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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 17, 2001

Prospective grooms: get your head X-rayed

I know several people who claim they should have had their head X-rayed before ever stumbling into an international marriage. It's a statement I can never make.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jan 17, 2001

Asian environmental extremes

As if the greatest mountain range on earth were not monument enough to the scale of Asia, other ranges, such as the Tien Shan and the Altai, join ranks with the Himalayas to make Central Asia the roof of the world.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jan 17, 2001

Botswana's delta a force of nature

The Okavango delta (or "the Delta" as it's known by those in the know) is not a swamp, at least not in the conventionally unpleasant sense of the word.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 16, 2001

A living, dancing tradition

Stories may be universal, but story-telling, as a performance art, just doesn't travel well. Kabuki is universally known among the educated in the West, at least by name, while rakugo remains obscure to all but scholars and a handful of devotees. This is an unfortunate, but seemingly intractable position....
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Europe's top luxury brands unfazed by recession

Despite the prolonged economic doldrums in Japan, top-brand handbags, jewelry and others items imported from Europe are selling quite well as manufacturers step up their offensive.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Ex-bank manager held for fraud

A former manager of Tokyo Sowa Bank was arrested Monday for allegedly defrauding the now-bankrupt bank of 30 million yen in 1999 by saying the money had been loaned to a company president, Tokyo police said.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

Snow Brand to shut four more factories

Scandal-hit Snow Band Milk Products Co. announced Monday that it will close an additional four factories by the end of March 2002 as part of its effort to regain profitability.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Quake-proofing old homes a costly quest

OSAKA -- When the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck in January 1995, it sent shivers down the spines of many living in old wooden homes nationwide because most of the 6,432 people killed in the temblor were found in similar structures, which had collapsed. Public interest in whether such houses and buildings...
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

First LNG plant set for Hokkaido

Nippon Steel Corp. said Monday it has received an order from Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (JAPEX) to build Japan's first liquefied natural gas plant, in Hokkaido.
COMMENTARY
Jan 16, 2001

Best politics money can buy

Under a new law, which will come into force shortly in Britain, all political donations of more than 5,000 British pounds (some 800,000 yen) will have to be reported and foreign donations will be disallowed. The rules have been brought in to deal with suspicions that large donations to party funds may...
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

Aramaki to assume Kirin presidency

Kirin Brewery Co. said Monday it will appoint Senior Managing Director Koichiro Aramaki, 61, as the brewery's new president.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 16, 2001

S-Pulse gets Baron

Shimizu S-Pulse on Monday announced the signing of striker Baron from JEF United Ichihara.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Heavy snow covers Sea of Japan coast, halts flights

Heavy snow continued to fall in some parts of the country Monday, mainly along the Sea of Japan coast, as a cold air mass chilled the archipelago.
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2001

Freedom worth fighting for

Ten years ago, the Soviet government mounted the last furious defense of its crumbling empire. As Lithuanian citizens set up a vigil outside the television tower of Vilnius, the nation's capital, Soviet forces moved to break up the protests with tanks and troops. Fourteen people died on the night of...
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

Miyazawa, Fabius to monitor U.S. economy

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and his French counterpart Laurent Fabius agreed Monday the two countries will closely monitor economic and financial policies to be carried out under the new administration of the United States, a Finance Ministry official said.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Astronauts tour to report on mission

The crew of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery said Monday that aspects of everyday life will become increasingly important as astronauts' missions get longer.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

Pessimism spells bargains

The Tokyo stock market began the 21st century lackluster amid concern over the stalled economic recovery and selloffs to unwind cross-shareholding ties.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Two Japanese films receive invites to Berlin festival

Two Japanese films have been invited to compete in the 51st Berlin International Film Festival for the first time since 1982, according to officials of the distributing agency Toho Co.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

LDP prepares to inflate sagging stock market

The Liberal Democratic Party on Monday decided to set up an in-house panel to draw up measures to bolster Japan's faltering stock markets, party officials said.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Governor cues tidal flat plan review

Chiba Gov. Takeshi Numata said Monday he is open to reconsidering the size of a reclamation project that would bury some of the last remaining tidal flats in Tokyo Bay. However, he added that he thinks the prefecture has already cut the plan as much as it can.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

Disney, T&E in online games tieup

The Disney group of the United States and T&E Soft Inc., a Nagoya-based developer of computer games, have reached a nonexclusive agreement to develop online Disney-branded games for broadband networks, the two firms announced Monday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Jan 16, 2001

Current account surplus shot up 22.1% in November

Japan's current account surplus shot up 22.1 percent in November from a year earlier to 972.2 billion yen in a sharp turnaround from a 28.6 percent decline in October, the Finance Ministry said Monday. The upturn is largely due to an expansion in the surplus in goods and services trade stemming from...
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2001

Monkey exterminations on the rise

The number of municipalities exterminating monkeys reached about 500 in fiscal 1999, after the government revised a law to let prefectures eradicate harmful animals, a survey released Sunday shows.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji