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SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 10, 2003

Everything on line for Bolton, West Ham in season finales

LONDON -- As much as both managers are saying they will treat it as "just another game" nobody is convinced by the attempts of West Ham's Trevor Brooking and Sam Allardyce of Bolton to take the pressure off their players as the Premier League season draws to an end on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2003

Disappointments in Damascus

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Syria last weekend to demand that the government in Damascus do more to help bring peace to the Middle East. As a key player in the region, Syria's cooperation is essential to any viable peace between Israel and its neighbors. So far, though, Syria has resolutely...
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Toyota Motor logs third straight year of record earnings

Toyota Motor Corp. continued to perform strongly in fiscal 2002, setting new sales and profit highs for the third consecutive year, the nation's leading automaker said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
May 7, 2003

Ease lending to small firms

Small businesses in Japan continue to languish in the midst of a protracted economic slump. Compounding their predicament is the tight lending policy of private banks, which are said to be more selective toward smaller borrowers than larger ones. Banks may have their own reasons to restrict lending,...
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2003

Careworn Blair turns 50

LONDON -- As British Prime Minister Tony Blair passes his 50th birthday, the almost boyish bounce that characterized him in the years when he got to the top of the Labour Party, reformed it and then won two crushing general election victories has been replaced by a more careworn appearance. This may...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 7, 2003

Banda Bassotti

A prominent critic once called the Clash "the only band that mattered," a comment that went beyond appreciation of the band's punk sound and acknowledged its radical political outlook.
COMMENTARY
May 5, 2003

Unity needed on nuclear issue

North Korea's statement that it already has nuclear weapons is most likely an exercise in diplomatic brinkmanship aimed at drawing the United States into direct dialogue. But if the statement is true, the security environment surrounding Japan and Northeast Asia will undergo fundamental change.
BUSINESS
May 5, 2003

Wireless broadband market to hit 92 trillion yen in 10 years: panel

The market for wireless broadband services in Japan is projected to reach 92 trillion yen in a decade, according to projections released Sunday.
EDITORIALS
May 4, 2003

First step in reviving cooperation

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's European trip, which had been touted as a mission to help heal the trans-Atlantic rift over the Iraq war, appears to have produced no tangible results. Yet, at a minimum, the journey has served to highlight the necessity of international cooperation in the postwar reconstruction...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 4, 2003

Movers and shakers

The J-pop singing duo Kinki Kids are considered "first-class idols" by everyone in show business. However, the premise behind "The Domoto Brothers" (Fuji; Sunday, 10 p.m.) is that they're struggling musicians. On this weekly half-hour show, Tsuyoshi and Koichi Domoto -- who, despite having the same family...
COMMUNITY
May 4, 2003

Volleys that rang the death knell of an age

Oda Nobunaga is known as the man who dragged Japan out of its blood-soaked medieval past and cleared the way for the 264-year Tokugawa Shogunate to follow. This he achieved by dint of his advanced grasp of military strategy -- and especially by being the first to realize the deadly potential of firearms....
BUSINESS
May 2, 2003

Namco sets deadline for Sega answer on merger

Video game maker Namco Ltd. said Thursday that rival Sega Corp. has until May 9 to make a decision on a merger proposal submitted by Namco.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 2, 2003

Studio J: Masahito Ueki does it again

While the eyes of the world -- or at least the Tokyo-centric portion of the planet -- have been fixed on the unveiling of the massive Roppongi Hills complex, our attention was focused on another new arrival, not so far away but on a totally different scale. For us, the main event last month was the opening...
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2003

Reform is key to keeping Asia on top

MANILA -- Asia's future is bright, but it is not preordained. Policy reforms that augment investment, lead to the adoption of new technologies and enhance productivity must be pursued to increase the growth potential of developing economies in Asia. The urgency of these reforms is accentuated by the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
May 1, 2003

Hanami with a shot of history

Vancouver, Canada, is a beautiful city. Not only for the magnificent mountains, for salmon spawning rivers, and a largely natural coast, but for the city's many trees. I am told that Vancouver has 124,000 street trees, 30,000 of which flower. The cherry trees especially are glorious.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
May 1, 2003

"The Eternity Code," "The Countess's Calamity"

"The Eternity Code," Eoin Colfer, Puffin Books; 2003; 329 pp. The 13-year-old, pint-size mastermind of every heist known to man -- or to fairy -- is back. And in the latest installment of the "Artemis Fowl" series, time is running out not for Artemis' poor adversaries, but for him. His father, rescued...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2003

SARS travel warning widened

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday issued a broader warning calling on Japanese to exercise caution in traveling to additional areas of China due to the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 30, 2003

Pulling a few strings for teens

Last summer, at his annual Saito Kinen Festival in Nagano Prefecture, maestro Seiji Ozawa chose to perform the opera "Peter Grimes," in which the sea imagery represents the protagonist's emotions. Harpist Naoko Yoshino, one of the invited guest musicians, contributed greatly to the opera's success by...
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2003

Diet may be taken out of attack-response equation

The Defense Agency may simplify the procedures under which the prime minister can order countermeasures in the event of a ballistic missile attack on Japan, it was learned Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 30, 2003

Inoue downs Suzuki with 'ippon'

Two-time defending champion Kosei Inoue beat his archrival Keiji Suzuki with an "ippon" complete win in the final to capture the All-Japan judo championship for the third straight time on Tuesday at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2003

Matsushita logs net loss despite sharp sales rise

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Monday it posted a group net loss of 19.45 billion yen for fiscal 2002, the second straight year its ink has run red.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2003

Families sue newspapers over stories of wartime killing contest

Relatives of two executed Imperial Japanese Army officers sued two newspapers Monday, demanding compensation over publications that said the duo competed against each other in killing Chinese soldiers in 1937.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 29, 2003

Refugees treated like criminals

Last month, these pages carried the story of a Kurdish family that came to Japan seeking asylum, only to be torn apart by the country's arcane immigration laws.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2003

Pyongyang's self-destructive strategy

North Korea has played another nuclear card, giving a more dangerous twist to its game of brinkmanship. Pyongyang claims that it already has nuclear weapons and has reprocessed thousands of spent nuclear fuel rods in its possession -- a step that could lead to the production of more atomic bombs. Given...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2003

A silver lining to the SARS epidemic

SINGAPORE -- The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, is sending shivers down the spines of Asian governments and citizens alike. China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam have been the most affected by this scourge, while other Asian countries are desperately trying to prevent the disease...
MORE SPORTS
Apr 28, 2003

Satake turns out Castanares' lights

Masakazu Satake, one of Japan's hottest boxing properties, turned out the lights on highly touted Filipino challenger Dindo Castanares in the eighth round on Saturday to retain his Oriental-Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) super lightweight title at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 27, 2003

Japan tops Thailand

Ai Sugiyama recovered from a slow start Saturday to defeat Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn as host Japan booked a ticket to the Fed Cup World Group playoffs in July.

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