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SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 30, 2001

Ichiro prefers to let his bat do the talking

He may be the ultimate Mariner, but when it comes to dealing with the media, baseball superstar Ichiro Suzuki can act more like a clam.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Coast guard report now easier to read

The Japan Coast Guard released its annual white paper Tuesday featuring a more detailed and easy-to-read format, coast guard officials said.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Automakers' sales results split for July

Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. saw domestic sales rise in July, while sales for Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. fell, according to data released by the companies Monday.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Ikeda Elementary reopens in wake of June slayings

IKEDA, Osaka Pref. -- Eighty days after the massacre of eight children at Osaka Kyoiku University Ikeda Elementary School, the school reopened Monday at a new temporary structure with several new features designed to ensure the safety of its approximately 680 students.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Judge walks after paying minors for sex

The Tokyo District Court sentenced Tokyo High Court Judge Yasuhiro Muraki to a suspended two-year prison term Monday for paying for sex with three girls ranging in age from 14 to 16.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 28, 2001

The sea bottom is a wreck

I'm not doing it by the book. Instead of descending feet-first, I am spread-eagled and trying to make out the two massive wrecks that lie in more than 30 meters of water below me. Exhaled air pulses past my ear. A mercury- silver bubble is trapped under my mask as I fall through the water.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2001

Immigrants' uphill battle to learn English

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- The Asian immigrant was described as speaking in "halting English" even after 20 years of living in the United States. The reporter of the Central California newspaper seemed to suggest that 20 years of living in the country should have resulted in a strong command of the language....
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2001

Police officer killed in scuffle with armed man

A police officer attacked by a knife-wielding man Sunday in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward shot and killed his assailant before dying of his wounds.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2001

Hell on earth in '23

"The pillars of the house made groaning sounds and began to crack. An earthquake! The wall clock stopped, and the electric fan went flying." That was how Hisamatsu Yamato, then an 18-year-old living in Tokyo's Honjo district, recalled the moment.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 26, 2001

Intimidation, deception -- and that's just the cops

Earlier this summer, when an American serviceman was accused of raping a Japanese woman on Okinawa, the U.S. military authorities were put in a difficult position.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Aug 26, 2001

Bring it on home

O-bon is a mysterious Japanese holiday, which falls somewhere between the beginning and middle of August, as determined by the heaves and sighs of the cosmos each year. It is said to be a time when the spirits of one's ancestors return to roost (especially if one leaves a strategically placed eggplant...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 26, 2001

Dogs and penguins and affairs, oh my!

If you have a dog who doesn't do what you say, you might want to tune in this morning to Asahi TV's Sunday talk show "Tokusuru TV (Beneficial TV)" (9:30 a.m.), where actors Masayuki Watanabe and Wakako Shinozaki play-act at being a couple who entertain guests with interesting tips for everyday life....
CULTURE / Books
Aug 26, 2001

Engine of a nation's modernization

A HISTORY OF JAPANESE RAILWAYS: 1872-1999, by Eiichi Aoki, Mitsuhide Imashiro, Shinichi Kato and Yasuo Wakuda. Tokyo: East Japan Railway Culture Foundation, 2000, 256 pp., 5,000 yen (cloth). Few industries have a more illustrious history than that of the railroad. From its birth in the 19th century...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 26, 2001

Shaken but not stirred

KOBE -- More than 6,400 people died, 250,000 buildings collapsed and fire razed 7,000 homes over 64 hectares of land. But, according to Yoshiteru Murosaki, a professor at Kobe University's Research Center for Urban Safety and Security, we have yet to learn any lessons from the Great Hanshin Earthquake....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 26, 2001

Showing, not telling: the birth of pure film

WRITING IN LIGHT: The Silent Scenario and the Japanese Pure Film Movement, by Joanne Bernardi. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2001, 355 pp., 100 illustrations. $39.95 (cloth); $19.95 (paperback) Film evolved differently in different cultures. In the West the cinema was perceived as a new form...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2001

Scandals have Chirac on the defensive

LONDON -- August is the month when, traditionally, the French forget about the cares of everyday life as they head for long holidays at home or abroad. But, this year, the most eminent of them as had a far from relaxing time. Just nine months before he faces an uphill re-election battle, President Jacques...
COMMENTARY
Aug 25, 2001

Asking a lot of peacemakers

LONDON -- What have Macedonia, Israel and Northern Ireland got in common?
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 25, 2001

Focus sharpens on Japan-U.S. economic relations

Staff writer While Japan and the United States exited the 20th century as the world's two largest economic powers, Tokyo and Washington had little to celebrate when they crossed the threshold into the new century.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Aug 24, 2001

Brazilian scores with high school soccer

Akita Prefecture has traditionally been famous for its rice. But, in recent years, the quality of young soccer talent coming out of the area's high schools has caught the media spotlight.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2001

Domestic violence shelters to see rise in number of counselors

The government plans to provide better support for victims of domestic violence by dispatching psychotherapists to shelters and women's centers across the country from April, according to health ministry sources.
EDITORIALS
Aug 23, 2001

Don't count on a U.S. recovery

The U.S. economy continues to stumble. More ominously, there are few positive signs elsewhere in the world that could give the global economy the boost it needs. The U.S. Federal Reserve did what it could on Tuesday, but that will not be enough to lift the United States out of the doldrums. Slow growth...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 23, 2001

Look, mum, what I got playing for my country

Maybe it was the passing of yet another birthday; maybe it was the fact that I had just become the proud father of a healthy son and heir but the last few weeks have seen me getting more and more nostalgic.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

'Ichiban Utsukushii Natsu'

CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

Better listening through circuitry

Theremin Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Steven M. Martin Running time: 83 minutes Language: English Now showing Just about everyone's listening to some sort of electronic music these days, but most people would be hard-pressed to name any of the medium's pioneers. Perhaps most would recognize Kraftwerk...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

How one white girl found her groove

Save the Last Dance Rating: * * * Director: Thomas Carter Running time: 113 minutes Language: English Now showing How are your hips these days? Do they rotate, swivel, slither like a separate appendage you can just detach and unleash onto the dance floor? If the answer is "huh?" then see "Save the...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

Just please don't ask 'why?'

The first questions John Williams is always asked about "Ichiban Utsukushii Natsu (Firefly Dreams)" are the "whys": Why are you in Japan? Why did you shoot a film using only Japanese actors? The answers, Williams says, don't come easy, "because I never imagined I would end up making a film here."
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

Bridging the gap

Ichiban Utsukushii Natsu Rating: * * * * Director: John Williams Running time: 95 minutes Language: Japanese Now showing For decades, foreign directors have been going to Hollywood and making movies with American settings, stories and stars that American audiences have accepted as their own. Charlie...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2001

Conductor Comissiona passes the youth baton

When Sergiu Comissiona arrives in Japan later this month to embark on the final leg of this year's Asian Youth Orchestra tour, it's likely that the baton he always conducts with will feel a little heavier than usual. This year marks the acclaimed Romanian-born conductor's eighth season with the AYO....
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 21, 2001

The diamond town that time forgot

Morning dawns on Luderitz, but you'd barely notice. A dense bank of sea fog has rolled in overnight, and the small German colonial town near the southern tip of Namibia is lost; a place of shadows, half-glimpsed Gothic churches, haunted-house mansions and the ghostly glimmer of muted lights.

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