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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jun 12, 2002

Message in a pop song

You've probably noticed a big mascara-lined eye staring out at you from billboards all over town lately. The eye in question belongs to Lisa, former vocalist with hip-hop/R&B trio m-flo, and the billboard is plugging her new single, "Babylon no Kiseki (Miracle of Babylon)," which was released on May...
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2002

New insurance rules for failed insurers

The Marine & Fire Insurance Association of Japan is considering offering full protection to individual policyholders for three months after the collapse of a nonlife insurer, association sources said Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2002

Out with the nitty-gritty

Remember the controversy ignited three years ago when a white Washington bureaucrat was fired after using the word "niggardly" in a meeting? Black employees said it sounded so much like the racial slur "nigger" that it didn't matter a jot that the two words were etymologically unrelated. Incredibly,...
COMMENTARY
Jun 9, 2002

Labour's dearth of dissent

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair could be suffering from the first signs of the madness of princes. It is paranoia, and it afflicts almost every political man who has ambition but does not have the security of the divine right of kings (the madness of kings being grandiosity or megalomania.)...
LIFE / Travel
Jun 9, 2002

Roughing it on the high seas

We struck off before dawn, finally. I was annoyed and tired of waiting. We dragged our kayaks down the ramp through the water and scraped into the sea. The air was damp and chill. I had just spent seven hours drinking beer and shivering on a plastic sheet spread on the concrete dock as I tried to get...
COMMUNITY
Jun 9, 2002

Kayaking on the high seas

We struck off before dawn, finally. I was annoyed and tired of waiting. We dragged our kayaks down the ramp through the water and scraped into the sea. The air was damp and chill. I had just spent seven hours drinking beer and shivering on a plastic sheet spread on the concrete dock as I tried to get...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 9, 2002

In publishing, the modern girls have it

World Cup fever may have taken over the Japanese media, but the bookstores are full of books on language and education. The sales of books for learning English are perhaps connected to spring and its association in Japan with the beginning of the academic year and the hiring of new employees by the corporate...
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 8, 2002

Morientes strikes twice as Spain goes marching on

CHONJU, South Korea -- Spain booked its place in the second round of the World Cup with what was eventually a straightforward 3-1 win over Paraguay here on Thursday, although it was the South Americans who had actually taken the lead early in the game.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2002

Government may relax messenger-service deadline

The government may relax a requirement that any messenger service entering the mail-delivery sector deliver express parcels within three hours, posts minister Toranosuke Katayama said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Jun 8, 2002

Shibamata serves up postwar nostalgia as vagabond Tora-san comes home

Movie-lovers and people who cherish the memory of the good old early postwar days can indulge in nostalgia at the Tora-san Memorial Hall in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Jun 7, 2002

Working with people to save the Earth

Money was not Fareeha Ibrahim's reason for joining the JET program. In fact, as a senior policy adviser in Australia's Environment Department, her annual income was significantly more than the 3.6 million yen she gets as a JET.
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2002

Ratification is just a first step

With Tuesday's ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, Japan has taken a first step toward tackling the problem of global warming, which threatens modern civilization. Coming four and a half years after the protocol was approved at an international conference in Kyoto in 1997, the ratification is in line...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2002

Tiananmen legacy to haunt new leaders

EDMONTON, Canada -- Tuesday was another anniversary of the tragic morning of June 4, 1989, when the Chinese government used force to crack down on student protesters and their supporters in and around Tiananmen Square.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2002

Foreigners flock to Aichi town to learn Japanese

Japanese generally know two things about the city of Okazaki in Aichi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Koizumi postal reforms draw flak from LDP vested interests

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was criticized Tuesday by a lawmaker from his own Liberal Democratic Party over his long-held goal to privatize the nation's postal services.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Shigenobu daughter pushes peace

OSAKA — While international calls are growing for another round of peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, May Shigenobu, daughter of the Japanese Red Army guerrilla group's founder, said little progress will be made unless Palestinian grievances are recognized.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 5, 2002

. . . but soccer hosts are a dream team on stage

As in soccer, so on stage. Japan-Korea collaboration (or is it Korea-Japan collaboration?) is happening all over.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jun 5, 2002

With Shina, the songs don't have to remain the same

All too often, albums of cover songs are just stopgap efforts put out by artists whose creative juices have run dry. So when I heard that Ringo Shina was making her comeback in the form of a covers album after taking a year's maternity leave, I was skeptical. But my expectations were raised as the names...
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2002

January-March GDP to show growth: think tanks

The nation's gross domestic product for the January-March quarter will show an annualized 4 percent to 10 percent growth in real terms, in contrast to contractions in the preceding three quarters, 12 major private think tanks have predicted.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2002

An occasion for peace and reconciliation

The cohosting of the World Cup that began Friday is a great occasion for fostering peace and reconciliation not merely between South Korea and Japan but also throughout the world. Although the World Cup is mainly a sporting event that takes place every four years, the current contest portends special...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Jun 3, 2002

Can a nation learn from Nissan's success?

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The twin announcements that Nissan made a record profit of 372 billion yen last year and that Carlos Ghosn has been appointed chief executive officer of the parent company, Renault, as well as retaining the presidency of Nissan, are an extraordinary landmark.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jun 2, 2002

West-blessed authoritarian

MOSCOW -- U.S. President George W. Bush visited Russia just as a new wave of terrorist attacks was expected in North America. This grim background toned down the euphoric atmosphere of the Bush-Putin summit. Yet two things definitely stood out during the visit: the signing of an important arms-reduction...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2002

Low-emission vehicle exhibition opens in Tokyo

A two-day exhibition of environment-friendly vehicles opened Saturday in Tokyo, featuring about 100 low-emission vehicles including fuel-cell cars.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jun 2, 2002

Still tastes like Shonen spirit

Raspberry rock? Pineapple pop? Just plain old vanilla? Osaka-based all-girl band Shonen Knife -- age 21 this year -- haven't been flavor of the month for many a moon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jun 2, 2002

In a pinch, these will do just fine

More than 50 families of crab, numbering thousands of species, thrive in practically all parts of the globe. Most crab species are marine and live in salt water or the brackish waters of bays, lagoons and river deltas. A relatively small number have adapted themselves to completely freshwater life-cycles...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 2, 2002

The slow train to France

To reach AOC Yoyogi entails an undemanding stroll down a narrow shotengai shopping street in one of those quiet, unexceptional parts of Tokyo you would never have recourse to visit in the normal run of affairs. It's only minutes away from the JR station, but far enough that you feel well removed from...
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
Jun 1, 2002

Chinese, South Korean students warm to Japan

To Lee Hee Jung, a 20-year-old South Korean student at Yokohama National University, Japan is closer to her mother country than the United States not only geographically, but psychologically.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2002

The World Cup: more than just a game

"Si, Senor, It's War" read the headline in an English newspaper a few days before the national team of England and Argentina met in their semifinal soccer game during the World Cup in Mexico in 1986. The headline was an exaggeration, of course. It was just a game. Yet, the Falklands War was fresh in...
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

Lower House takes up postal bills

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications opened debate Thursday over a set of four postal services deregulation bills.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?