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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 1, 2002

Marc Chagall: painting the great power of love

In Japan, July 7 is a special day. It is the festival of Tanabata, the one night of the year when two celestial star-crossed lovers -- the Weaver (Vega) and the Cowherd (Altair) -- are said to cross the Milky Way to meet.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 1, 2002

N*E*R*D: 'In Search Of . . .'

'This album is like a life soundtrack," N*E*R*D frontman Chad Hugo says on their Web site. "It's a diary of shit we've been through over the last year or two."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
May 1, 2002

A heaping spoonful of satire helps the politics go down

Mixing music and politics is always tricky. While it sometimes results in great art (e.g. Bob Dylan's pacifist tirade "Masters of War"), often the music is ruined by too much didacticism (John Lennon's "Some Time in New York City" is a prime example).
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2002

Fashion world banking on teenage girls' yearning to grow up

In an effort to capitalize on the Golden Week holiday period, many department stores across the country are targeting preteen and early teen girls with a series of brand-name clothing promotions, fashion shows and makeup classes.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2002

Japanese cheerleader back for second season with NFL team

When Ai Yasuda was named to the San Francisco 49ers' Gold Rush cheerleading squad for the second straight year, she realized that although the door may not be wide, it is always open.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Apr 28, 2002

Scientist's conscience prevents him from toeing institute line

Hoisting banners with the single Chinese character for "damnation," victims of the mercury poisoning outbreak known as Minamata disease rallied in Tokyo in 1971 to draw national attention to their plight.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2002

Latest Chinese puzzle has experts baffled

HONG KONG -- For China-watchers, the puzzling China contrast is between a nation that sends the capsule Shenzhou 3 into space and one that drags a seemingly useless rusty hull halfway around the globe. China's first aircraft carrier has finally arrived in port, but the mystery remains as to what conceivable...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 28, 2002

Shinjo-mania begins to wear thin with Giants teammates

CHICAGO -- When the San Francisco Giants arrived at Wrigley Field on Tuesday for a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs, Tsuyoshi Shinjo was batting a depressing .168. Considering how much attention he was receiving from the Japanese media, you'd think he was batting 1.000.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Apr 28, 2002

Japan's 'long-awaited spring'

In the morning edition of the Asahi Shimbun, Monday, April 28, 1952, there was a front-page editorial titled "A New Start for Japan." The Occupation, Asahi opined, had been "almost akin to colonialism," resulting in people becoming "irresponsible, obsequious and listless . . . unable to perceive issues...
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2002

Asahi Mutual eyes net profits in '01

Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. will likely secure the equivalent of a stock company net profit in the year to March 31 despite its plan to write off some 400 billion yen in latent stockholding losses, company sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 28, 2002

Where history was made

As supreme commander of the U.S. Occupation of Japan, Gen. Douglas MacArthur had his share of faults. His temper rattled members of his staff and an open disdain for authority enraged his boss, President Harry S. Truman.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 28, 2002

Stars & strikes: a revolution from above

Just 18 months after surrendering in the Pacific War, more than 3 million people throughout Japan were preparing to bring the shattered, hungry nation to a standstill.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 28, 2002

Public rests easy with cash under the futon

As the scandals keep a-comin', the citizens are receiving what many believe is a healthy and long overdue reality check about those whom they've entrusted with their collective well-being. Politicians have always been suspicious types and bureaucrats only slightly less so. But now teachers, policemen...
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2002

Cabinet backs posts bills, sparks LDP row

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet on Friday endorsed part of a package of bills on postal service deregulation, disregarding fierce opposition from some heavyweights in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
EDITORIALS
Apr 27, 2002

From hope to helplessness

How ephemeral a politician's popularity is. When he made his debut just a year ago, on April 26, 2001, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was basking in an unprecedented degree of public support. Now his ratings have hit a record low. What are we to make of this?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 27, 2002

When a contract contracts, and what comes after

Visitors to Hakone last autumn are most probably still talking about it. How they were in a cable car and saw a Japanese man in another car, traveling in the opposite direction, standing on his head and swiveling his hips 180 degrees with legs splayed open.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 27, 2002

Trey bien! Hanshin hurler Moore off to hot start

Don't be fooled by the menacing fu-manchu and the pitcher's glare. Hanshin Tigers left-hander Trey Moore is actually a friendly, down-to-earth family man from Texas, but don't tell opposing hitters that.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Apr 26, 2002

Laughing all the way to English proficiency

"When Genki English visits our school, the kids simply love it," says Kimie Chu, an English teacher at Shin Tokorozawa preschool in Saitama Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Nichido Fire rapped for car policies

The Financial Services Agency ordered Nichido Fire & Marine Insurance Co. on Thursday to suspend some of its operations after it was found to have sold an unauthorized type of automobile insurance.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2002

Dangers of nuclear-energy use

Safety is a perennial problem for nuclear power plants. The latest government report on nuclear safety, released earlier this month, focuses on assuring safety in the use of plutonium, particularly in the so-called pluthermal program, which uses plutonium as fuel in light-water reactors.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2002

Details of another suspected abductee released

OSAKA -- The identity of another man suspected of having been abducted by North Korea in 1980 has been made public, and his photograph were released Wednesday by a group working to secure the release of abductees.
COMMENTARY
Apr 25, 2002

Regret on the morning after

PARIS -- Until last Sunday, the campaign for the French presidency seemed to be the dullest ever. But when the returns of the first round were made public at 8 p.m., commentators were shocked by an earthquake that President Jacques Chirac's wife, Bernadette, had been, according to her husband, the only...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2002

Australia moves closer to approving research using human embryo cells

SYDNEY -- Like a newborn baby, it's a miracle. At least, that's what cynics are calling Australia's political approval of state-supervised destruction of human embryos for stem-cell research.
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2002

The earthquake in France

Take nothing for granted. That is the message French voters sent in the first round of presidential elections held Sunday. In a stunning rebuke to the established order, Mr. Jean-Marie Le Pen, a rightwing extremist, came in second, edging out Prime Minister Lionel Jospin to win the right to challenge...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2002

LDP acquiesces on bills for postal deregulation

The Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday backed down from its crusade to block a package of bills on postal services deregulation, saying it would approve the legislation's submission to the Diet.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2002

Let firms police selves, panel says

An advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday suggested that companies enter into covenants with their customers regarding product quality and safety.

Longform

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