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CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2002

Music of the J-people

Japanese pop music is crap. So say many of my friends, especially the non-Japanese ones. They reach that conclusion after noticing that the charts are full of chipmunk-voiced idols who are long on looks and short on talent -- and whose shelf lives are only slightly longer than sushi.
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2002

Safety agency wants standards for allowable reactor defects

Voluntary inspections by nuclear plant operators should be regulated and standards introduced for allowable defects to prevent further coverups of structural faults like the scandal now rocking the industry, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2002

Kin of other missing people now demand abduction probes

As details about the fate of more than a dozen Japanese abducted to North Korea trickle in, relatives of many others who vanished in the 1970s and '80s say they want these disappearances re-examined to determine if their kin were also spirited away by Pyongyang agents.
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2002

North Korea may face grilling

Japan may bring up additional cases of possible abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea if it finds sufficient evidence to back its claims, Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2002

Probe of 60 more abductees urged

A group supporting relatives of Japanese abducted to North Korea has demanded that authorities probe whether Pyongyang's agents spirited away some 60 others besides the 14 whose fates the Stalinist state have already disclosed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2002

Woman left off list of abductees probably nurse

The Japanese woman abducted to North Korea who was not on Tokyo's official list of 11 is probably a nurse from Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture who vanished along with her mother in 1978, sources said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2002

Send abductees home before talks: Tokyo

The government wants the surviving Japanese who were kidnapped by North Korea to return to Japan before it resumes diplomatic normalization talks with the Stalinist state next month, officials said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 19, 2002

Check-up costs, parking perils, and 'quake advice

Health check-ups I'm not feeling well and feel I need to get a complete checkup or physical. It is my understanding that the national health insurance only covers diagnosed illness but not such preventive care. What can I do? -- Phillip in Tokyo
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2002

Suzuki-linked bureaucrat denies bid, fund illegalities; cohorts say otherwise

A former Foreign Ministry expert on Russian affairs pleaded not guilty Tuesday to misusing more than 33 million yen from a ministerial fund to pay for a trip abroad by officials and denied interfering in bidding for a construction project on one of the Russian-held islands off Hokkaido.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2002

Blind lawyer founds network to fight disability prejudice

KYOTO -- Blind lawyer Yoshiki Takeshita has spearheaded the creation of a legal network that aims to eliminate discrimination and human rights abuses against disabled people.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2002

Talks' success hinges on 'abductions': Yamasaki

A Japanese official stated Sunday that progress on the issue of the Japanese nationals allegedly abducted by North Korean agents is necessary to the success of this week's North Korea-Japan summit.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 15, 2002

A ride on the darker side of Tokyo's history

Temples, shrines, gardens, the Imperial Palace . . . Why, tourist guidebooks are full of places that echo the form and spirit of the Old Edo that once was. But they're only telling you a part of the story.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2002

Fee change eyed for NTT units

An advisory panel to the telecommunications minister recommended Friday that NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp. set different interconnection fees to promote competition between them.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Sep 8, 2002

Radio icon pulls plug on show after world-record 45 years

Her achievement is nothing special, she says. But the thing that has kept Chieko Akiyama going throughout her unprecedented career is the human energy radiating from the people she meets.
BUSINESS
Sep 5, 2002

Computer server shipments decline record 17.7%

Shipments of computer servers in the April-June quarter in Japan registered record-low growth in both volume and value terms amid prolonged repercussions attributable to the collapse of the information technology bubble, a market research agency said Wednesday night.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 5, 2002

Reaching out to Japanese hit on Sept. 11

Nearly a year ago, on Sept. 11, the Japan Helpline undertook its most difficult aid effort since the Great Hanshin Earthquake struck Kobe back in 1995.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2002

IT-related sectors' CO 2 output may soar by 2010, report says

Carbon dioxide emitted by industries involved in information technology in Japan could log a three-fold increase in the 10 years from 2000 to 2010, according to a recent study.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Ministry seeks 1.04 trillion yen for child-rearing aid

The health ministry is asking for 1.04 trillion yen in the fiscal 2003 national budget to support child-rearing in a bid to curb the declining birth rate, ministry officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

'Politically motivated' arrests slammed

The head of the public security department of the Osaka High Public Prosecutor's Office was arrested April 23 for allegedly being entertained to the tune of 280,000 yen by mobsters in return for providing internal information.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 22, 2002

All-Star practice to open to fans

A pre-match practice session for the J. League's East and West All-Star teams will be open to the fans on Friday from 2:30-3:30 p.m. at Saitama Stadium 2002. Admission to the practice session will be free to all visitors.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 18, 2002

Drinking without thinking

Although more than half the fun at sake pubs is being an active participant in choosing what you drink, there are times when you don't want to make that effort. There are times when what you want is simply to chat, or even -- heaven forbid -- to talk business. On days like this, Gin no Kura can take...
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2002

TSE probes Nippon Meat affair

The Tokyo Stock Exchange has begun hearings over possible violations of the bourse's information disclosure rules by Nippon Meat Packers Inc. in relation to a subsidiary's abuse of a government beef-buyback program, TSE officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2002

Uncertainty overshadows Earth summit

The largest United Nations gathering in history is to start in Johannesburg in nine days' time, with nations reflecting on the progress -- or the lack of it -- toward achieving a more sustainable world over the past decade and wrangling over how to do a better job in the future.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2002

Indicted Foreign Ministry staff dismissed

The Foreign Ministry on Wednesday dismissed Akira Maejima, a former assistant director in charge of aid projects for Russia, following his indictment late last month, a Foreign Ministry official said.
BUSINESS
Aug 13, 2002

Indian software services firm seeks to defy recession

Despite a prolonged recession in Japan and a language barrier, Wipro Ltd., a major Indian software services firm, is moving aggressively to take a bigger bite of the market here.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Aug 11, 2002

Really making a meal of it in Austria

Second of two parts One of the most heady delights for any wine lover is a visit to a vineyard. Hike or bicycle through the countryside, then sip wine and unpack a picnic near lush, green rows of vines. In the warm afternoon, tromp down into the winery's cool, dark cellar that smells of damp earth and...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 11, 2002

Going where the wild things are

BEYOND THE LAST VILLAGE: A Journey of Discovery in Asia's Forbidden Wilderness, by Alan Rabinowitz. Aurum Press, 2002, 300 pp., 19.99 British pounds (cloth) Marco Polo went to Myanmar in the 13th century and saw jungles teeming with wild beasts and unicorns. Centuries later, during British colonial...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
Aug 10, 2002

Japanese firms fight back against Chinese copies

A Panasonic CD player, Sony headphones, Toshiba batteries. An extensive array of well-known, Japanese-made products is displayed at an office in Beijing, giving the impression that they are designed to promote imports.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?