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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 9, 2004

International Street Performers Festival: Hit the streets and party!

The International Street Performers Festival was hatched in Papa John. In 1984, Ikuo Mitsuhashi -- a mime artist just back in Yokohama from a decade-long French sojourn -- dropped by the venerable jazz shot bar and listened to the proprietor describe the Association for Fostering Noge Culture. He was...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Apr 9, 2004

A glass act that's proved hard to follow

A brief stint as an apprentice glassblower on Sado Island in the late '80s left me with a great appreciation of the aesthetics of a well-made wineglass. The weight, the balance, the cut of the lip, the curve and thinness of the bowl -- and the subtle ring after a toast -- are all factors that, when they...
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2004

Japan Post let billions in taxes slide

Japan Post said Thursday it and its predecessor failed to collect 15.16 billion yen in withholding tax on postal savings interest in the three years through fiscal 2003 by illicitly applying its tax-exempt small savings system for the elderly and disabled to noneligible customers.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2004

Pyongyang reportedly keen to know 'criteria' for resolving abduction issue

North Korea appears eager to find out Japan's "criteria" for resolving Pyongyang's abductions of Japanese nationals in the late 1970s and early 1980s, government sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2004

Land ministry to prod realtors on renting to foreigners

The land ministry will compile guidelines for real estate agents on procedures for leasing property to foreign renters to make it easier for them to obtain housing, ministry officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2004

Kids' English education business thrives

Private English schools catering to children are thriving, reflecting a growing number of parents, especially younger mothers, who want their kids to start learning the language at an early age.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2004

Nikkei tops 12,000 line amid optimism, yen fall

Tokyo stocks advanced Tuesday on growing optimism over the economy, pushing the key Nikkei index above the 12,000 line for the first time in 32 months.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2004

Japanese living abroad in record high numbers

A record 911,062 Japanese were living overseas on a long-term basis as of Oct. 1, up 4.5 percent from the previous high posted a year earlier, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 5, 2004

Angry French voters hit back

PARIS -- An old French proverb says "only the stupid never change their mind." In that case, the French certainly aren't dumb. In the first round of last April's presidential election, Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin got only 16 percent of the vote. Extreme rightist Jean-Marie Le Pen won more...
COMMENTARY
Apr 5, 2004

Peace mission in full swing

The humanitarian aid and reconstruction activities of the Self-Defense Forces in Iraq have gone into full swing following the deployment of 550 ground troops in Samawah. A year after the Iraq war started, Japan has now deployed a total of about 1,000 Ground, Maritime and Air SDF personnel in the country....
MORE SPORTS
Apr 4, 2004

Noto dies from injury in March bout

Japanese pro boxer Masanao Noto has died of a brain injury sustained during a super bantamweight fight earlier last month, boxing sources said Saturday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 4, 2004

Valentine's Marines take over lead in PL

Former New York Mets players Benny Agbayani and Matt Franco combined for all five runs Saturday as the Chiba Lotte Marines downed the defending Japan Series champion Daiei Hawks 5-2 at Chiba Marine Stadium.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

Ishihara airs sea, port security report

Nobuteru Ishihara, minister of land, infrastructure and transport, presented a white paper Friday to the Cabinet that emphasizes crime prevention and counterterrorism in Japanese territorial waters and ports of entry.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

Crackdown has publishers running scared

Yasunori Okadome last month suspended publication of his profitable monthly gossip magazine Uwasa-no-shinso (The Truth Behind Rumors), due to fears that a lawsuit could put him out of business for good.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 3, 2004

F.A. gives Eriksson new deal, but how long will he stay?

LONDON -- "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him."
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2004

Senior executive of MMC leaves firm under a cloud

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. said Friday that Steven Torok, executive vice president in charge of overseas sales, left the company the same day to return to the Chrysler Group.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

Drug offender to serve rest of term in U.K.

Japan will for the first time allow a foreign prisoner to serve the remainder of a sentence in the inmate's home country, Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

Hirasawa exits post over secret talks with Pyongyang

Katsuei Hirasawa, parliamentary secretary to the home affairs ministry, resigned that post after drawing flak for a secret trip he made to China to apparently hold talks with North Korean officials about resolving the abduction issue, the ministry said Friday.
OLYMPICS
Apr 2, 2004

JOC angered over domestic row

responded negatively Thursday to sending taekwondo fighter Yoriko Okamoto to the Athens Olympics after rival domestic bodies administering the sport failed to form an umbrella organization by the deadline. Last month, the JOC said it will allow the participation of no athletes in taekwondo at this summer's...
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2004

Casio, Hitachi launch belated mobile venture

Casio Computer Co. and Hitachi Ltd. launched a mobile-phone joint venture Thursday in another marriage between high-tech heavyweights pursuing cost effectiveness in a cutthroat market.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2004

Nintendo trims earnings estimate

Nintendo Co. said Thursday it has revised downward its fiscal 2003 earnings estimates because it suffered a larger-than-expected 68 billion yen exchange loss due to the yen's appreciation against the dollar.
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2004

Lessons from the Okamoto case

The Tokyo High Court earlier this week rejected a U.S. request to extradite a medical researcher to face charges of industrial espionage in the United States. The court ruled that Mr. Takashi Okamoto, a former employee of the Japanese government-affiliated Institute of Physical and Chemical Research,...

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building