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SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 17, 2000

IAAF playing it for laughs with Sotomayor decision

"We're all created equal. Some are just more equal than others."
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2000

Record paper production expected

Paper production in Japan will likely rise to a record high this year, reflecting an information technology-led economic recovery, industry officials said Tuesday.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2000

Making a run for the horse mackerel

Abundant, easy to catch and good to eat: an apt description of the scrappy little Japanese horse mackerel. Records show that the fish has been a Japanese favorite since the Nara Period, over 1,000 years ago, and it still has its aficionados today. Many Japanese anglers pursue this popular fish in preference...
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 16, 2000

Of Rubber Ridley and his Gardens

The Gardens: That is how many locals refer to them. Just The Gardens. As if there were no other, as Bonnie Tinsley wrote in "Visions of Delight."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 16, 2000

Taking a seat in the no-joking section

Smoke, as they say, gets in your eyes. Not to mention your clothes, hair, nose, lungs, taste buds, teeth, gums and (if you are a smoker) your pocketbook.
COMMENTARY
Aug 15, 2000

LDP faces the ethics test

Kimitaka Kuze was recently forced to resign as chairman of the Cabinet-level Financial Reconstruction Commission for receiving illegal benefits and payments from companies. This dealt a heavy blow to the credibility of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and stirred a strong sense of distrust in Japanese politics...
COMMUNITY
Aug 13, 2000

Women! Enhance your lifestyles with Webgrrls

Talking with American Khristine (Khris) Schaffner lowered the heat in Tokyo's Nishi-Shinjuku by several degrees. She has that kind of tall, willowy, pale blonde beauty that acts as a psychological cooler even if she is talking 10 to the dozen and making a complete fool of herself over a Starbucks chocolate...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2000

Rash media prolonging hostage crises

HONG KONG -- Recent hostage crises in Fiji and Sulu have been made more protracted by unprincipled journalism.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 13, 2000

Getting interconnected at Kim's

Interconnectivity is a technology buzzword, but Kim Gordon -- rock star of Sonic Youth fame, originator of the X Girl label, and now artist and curator of "Kim's Bedroom," currently at Parco Gallery -- has presented it as the locus of her first curatorial foray. Gordon has assembled an eclectic group...
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 13, 2000

A Dance of hope: Rediscovering the artistry and power of Choi Seung-Hee

On March 20, 1926, a 14-year-old Korean girl was in Seoul, watching a performance of the internationally renowned dancer Baku Ishii and his troupe.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2000

Base cuts beyond SACO sought

ITAMI, Osaka Pref. -- In order for the U.S. and Japan to maintain friendly relations, America must reduce its military presence on Okinawa, which is little more than a colonial outpost controlled by the U.S. military, said leading Okinawa politician Tokushin Yamauchi during a recent symposium.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2000

Entry for Japanese tougher at Portland, Oregon airport

OSAKA -- Japanese travelers to the United States appear to have become targeted by U.S. immigration officials at an Oregon airport amid a crackdown on illegal immigrants from Asia, according to recent press reports from Oregon.
COMMENTARY
Aug 12, 2000

What are the world's options in Myanmar?

KAWTHOOLEI, Myanmar -- From a distance, the jungle looks peaceful. Dense, green growth covers hills that march endlessly onward. Primitive villages emerge in simple clearings: wood and bamboo buildings, covered by thatched roofs, sitting on stilts and open to rain, animals and mosquitoes.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2000

Trip brings students closer to truth about Japan

History books and historical truths are often two different things. This valuable lesson was stressed by students participating in this year's Japan Return Program.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2000

Agreement signed in 'Nishi-Tokyo'

Faced with a declining birthrate and falling tax revenues, officials of the cities of Hoya and Tanashi in western Tokyo signed an agreement Thursday to launch the merger of the two municipalities.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2000

Mount Oyama erupts again, forcing residents to flee

Miyake Island's Mount Oyama erupted Thursday morning for the fourth time in just over a month, forcing nearby residents to evacuate, the Meteorological Agency said.
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2000

NTT Communications, U.S. firm announce DSL tieup

NTT Communications Corp. said Thursday that it will tie up with a U.S. firm to enter the Japanese broadband data market and offer Internet access over on digital lines.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 10, 2000

Japanese athletes owe debt to Chiba

In today's sporting world we are too often forced to see rebels without a cause trying to make a name for themselves by their outrageous actions on or off the field of play. They constantly try to attract attention by bullying, being obnoxious or condescending to opponents, teammates, coaches, fans and...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2000

Nurse indicted in infant-death case

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office has indicted a 33-year-old nurse for professional negligence resulting in death in the January 1995 death of an infant at a Tokyo hospital, it was learned Wednesday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 10, 2000

When you least expect distinction in Shimbashi . . .

It's always refreshing to come across a new sake pub, in particular one that breaks the mold of tradition and convention. It's even more refreshing to come upon one that defies all efforts at categorization, yet still satisfies in every way.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2000

NTT East planning speedy DSL service

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corp. is planning to provide its integrated services digital network subscribers with a line that is more than 10 times faster than ISDN lines by the end of fiscal 2000, company sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2000

6.23 million people lost or quit jobs in '99

Some 6.23 million workers, or 15 percent of Japan's workforce, lost or quit their jobs in 1999, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous year, according to the results of a Labor Ministry survey released Tuesday.
COMMUNITY
Aug 9, 2000

A lifetime spent selling pearls to the stars

Today's pop quiz: What do Jodie Foster, Harrison Ford and Brooke Shields have in common? Hint: They are all happy customers of the Wally Yonamine Company. No, they did not purchase autographed baseballs (although Yonamine, former ace slugger for the Yomiuri Giants, is still known as "the Jackie Robinson...
EDITORIALS
Aug 8, 2000

A lesson from the police

Japan's reputation as the most crime-free of the major industrialized nations is crumbling. It has always been a relative matter and if any proof of the change were needed beyond the daily headlines, the National Police Agency has just provided it. In a regular semiannual report, the NPA announced that...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 8, 2000

Think global, act local; or is it think local, act global?

LANDSCAPES AND COMMUNITIES ON THE PACIFIC RIM: From Asia to the Pacific Northwest, edited by Karen K. Gaul and Jackie Hiltz. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2000, 254 pp., $24.95 (paper). Lives are complex, and if this era of globalization has taught us anything, it is that this complexity extends beyond local...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 8, 2000

Japan: everything and more

THE MIKADO'S EMPIRE: A History of Japan from the Mythological Age to the Meiji Era, by William Elliot Griffis. A facsimile printing of the 1895 edition. New York, Tokyo, Osaka & London: ICG Muse, Inc. 2000, 462 pp., 1,300 yen. William Elliot Griffis, educator and clergyman, first came to Japan in 1870....
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2000

Recognizing Japan's key role in Asia

U.S. policymakers seem to have given up on Japan, laments Michael Green, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. The exasperation is premature, Green says, for by most yardsticks, Japan is more important to U.S. interests than is China. This is important as U.S. Republicans choose...

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