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BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2003

Daiei rehab plan features asset sales, banking help

The proposed rehabilitation of Daiei Inc.'s Fukuoka hotel, ballpark and baseball business will feature the sale of assets and financial assistance from the supermarket giant's six main banks, sources connected with the plan said Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Oct 30, 2003

N-Gage fails to engage

It's no use beating around the bush, N-Gage, the new hand-held cellular telephone/video game system hybrid from Nokia, is quite probably the worst game system in video game history -- and that's counting such notable disasters as the Nintendo Virtual Boy and the Bandai Pipin.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 29, 2003

250 reasons to be happy, then some

I'm happy! The reason I'm happy is I love art, and this month a total of four -- yes four -- new contemporary art spaces opened in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2003

Olympus in endoscope breakthrough

Olympus Corp. has developed a high-resolution endoscope that may allow doctors to detect cancerous tissue within the body without taking samples, a company spokesman said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2003

Matsui's success in U.S. hits a home run for Mizuno's sales

New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui drew praise for helping his team clinch the American League pennant and for his contribution, albeit in vain, toward their quest for a World Series victory.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2003

New tests challenging TOEIC stronghold

Scoring 500 points on the TOEIC English proficiency test is a prerequisite for promotion to section chief or a higher managerial position at construction machinery maker Komatsu Ltd.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2003

Expert lays bare environmental carnage of war

While environmental destruction is often the last thing considered when war breaks out, this form of devastation can take decades -- if not centuries -- to correct.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2003

37th Tokyo Motor Show revs up for the media

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- The 37th Tokyo Motor Show opened to the media Wednesday at the Makuhari Messe convention center, showcasing futuristic, environmentally friendly and concept vehicles, motorcycles and the latest technology.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 23, 2003

Freshwater pearl mussel

* Japanese name: Kawashinjukai * Scientific name:Margaritifera laevis * Description: Mussels are bivalves: mollusks that have their body contained between two shells. Young freshwater pearl mussels often have yellowish-brown shells, which become green-tinged and darker as they mature. This animal grows...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 22, 2003

Cynic's view of the sex and the city

One of kabuki's most prolific playwrights, Tsuruya Nanboku, produced 120 dramas in the last 25 years of his life. This month, the Kabukiza, in Ginza, stages just two of them, a pair of remarkable sewamono (realistic plays) titled "Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu (A Pledge of Love to Sango)" and "Osome Hisamatsu...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2003

Bullets sent to politicians; Suzuki called a traitor

Former lawmaker Muneo Suzuki has received letters containing rifle bullets at his Tokyo and Hokkaido offices, while a similar letter has been sent to the residence of former Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, police said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Oct 21, 2003

Toho to take domestic smash 'Bayside Shakedown 2' overseas

A Tokyo-based motion picture company is poised to take on Hollywood with a live-action cop film that was a hit in Japan this summer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 19, 2003

Diamond exhibit is a real sparkler

The diamond is a symbol of love, wealth and power. Down the centuries, this precious stone has been adored by the rich and powerful -- among them empresses such as Catherine the Great of Russia and Elisabeth of Austria. Now the general public has the opportunity to get a little closer to the treasures...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 19, 2003

Two local novelists strut their stuff

THE BANG DEVILS, by Patrick Foss. New York: HarperCollins, 2003 305 pp., $13.95 (paper). AMBASSADOR STRIKES, by Robert J. Collins. California: McKenna Publishing Group, 2003 260 pp., $19.95 (paper). With so much rich material to draw upon, the relatively small number of English novels set in the Kansai...
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2003

Mazda launches Axela compact to replace Familia

Mazda Motor Corp. launched its new Axela sports compact on the domestic market Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FRONT-RUNNERS
Oct 15, 2003

Shopping site Rakuten thinks empire

The nation's largest online shopping mall operator appears to be building an empire, or what its president calls a new zaibatsu in the world of Internet retail.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 9, 2003

Aggregating anemone

* Japanese name: Yoroiisoginchaku * Scientific name:Anthopleura japonica * Description: Anemones are marine invertebrates, cylindrical animals with rings of tentacles on the upper surface. They are related to jellyfish and corals. Aggregating anemones grow up to 3 cm in diameter and can have a brilliant...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 8, 2003

Bygone beauties in the modern age

Shoen Uemura was a rarity -- one of the few Japanese female artists who worked in a traditional style and found recognition and acclaim. "The Shoen Uemura Retrospective," an exhibition showing at the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum (then moving to the Utsunomiya Museum in Tochigi Prefecture later this...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 8, 2003

Sony shows game machine-DVD recorder

CHIBA -- Sony Corp. announced Tuesday it will introduce its "crossover" game console and home entertainment unit on the domestic market for the yearend shopping season.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2003

DPJ eyes toll-free roads, 'amakudari' ban

With an eye to the expected general election next month, the Democratic Party of Japan has drafted a compact platform calling for various reforms, including elimination of highway tolls.
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2003

Home energy unit developed by Honda

Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it has developed a home energy station that generates hydrogen from natural gas for use in fuel cell motor vehicles while supplying households with electricity and heat.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2003

Toyota launches minivan in bid for new customers

Toyota Motor Corp., hoping to carve a bigger share out of the expanding minivan market, on Monday released the new Sienta minivan in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 27, 2003

Martin Cameron

FOLKESTONE, England -- This seaport and resort in Kent on England's southeast coast bears many features of historic interest. Facing the continent across the English Channel at its narrowest expanse, from earliest times Kent has attracted invasion and settlement. It is said that Folkestone was originally...
COMMENTARY
Sep 27, 2003

The Saudi Arabia dilemma

LONDON -- Times are very difficult for the government of Saudi Arabia. Assailed on one side by hardline Islamists for being too pro-American, Saudi leaders have also had to endure a hail of brickbats from Washington for not being sufficiently pro-American and supportive of U.S. policy.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 26, 2003

Sho player ready to show his stuff

Five pairs of Japan Times readers will be invited to a recital by sho player Naoyuki Manabe on Oct. 22 in Tokyo.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 25, 2003

Flatbottom Sea Star

* Japanese name: Kihitode * Scientific name: Asterias amurensis * Description: Sea stars are echinoderms, in the same family as sea urchins and sea cucumbers, though unlike those animals they are not eaten in Japan. Like all echinoderms (which means "spiny skin" in Greek), sea stars have a five-way...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 24, 2003

Ito's embroidered art has got it all stitched up

The Watari-Um Museum of Contemporary Art in Shibuya is one of Japan's most respected private museums. Now, it seems, the beautiful, Mario Botta-designed art space has also become one of the country's leading supporters of young artists.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2003

Universities expand campuses in central Tokyo

Private universities are upping their efforts to create thriving campuses in central Tokyo, hoping this will draw more students as competition for survival intensifies amid the shrinking population.

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