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COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Feb 8, 2001

With Cabinet approved, Bush gets down to business

WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush is off to a good and fast start. In his first days as U.S. president, he has begun to soften his relationships with his adversaries, organize his control over the vast bureaucracy of the federal government, initiate innovative programs and promote his promised legislative...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Feb 8, 2001

Religion and health in the etymology of sake

Sake has not been around forever, and at one point in time, they had to come up with a name for this new stuff. Hooch, da good stuff, giggly juice . . . It is likely that the Japanese equivalents of these have all been used, but there must have been some point when the word "sake" itself came into being....
COMMUNITY
Feb 8, 2001

Kids who learn by doing what comes naturally

The melting snow has transformed the playground of Hiratsuka Yochien into a muddy winter wonderland, but the kids follow their own pace. Some plunge ecstatically into the puddles, some carefully make their way to the chicken coop, while still others keep warm in the library.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 7, 2001

Saved from the 'bitter sea'

XIAN, China -- When "Black Bean" was 4 years old, his mother and her lover stabbed his father to death. The lover was executed for murder and the mother was sentenced to 15 years in prison as an accessory to the crime. Yet the little boy's nightmare had only just begun. Reviled by the whole village,...
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Feb 7, 2001

Why not join the marine corps?

Welcome to the second week of the second month of the United Nations-designated "International Year of Volunteers." To mark this joyous occasion, we are pleased to announce the release of a book named "Kokusai Volunteer Guido," aka "Inside International Volunteer Work," published by The Japan Times and...
COMMENTARY
Feb 6, 2001

Civil servants are not serfs

The "shunju" (spring and autumn) column on the first page of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun often contains comments that are right on target. The Jan. 27 column commented on the sometimes arrogant and unwarranted demands made by Japanese politicians on Japanese diplomats in missions abroad.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2001

Trauma in a sepia-tinged Kyushu

It's not easy filming the inner lives of human beings. Novelists can go on at length about their protagonist's stream of consciousness (see "Ulysses") while filmmakers cannot show scene after voiced-over scene of that same stream without inducing audience catatonia. See Joseph Strick's misbegotten 1967...
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2001

Save Ariake Sea before it dies

Yet another possible man-made disruption of nature has been reported from Kyushu's Ariake Sea. This major nori (seaweed) cultivation area appears all but dead. Not only has output dropped sharply, the plant has also discolored. The abnormal growth of phytoplankton has created a serious shortage of nutrients...
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2001

Parasitologist says excess hygiene threatens Japan

Far from being next to godliness, the Japanese obsession with cleanliness puts individuals at higher risk of disease and may even threaten the entire country, according to parasitologist Koichiro Fujita.
COMMUNITY
Feb 4, 2001

Heaven to Earth without explanation or apology

Anyone who thinks the art of painting is dead should head for the Towa Building on Tokyo's Meiji-dori and take the lift to Galerie Le Deco on the fifth floor. It is here that German artist David Garde is showing work created since last September: objects, installations and paintings that disturb and...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 4, 2001

Life is too short, even when you have nine!

I used to think I knew how to bury a dead cat. Then I learned the Japanese way.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 4, 2001

Shizuo Mochizuki

Shizuoka, the warm, sunny prefecture known for its peaceful hillsides where tea bushes grow, has always been home to Shizuo Mochizuki. His father kept a shop in Shizuoka where he sold Japanese cakes. Mochizuki says that neither tea bushes nor sweet cakes especially influenced him in choosing to make...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 4, 2001

The elephants walk

Peter Pommerer likes to think big. Like, elephant big. His drawings, paintings and installations almost always revolve around depictions of the herbivorous mammal. Actually, there is a rumor floating around the art world that the Stuttgart artist actually believes he is an elephant.
CULTURE / Film
Feb 3, 2001

Every faulty step you take . . .

Now you see the great Keanu Reeves, now you don't.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 3, 2001

Afghanistan and the gods of little things

God's preferences on dietary matters are well-known: no pork for Jews or Muslims, no beef for Hindus, and no saturated fats or refined sugar for the Western upper-middle class. But this is the first time he has taken such a strong line on haircuts.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 3, 2001

New Verdy

J. League first-division side Verdy Kawasaki started its new life as Tokyo Verdy 1969 ahead of the upcoming season on Thursday, officially announcing a change of name at a party in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2001

Lifetime medical cost higher in Hokkaido

A resident of Hokkaido spends an average of 30 million yen on medical costs in a lifetime, between 3 million yen and 5 million yen more than a resident of Chiba or Nagano prefectures, according to a recent study by a group of researchers.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2001

Lifetime medical cost higher in Hokkaido

A resident of Hokkaido spends an average of 30 million yen on medical costs in a lifetime, between 3 million yen and 5 million yen more than a resident of Chiba or Nagano prefectures, according to a recent study by a group of researchers.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2001

Crucial oil negotiations drawing near

Japan and Kuwait are expected to open crucial negotiations as early as this spring on extending Arabian Oil Co.'s drilling rights in the Kuwait-controlled portion of the Khafji oil field.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Feb 2, 2001

Tokyo's Milk gets in touch with rock's feminine side

Remodeled, remixed and rereleased, this week's Play Button checks back to see what some previously covered subjects are up to.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

Female entrepreneurs seeking fulfillment

Kyodo News Rie Karasawa is the latest addition to a growing number of Japanese female entrepreneurs moving into a business world long dominated by men.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

Mori apologizes for ministry scandal

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori opened this year's regular Diet session Wednesday by apologizing for recent scandals that have rocked his administration.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2001

Mori apologizes for ministry scandal

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori opened this year's regular Diet session Wednesday by apologizing for recent scandals that have rocked his administration.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2001

Ministry's plans for future ports include floating cities by 2050

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry has come up with ambitious designs for future seaports, including plans featuring floating cities and "weatherproof ports," ministry officials said.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2001

What will sanctions do to Afghanistan?

ISLAMABAD -- A news release from the U.S. State Department explaining the possible consequences of this month's U.N. Security Council sanctions against Afghanistan was mainly concerned to set the record straight.
EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2001

Gujarat digs out of the rubble

The death toll from the earthquake that hit the western Indian state of Gujarat last Friday continues to mount. Officially, 6,287 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the tremor that registered 7.9 on the Richter scale, and 15,481 were injured. About a half-million people have been left homeless....
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jan 31, 2001

Castles in the sky

Here's a folk tale for the digital era.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2001

Appeal rejection seals killer's fate

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a death-row inmate's appeal against lower court rulings that found him guilty of murdering a couple during a robbery in 1991, effectively finalizing his death sentence.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2001

Dead hero's dad slams sale of beer at train stations

The bereaved family of South Korean student Lee Su Hyon left Japan with his ashes Tuesday, as the 26-year-old's fatal attempt to save another man's life continued to reverberate across both countries.

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