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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 15, 2001

A spoonful of Koizumi helps the medicine go down

The continuance of Junichiro Koizumi's administration beyond the summer seems like a sure bet: Support for his Cabinet is over 80 percent, his e-mail magazine is being read by hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and every time the opposition questions one of his pronouncements, they are deluged with...
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 13, 2001

Arsenal, Gamba reach deal on Inamoto

OSAKA -- Gamba Osaka midfielder Junichi Inamoto is set to join Arsenal after his club said Thursday that a basic agreement on a multi-year contract has been reached with the English Premier League giant.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 11, 2001

Kusuma's demonic dots, in glorious monochrome

Two years after the triumph of "Love Forever," the large-scale American-curated retrospective that earned Yayoi Kusama long-overdue recognition here at home, Japan's premier visual artist is back with an intimate and wonderful Tokyo gallery show.
COMMENTARY
Jul 5, 2001

It's all too lonely at the top

LONDON -- As predicted, the Labour Party won the June general election, giving Tony Blair a second term as prime minister. This is bad news for the media monster which, as we all know, has a voracious appetite but nonetheless a fastidious and restricted diet: sleaze, scandal, violence, betrayal. A large...
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 4, 2001

Brook's 'Hamlet' speaks straight to the soul

In his book "The Shifting Point," Peter Brook writes that when he begins work on a play, he starts with "a deep, formless hunch which is like a smell, a color, a shadow."
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2001

The real backbone of Japan

Japan pays about 2,000 yen for each ton of iron ore it imports. Sheet iron made from the ore sells for 50,000 yen a ton and automobiles built with the sheet iron sell for 1 million yen a ton. The Japanese economy thrives by creating added value in the manufacturing of industrial products from raw materials....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 1, 2001

Innovative strategies that get the message across

The pointlessness of election campaigns in Japan is dramatically exemplified by the sound trucks screaming the names of their respective candidates over and over. The stupidity of election campaigns in Japan is audaciously exemplified by something that happened in my own neighborhood last week prior...
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2001

Takuma served fresh warrant over stabbings

OSAKA — Police served a fresh arrest warrant on Mamoru Takuma on Friday on charges of stabbing seven schoolgirls to death and injuring 12 others in an attack June 8 at an Osaka elementary school.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2001

Japan to propose holding an Asian IT conference

Economic minister Heizo Takenaka said Friday he will visit Singapore and Malaysia next week and propose holding an international conference on information technology.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2001

Missile shield to top Japan, U.S. talks

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday he will discuss the U.S. missile shield plan in depth when he meets with President George W. Bush this weekend.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2001

May consumer prices fell 20th month in row, 0.7%

The nation's core consumer prices fell a record 0.7 percent in May from a year earlier, while Tokyo prices fell 0.6 percent in June, down for a record 22nd straight month, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2001

Tanaka considering Belgrade visit

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka may visit Yugoslavia and possibly some other countries in Europe before attending the July 18-19 Group of Eight foreign ministers' meeting in Rome, a senior ministry official said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2001

Coming out at the workplace the next big challenge for gays

During a party celebrating his election to a Tokyo ward assembly in April 1999, the candidate was being congratulated by supporters, as were his parents, who were hailed as the biggest contributors to the successful campaign.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2001

Global sales, restructuring fuel Nissan's revival

Two of the mostly eagerly awaited financial reports this year were those of Nissan Motor Co. and Snow Brand Milk Products Co.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2001

F-4 jets to stay on alert despite unarmed guns

The Defense Agency has no plan to replace Air Self-Defense Force F-4 fighters on standby against possible airspace violations, even though their 20mm cannons are empty after a jet accidentally strafed a city in Hokkaido earlier this week, agency Vice Minister Ken Sato said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2001

Transferred NTT employees face wage reductions

NTT Corp. plans to introduce a new wage system for the roughly 100,000 staff being transferred from its group companies to regional subsidiaries under which salaries will be cut by 15 percent to 30 percent, company officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2001

Beijing agrees to participate in import curbs showdown

Tokyo plans to hold director-level talks with Beijing over a bilateral trade row centering on tit-for-tat import curbs, a top Japanese trade official said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2001

Bank of Japan decides against changing monetary policy

The Bank of Japan unanimously decided to keep its monetary policy unchanged Thursday, despite worse-than-expected reports on May's industrial output.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2001

Sharp drop in confidence expected in June 'tankan'

A closely watched Bank of Japan business survey due out Monday is expected to show significant deterioration in confidence among major manufacturers, according to a Kyodo News survey of 27 economists.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2001

Koizumi urged to speak frankly with Bush

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi should "frankly" explain Japan's current economic situation to U.S. President George W. Bush during their first summit scheduled for Saturday in Camp David, Md., Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Wednesday. "It is important that (the two leaders) nurture mutual...
SOCCER / J. League
Jun 28, 2001

'Pixy' plans to lead Yugoslavia in Kirin Cup

Dragan "Pixy" Stojkovic will make an appearance in front of his Japanese fans when the Nagoya Grampus Eight star suits up for Yugoslavia on Thursday night against Paraguay in the opening match of the Kirin Cup at Tokyo's National Stadium.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2001

Takebe rejects Seoul's demand over fishing zone

Fisheries minister Tsutomu Takebe on Tuesday rejected Seoul's demand that Tokyo provide alternate fishing venues if it maintains its ban on South Korean fishing operations in waters off the Sanriku region of northeastern Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2001

Is Canberra doing right by its refugees?

SYDNEY -- Nowhere was the poignancy of World Refugee Day on June 20 felt more acutely than in Australia. Here, the plight of thousands of refugees held in detention camps gnaws at the national conscience.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2001

Stop me if you've heard this one before

Nadie Conoce a Nadie Rating: * * Japanese Title: PuzzleDirector: Mateo Gil Running time: 108 minutes Language: SpanishOpens June 30 at Cine La Sept in Yurakcho At this point in time, we, as an audience, have learned to expect things from the psycho-killer genre: elaborate mutilation; a hip and queasy...
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2001

State aims to spur telecom joust

The government will set up a study panel next month to ponder steps to enhance competition in the telecom market, Toranosuke Katayama, minister for public management, home affairs, posts and telecommunications, said Tuesday.
Events
Jun 26, 2001

Recession hits Osaka-based yakuza

OSAKA — The number of Osaka-based gangsters formally affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi has fallen to almost half what it was a decade ago. But this may not necessarily be good news for law enforcement officials.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2001

Mother's letter reveals Ikeda pupil's trauma

OSAKA — The mother of a child who attends an Osaka elementary school where eight children were massacred earlier this month has said in a letter to Kyodo News that her child has yet to recover from the shock of witnessing the murders.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2001

Japan wants to talk over trade rift with China

Japan plans to send a government mission to China to urge Beijing to retract its decision to impose special 100 percent tariffs on imports of Japanese automobiles, mobile phones and air conditioners, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.

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