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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 15, 2002

On the margins of legend

Like many other legends, the tale of the 47 ronin has behind its bare historical facts several fascinating anecdotes. Here are some of the lesser-known aspects surrounding Japan's classic vendetta.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 14, 2002

Ducky tale of a high-flying family

To paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The very rich are different from you and me."
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 12, 2002

New on DVD: a family-friendly list

Christmas blockbuster movies don't only show up in theaters. Most of America's big box-office hits are timed to be released in the summer and roll into stores on DVD and VHS cassette just in time for the Christmas shopping season.
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 12, 2002

Mobbing comes naturally, too

Some years ago, while doing research on angelfish on the Papuan Barrier Reef, I was lying on a white sandy bottom 30 meters down observing males competing for females during the sunset spawning time.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2002

Relax, Australia's not invading anyone

SYDNEY -- To hear some Southeast Asian leaders sound off lately, a casual observer might suspect Australia is about to invade Indonesia or Malaysia or even the Philippines. Such is the folly of listening to "news" as whipped up by audience-boosting television channels fed by headline-grabbing politicians....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Dec 11, 2002

Solomon Burke: "Don't Give Up On Me"

Solomon Burke's new album, "Don't Give Up On Me," is being touted as not only the return of one of soul music's pioneers, but the return of soul singing itself. And while the sixtysomething Burke is in great voice, the record is somewhat frustrating. Producer Joe Henry hired a dozen big-name artists...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2002

International ideas take shape in Lebanon

Though the word "symposium" comes from Plato's ideal of a drinking party held to facilitate philosophical discussion, most of us are familiar with its modern usage, meaning a conference or meeting. Few people, however, know about the sculpture symposium movement, started by Karl Prantl in Austria in...
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2002

The larger, the better?

Japan has about 3,200 cities, towns and villages. The government and the Liberal Democratic Party, among others, think that is too many. They believe that small districts should be consolidated to improve administrative efficiency so that they can better meet the diverse needs of residents.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 10, 2002

Last-minute mailing over Christmas

Greetings Oh Lord, it's nearly Christmas again, and those of us (and I include myself here) who still have packets and cards to be mailed abroad need to get our skates on.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 8, 2002

Katayama's jumbo lead

Overnight leader Shingo Katayama carded his second straight 4-under-par 66 on Saturday to open up a six-shot lead over closest challenger Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki heading into the final round of the season-ending Nippon Series JT Cup.
COMMENTARY
Dec 8, 2002

Jiang put in a position to kill the party

HONG KONG -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin, far from stepping down as a result of giving up his post as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, appears to have bolstered his position vis-a-vis his successor as party leader, Hu Jintao.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 8, 2002

'El Nino' takes golfing world by storm

MIYAZAKI -- As a kid growing up, Sergio Garcia dreamed of being a soccer star for his beloved Real Madrid. With no disrespect to his potential soccer abilities, it is probably a good thing that he chose to become a professional golfer. Since turning pro in 1999, "El Nino" has taken the golfing world...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 8, 2002

There's cows in them there hills

Even today, most of the "milk" in Japan is soymilk, eaten as tofu. The lactic sort, from cows, may be steadily growing in popularity, but consumption per person is still only around a liter a week, according to government data issued last year.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Dec 7, 2002

NATO's Balkanization begins

MOSCOW -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established after World War II to protect Western Europe from a possible Soviet invasion. Once the Soviet empire crumbled, it was left without a purpose. In the euphoria of 1989-1991, it seemed that democracy and humanism had triumphed throughout Europe,...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2002

Aceh on the brink of peace

At long last, there is an end in sight to the two decades of deadly conflict in Indonesia's separatist province of Aceh. The Indonesian government of President Megawati Sukarnoputri and the Free Aceh Movement, the guerrilla group established in 1976, are expected to sign a peace agreement in Geneva next...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 5, 2002

Pierce, Walker can forget about Athens

NEW YORK -- Like teammate Paul Pierce (and Baron Davis), Antoine Walker has no chance of being asked to play on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team. Taunting Larry Brown last season, among other coaches, has come back to haunt him.
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Dec 5, 2002

Carping over muddy ponds

Me and Mr. Matsuki, we're developers. There -- I've said it. We actually alter habitat. We haven't got around to making golf courses yet, but about 10 years ago, when I bought another section of land to add to what is now the Nagano prefectural Afan Woodland Trust, there was a large section of it that...
LIFE / Digital
Dec 5, 2002

Digital cameras get pocket-sized right

Those who bought their first digital camera several years ago spent upwards of 100,000 yen on bulky hunks that shot mediocre photos at best.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 4, 2002

Ronaldo rises again

YOKOHAMA -- In case there was ever any doubt that it is the best team in the world, Real Madrid made it official on Tuesday night in Yokohama, beating South American champion Olimpia of Paraguay 2-0 to capture the Toyota Cup in front of a crowd of 66,070.
COMMENTARY
Dec 4, 2002

The high price of Saudi oil

WASHINGTON -- The U.S.-Saudi relationship is again engulfed in controversy. Did a Saudi princess, and wife of the Saudi ambassador to the United States, give money to two of the 9/11 hijackers? Yet again, both governments are paying a high price for their unnatural friendship.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2002

Deserter would likely face court-martial

HONOLULU -- Amid the swirl of diplomatic maneuvering among the United States, Japan, South Korea and North Korea stands the strange case of Sgt. Charles Robert Jenkins, who is accused of having deserted from the U.S. Army in South Korea in 1965 to defect to North Korea.
COMMENTARY
Dec 1, 2002

Strange public works allergy

Sunday saw the opening of the long-delayed Morioka-Hachinohe extension of the Tohoku Shinkansen (Northeast Japan bullet-train line). Local people will be happy. But don't expect great outbursts of joy elsewhere. Japan is into one of its periodic antipublic works moods.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 1, 2002

Tapping into the future of wireless communication

In late 2001, domestic heavyweight NTT DoCoMo, flying high on the popularity of its i-mode mobile Web service, launched the world's first ultrahigh-speed, "third-generation" wireless network.
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Nov 30, 2002

Literature museum goes into cyberspace

KOBE -- The opening earlier this month of a new museum of literature in Hyogo Prefecture was marked by the usual ceremonial pomp.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2002

Funeral of prince held at Tokyo cemetery

A funeral service for Prince Takamado, who died on Nov. 21, was held Friday at Toshimagaoka Cemetery in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward with members of the Imperial family and the political world, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in attendance.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2002

Law education bills enacted by Diet

The Diet on Friday enacted into law two bills aimed at improving the system for educating legal professionals.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2002

Princess Aiko nears first birthday

Princess Aiko, the first child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako, will celebrate her first birthday Sunday.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2002

Prosecutors want acquittal of HIV expert overturned

Prosecutors on Friday demanded that the Tokyo High Court overturn a lower court acquittal of a former vice president of Teikyo University in connection with the AIDS death of a male hemophiliac patient in 1991.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2002

Billions in taxes misused: report

Government organizations and state-funded corporations improperly spent more than 24 billion yen in taxpayer money in fiscal 2001, the Board of Audit said Friday.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami