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SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Sep 4, 2001

Far and away: The story of Japan's World Cup venues

Last weekend, I was on tour in China with British Football Club Tokyo. We played so badly in the annual Shanghai Sevens tournament that I decided to give poor Shunsuke Nakamura a break in this week's column (something about the pot calling the kettle black).
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 1, 2001

In Dog Heaven, pee on the Pearly Gates

There is much talk these days about the first tourists to the moon and Mars. Everyone wants to be the first to go. Except me. I'm not interested in going to the moon or Mars. I have a hankering to go someplace much farther away and much more exciting. I want to be the first person to go to Dog Heaven....
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 31, 2001

Reeves turtle

* Japanese name:Kusagame * Scientific name: Chinemys reevesii * Description: A freshwater, semi-aquatic turtle with a carapace (shell) 10-30 cm long. Females are bigger than males. This turtle has three keels, or ridges, running along its carapace, which is a yellow-brown to olive color. Some...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Coast guard report now easier to read

The Japan Coast Guard released its annual white paper Tuesday featuring a more detailed and easy-to-read format, coast guard officials said.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Ikeda Elementary reopens in wake of June slayings

IKEDA, Osaka Pref. -- Eighty days after the massacre of eight children at Osaka Kyoiku University Ikeda Elementary School, the school reopened Monday at a new temporary structure with several new features designed to ensure the safety of its approximately 680 students.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2001

Europe, the euro and you

Remember the runup to Y2K? The predictions of catastrophe? The hand-wringing over unpreparedness? It's happening all over again, on a smaller scale, with the runup to the cash launch of the euro. Although the new European currency will not be legal tender until New Year's Day, armored trucks will start...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 24, 2001

Salty dragonfly

* Japanese name: Shiokara tonbo * Scientific name: Orthetrum albistylum speciosum * Description: A fast-flying dragonfly 48-57 mm long. Males have a pale-blue body; the end of the abdomen is pointed and black, and is equipped with a pair of clasping appendages. Females are usually a brown-yellow...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 19, 2001

Light at the end of the tunnel

For Cho Kyong Hee, artists displaying work in public spaces have a special responsibility: Installations should not impose.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 19, 2001

Kao Tai: Getting down to the Thai essentials

You don't have to go far in Tokyo for good Thai restaurants these days. But when it comes to tracking down no-frills, down-home cooking -- the kind of simple snacks prepared by countless market stalls and sidewalk eateries in Bangkok -- then it pays to dig deep. Some of the best Thai street food is served...
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 17, 2001

Fire-bellied newt

* Japanese name:Imori * Scientific name:Cynops pyrrhogaster * Description: Fire-bellied newts have rough, blackish-brown skin and a vibrant, crimson-orange belly. This is the most common salamander in Japan, found from Honshu to Kyushu. Females grow to between 8 and 14 cm (including the tail);...
BUSINESS
Aug 15, 2001

Increasingly good massage chairs gain popularity

OSAKA -- Demand for electric massage chairs is steadily growing as more and more people seek attention akin to the touch of a professional masseur in the comfort of their own homes.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 15, 2001

Icons of a forgotten femininity

Western culture is replete with empowering images of women, from the warrior Amazons of Greek mythology to Wagnerian Valkyries to computer game and movie heroine Lara Croft. Western women are spoiled for choice when it comes to assertive role models. Japan, on the other hand, has always cherished a more...
LIFE / Travel
Aug 14, 2001

Probing the borderline between life and death

The Shimokita Peninsula is a broad thumb of land at Honshu's northern tip, curling around Mutsu Bay and up toward Hokkaido. It is a wild place. Here you can find feral horses, the world's northernmost wild monkeys, some of Japan's last remaining wilderness -- and a holy mountain, Osorezan.
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2001

Sony, Honda work on useful, entertaining robots

Ever since Sony Corp. and Honda Motor Co. unveiled prototypes of humanoid robots last year, expectations have been growing that they can be developed to carry out household chores and used for entertainment.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 10, 2001

Rhinoceros beetle

* Japanese name:Kabutomushi * Scientific name:Allomyrina dichotoma * Description: One of the best-known and best-loved insects in Japan, this beetle is also one of the easiest to identify. Males have a large horn extending from the head and another, smaller one from the thorax. They are very strong,...
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2001

Toyota Corolla keeps vehicle sales pole position for 11th straight month

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Corolla retained top spot on the best-selling Japanese vehicle rankings for July, marking its 11th straight month in pole position, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Monday.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 7, 2001

Rubbing noses with a musk ox

The Northwest Territories cover approximately one-third of Canada. Given that Canada is the second-largest country in the world, it can therefore be said without fear of contradiction that the NWT is rather large.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2001

Matsushita touts lightest DVD player

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Friday it will launch the world's lightest portable DVD player on Sept. 1.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 3, 2001

Common toad

* Japanese name: Nihon hikigaeru * Scientific name: Bufo japonicus * Description: This is one of the biggest amphibians in Japan. Adults are between 8-18 cm long; tadpoles are 3.5-4 cm long. They have the classic toad traits of poisonous, warty skin and yellow, bulging eyes. Male toads are yellowish-brown...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 2, 2001

Salt tolerance and life's dispersal derby

Salt is an interesting mineral. We all need it. It is crucial to the operation of the cells that make up our bodies.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2001

Vanity stamps on offer at Tokyo exhibition

Visitors to a weeklong stamp exhibit that began Wednesday in Tokyo can have their photo printed on a stamp sheet, postal services officials said.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 1, 2001

Tracing days in their lives

"Two Lives," a joint exhibition of acrylic paintings by Japanese artist Tadanori Yokoo and American artist Paul Davis is on show until Aug. 4 at Nishimura Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 1, 2001

Lords of the underground

Asian Underground -- as spurious a genre as there's ever been -- has been hot for a while now, but most people would be hard-pressed to name any pioneers of this sound other than Talvin Singh. For those looking to dig deeper, though, August provides a good opportunity to catch two of the more interesting...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 1, 2001

Mario A's walking, talking, breathing, living doll

A new photography book titled "ma poupee japonaise" arrived in the post the other day, sent by German-Italian artist Mario A. After skimming through pictures of an apparently life-sized wooden doll posed mostly unclothed in a variety of private and public places, I uploaded a brief note about the publication...

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.