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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 7, 2002

Sonic Youth: Murray Street

Jim O'Rourke is on a roll. First, post-rock's poster child released his best solo effort, "Insignificance," late last year, and now he's on two of the best albums of 2002. As well as having produced Wilco's breakthrough album, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," O'Rourke has become producer for -- and a member of...
EDITORIALS
Aug 6, 2002

ARF comes back to life

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has signed up in the war against terrorism. That is the key development from the annual meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF, Asia's premier security institution, which convened last week in Brunei. The U.S.-ASEAN agreement was the most notable outcome...
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Aug 6, 2002

Reducing icebergs to snowballs:How to avoid sinking the ship

"Ever had all your dreams come true, only to find yourself in the middle of a nightmare?" asked a wry acquaintance recently. In his case, he hand followed through on a lifelong dream starting his own advertising boutique. A careful planner, he had determined his own strengths and weaknesses and approached...
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2002

Hibakusha promotes peace through student encounters

HIROSHIMA -- A group of American teenagers sat in a circle in rapt silence, listening to a 72-year-old Japanese woman speak.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2002

Man shoots brother with improvised model gun

The 56-year-old owner of a Tokyo soba noodle shop was shot in the chest Sunday by his younger brother, who used a a retooled Italian model gun with a handmade bullet, police said.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2002

Japan playing a vital role in Myanmar

Aung San Suu Kyi has completed two successful and delightful long-distance inland political journeys since her release from a second house arrest about 10 weeks ago. The State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, the military regime, has provided full security for her travels in Mandalay and Mon states....
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Aug 4, 2002

Salaryman quits to devote time to family name: Tokugawa

Tsunenari Tokugawa drew a salary for more than 38 years, climbing the corporate ladder to become executive vice president of major marine shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2002

Congresswoman meets A-bomb victims

HIROSHIMA -- The only member of the U.S. Congress to oppose the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan met survivors of the 1945 atomic bombing here on Saturday, three days ahead of the 57th anniversary of the attack.
COMMUNITY
Aug 4, 2002

Touched by the hand of the fire god

Akiko Amano says she once saw the God of Fire. It was around 10 years ago when she first started working as a hanabishi (professional fireworks setter). That night, she was working at a countryside fireworks festival.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 4, 2002

Reform by fiat and persuasion

INSIDE GHQ: The Allied Occupation of Japan and its Legacy, by Eiji Takemae. London: Continuum, 2002, 751 pp., $40 (cloth) The U.S.-led Occupation of Japan ended 50 years ago, but still casts long shadows over the country and remains hotly debated among scholars and pundits. It is indeed fortunate, therefore,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Bank notes to get high-tech makeover

The government will start replacing 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 1,000 yen bills with new notes that include sophisticated features to beat counterfeiters as early as April 2004, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa announced Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Aug 3, 2002

Artist's work brings copper plate color prints to life

An impression of stillness amid the wonder of color is a beautiful thing to behold.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2002

Nonresident investors sell off stocks for sixth week

Nonresident investors remained net sellers on the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya bourses in the week of July 22-26 for the sixth straight week, with the largest sales value per week for the year, the Tokyo Stock Exchange has said.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 1, 2002

A camphor by any other name

Growing among the the laurel-dominated evergreen forests of central and southern Japan is a tree with a host of names and a host of uses.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Aug 1, 2002

Pot-shot summer with no room at the inn

Summertime, and the living is easy . . . for me, anyway.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 1, 2002

Isles trampled in white elephant stampede

Japan's islands have long been a source of tearful TV documentaries that focus on aging populations and families abandoned by children who have left for the cities.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 1, 2002

Tokyo's paradise isle under threat

Mikura Island in the Izu Islands south of Tokyo is a spectacular natural paradise known the world over for its community of bottlenose dolphins, estimated to be almost as numerous as the island's 240 inhabitants.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2002

Joan Miro: Reflections on the renewal of Spain

No artist's life and work -- not even Picasso's -- better represents the modern history of Spain than that of Joan Miro (1893-1983), whose early work from 1918 to 1945 is now on display at the Setagaya Art Museum.
EDITORIALS
Jul 30, 2002

Negotiations and desperation

North Korea has expressed regret for last month's naval clash with South Korea that left five sailors dead. While that is the responsible thing to do, questions swirl around Pyongyang's motivation for this surprising development. The most likely explanation is that North Korea's economic situation is...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2002

New law may raise prospects for homeless

In the Kamagasaki day-laborer district of Osaka, news about the soon-to-be passed bill to provide aid for the nation's homeless has been greeted with a mixture of hope and indifference.
COMMUNITY
Jul 30, 2002

JET membership up in numbers, diversity

For the past 15 years, the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program has greatly helped promote Japan's internationalization.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 30, 2002

Counting the cost of marketing tradition

The archaeologist, picking over the dust of the past, will unearth few items to help him reconstruct a history of the Laotian hill tribes. Here there are no monuments to cultures or civilizations past: no temples, stupas, ancestral halls, foundations of lost villages or images of deities carved into...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Jul 28, 2002

Tokyo planetary science professor doubles as ramen guru

Although the fields of extraterrestrial activity and ramen may seem to be worlds apart, these disparate subjects have provided one Japanese academic with widespread recognition.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jul 28, 2002

Moronic student textbooks

MOSCOW -- When you visit a recently independent nation, ask what kind of elementary school textbooks their kids are reading. I must say the textbooks my kids use are horrific.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jul 28, 2002

He's got jazz izakaya to an art form

Many newly opened bars and stores proudly display their year of establishment on the signage out front -- even if it just opened. Vagabond, a funky jazz izakaya in Shinjuku, is no exception. The signboard outside proudly boasts "Tavern Since 1976." When I arrived in 1981, this made me laugh. But now...
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jul 28, 2002

Getting their message across

Hip-hop commentators talk a lot about roots: about old school roots and neighborhood roots and ultimately roots in Africa. Though hip-hop has flourished in Japan, much of it is distinctly rootless, imitating the goofy antics of The Beastie Boys or the street-savvy poses of gangsta rappers.
EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 2002

Some key questions skirted

Seventeen years ago, following the Lockheed payoff scandal that culminated in the arrest and indictment of former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, the Diet set up an ethics council in both chambers. In an eerie flashback to that episode, the Lower House ethics panel on Wednesday grilled former Foreign Minister...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2002

Prospects improve with Megawati at helm

CHIANG MAI, Thailand-- With President Megawati Sukarnoputri at the helm, the amount of sensational news coming out of Indonesia has somewhat subsided. This is a welcome development as too much media interest usually points to trouble.
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2002

Mobile security standard developed

Three Japanese and two foreign electronics firms announced Thursday the creation of a mobile commerce extension standard that will enable flash memory cards to be used for secure shopping and banking via mobile devices.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 25, 2002

You never know what you might catch

The physician's report might have gone something like this: "The patient, H., was perhaps the most powerful man in the world and, as such, enjoyed the best medical care available. Despite this, in his late 30s he became irrational and insecure and developed tyrannical tendencies. H.'s illness may have...

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