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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 12, 2002

When in doubt, just say 'wakarimasen'

Violent antisocial crimes by teenagers have sent shockwaves through Japan in recent years, hinting ominously at cracks in the very foundations of modern Japanese society. On a more mundane level, older Japanese often find themselves puzzled and annoyed by the everyday behavior of young people, who often...
JAPAN
May 12, 2002

OECD set to recognize gradual Japan recovery

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is likely to acknowledge the possibility of a modest recovery in Japan's economy at its ministerial meeting in Paris this week, according to a draft statement obtained Saturday.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Japan wants secure airports during Cup

Japan will ask foreign countries to beef up security at their airports as the World Cup soccer finals approach in an attempt to prevent terrorist acts on airplanes flying to Japan, government sources said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 11, 2002

Takanao Muramatsu

Bright and bouncy Harajuku in Tokyo has been good to a lot of people. Takanao Muramatsu published a book, "Harajuku Success Story," for which he interviewed more than a hundred people who succeeded in business in Harajuku. The trendy district has been good to Muramatsu too. He commemorated the name in...
BUSINESS
May 10, 2002

Cabinet Office launches China study

The Economic and Social Research Institute, a research arm of the Cabinet Office, said Thursday it has set up a study group on China.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2002

Forex reserves hit $406.7 billion

Japan's foreign exchange reserves at the end of April were up $5.18 billion from a month earlier to a record $406.7 billion, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
LIFE / Language
May 10, 2002

Haiku celebrates overseas offspring, reconnects with nature

Can there be another country in the world where poetry is almost as regular a feature in newspapers as the weather forecast? Many -- perhaps even most -- newspapers in Japan carry columns of poetry on their pages. It is made easier by the fact that Japanese poems are traditionally very short, and that...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
May 10, 2002

Father and sons make JET a family affair

Last summer, Chris Buckland, 50, bicycled 2,100 km on a journey from Tokyo to Himeji, in Hyogo Prefecture. For Buckland, a collector of ukiyo-e prints, it was the fulfillment of a dream to travel the old Tokaido route from Tokyo to Kyoto, immortalized in the classic ukiyo-e illustrations of the Edo Period...
COMMENTARY
May 9, 2002

EU not growing anti-Semitic

LONDON -- The Jewish lobby and the religious right in the United States have described European critics of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his government as anti-Semitic. Such comments reveal a woeful ignorance of Europe and the real issues in the Middle East. They also tend to...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 9, 2002

Welcome to a new page, welcome to a new column

Welcome to a brand new new weekly column that will provide a forum for readers to help one another, and for myself and Ken Joseph, of Japan Helpline, to help you. We will be printing your letters, offering personal input and bringing in experts on a regular basis to help answer your queries on living...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
May 9, 2002

Prime greenery in the making

Lying between Kyoto and Nara, Uji City straddles the Uji River, a tributary of the Yodogawa. This same river also drains Lake Biwa, Japan's largest freshwater lake, though upstream -- where it passes through Shiga Prefecture -- its name is Etagawa.
COMMUNITY
May 9, 2002

Zeitgist

The foreigner needs only two words to bridge the language gap in Japan, says Matt Shea.
JAPAN
May 9, 2002

McDonald's joins stampede toward personalized marketing

Ltd. revealed its plans to launch a new e-shopping venture targeting users of cellular phones and personal computers. While the e-business entry by the fast-food giant underscores the huge potential of the sector, some experts believe consumers need to be aware that greater convenience carries with it...
EDITORIALS
May 8, 2002

A return to sanity in France

The re-election of French President Jacques Chirac on Sunday was no surprise; the only question was what margin of victory he would secure over extreme rightwing challenger Mr. Jean-Marie Le Pen. Mr. Chirac's 80 percent of the vote was, therefore, reassuring to all outside Le Pen's National Front as...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Probe of mystery ship concludes after six days

The Japan Coast Guard on Tuesday concluded a six-day undersea probe of a suspected North Korean spy ship in the East China Sea, coast guard officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Info brokers have got your number, among other things

In the spring of 1999, Haruo Tanaka (not his real name) became interested in buying a condominium and visited several showrooms in Tokyo. Each time, he was asked to fill out a questionnaire. He provided his name, age, address and phone number as well as his annual income.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 8, 2002

Angelique Kidjo: 'Black Ivory Soul'

On past recordings, Angelique Kidjo seemed to choose popularity over authenticity. Critics have taken her to task for diluting the purity of her musical origins (she was born in Benin but lives in Paris) by opting for the easy appeal of over-produced world pop.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2002

The wrinkles in Botox

Is it just us, or do others have the same reaction to media stories about the mounting popularity of Botox, the toxo-cosmetic touted as death to wrinkles: People are injecting what into their faces?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
May 5, 2002

Wire's London Nite: Let it be a lesson to you

Tokyo has one of the best underground rock 'n' roll live scenes in the world, with dozens of superb bands, but the club scene -- if you like dancing to loud guitar music until dawn -- has been in a coma for the past five years.
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2002

Raising model children

From a fairly early age, my two children have done modeling work. They've posed for clothing catalogs, appeared on magazine covers and in J-pop videos, rubbed elbows with TV celebrities. They aren't mini-supermodels or chaidoru (child idols) -- thank God -- just your garden-variety kid models.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
May 5, 2002

Now is the season to indulge your shellfish gene

For thousands of years, populations living close to the sea have found shellfish an easily obtainable and convenient source of protein and trace minerals. Shellfish is the general term for crustaceans (shrimp, crab, lobster) and mollusks (clams, oysters, squid and octopuses). All of these shellfish (kokakurui...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 5, 2002

Memories are made of this

TOKYO CENTRAL: A Memoir, by Edward Seidensticker. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002, 256 pp. with b/w photographs, XXXVI. $30 (cloth) Translator extraordinaire, historian and beloved pedagogue, Edward Seidensticker has given us the definitive English versions of "The Tale of Genji" and the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2002

Girl, you'll be Madonna soon

It's no surprise that the mums have turned out in force to chaperone their kids at Britney Spears' show at Tokyo Dome: They've seen her recent, more raunchy videos, witnessed her fondling a huge snake during her performance at the MTV video awards and noticed that on her third and latest album, "Britney,"...
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2002

No end in sight to China's banking woes

While Japan's recession and its wobbly banks distract much of the world, the banking sector in China is in much worse shape. Xinhua News Agency has reported that central bank governor Dai Xianglong admits that nonperforming loans (NPLs) account for 26.6 percent of total lending by China's top four state-owned...
SOCCER / World cup
May 4, 2002

Hondurans give Japan squad wakeup call with 3-3 draw

KOBE -- If Japan manager Philippe Troussier needed to be reminded of his side's defensive frailties, then he should be grateful to Honduras, which pushed the home side to a 3-3 draw in the Kirin Cup at Kobe Wing Stadium on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2002

U.S. homeland still insecure

Half a year after the creation of the Office of Homeland Security, how well is the Bush administration doing in its efforts to improve protection of the United States against terrorist attacks? No major attacks have occurred since Sept. 11, giving a first impression that the effort is going well. But...

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight