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Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2002

Kim admits abductions

PYONGYANG -- Four of the 11 Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and '80s are alive but six others are dead, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi during their landmark talks on Tuesday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 15, 2002

It's time for family feuds!

The inter-season "specials" period is in full swing, and this week there appears to be more than the usual number of variety programs dedicated to dysfunctional families. If you're into this type of thing, which usually involves cameras invading homes where husbands and wives fight, kids fight or in-laws...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Sep 13, 2002

School selection comes to Japan at last

In many countries, parents have a choice of public schools. Not Japan. Here, you get just one choice: Send your child to the closest public school, or pay a lot of money for private school. But this is changing. School choice is coming to Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 7, 2002

Not Iraqi or English, just creative without borders

Hani Mazhar sits in Spica Gallery in Tokyo's Minami-Aoyama, looking unlike any artist ever met. He wears a double-breasted jacket with silver buttons, carefully pressed trousers, immaculately polished shoes. A perfectionist in more ways than one.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 4, 2002

Fighters welcome foreign fans to Dome

The Pacific League's Nippon Ham Fighters will hold their first Arizona Diamondbacks Night promotion on Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Tokyo Dome and, as was the case with Yankees Day for the past 20 years, the Fighters ballclub is inviting 3,000 foreign fans as guests to this fun international event. The...
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2002

Defense Agency budget request exceeds 5 trillion yen

The Defense Agency hopes to increase the capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces to combat terrorism, guerrilla attacks and spy ships, and on Friday requested an allocation of 5.0043 trillion yen in the fiscal 2003 general account budget to achieve this -- an increase of 64.8 billion yen, or 1.3 percent,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2002

Bush to seek Koizumi's support

OSAKA -- When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi meets U.S. President George W. Bush on Sept. 12, he will be encouraged to think broadly about what Japan can do to assist the U.S.-led military campaign against terrorism, a former Japan chief at the Pentagon said.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2002

Coast guard to build beefed-up patrol vessels

The Japan Coast Guard plans to build 11 high-speed patrol vessels that authorities hope would give the force more muscle to hunt down unidentified ships operating off the nation's coasts, officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2002

Osaka plans to boost worker morale with performance-based pay raises

OSAKA -- In an effort to boost morale among prefectural employees, the Osaka Prefectural Government plans to reinstate special pay raises to staffers for good performance, it was learned Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Aug 25, 2002

Far from the tanning crowd

The beaches between Zushi and Enoshima were buzzing with activity as my friends and I sped southbound along the strip. They were not only crowded with sunbathers, but also choked with oversize beach bars, lined up cheek to jowl along the foreshore. Some of these bars are extravagant multistory structures...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 18, 2002

Living Dead returns with 'group gestalt'

Bob Weir says he can use some serious beach time. The former Grateful Dead guitarist and vocalist is taking a breather a short while after bounding off stage following a well-received set by his band RatDog at last weekend's Mount Fuji Jazz Festival.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 18, 2002

Shopping for negative ions

Why, how, and even whether negative ions are beneficial to health may be the subject of highly charged scientific debate, but that's done nothing to dampen a craze for products boasting this invisible asset that's gripping the Japanese market.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 16, 2002

Japanese crayfish

* Japanese name: Nihon zarigani * Scientific name: Cambaroides japonicus * Description: Japanese crayfish are crustaceans, the same as shrimps and crabs. They have a flat, segmented body and 5 pairs of legs. The first three pairs of legs are spineless claws, and the front pair are enlarged. If legs...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Aug 16, 2002

Better off sleeping than working out?

Here's a fun exercise: Ask Japanese adults how they spent their childhood summers. They'll almost always mention rajio taiso, the morning exercises they did in neighborhood groups during the school holiday. Then ask if their own children participate. Chances are their kids sleep in rather than get up...
BUSINESS
Aug 14, 2002

Food makers find an escape route

Not long ago, instant ramen from a prestigious noodle shop would have been an odd combination.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 11, 2002

Pretend you win some, you lose some

For the second year in a row, NHK commemorates the end of the Pacific War with a drama special based on a novel by Hisashi Inoue. Last year, it was Inoue's epic about a Tokyo family, "Aozora no Tango." Sunday at 9 p.m. on NHK-G, it will be a more lighthearted tale set shortly after the war.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2002

USJ submits reform plan to city

OSAKA -- Universal Studios Japan announced Wednesday that it has fired or suspended six employees in the wake of a series of revelations about health and safety problems at the theme park.
BUSINESS
Aug 6, 2002

Mori named to new post of adviser to FSA minister

Former Financial Services Agency Commissioner Shoji Mori has assumed the newly created post of special adviser to the minister for financial services, the agency said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2002

Japan playing a vital role in Myanmar

Aung San Suu Kyi has completed two successful and delightful long-distance inland political journeys since her release from a second house arrest about 10 weeks ago. The State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, the military regime, has provided full security for her travels in Mandalay and Mon states....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2002

U.N. official seeks debt forgiveness, more aid for poorest African nations

While Japan is striving to reduce its official development assistance budget, it should channel more aid resources toward least developed countries in Africa, according to a high-ranking U.N. official.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2002

Half of jobless receiving no aid

An average of 3.74 million people were out of work in April and May, and 1.9 million of them had no source of income, according to a government report released Tuesday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 28, 2002

Putting her house in order

In Japan, the vast majority of legal adoptions -- more than 90 percent -- are of adults and are usually carried out for inheritance or family succession purposes. A house with only daughters, say, will adopt a grown man who can maintain the family business and family name.
COMMUNITY
Jul 28, 2002

Peoples of the north surviving against the odds

The Sea of Okhotsk region is one of the most inhospitable areas of the world for human habitation, yet its indigenous peoples produced cultures of marvelous richness and vibrancy.
BUSINESS
Jul 25, 2002

Watered-down postal services legislation becomes law

The Diet enacted into law Wednesday a legislative package that will turn the Postal Services Agency into a government-run corporation and allow private firms to enter the mail delivery market.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 21, 2002

The men of the house

The TV show that has most successfully exploited the current housing "reform" boom is Asahi's "Daikozo! Gekiteki Before/After (Big Construction! Dramatic Before and After)" (Sundays, 7:56 p.m.), which was the only program during the recent World Cup that managed to pull in double-digit ratings opposite...

Longform

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