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JAPAN
Dec 6, 2001

Woman gets 14 years for strangling girl

The Tokyo District Court sentenced a woman to 14 years in prison Wednesday for killing the 2-year-old daughter of an acquaintance she claimed had snubbed her.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2001

Women call on Crown Princess to do it her way

The 37-year-old Crown Princess, who gave birth to a girl Saturday, should be free to raise her child in any manner she sees fit, according to several of her female contemporaries across the country.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Dec 6, 2001

Nature allows for few winners in the face of fire

Fire! It's a word that strikes terror. Images of leaping, roaring, scorching flames spring to mind; images of billowing smoke and suffocating fumes; of people and other creatures great and small fleeing for their lives.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 6, 2001

'Shrek,' 'Final Fantasy' raise bar for DVDs

When ogres and space monsters battled last summer, the ogres won handsomely. At least they did in box offices across the United States.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2001

Wrong side of the tracks

The Yards Rating: * * * * Japanese title: Uragirimono Director: James Gray Running time: 115 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2001

In the footsteps of a master of deception

Following Rating: * * * * Director: Christopher Nolan Running time: 69 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2001

Not fade away

Ka-chan Rating: * * * Director: Kon Ichikawa Running time: 96 minutes Language: Japaneese
CULTURE / Art
Dec 5, 2001

Paper-cutting artists breathe new life into an ancient craft

You can get a glimpse of the beauty of kiri-e (cut-paper pictures) created by members of the Zenkoku Kiri-e Dokokai (National Association of Kiri-e) at an exhibition running till Dec. 8 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space in Ikebukuro.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 5, 2001

Attack of the coneheads

Picture, if you will, a typical Saturday afternoon in Shinjuku. Throngs of people scurry to and fro, delivery trucks troll by belching fumes, while scooters dart in and out of traffic. This time, though, something's up.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 5, 2001

From mimicry to homegrown art

Japanese modern art is often discounted as a mere echo of its Western counterpart. This is not so much because styles and forms have been imported per se, but because in their new environment they have failed to take on a life of their own. In this, the real test, modern Japanese art has often been found...
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2001

Teen murderer of four to hang

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the death sentence for a man convicted of murdering four members of a family during a robbery in Chiba Prefecture in 1992 when he was 19 years old.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Dec 4, 2001

Dreaming of starting your own business?

"I want to go out on my own and start a business," a new acquaintance confessed the other day, "but then I look around at other people who've done it, and I hesitate. It really bugs me that I can't pick out what makes one person a success and another a washout. There just doesn't seem to be any rhyme...
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2001

Chirac's competitive edge

PARIS -- So far, 10 men and two women have entered the race for the French presidential election in April and May. Only one of them has a small chance of being present in the second round -- Jean-Pierre Chevenement, former socialist minister for domestic affairs, whose hostility to the European Union,...
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2001

Crown Princess Masako gives birth to a girl

The Crown Princess gave birth to a girl Saturday afternoon, the first baby in her 8 1/2-year marriage to the Crown Prince.
SUMO
Dec 2, 2001

Hawaii's heavyweight hero is living his dream

Musashimaru is one of only two top-ranked yokozuna currently in Japan's national sport of sumo (the other is Takanohana), and last weekend he won the autumn basho in Fukuoka -- a victory that will boost earnings already estimated at 60 million yen a year.
COMMUNITY
Dec 2, 2001

'Float on Earth' at Japan's snow resorts

You draw in a sharp, crisp breath of clean air, point your board straight ahead and blast off full speed down a short, steep drop, then up a narrow slope that launches you high in the air. Landing in a meter-deep pillow of fluffy, white snow that swallows your board, your bindings and your knees brings...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Dec 2, 2001

You know you want it

Meet Carl X, a quiet, unassuming Englishman who, for 10 years, has been working the graveyard shift in the bowels of Roppongi and beyond. And -- as far as I can see -- has survived unscathed. Remember Gold in Shibaura, Tokyo's most famous and decadent club in the late '80s? Carl worked there. Remember...
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2001

Birth of princess 'a delight' for the nation, Koizumi says

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued a statement Saturday congratulating the Crown Prince and Princess on the birth of their first child, describing it as a delightful event for the Japanese people.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 2, 2001

The life of the party

The yearend holiday season brings a flurry of parties, rich dinners and the popping of corks. For those of us who love wine, this time of year presents a few dilemmas as well. There's the torture of finding the right bottle to give the boss or a gourmand in-law who has tried everything. Then we mull...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2001

A (temporary) love affair with death

LONDON -- "I love death more than you love life," said Osama bin Laden in a recent interview, clearly convinced that this gave him moral superiority over the whole of Western civilization. There are plenty of young men in the refugee camps that litter the Muslim world who would make the same assertion....
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2001

Africa: building a better future

Next week's ministerial meeting in Tokyo on African development offers a special opportunity for Japan and other development partners of Africa to renew their commitment to building a better future for that region's 300 million children. Their future ought to be a matter of global concern: In this era...
EDITORIALS
Nov 30, 2001

Easing rules for police use of guns

Police officers in Japan are subject to strict restrictions in the use of handguns. This is held partly responsible for the increasing deaths of police in the line of duty. Beginning Dec. 1, however, they will be able to fire shots with less constraint when their lives, or those of others in need of...
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2001

State seeks 10-year sentence in Matsuo embezzlement trial

Prosecutors demanded a 10-year prison sentence Thursday for fired Foreign Ministry official Katsutoshi Matsuo, who stands accused of embezzling 500 million yen from the Cabinet Secretariat's discretionary funds from 1997 to 1999.
COMMENTARY
Nov 30, 2001

Pyongyang's missed chances

HONOLULU -- North Korea never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. The latest example occurred last week when Pyongyang precipitated yet another breakdown in the North-South dialogue process, thus dealing a staggering blow to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's beleaguered "sunshine policy"...
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2001

State seeks 10-year sentence in Matsuo embezzlement trial

Prosecutors demanded a 10-year prison sentence Thursday for fired Foreign Ministry official Katsutoshi Matsuo, who stands accused of embezzling 500 million yen from the Cabinet Secretariat's discretionary funds from 1997 to 1999.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2001

Lee Teng-hui on a mission to save his vision of Taiwan

NEW YORK -- Taiwan will hold an election Saturday to choose members of the national Parliament, mayors and county magistrates. The outcome will have a lasting impact on Taiwan's future -- in particular on its relationship with China.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2001

Four war-displaced women to sue state

Four Japanese women left in China by their families during World War II plan to sue the Japanese government on Dec. 7 for 80 million yen for decades of failing to help their repatriation, sources familiar with the case said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 29, 2001

Deafness givin' them good vibrations

The Italians got it right about some of the important things in life, like olive oil and coffee. But they got it right about something else, too, something that brain researchers have only just realized. The Italian for "to hear," sentire, is the same (in its reflexive form) as the verb "to touch," (sentirse)....
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2001

Aum says it wants to pay compensation

The Aum Shinrikyo religious cult, accused of carrying out the fatal sarin gas attacks in Tokyo's subway system in 1995, has opened a software development firm and resumed ties with followers in Russia, members said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY
Nov 25, 2001

Key insight spells riches for Hollywood nail care magnate

All it took for a small dental supply business to become the world's largest independent manufacturer of nail products was one man's realization that some of his biggest buyers of dental acrylics weren't dentists at all they were manicurists.

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