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JAPAN
Feb 10, 2001

Body parts found in a cave near Obara's coastal condo

Police investigating the July disappearance of Lucie Blackman found what appear to be parts of a woman's body Friday in a coastal cave in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Feb 9, 2001

Household spending fell 0.9% in '00

Overall monthly household spending averaged 317,133 yen in 2000, down 0.9 percent from 1999 for the eighth straight year of decline, the government said Thursday.
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Feb 7, 2001

Top 10 alternative reasons to go ADSL

www.icebox.com Like most of the Net's other starving-artist showcases, there's an overwhelming choice here, but the favorite appears to be Queer Duck. The episodes, about a gay mallard, are sharp social satire in which it's difficult, at least at first, to determine whether the author is preaching discrimination...
LIFE / Digital
Feb 7, 2001

Post-Dreamcast, Sega set to become world's top game publisher

SEATTLE -- With its recent decision to abandon the 128-bit Dreamcast video game console and to publish games for PlayStation2 and other gaming platforms, Sega appears to be leaving the game hardware business permanently. Sega Enterprises cofounder David Rosen says it's about time.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2001

TV Tokyo to enter Internet content venture

Television Tokyo Channel 12 Ltd. said Monday it will set up a joint venture with six other firms on March 1 to provide economic news and animation programs via high-speed Internet connections.
JAPAN
Feb 6, 2001

Kabuki debuts at middle school

It is nothing new for kabuki actors to go out of Tokyo to perform, but Nakamura Kichiemon recently took an unprecedented step to provoke interest among young schoolchildren in the traditional theater.
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2001

Sega to cut price of Dreamcast

Sega Corp. said Friday it will cut the price of its Dreamcast game console, production of which will be halted in March, in the United States and Japan to reduce inventory.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2001

Moody's lowers Sega's debt rating

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Thursday that it has lowered Sega Corp.'s debt rating to B3 from B2, reflecting the computer game company's weaker-than-expected performance and eroding financial flexibility.
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2001

Moody's lowers Sega's debt rating

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Thursday that it has lowered Sega Corp.'s debt rating to B3 from B2, reflecting the computer game company's weaker-than-expected performance and eroding financial flexibility.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2001

Sega Corp. shuts down Dreamcast production

Video game giant Sega Corp. officially announced Wednesday it will halt production of its loss-making Dreamcast game console by the end of March and shift to game software.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 1, 2001

Making work a lifestyle choice instead of just making a living

In an effort to get some idea of why the suicide rate among college students is on the rise, the weekly magazine AERA recently sent a reporter to the Muroran Institute of Technology, where there have been seven student suicides in the last two years.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2001

Foreign firms to get i-mode, PlayStation

NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said Monday that they and six foreign companies will jointly develop new mobile communications network services that combine DoCoMo's i-mode technology with SCEI's PlayStation video game technology.
COMMUNITY
Jan 28, 2001

Rip'em up, tear 'em up

SAN FRANCISCO -- If you've ever had the pleasure of watching a U.S. college or pro football game on television, you'll notice one thing invariably. Just before the commercial they'll pan to a too-cute-to-be-true cheerleader.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2001

Lock, stock and instant noodles

Here's a word association game for you. What comes to mind when you hear "Thai cinema?" A blank? Don't worry -- in Japan, you're hardly alone.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Obituary: Soko Koike

Soko Koike, founder of the magazine that provides Japan's leading music chart rankings, died Saturday of a cerebral hemorrhage at a hospital in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward, his family said Monday. He was 68.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2001

Two cultures cross in Osaka's Namba

OSAKA -- The Namba district that stretches between Osaka's Chuo and Naniwa wards always bustles with people attracted by the variety of stores, restaurants and amusement spots.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2001

Estrada may not get invitation to Japan

The embattled Philippine President Joseph Estrada's abrupt announcement Friday night to resign later this year has forced Tokyo to rewrite its diplomatic calendar.
BUSINESS
Jan 18, 2001

Sony to distribute music via Internet

Inc. said Wednesday that it will begin selling samples of rock 'n' roll music over the Internet ahead of compact disc releases. It is reportedly the first Internet promotion of its kind by a major music and entertainment firm.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 18, 2001

Meet your future friend, Mr. Roboto

One of the formative experiences of my childhood was the New York World's Fair of 1962-63, where America's great and beneficent corporations introduced consumers to the future. The memory that sticks with me most is of Bell Telephone's "picture phone," which we were told would be widely in use by the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 16, 2001

Freedom worth fighting for

Ten years ago, the Soviet government mounted the last furious defense of its crumbling empire. As Lithuanian citizens set up a vigil outside the television tower of Vilnius, the nation's capital, Soviet forces moved to break up the protests with tanks and troops. Fourteen people died on the night of...
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2001

Behind the quest for more babies

The continuing precipitous decline in Japan's birthrate -- in 1999 it was at the all-time low of 1.34 births per woman during her lifetime -- has long troubled planners in both the government and the private sector. Now Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has put himself at the center of the issue by calling...
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2001

November spending fell by 1.3%

Average household spending in Japan fell a real 1.3 percent in November to 296,439 yen, marking the second straight year-on-year decrease, the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said Tuesday in a preliminary report.
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2001

Microsoft shows off the Xbox

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Attendees at the 2001 Consumer Electronics Show on Saturday were given the first public viewing of Xbox, the new 128-bit video game console being developed by computer software giant Microsoft.
COMMUNITY
Jan 7, 2001

Good manners make comfortable relations

In Japan, there has been much discussion of late of both morals and manners. Indeed, one national newspaper on Jan. 1, in a section devoted to scrutinizing how Japanese have changed in recent years, devoted a whole page to the question: Are good manners a thing of the past?

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past