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JAPAN
Sep 18, 2000

Emergency workers desert Miyake

An approaching typhoon prompted all 260 village officials and repair workers to leave Miyake Island on Saturday, leaving the volcanic island completely deserted for the first time in recorded history.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2000

Drought leaves Lake Biwa low, dry

OSAKA -- A prolonged drought in western Japan that forced local authorities to order a reduction in water taken from Lake Biwa appears to have ended, but officials warn that water levels are still low.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 17, 2000

Never enough thanks for living in Japan

Santi, a reader in the United States, will be moving to Japan soon. He wants to know how to prepare for living in Japan. Here are some of my suggestions for anyone who wants to acclimate quickly to life in Japan.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 17, 2000

Kings College Choir presents a concert fit for kings

Choir of Kings College, Cambridge Aug. 3, Stephen Cleobury conducting in Takemitsu Memorial Hall -- Chorus/organ: "Lobet den Herrn alle Heiden," BWV 230 (Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685-1750), Organ solo: "Allein Gott in der Hoh sei Ehr," BWV 676 (Bach), Chorus: Six Vespers, Op. 37 (Sergei Vassilievich Rachmaninov,...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2000

UNICEF ambassador blames politics for plight of children

In 17 years as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi has seen the worst of what could happen to children around the world.
SUMO
Sep 16, 2000

Former sekiwake Mitoizumi retires

Former sekiwake Mitoizumi of the Takasago stable decided Friday to step down from the ring after posting a 1-11 record in the second-tier juryo division at the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament.
OLYMPICS
Sep 16, 2000

Olympic rings and the color of money

Just about everybody in the world knows it is happening, but exactly what is it?
OLYMPICS
Sep 16, 2000

Two Koreas make history during opening ceremony

SYDNEY -- While Japan kicked off its Sydney Olympic campaign without many of its star athletes at the opening ceremony, it was the country's Asian neighbors who grabbed the spotlight in the four-hour spectacular on Friday night.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 15, 2000

Ever-unfashionable Akutagawa

JAPANESE SHORT STORIES, by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, translated by Takashi Kojima, foreword by John McVittie. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing, 1981, 240 pp. with 15 illustrations, $14.95. THE ESSENTIAL AKUTAGAWA, by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, edited by Seiji Lippit, foreword by Jorge Luis Borges. New York: Marsililio...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2000

Foreigners' crimes slightly down

The number of crimes committed by foreigners in Japan in the first half of 2000 dropped slightly from a year earlier, but thefts and burglaries are on the rise, according to a survey by the National Police Agency released Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2000

High dioxin levels found in Tokyo soil

Dioxin concentrations up to 16 times above national safety guidelines were detected in soil in Tokyo's Ota Ward, making it the nation's second-worst dioxin contamination in a public place, Tokyo metropolitan government officials revealed Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Sep 14, 2000

Smile, take a bath and visualize the gold

SYDNEY -- Yasuko Tajima said she was swimming faster than ever in the 400-meter individual medley relay, Masami Tanaka staked her claim on gold and Takashi Yamamoto might just smile his way into the medals. But head coach Koji Ueno seemed to be hanging on, white-knuckled, to the hope that new training...
COMMENTARY
Sep 14, 2000

Paving the road to failure

LONDON -- If good intentions could guarantee good results, the recently concluded Millennium Summit at the United Nations in New York would merit nothing but unreserved praise.
OLYMPICS
Sep 13, 2000

What's new in Sydney? How about taekwondo, triathlon and keirin

A total of 300 gold medals will be up for grabs in Sydney as athletes from over 30 different sports take to the various arenas, stadiums, diamonds, pools, lakes -- even beaches -- that will play host to Olympic events at the 2000 Summer Games.
OLYMPICS
Sep 13, 2000

Dream Team coaching: perhaps the easiest job in Sydney

Want to know if the U.S. men's Olympic basketball team goes for the jugular each time out? Interested in who will give the Dream Teamers the toughest time Down Under? How do the American hoopsters handle criticism over being too good?
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Sep 13, 2000

Talking Olympic tennis with Japan's best-ever player

For some, tennis is not a sport that should be in the Olympics. Its players have been professional for a long time, they earn millions of dollars a year, and they have their own major international championships.
COMMUNITY
Sep 10, 2000

East-West cooking talent stirs with a clipping from Chives

My first day back in London, on the Food and Drink page of The Evening Standard, a headline caught my eye: Keep Jun and Beautiful. Below, a color photograph of -- it has to be said -- a truly dishy Japanese 29-year-old clad in whiter than whites with a long striped apron.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2000

Unemployment adds to Miyake Island evacuees' woes

With an end to the volcanic activity on Mount Oyama nowhere in sight, evacuees from Miyake Island are facing an uphill battle in trying to secure sources of income upon settling into temporary housing in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2000

Corruption continues to plague Cambodia

PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia has become more stable since the 1998 election, a major victory for a country that has suffered so much turmoil in the past three decades. The infighting between the two parties of the coalition government has receded, and it is safer to travel around the country as the number...
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2000

MSDF officer arrested, admits spying for Russia

The Metropolitan Police Department and Kanagawa Prefectural Police arrested Lt. Cmdr. Shigehiro Hagisaki, a researcher at the Defense Agency's National Institute for Defense Studies, on suspicion of violating the Self-Defense Forces Law, which prohibits SDF members from divulging classified security...
JAPAN
Sep 9, 2000

DPJ race for Upper House begins

The ultimate goal of the Democratic Party of Japan to wrest power from the current ruling triumvirate is seen to mainly hinge on whether party leader Yukio Hatoyama can steer his party to victory in next summer's House of Councilors election.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Sep 9, 2000

Putting no price on the beautiful

If all the pottery that I live with and use suddenly disappeared from my home, I would find myself quite blue. Those pieces, in their silent voices, spark my imagination and encourage me to live each day with grace and style; they are good friends. Someday I know I will have to part with them; that is...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2000

The two Koreas and the great powers

The multifaceted character of the Korean problem and the uneven progress made by its protagonists were once again on display last week.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2000

Nigerian envoy promotes natural gas

The Nigerian ambassador to Japan on Thursday called on Japanese companies to invest in his country, particularly to make better use of its natural gas, much of which is wasted due to a lack of technology there.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 2000

LDP approves 17 billion yen loan to China

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday approved a 17.2 billion yen special loan package for China despite Japanese protests over recent Chinese naval activities near Japanese waters, LDP officials said.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2000

School libraries short 66 million books

Libraries at the nation's elementary schools and junior high schools are a combined 65.79 million books short of government standards for class sizes, the Education Ministry said.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2000

Snow Brand to resume sales of milk products

Snow Brand Milk Products Co. said Wednesday it will resume sales of low-fat and calcium-enriched milk made at its Osaka plant, the source of a recent food-poisoning scandal.
JAPAN
Sep 7, 2000

Fivefold vote-value disparity tolerable: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court ruled for a second time Wednesday that a nearly 5-1 disparity in the value of votes from different prefectures is constitutional -- despite the fact that the Constitution mandates equality among voters.

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