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BUSINESS
Sep 10, 2002

View of machinery orders upgraded for third month

The government upgraded its view of domestic machinery orders for the third consecutive month on Monday, now that orders have risen for four consecutive months.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 6, 2002

Dung beetle

* Japanese name: Oosenchikogane * Scientific name: Geotrupes auratus * Description: Dung beetles are robust, powerful insects with an excellent sense of smell. They are metallic-green with a red tint and are 17-22 mm long. The antennae of this family of dung beetles end in a dull club-shape. * Where...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 4, 2002

Brother Ah: "Sound Awareness"

For the past several decades, Brother Ah has been doing his best to heal the world with music. Two of his early-'70s albums -- "Sound Awareness" and "Move Ever Onward" -- that didn't see much light the first time around have just been rereleased as the first installments of Ah's Sound Awareness series....
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2002

Toyota and Nissan forge hybrid tieup

Toyota Motor Corp. will provide Nissan Motor Co. with technology aimed at developing eco-friendly hybrid cars over a period of more than 10 years, the automakers said Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2002

Pop idol Web site operator arrested

A South Korean resident of Kokubunji, western Tokyo, was arrested Monday on suspicion of violating the Copyright Law by posting pictures of female pop idols on his Web site without the permission of the photographer who took them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 2, 2002

Historic Tsumago: a time capsule of Edo living

Build a good tourist trap, and the world will beat a path to your door. This seems to have been the thinking in the small town of Tsumago in southwestern Nagano Prefecture. Facing rural decay in the late '60s, the townspeople decided to do something about it. They reached for their one real asset the...
CULTURE / Film / CLOSE-UP
Sep 1, 2002

Films, Zen, Japan

Donald Richie is regarded as the leading Western authority on Japanese film. He first came to Japan in 1947 as a civilian typist for the U.S. Occupational forces -- an intelligent, restless 22-year-old in search of purpose.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
Sep 1, 2002

Films, Zen, Japan

Donald Richie is regarded as the leading Western authority on Japanese film. He first came to Japan in 1947 as a civilian typist for the U.S. Occupational forces -- an intelligent, restless 22-year-old in search of purpose.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 1, 2002

Reaching for the skyline

Sixty-nine-year-old British architect Sir Richard Rogers has been one of the world's foremost architects for the last 30 years. Awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1985, he was further rewarded for his outstanding achievements with a knighthood from the Queen six years...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 1, 2002

Lime: Sublime fare, out of the blue

Just what Tokyo needs -- another Asian-themed dining bar that features exotic interior flourishes and caters to the youthful Ginza office crowd. But hold the all-knowing, world-weary sarcasm. In the case of Lime, it's unfair and quite uncalled for.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 1, 2002

Hitting English language-learning overdrive

The Japanese media is in the middle of another of its sporadic English-language learning frenzies, which, this time, seems to have been sparked by an Education Ministry decision to promote English conversation lessons in public elementary schools.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Aug 30, 2002

Cyberspace -- the final frontier of kanji-learning

Last fall, I reported the results of my search for kanji-learning gold in cyberspace. Today, in this second report, I am happy to inform you that the panning has never been better.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 30, 2002

Harbor seal

* Japanese name: Zenigata-azarashi * Scientific name: Phoca vitulina stejnegeri * Description: Harbor seals are pinnipeds -- mammals adapted to life in the ocean. Their limbs are modified into flippers, each with five digits. The fore flippers are used for grooming, scratching and fighting; the hind...
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2002

Land ministry budget up 16%

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Wednesday it has requested a budget appropriation of 8.309 trillion yen for fiscal 2003, up 16 percent from its initial budget for the current fiscal year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 27, 2002

A rainy spell, and a desert blooms

For much of the year, most of Namaqualand is hot, dry, dusty and all but dead.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 27, 2002

A rainy spell, and a desert blooms

For much of the year, most of Namaqualand is hot, dry, dusty and all but dead.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 25, 2002

The man who holds the purse strings

For better or worse, the Ryukyu Islands, whose most prominent member is Okinawa, have produced more major J-pop acts since 1995 than any other part of Japan save Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Aug 25, 2002

Far from the tanning crowd

The beaches between Zushi and Enoshima were buzzing with activity as my friends and I sped southbound along the strip. They were not only crowded with sunbathers, but also choked with oversize beach bars, lined up cheek to jowl along the foreshore. Some of these bars are extravagant multistory structures...
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2002

Osaka seminar clarifies provisions of U.N. crime convention

OSAKA -- Twenty-one nations from around Asia concluded a two-day seminar here Friday in which they learned from experts about the specific provisions of the United Nations Transnational Organized Crime Convention.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Aug 23, 2002

Japan gropes for ideal corporate governance model

The rash of U.S. corporate scandals has rocked the Japanese business community, which until recently admired the success of the American business model.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 23, 2002

Common octopus

* Japanese name: Madako * Scientific name: Octopus vulgaris * Description: Octopuses are cephalopods, the most complex and advanced of the mollusks. They have short, round bodies and, of course, eight arms joined by a web of skin. The arms are covered with suckers. Octopuses move by jet propulsion,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Aug 22, 2002

When violence isn't enough

You know how moths like to fly into lights and fires, or how whales beach themselves. How about lemmings . . . those adorable creatures that follow each other off cliffs? You wouldn't think the American video game industry would fall into that category, but it's looking that way.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 21, 2002

Universal comedy without errors

Hold on to your seats: We're going back to the essence of theater -- entertainment. "The Kyogen of Errors," directed by and starring 36-year-old Mansai Nomura, is a fitting way to celebrate his five-year appointment as artistic director of the Setagaya Public Theater (SEPT), which was announced two weeks...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 21, 2002

Afghan heritage is back from the brink

Like many exhibitions, "Afghanistan: A Timeless History" tells a story. It's not the story of Afghan art, though; nor, despite its title, the story of Afghanistan itself -- a country whose millennia of strife are expressed in every artifact now on display at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts...
COMMENTARY
Aug 19, 2002

Pakistan must modernize as a nation state

ISLAMABAD -- Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's military ruler, is eager to lament the breakdown of past Pakistani governments in justifying his own assumption of wide-ranging political authority ahead of elections in October.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 16, 2002

Japanese crayfish

* Japanese name: Nihon zarigani * Scientific name: Cambaroides japonicus * Description: Japanese crayfish are crustaceans, the same as shrimps and crabs. They have a flat, segmented body and 5 pairs of legs. The first three pairs of legs are spineless claws, and the front pair are enlarged. If legs...
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2002

Shinsei, Mellon to launch asset management venture

Shinsei Bank and Mellon Financial Corp. of the United States said Thursday they will launch a 50-50 asset management joint venture in Tokyo later this year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 11, 2002

Vietnam Alice: It's summer, so lighten up

The Vietnamese know all about hot weather. And one of their ways of dealing with the heat has been to make their food light and appetizing. Using plenty of aromatic herbs, colorful garnishes and condiments that are fragrant yet not overwhelming to the palate, theirs is the most subtle cuisine in all...

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