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SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Aug 7, 2001

Japanese soccer stars shocked by encounters with outside world

First the good news: Five Japan internationals now play abroad. With Naohiro Takahara playing for Boca Juniors and Hidetoshi Nakata, Junichi Inamoto, Shinji Ono and Akinori Nishizawa all employed in Europe, Japan coach Philippe Troussier has good reason to be optimistic ahead of next year's World Cup....
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2001

Minicar presence gains on automaker innovation

Minicars were once regarded by Japanese consumers as second-class, cheap vehicles.
SPORTS / TALK OF THE TIMES
Aug 6, 2001

Iwabuchi hoping for big season this year

Saracens and Japan flyhalf Kensuke Iwabuchi is hoping for a great season this year in England.
EDITORIALS
Aug 5, 2001

Lies and consequences

Considering how consumed the media are with both death and dying, you might think a brief news item about someone's impending demise wouldn't cause much of a stir. But, of course, it all depends who the someone is.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2001

Ignite Japan's service sector

For several years, Princeton economist Paul Krugman has been preaching that what Japan needs to fix its economy is a good dose of inflation to cure its demand-side problems. Japanese policymakers -- along with most mainstream economic experts -- dismissed his initial 1998 proposals as unnecessary, difficult...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2001

U.S., China vie in bending the truth

Diplomacy, as much as the warfare it is designed to prevent, exacts a heavy toll on the truth. One can only wonder what future generations will learn with disbelief and chagrin when the Freedom of Information Act allows public examination of U.S.-China foreign policy intrigue in recent years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 5, 2001

The big day

When 645 guests descended on Tokyo's New Takanawa Hotel last month to celebrate the marriage of 46-year-old former pop idol Hideki Saijo to Miki Makihara, a 28-year-old "office lady" he'd been dating since the fall, the starstruck media gushed at length over the "super gorgeous" event.
COMMUNITY
Aug 5, 2001

What's in a name?

A wedding ceremony may be the culmination of romantic love, but it's also when life within the institution of marriage begins.
COMMENTARY
Aug 5, 2001

Bush takes over mistakes in Kosovo

WASHINGTON -- The Clinton Administration in drag?
CULTURE / Books
Aug 5, 2001

From the outside looking in

THE DONALD RICHIE READER: 50 Years of Writing on Japan. Compiled, edited and with an introduction by Arturo Silva. Stone Bridge Press, 2001, 238 pp., $19.95 (paperback). Full disclosure: I've known Donald Richie for more than 20 years and, like many people who have known him for a long time, I count...
COMMENTARY
Aug 4, 2001

Donors can make a world of difference

ISLAMABAD -- As Tetsuko Kuroyanagi returns to Japan with promises of using her television appearances to raise awareness over the plight of women and children in Afghanistan, there's no doubt that her six-day trip to the central Asian war-torn country was a brave effort.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2001

People of all ages are turning to a variety of volunteer work

Japanese men and women of all ages are increasingly spending their spare time engaging in a variety of volunteer work, ranging from restoring traditional "minka" wooden houses in the countryside to recycling secondhand computers.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2001

Fight the good fight for press freedom

What strange set of circumstances could connect the issue of tax probes of South Korean media outlets with China's bid for the Olympics and the advertising policy of a Hong Kong bank? While it may not seem obvious at first glance, the linkage relates to freedom of expression.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2001

Trade, security top agenda

SYDNEY -- A new regional security mechanism involving the United States, Japan and Australia that risks offending China is high on the agenda of Australian Prime Minister John Howard for his Tokyo visit.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2001

Japan gets China's vote for ICJ

Japan has found an unlikely ally in its intensifying campaign to secure a judge's seat at the International Court of Justice.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 3, 2001

The Thai dilemma: ethics or stability?

BANGKOK -- Is Thailand's prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra just an entrepreneurial businessman in a hurry, anxious to bring to the country the same benefits that he won in the telecom business, where he became a U.S.-dollar billionaire and very quickly, one of the world's richest 500 people? Or does...
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2001

Commuters fume over train temperatures

Frustration levels are running high among train and subway commuters amid a spell of uncomfortably hot weather this summer, driving many to demand cooler trains.
ENVIRONMENT / IN BLOOM
Aug 2, 2001

Yamayuri (Golden-rayed lily)

"The snake fleeing away, The mountain is silent. This lily flower!"
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2001

A samurai flick for the MTV generation

Red Shadow Aka Kage Rating: * * 1/2 Director: Hiroyuki Nakano Running time: 108 minutes Language: JapaneseOpens Aug. 11 at Marunouchi Toei and other theaters Silent-era samurai movies fulfilled the same function as the westerns of W.S. Hart and Tom Mix: They entertained the common herd, particularly...
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2001

Matsuo admits embezzlement

The Foreign Ministry's former head of logistics for VIP trips abroad pleaded guilty in court Tuesday to defrauding the government out of some 161 million yen by padding expenses of overseas visits by two former prime ministers between 1997 and 1999.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2001

. . . And then there's angst

Ghost World Rating: * * * * 1/4 Director: Terry Zwigoff Running time: 111 minutes Language: EnglishNow showing If you're lucky, you made it all the way through high school as one of the in-group, one of the "normal" kids. The next least-bad fate was to not fit in, but remain convinced that somehow...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 1, 2001

Tracing days in their lives

"Two Lives," a joint exhibition of acrylic paintings by Japanese artist Tadanori Yokoo and American artist Paul Davis is on show until Aug. 4 at Nishimura Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2001

Breathing new life into the Tories

A political party that suffers a major defeat after 18 years in power is obviously in need of serious self-examination. If it repeats the experience four years later at an election marked by an unusually high degree of abstention, the need for wrenching change may well become inescapable.
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2001

Shiokawa eyes securities tax decision

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday he hopes to outline plans for a revision of the securities tax system before the extraordinary Diet session in September.
COMMENTARY
Jul 30, 2001

Leaders must fight for a cleaner planet

For the past century, the world's great powers have pursued better living conditions, fought against each other and worked frantically to develop technologies useful for fighting wars, all in total disregard of the environment.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2001

Malnutrition plagues Tibet's children

NEW YORK -- Recent studies on children's health in Tibet reveal that almost half of them suffer from malnutrition. As a result, they suffer from stunted growth and their mental development has potentially been damaged.
COMMENTARY
Jul 28, 2001

Chirac defends credibility of leadership

PARIS -- Once again, the French people celebrated their national feast July 14, which marks the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille royal jail -- the beginning of the great 1789 Revolution.
COMMUNITY
Jul 28, 2001

Sufi focuses on forgiveness, healing

It is not often you meet a Sufi. Nor conclude the evening with him and his interpreter dossing on your floor. With last Friday a national holiday, and Kamakura booked to the brim, it was a case of back to my pad or sleep on the beach. And I could hardly leave Sheikh Ingo Taleb Rashid to such a fate;...

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