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CULTURE / Film
Apr 25, 2001

Gambling with reality, double or nothing

Doubles Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Satoru Isaka Running time: 90 minutes Language: JapaneseNow showing The title of Satoru Isaka's new film, "Doubles," is ironic, but appropriate. Its two heroes -- a middle-aged locksmith (Kenichi Hagiwara) and young computer nerd (Kazuma Suzuki) -- are unlikely partners...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2001

Riding roughshod over planet and people

While many of us were celebrating Earth Day on Sunday, environmental activists Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera spent another day in a Mexican jail. Soldiers arrested the pair in May 1999 and, says Amnesty International, tortured them until they confessed to guerrilla ties. Amnesty rejects this, saying...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 25, 2001

Homegrown approach to British Art Now

A couple of years ago, just outside the Japanese pavilion at the Venice Biennale, a troupe of butoh dancers wowed the assembled art glitterati with a street performance. Afterward, more than a few people congratulated representatives of the Japan Foundation for the refreshingly alive and unaffected happening,...
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2001

Women fighting for space in a man's land

The recent debuts of women-only areas at a prominent hotel and department store, as well as on long-distance buses, railway cars and airplanes, have generally been received favorably.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

FTC asked to probe NTT marketing tactics

A Japan-based affiliate of British telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless PLC has asked the Fair Trade Commission to probe sales practices by Japan's dominant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone group over the Myline service for registering preferred carriers.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Matsubara wins second term in Nagoya mayoral race

NAGOYA -- Nagoya Mayor Takehisa Matsubara defeated two independent candidates in the mayoral race Sunday to win his second term in office.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 22, 2001

All together now: Let's all shill for Universal!

Before Universal Studios Japan opened on March 31, media commentators were asking why the new Hollywood theme park wasn't called Universal Studios Osaka. After all, Tokyo Disneyland isn't called Japan Disneyland. Here's the punch line: If they called it Universal Studios Osaka, the acronym would be USO,...
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2001

Japan Airlines ups earnings forecast

Japan Airlines Co. said Friday that it revised upward its earnings forecast for the 2000 business year to March 31, due mainly to increased demand for its international flight services, especially between Japan and Europe.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2001

Contorted system spells short-term leaders

Unless one is a political analyst or blessed with an excellent memory, it is close to impossible to correctly rattle off the names of Japan's prime ministers since the late 1980s. There have simply been too many in that time.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 21, 2001

Speaking in tongues for a national day of prayer

At 82, and a spirited minister to world leaders, Harald Bredesen may be forgiven his excesses. Not only does he have a gift of the gab, but an enthusiasm for quoting so loudly from Scripture in public places that it turns heads. (In our hotel coffee shop, he has to be thrice shushed.)
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2001

Takashimaya group profit up 29%

Department store operator Takashimaya Co. said Thursday it chalked up a consolidated net profit of 8.32 billion yen in the business year that ended Feb. 28, up 29.4 percent from the previous year.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2001

Sony warms to Ericsson on mobile phone tieup

Sony Corp. said Thursday it is considering forming an alliance with LM Ericsson of Sweden in the mobile phone business.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2001

LDP tax panel plans breaks for firms using 'treasury stock' system

The tax panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party agreed Wednesday to introduce a tax break for firms using the so-called treasury stock system when the ban on such securities is lifted.
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2001

Angel firm to invest in university-bred ventures

A group of experts headed by Keio University professor Takatoshi Matsumoto has established an investment firm for information technology ventures set up by college professors and students.
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2001

LDP leadership shift key to market cheer

The Tokyo stock market is counting on an imminent change in Liberal Democratic Party leadership to provide impetus for a positive tone through this month and beyond.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

Train accident victims win workers' compensation bid

Labor standards inspection offices in Tokyo will allow workers' insurance to cover the deaths of a South Korean student and a Japanese photographer who were killed by a train Jan. 26 while trying to rescue a drunken man who fell onto the tracks at JR Shin-Okubo Station, the Labor Ministry said Tuesday....
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2001

JAMA urges automakers to 'clarify' own complaint systems

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association on Tuesday compiled a report on the industry's responses to consumer complaints in an effort to regain trust in the wake of last summer's scandal in which Mitsubishi Motors Corp. admitted to covering up complaints for decades.
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2001

More youth exchanges

OSAKA -- New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark on Monday called for more youth exchanges between New Zealand and Japan.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2001

Noted movie director Teshigahara dies at 74

Hiroshi Teshigahara, film director and "Iemoto" grand master of the Sogetsu school of flower arrangement, died Saturday of acute lymphocytic leukemia at a Tokyo hospital, his family said Sunday. He was 74.
COMMUNITY
Apr 15, 2001

A yen for thrift

There was a time when Japan prided itself on its thriftiness. Hard times after World War II produced the need to save money and cut every corner. Children were taught that each grain of rice was sacred and not to be wasted. Sardines and mackerel were standard fare, beef reserved only for special occasions....
COMMUNITY
Apr 15, 2001

Where the reading's free and easy

As England was once called a nation of shopkeepers, Japan could be called a nation of readers.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2001

Troubled retailer Mycal jolted by 87.3 billion yen loss

OSAKA -- Troubled retailer Mycal Corp. said Friday that it incurred a consolidated net loss of 87.29 billion yen in the year that ended in February, leaving it in the red for the third straight year.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2001

Power firms to integrate Internet units

The nation's 10 electric power firms and their telecom subsidiaries announced Thursday they will integrate their Internet-related businesses to provide uniform services nationwide.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2001

Jusco knocks Ito-Yokado from top profit spot

Ito-Yokado Co. slipped from top place among Japanese supermarket chains in terms of operating profits for the first time in 15 years in fiscal 2000, according to the firm's earnings report released Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2001

DaimlerChrysler buys Volvo's stake in MMC

DaimlerChrysler AG has agreed to pay $297 million for AB Volvo's 3.3 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp. to expand its alliance with the Japanese firm into commercial vehicles, MMC announced in Tokyo on Wednesday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami