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BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2002

Current account surplus up 42.5% in first half

The country's current account surplus increased 42.5 percent in the first half of fiscal 2002 from a year earlier to 6.96 trillion yen on the back of brisk exports to Asia, according to a preliminary report released Monday by the Finance Ministry.
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 12, 2002

Zico calls up newcomers for Argentina friendly

JEF United and 1998 World Cup defender Eisuke Nakanishi has been named to start against Argentina in the Nov. 20 friendly after winning a call-up for the first time since June 2000, Japan coach Zico announced Monday in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 10, 2002

Coming of age in Heartbreak Hotel, New Jersey

WAYLAID, by Ed Lin. Kaya Press: New York, 2002, 169 pp., $12.95 (paper) This terrific first novel by Chinese-American writer Ed Lin revolves around a 12-year-old coming of age in New Jersey in the 1970s, burdened by his virginity and motivated mainly by the desire to lose it.
COMMUNITY
Nov 10, 2002

Lie back and think of . . .

In the early 1950s, neurophysiologist John C. Lilly conducted studies on the human brain for the United States government. To create an environment conducive to the observation of mental activity, Lilly invented the isolation tank -- an environment free of all sensory stimuli.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 10, 2002

A straight-shooter wherever she goes

With her Nikon camera, dozens of film rolls and a strong social conscience, photojournalist Natsuko Utsumi travels the world to capture the human face of the issues that shape public debate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Nov 10, 2002

Balladeer does it in his own good time

If there are no second acts in American lives, as F. Scott Fitzgerald said, for some musicians at least, there's a second take. After famed recording sessions in the late 1950s that made him popular, Jimmy Scott's unique vocal style was not heard again on a new recording for some 30 years. Then, in the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Nov 10, 2002

Delicate pauses to refresh

There are really two kinds of restaurants.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 10, 2002

Ishihara could be spiked with his own barbs

Exactly a year ago in the weekly women's magazine Shukan Josei, Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara shot off a few of his patented provocative statements. His remarks about middle-aged women were particularly noteworthy. "Old ladies have proved to be the biggest obstacle to the progress of civilization," he...
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

LDP moves to solve abductees' pension, job dilemmas

Senior members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party agreed Friday to draw up new legislation to support Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea and their relatives and enable them to settle in Japan more easily.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2002

An alphabet soup of FTAs in East Asia

CAMBRIDGE, England -- There are so many summit meetings nowadays that it is difficult to keep up. Only a week after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit finished in Mexico, East Asian governments met at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus 3 summit in Phnom Penh. ASEAN plus 3...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Social responsibility a safe investment

One Akiyama thrived in the fast-paced, high-stakes world of finance for 18 years, working as a U.S. government bond trader for several brokerages in Tokyo and New York. Until about a year ago.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 9, 2002

Hunching to keep from dying of cold poisoning

If I could bring one thing from my home country to Japan, it would be a fireplace. Of course, the hearth wouldn't make it through the security check these days. But still, to have an open fire blazing in the living room would be nice, not to mention warm.
JAPAN
Nov 9, 2002

Civilians sent to fix SDF warships

The Defense Agency has been dispatching private-sector civilian engineers to carry out maintenance on Self-Defense Forces vessels providing logistics support to the U.S.-led antiterrorism campaign in the Indian Ocean, agency officials said Friday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 9, 2002

Overwhelming school ordeals

LONDON -- Prime Minister Tony Blair was right when he emphasized that education was the top priority for Britain. It is certainly a major issue in Japan, too. Britain and Japan face real problems in education, but the issues for each country, while interesting to compare, are different and almost equally...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2002

Public health problems in the Americas

NEW YORK -- Latin America and the Caribbean enter the new century showing measurable gains in several health indicators such as life expectancy, infant survivability and the fight against several infectious diseases. Most countries in these regions, however, still face daunting challenges due to sprawling...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 9, 2002

Shoko Sugitani

A dozen years ago, pianist Shoko Sugitani owned nine pianos, which she kept in different places. She is now down to seven, some of them in Duesseldorf and the rest in Tokyo. She has a favorite piano that she takes with her to important concerts. For the concert scheduled with the Warsaw Philharmonic...
MORE SPORTS
Nov 8, 2002

Takahashi doubtful for Tokyo race

Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi has sustained a stress fracture in her left rib and could sit out the upcoming Tokyo International Women's Marathon, her management company said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2002

Chile seeks global integration: minister

Chile is determined to boost economic ties with the Asia-Pacific region, as evidenced by its conclusion last month of a free-trade agreement with South Korea, visiting Chilean Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 8, 2002

Animators, trains and freeing up health care

A deregulation panel is considering measures to help producers of animated films raise funds and ways to ease crowding on rush-hour commuter trains.
COMMUNITY
Nov 8, 2002

Crossing the river -- and the ocean

The award-winning writer and Columbia University professor Caryl Phillips is making his first visit to Japan from Nov. 18-24.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 8, 2002

Culture shock, elusive stats, hairy insurance

Culture shock Phew. Here I am by the skin of my teeth, just back from Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Victoria, where touching base with non-Japanese friends met here was sobering to say the least.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Nov 8, 2002

"Short and Scary!," "Notso Hotso"

"Short and Scary!" Louise Cooper, Oxford University Press; 2002; 96 pp.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2002

Press clubs stymie free trade in information: EU

When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made his historic visit to North Korea on Sept. 17, the only foreign journalists allowed to accompany him were a select few from the United States and South Korea.
COMMENTARY
Nov 7, 2002

How safe is nuclear energy?

Recent scandals regarding Tokyo Electric Power Co. safety inspection procedures have added a new sense of urgency to a long-standing question: "Are nuclear power reactors throughout East Asia being operated safely?"
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 7, 2002

Distant decimations

Due to the volcanic eruption at the beginning of July 2000, it's been a fairly long time since I experienced a normal Miyakejima summer. Miyakejima, my island home for many years before that, was beautiful in summer, with lush green forests, numerous birds and the deep, blue ocean all around.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Nov 7, 2002

Bear facts about honey traps

Twenty years ago, in arguments with officials of the Forestry Agency, which was clear-cutting great swaths of old mixed forest and selling off much of the timber to be turned into wood chips, I tried to stress the individual value of various trees. In those days, a 150- to 200-year-old horse chestnut...
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2002

BOJ looks to limit banks' stock risks

Members of the Bank of Japan Policy Board indicated during their September meeting that the central bank needs to reduce financial institutions' exposure to the stock market, according to minutes of the meeting released Tuesday.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes