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JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 8, 2001

All the leaves are brown -- anyone know why?

In Japan, the beauty of leaves in autumn is revered with almost religious fervor. Part of the autumn weather forecast is devoted to showing the "leaf front" as the color change in trees moves across the country. Millions of tourists travel to marvel at the display.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2001

Memorial held for Mike Mansfield, longest-serving U.S. envoy to Japan

A memorial service for former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Mike Mansfield, who died Oct. 5 in Washington at the age of 98, was held Wednesday at a hotel in Tokyo.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 8, 2001

Creation of wants and the damage done

Who's consuming whom? Are we consuming advertising and living a better life because it educates us about a wide range of choices? Or is advertising consuming us, urging us to want, need and buy whatever the market has to offer?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Imperial eyes shielded from reality of homelessness

The homeless at Ueno Park were up early Monday, with hundreds of the park dwellers quietly disassembling their tents and packing their belongings onto carts soon after dawn.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 7, 2001

Between the real and the surreal

A whiff of the absurd was in the air at the closing ceremony of the 14th Tokyo International Film Festival, held Sunday at Orchard Hall in Shibuya. It wasn't necessarily the presenters' hairdos and breathless patter, nor the new formal dress code imposed on the attending filmmakers. It wasn't even the...
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 7, 2001

Art in the midst of 'iniquity'

I live in Kabukicho -- the infamous tangle of sex clubs and mahjongg parlors located just north of Shinjuku Station's East Exit. There are a number of reasons why I live where I do: the hundreds of wonderful all-night Asian restaurants and supermarkets; the fact that I can walk from my apartment to the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2001

Ogata pushes aid for Afghanistan

Sadako Ogata, former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, called Tuesday for Japan's financial support to help rebuild Afghanistan and stabilize neighboring countries.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2001

Fighting for independence in the shadow of a Goliath

ALMATY, Kazakstan -- The phone calls started last May, after the body of an ethnic Uighur activist was found strangled and dumped in a water reservoir.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Nov 6, 2001

A portal to another green world

In 1752, the Earl of Bute and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha called gardener John Dillman in for a little chat. Their instructions to Dillman were simple: Design a garden. It should, of course, be attractive; a classical English garden, blending the formal decorative with the new fad of naturalism, which...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2001

Refugee horrors haunt Australian race

SYDNEY -- The human agony of the Afghan refugee crisis has exploded in the middle of Australia's election campaign. Suddenly ethics are pushing aside vote-grabbing promises in the knife-edge runup to the Nov. 10 poll.
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2001

Dollar set to tumble if Fed cuts too little

The U.S. dollar is likely to face a sell-off this week if the U.S. Federal Reserve disappoints financial markets with moderate credit-easing action at its policy-setting meeting.
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2001

'Rights' resulting in wrongs

WASHINGTON -- Concern for human rights has become the universal preoccupation. Whole armies have been mobilized by the international community against their abuse -- most recently in Kosovo and Afghanistan. Complex charters and networks of international law have been constructed to enshrine them and...
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2001

Blood banks help Chinese with rare type

OSAKA -- Two Red Cross blood banks in western Japan helped save the life of a woman in China by answering an international appeal for a rare blood type, blood bank officials said Saturday.
COMMUNITY
Nov 4, 2001

It's a paradise for bikers in Japan

Maybe I'm losing it. With temperatures dropping and the first frost just around the corner, thoughts of winter sports and steaming cups of hot chocolate are starting to dance through most people's minds. But I've still got motorcycles wheelying through mine.
COMMUNITY
Nov 4, 2001

Life in the fastest lane of all

On the afternoon of Oct. 21, Daijiro Kato screeched across the finish line on his 250cc Honda to win the Malaysian Grand Prix -- and with it his first World Motorcycle Road Racing Champion's crown.
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 4, 2001

Cerezo's loss means relegation

Brazilian striker Amaral scored a hat trick in FC Tokyo's 5-2 triumph over Cerezo Osaka on Saturday condemning the visitors to J. League Division Two soccer next season.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 4, 2001

And that's all she wrote, folks

In addition to being the author of the oldest novel in the world, Murasaki Shikibu has the distinction of being the first woman whose image has ever graced Japanese currency. You can be forgiven if you've never noticed her, since she's on the back of the relatively new 2,000 yen note, which seems to...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 4, 2001

In love with the Harley legend

It's Sunday afternoon in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, and the local Harley-Davidson shop, American Street, is playing host to a stream of visitors in black leather jackets.
JAPAN / JOB JITTERS
Nov 3, 2001

Retirement not always time to relax

The red, blue and green flags of labor unions fluttered in front of the towering headquarters of a major bank in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district in early September as about 200 workers shouted, "The bank ought to carry out its social responsibility" and "We don't forgive the bank for dismissing...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2001

Palau banks on environment to bring in the tourist dollars

The president of the Republic of Palau said Thursday that his island nation will protect its environment through education and the selective admission of foreign capital, while promoting tourism as its major industry.
JAPAN / JOB JITTERS
Nov 3, 2001

Retirement not always time to relax

The red, blue and green flags of labor unions fluttered in front of the towering headquarters of a major bank in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district in early September as about 200 workers shouted, "The bank ought to carry out its social responsibility" and "We don't forgive the bank for dismissing...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 3, 2001

Howling Loochie Bros. R&B to benefit Amnesty

It took as long to read Robin (Loochie) Suchy's name card as it took him to lock up his bike outside Ben's Cafe in Tokyo's Takadanobaba. Following "Singer * Song Writer * Vocal Recordings * Narrations * Actor * Vocal Coach * Producer" were two contact addresses, in Naka Ochiai and British Columbia. Not...
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2001

TSE starts new life as profit-seeking stock firm

The Tokyo Stock Exchange, formerly a membership organization, started operations as a stock company Thursday in a bid to improve its worldwide competitiveness.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2001

Eight insurers to pay out over quake-related fire

OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Wednesday ordered seven nonlife insurance companies and an insurance group to pay a total of 12.15 million yen to 19 people whose homes were damaged in a fire caused by the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2001

A Palestinian state is key to Mideast peace

NEW YORK -- As the son of a Lebanese immigrant to Argentina, I feel a strong connection to what is happening in the Middle East, and at the futile attempts at reaching a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict in that region. To me, the way my father conducted his life -- and attempted to bridge...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 1, 2001

The great horror of typing

When I was in high school, I looked upon typing class as one of the great horrors of modern society. My teacher, Mrs. Ito, could drill us for an hour with "M, M, M. OK, now M, T, M," droning strings of repeating letters on and on until our eyes crossed.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2001

No remembrance of things past

Memento Rating: * * * * * Director: Christopher Nolan Running time: 113 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2001

Like we didn't know already?

Someone Like You Rating: * * Director: Tony Goldwyn Running time: 97 minutes Language: English Now showing
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Child-care pair admit negligence

The former head of a nationwide chain of day-care facilities pleaded guilty Tuesday to professional negligence resulting in the March death of a 4-month-old boy. The infant suffocated after an older baby rolled on top of him while they were in the same bed.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan