer David Mitchell is enjoyably cerebral and full of references to books, music and out-of-the-way places he has visited. Sitting in the famous sunken garden Shukkei-en in Hiroshima, the city he now calls home, Mitchell,...
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Oct 11, 2001

Firmly rooted in tradition and daily life

In the foothills of Mount Fuji, there is a fascinating botanical garden devoted to the cultivation and display of bamboo plants and products. Unique in this country, the Fuji Bamboo Garden, which opened on its 4-hectare site in 1951, cultivates more than 500 species and cultivars of bamboo from around...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 10, 2001

That was the season that was

Yomiuri Giants slugger Hideki Matsui said prior to this season it was possible for him to win a Triple Crown this year, "But the most difficult for me would be to win the batting title." So what did he do? He won the batting title. Matsui led the CL with a .333 average and did not really come close to...
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Oct 10, 2001

The mystery and the mastery

Most styles of Japanese pottery are named after the city where they are made, such as Mashiko in Tochigi Prefecture, while others bear a family name, such as Raku. However, one style of pottery is named after a place that had nothing do to with its production.
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2001

U.S.-led attack draws fire from local Muslims

Some Muslims in Japan condemned on Monday the United States and Britain for launching strikes on Afghanistan, saying they are tantamount to terrorist acts and not backed by clear evidence linking the country to the terrorist attacks in the U.S. last month.
COMMUNITY
Oct 7, 2001

Going with the furo

Sitting in a tub of clear, near-scalding water up to your neck might not instantly appeal to those new to Japan who are used to stretching out in a warm sea of suds and playing with their plastic ducks. However, taking a bath that way is more than a hygienic chore for the people of these islands; it's...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 7, 2001

Soaking up history

In a quiet residential area of Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, half hidden by a large maple tree, stands an impressive, castlelike wooden structure that is like a portal to another time. With old-fashioned kawara tiles on its pagoda-style roof, and its curliculed surrounding stone wall, the building is evocative...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 7, 2001

Ichiro, Ichiro, Ichinooo!

"All the world's a stage," a well-known English playwright declared in "As You Like It," adding: "And all the men and women merely players . . . "
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Koizumi to visit colonial prison site in South Korea

In a visit to Seoul on Oct. 15, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will tour a museum dedicated to political prisoners incarcerated under Japanese colonial rule, government sources said Friday.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic