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JAPAN
Apr 10, 2001

Bat-wielding bikers injure, rob three men

OSAKA -- Three men were injured, one seriously, by a group of about 15 young males riding scooters and wielding metal baseball bats in the city of Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, police said.
SUMO
Apr 10, 2001

Takanohana takes out Mongolian

OSAKA -- Yokozuna Takanohana muscled out up-and-coming Mongolian maegashira Asashoryu on Sunday and pocketed the first prize of 3 million yen on the final day of a single-elimination sumo tournament.
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2001

Heidi gets a makeover

Perhaps because it is more relentlessly urban than most modern industrial countries -- thanks to its inhospitable geography -- Japan is also more devoted than most to the ideal of an unspoiled rural life. The faster the foreground fills up with ugly concrete structures and electricity cables, the more...
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2001

Mobile phone users top 60 million

There were 60.94 million mobile phone subscriptions in Japan at the end of March, topping 60 million for the first time, according to the Telecommunications Carriers Association. The number increased by 9.8 million from a year earlier, the industry group said.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Big crowds make USJ's first week a success

OSAKA -- Large crowds flocked to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka after it opened March 31, prompting the company to call the opening period a success.
COMMENTARY
Apr 8, 2001

Panic commands a high price

LONDON — The foot-and-mouth outbreak in Britain is not devastating British farm production. It is devastating farming's relationship with the rest of Britain. Less than 2 percent of Britain's livestock have been slaughtered either because they have the disease or because, though healthy, they might...
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Obara destroyed rape video: cops

Police suspect alleged serial rapist Joji Obara destroyed a videotape depicting his rape of Briton Lucie Blackman as well as a shovel and the electric saw used to dismember her body, investigative sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Big tobacco stamps out antismoking campaigns

A number of prefectural governments have bowed to pressure from the tobacco industry and abandoned or downsized their antismoking campaigns, a Kyodo News poll showed Saturday.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2001

Major banks write off 4 trillion yen in bad loans

The country's 16 major banks are believed to have disposed of a combined 4 trillion yen in bad loans in the business year to March 31, industry sources said Saturday. The banks disposed of 4.5 trillion yen in fiscal 1999.
COMMUNITY
Apr 8, 2001

How to escape the urban grind

After a grueling week at the office, we naturally look forward to getting outand about on the weekend. For diversions, Japan's major cities have it all, from art exhibitions and the latest movies to shopping and sporting events. Problem is, who wants to fight thesame workday-commute crowds at museums,...
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Textbook furor won't sour relations: Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry believes a junior high school history book written by nationalists will not spark diplomatic problems with China or South Korea as the two countries have not demanded the text be rewritten, ministry officials said Saturday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 8, 2001

Mixing Iggy, Ziggy and Zepp

Meet Hiroshima-san -- a diminutive, pixie-faced bottle-blond who favors either skinny polyester shirts held half-open with a chain or grungy sweaters. He is the owner of Boys Town Cafe, a gem of a juke joint (sans box) about to celebrate its seventh year on Friday in the back streets of Naka-Meguro....
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

Float like a mayfly, sting like a bee

With Golden Week only a few weeks off, serious fly-fishing enthusiasts throughout Japan are staying up late tying new flies in preparation. Now is the best time of year for fly-fishing because this is when mayflies, caddisflies and stoneflies start hatching at many rivers across the country, making trout...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

Swap the city for quasi-nature

Going camping can be a thrilling prospect for city dwellers with little exposure to nature in their everyday lives. The peace and quiet, the clean air, the open sky, forests, mountains and rivers . . . these things can outweigh some of the hardships of camping, some of the things that people might forget...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

How to find your climbing inner child

"We enjoyed climbing trees as kids, but it's difficult to keep on doing that as an adult. Rock climbing is good because you can become a kid again and climb as much as you like," says Makoto Kitayama, president of the Japan Freeclimbing Association.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2001

Fake 5,000 yen bills surface in Osaka

OSAKA -- Around 70 counterfeit 5,000 yen bills bearing the same serial number have been discovered in Osaka Prefecture this year, police said Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 8, 2001

You say you've got woman troubles?

This week, on "Ningen Yuyu" (Educational, Monday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.), NHK will explore the malaise that is afflicting many young Japanese women right now. The four-night series, "Hyoryu suru Shojotachi (Drifting Girls)," will use conversations with experts and documentary footage to show how many young...
COMMUNITY
Apr 8, 2001

Keeping your eyes on the skies

In November 1999, the Leonid meteor storm returned, brighter in the night skies than it had been for 33 years, prompting many to turn out to watch the spectacular celestial show.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 8, 2001

Putting your best foot forward

When the mountains are blanketed with the fresh, green leaves of spring, it's peak hiking season. Hiking has always been a popular activity as it presents a challenge surmountable for most people, regardless of age. It's easy to prepare for and not as risky as rock-climbing or other hardcore outdoor...
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,...

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