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JAPAN
Nov 19, 2000

Rodent population thrives on Tokyo's misfortunes

Noisy activists and girl-harassing scouts are not the only pests in Shibuya's Hachiko square. The presence of another rapidly flourishing group at this popular meeting place is about as welcome as the plague.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 2000

Chaotic, comedic 'Ariadne' shows lighter side of Strauss

Wiener Staatsoper Oct. 22, Filippo Sanjust directing, Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting in Kanagawa Kenmin Hall -- "Ariadne auf Naxos" (libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 1874-1929; music by Richard Georg Strauss, 1864-1949) featuring Waldemar Kmentt, Peter Weber, Agnes Baltsa, Jon Villars, Geert Smits, Heinz...
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Nov 19, 2000

Poetry readings in Okinawa

In Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture Oct. 15, Shuntaro Tanikawa read such scatological, contemporary poems as "Onara (Fart)" and "Unko (Crap)" from his collection "Hadaka" (the English edition, "Naked," is jointly published by Stone Bridge Press and Saru Press).
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2000

Buddhists hold fire rite in U.S.

The Agon Shu Buddhist Association, based in Kyoto and founded in 1978, held its first public prayer ceremony involving the kindling of sacred fire outside Japan earlier this month, the religious organization said.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2000

Blood tests set to determine relations of 'war orphans'

A war-displaced Japanese visiting from China will undergo blood tests to confirm whether a man from Hiroshima Prefecture is his uncle, Health and Welfare Ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2000

Tieup to create largest chemical firm in nation

Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Mitsui Chemicals Inc., Japan's second- and third-largest chemical firms, said Friday they will integrate their management by October 2003 in a bid to survive intensified global competition.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2000

Red Army leader anticipated her capture

Fusako Shigenobu, the founder of the Japanese Red Army guerrilla group who was arrested Nov. 9, told a court Thursday that she expected to be arrested after returning to Japan but had hoped to remain free until spring.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Nov 18, 2000

Autumn's rich hogaku harvest

If you've not yet had the opportunity to experience Japanese music and wish to do so, over the next six weeks some of the contemporary hogaku masters will offer a truly diverse variety of concerts, ranging from the classical to the modern.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 18, 2000

Hara celebrates new facelift with show of Zhou Teihai

Two developments this autumn serve to illustrate both what is good and what is bad about the current condition of the Japanese contemporary art scene.
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2000

Kato challenge divides LDP

A political drama is unfolding over the fate of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's administration, and it is anybody's guess how it will end.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 16, 2000

Callaway takes technology to the masses

Technology vs. tradition: It's been a battleground in golf for decades, but in recent years, with rapid advances in both the human side and technical side of the game, the battle has intensified.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

Panel discusses granting voting rights to minorities

A House of Representatives panel on Wednesday began discussing two bills that would give permanent foreign residents in Japan the right to vote in local elections.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

Palau leader hopes for COP6 compromises

Noting that the environment is of extreme importance to his island nation, visiting Palau President Kunio Nakamura voiced both concern and hope for the outcome of the ongoing U.N. conference on global climate change in The Hague.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2000

Costly Kansai airport plagued by pullouts, rivals, debts, sea

OSAKA -- Six years after opening, Kansai International Airport is struggling to stay above water -- literally and figuratively.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 15, 2000

The yellow (or white or blue) treasure of Kaliningrad

Monopoly is not a word you would naturally associate with Kaliningrad. Yet the tiny Russian enclave possesses a remarkable -- and entirely natural -- one: amber. Ninety percent of the world's commercial amber comes from just one site, the open-pit amber quarry at Yantarny on Kaliningrad's Baltic coast....
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Nov 15, 2000

A democratic farce

www.infoplease.com/spot/closerace1.html Infoplease goes all the way back to the 1876 election to explain what happened the last time the U.S. Constitution overruled U.S. voters. As in last week's presidential race, the voters elected the Democratic candidate only to see their government overturn their...
MORE SPORTS
Nov 14, 2000

Yonekura trounces Mori in badminton final

Asian Games champion Kanako Yonekura demolished Kaori Mori in the women's singles final Sunday to win the national badminton title for the first time.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 12, 2000

Ichiro, Kinjo are the talk of the town

Talk on the Nagoya Dome field prior to Game 6 of the NTT Communications All-Star Series 2000 on Nov. 9, besides the chaotic U.S. presidential election results, centered around the news that some major league team had offered 14 oku yen ($13,125,000) for the rights to negotiate with soon-to-be-former...
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2000

Park-area locals want plebiscite to halt plan for homeless shelters

OSAKA -- Tensions continue to rise between Osaka officials and residents living near Nagai Park over a municipal plan to build shelters for the park's homeless, with those opposed calling for a plebiscite on the issue.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2000

Playing princess dress-up in Himeji

HIMEJI, Hyogo Pref. -- When tourists visit the city of Himeji, they should not miss the opportunity to visit Himeji Castle, a national treasure and the first historical property in Japan registered on the U.N. World Heritage List.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2000

Money-strapped NPOs must learn to use Internet: expert

KYOTO -- The proliferation of the Internet is spurring many groups to aggressively try to keep up with sweeping changes, and nonprofit organizations are no exception.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2000

Chemical firms plan integration

Sumitomo Chemical Co. and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. -- Japan's No. 2 and No. 3 chemical manufacturers -- will integrate their management and possibly merge outright as early as the fall of next year, company sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2000

Cabinet mixed on plan to slash ODA spending

Members of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet expressed mixed opinions Friday over a proposal by the ruling coalition's chief policymakers to slash spending on official development assistance.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2000

Japan's stance could hurt talks: campaigner

In the runup to crucial climate change talks that open Monday in The Hague, nongovernmental organizations have repeatedly slammed Japan's position on a number of issues.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 11, 2000

Bringing a new shine to old Kutani

When I first looked at the work of Yasokichi Tokuda III (b. 1933) I had to put on a pair of sunglasses -- I was almost blinded by the intensity of his kaleidoscopic Kutani porcelain.

Longform

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