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CULTURE / Music
Dec 5, 2001

Hot rock for Genghis Khan

"I want to create a wadaiko dance collaboration with Michael Jackson."
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.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2001

Man arrested over child sex abroad

OSAKA -- A 37-year-old Japanese man was arrested Monday on suspicion of paying for sex with a 14-year-old Vietnamese girl in Cambodia, marking the first time a domestic law banning sex with children has been applied to an offense committed abroad, police said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2001

Mexico sets its sights on tourists from overseas

Mexico has taken various measures to tighten security at airports and improve public safety following the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, Mexico's tourism minister said as she appealed for increased visitors from Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2001

Lawmakers cautiously back female ascension

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Monday that although he thinks a female member of the Imperial family should be allowed to ascend the Chrysanthemum Throne, there should be no rush to amend the male-only succession law, which dates back to the early postwar period.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2001

EU overtures to Cyprus rattle Turkey

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- When you cross the "green line" between the Cypriot and Turkish-occupied parts of the city, you enter a zone that has frozen in time since war stopped on this eastern Mediterranean island 27 years ago.
BUSINESS
Dec 3, 2001

Management buyouts find favor as restructuring tool

Management buyouts, a form of corporate acquisition in which management teams invest in the acquisition financing, have exceeded 100 billion yen so far this year, eclipsing the record of 40 billion yen set in 2000.
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 Prince stayed near for birth, like a modern husband

In a sign of how times have changed in Japan, the Crown Prince accompanied his wife to the Hospital of the Imperial Household in the Imperial Palace compound late Friday night as she was admitted to give birth to the couple's first baby.
COMMUNITY
Dec 2, 2001

Ski trips easy to book without using Japanese

If you can't speak Japanese or you don't want the hassle of booking trains and hotels before embarking on a ski or snowboarding trip, there are people who can make the arrangements for you.
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...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Dec 2, 2001

And, now, the greatest shows on earth

Fancy some Yogurt Pooh? "Errr, no thanks." Ever seen Cruyff in the Bedroom? "Johan Cruyff? The '70s soccer star? Is he doing porn now?" How about Girls From Italia? "Yeah, OK, I'll have a bit of that."
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2001

Minister says safe Cambodia is ideal holiday spot

Cambodia has an image problem that makes it difficult to attract tourists, tourism minister Veng Sereyvuth told a travel congress in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2001

First effort in 'war on terror' sees airlift of winter woolies

The Defense Agency on Thursday started airlifting supplies for U.S.-led forces fighting in Afghanistan, according to agency Vice Minister Ken Sato.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 30, 2001

Tiger mosquito

* Japanese name: Hitosujishimaka * Scientific name: Aedes albopictus * Description: A small, soft-bodied insect, the tiger mosquito is instantly recognizable by the black-and-white bands on its legs, and the distinctive white "racing stripe" on its black thorax. The antennae are tufted and are shorter...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Nov 29, 2001

Where's the best bloomin' desert in the world?

Huntington Botanic Gardens is magnificent. Comprising no fewer than 15 specialized gardens set on 54 hectares of the 86-hectare San Marino estate a mere 20 km northeast of downtown Los Angeles, it is home to an astonishing 14,000-plus species of plants.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2001

Travel event seeks to ease anxiety

The foremost event in the nation's travel industry calendar kicked off Wednesday in Tokyo's Odaiba district, with industry leaders seeking to ease public concerns triggered by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 29, 2001

The battle is for second

The door to the haunted house creeks open and a terrified man with a mustache and chattering teeth peers in.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2001

Tokyo company launches student-run software companies

A mobile phone software development company in Tokyo has launched two development subsidiaries operated by students at universities in Sendai and Kyoto.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2001

Some like it chemical

Original Sin Rating: * * * Japanese title: Poison Director: Michael Cristofer Running time: 116 minutes Language: English Now showing
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2001

Yanagisawa welcomes 'pretty big' loan disposal

Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa on Tuesday welcomed moves by major banks to take loan-loss charges topping 6 trillion yen for the 2001 business year.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2001

Tokyo company launches student-run software companies

A mobile phone software development company in Tokyo has launched two development subsidiaries operated by students at universities in Sendai and Kyoto.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2001

Web site auctions overpriced tickets to Ghibli Museum of Animation

Admission tickets to the Ghibli Museum of Animation in Mitaka in western Tokyo are being resold in Internet auctions at up to 10 times their original price, according to Mitaka officials.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2001

Minister seeks proposals on revamping education law

Education chief Atsuko Toyama asked her advisory panel Monday to recommend within a year whether Japan's "education constitution" aimed at creating a democratic and peaceful nation should be revised, officials said.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

BOJ not mulling foreign bonds, Shiokawa reckons

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Monday he does not think the Bank of Japan is considering purchasing foreign bonds as a means of boosting liquidity in the money market.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Nov 26, 2001

Looking back on life in Stalinist Russia

NEW YORK -- My friend Lenore Parker threw a party for Mary M. Leder, who has just published her first book, at age 86. The book is an autobiography, "My Life in Stalinist Russia: An American Woman Looks Back" (Indiana University Press).
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2001

Japan set to jump the gun with SDF

Since the Diet enacted antiterrorism legislation enabling the Self-Defense Forces to provide logistic support to the U.S.-led war efforts in Afghanistan, there have been mounting calls in Japan for expansion of the SDF's activities abroad. These moves defy Japan's war-renouncing Constitution.
COMMENTARY
Nov 26, 2001

Freedom in the line of fire

WASHINGTON -- The first priority for all our governments must be the elimination of terrorism, but in the process we must do what we can to preserve our basic freedoms and human rights.
EDITORIALS
Nov 25, 2001

Nothing ventured, nothing gained

You think it's hard work trying to get people to buy things? Put yourself in the position of those dreamers who try every year to get people to buy nothing. Give it a rest, they say. Borrow, recycle, repair, eat at home. Call a moratorium on yearend gift-giving. Resist the blandishments of advertisers...

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