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BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2002

'Spirited Away' boosts Toho profits

Film producer and distributor Toho Co. said Tuesday it posted record group revenue and pretax and net profits on the success of its box-office hit "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" ("Spirited Away").
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Apr 24, 2002

Two men and a poor baby

I have a thang, as Isaac Hayes would say, for Yuki Koyanagi. Maybe it's her sultry pout. Maybe it's her bleached-blonde hair. Or it could be her gloriously trashy fashion sense.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2002

Time features living Asian heroes

A special issue of Time magazine to be published Monday highlights 25 living Asian heroes, including Japanese sports stars Ichiro Suzuki and Hidetoshi Nakata, who are featured on the cover.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 24, 2002

Kinnie Starr: from strength to strength

Kinnie Starr has a voice that sometimes purrs and sometimes snarls, but either way it is virtually unknown in Japan. That may be changing, though, as she is spending the better part of this month touring the country, both on her own and in the coveted opening slot for the hugely popular Speech, formerly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2002

Rage against the machine: anti-tech art

"The First Move," a showcase of finalists for the 2002 Philip Morris Art Award, opens this Saturday at Tokyo International Forum. On display until May 6, the exhibition includes paintings, photographs, 3-D pieces, videos, installations and computer-generated work by 57 young artists selected from more...
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2002

Police urged to be more vigilant

Prefectural police officials got a pep talk Tuesday from the National Police Agency chief, who urged that they be on guard for terrorist attacks and cyber-terrorism, and to generally bolster their activities, including neighborhood patrols.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2002

Fashion's painful pursuit of beauty

When did French women first coin the phrase, "Il faut suffrir pour être belle (One must suffer to be beautiful)"? Judging by the historic costumes and illustrations on display at the Bunka Gakuen Costume Museum, it could have been any time in the last three centuries. Here are fashions that demand (literally)...
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2002

Let firms police selves, panel says

An advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday suggested that companies enter into covenants with their customers regarding product quality and safety.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2002

Japan Prize laureates hope technologies will be used for good

Three scientists who won the 2002 Japan Prize expressed hopes Monday that their achievements will be utilized to enhance the welfare of people the world over.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2002

Japan's deflation a puzzling issue for Europeans

BRUSSELS -- Viewed from Europe, there are some signs that the Japanese economy might be starting to emerge from its 10-year slumber, but it remains essential that Tokyo focus on far-reaching structural reforms and antideflation measures rather than short-term policy lurches if the economy is to avoid...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2002

Koizumi trade pitch misses

CAMBRIDGE, England -- At the Baoa Forum for Asia that met on Hainan Island in China earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made yet another proposal for a greater economic cooperation agreement for East Asia. This time Japan's focus is on an ASEAN-plus-five formula, as announced...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2002

Kids start 'Saturday school' due to five-day-week worries

A number of education boards began preparatory classes Saturday out of concern that children's education may suffer as a result of the introduction of the five-day school week later this month.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Apr 21, 2002

Let us go fiddlehead foragin', but carefully

A fiddlehead, that small plant that grows in the Saint John River Valley in the spring, and which is said to be symbolic of the sun. — Alfred Bailey
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 21, 2002

Tireless fighters and flightless invaders

Truth may not be stranger than fiction, but it's usually more dramatic, as proven in a series of best-selling memoirs by Mayumi Takeda. The 32-year-old writer has lived what some people have described as a "roller-coaster life," and Monday night on Nippon TV's "Super TV" documentary program, this life...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 21, 2002

A superstar rises to the advertising occasion

I guess it's supposed to set up a connection between athleticism and potency, but I was still slightly taken aback last week while watching a broadcast on NHK of a major league baseball game. Behind home plate there was an advertisement for Viagra.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 21, 2002

And don't come back another day

ARTHRITIC JAPAN: The Slow Pace of Economic Reform, by Edward J. Lincoln. Washington, D.C.:Brookings Institution Press, 2001, 247 pp., $18.95 (paper) Japan's agonizingly slow attempts to resuscitate its ailing economy have left many observers bewildered. The policy failure is plain: the lowest growth...
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Apr 20, 2002

Museum in Ikebukuro holds Mideast treasures

Rather like a Pharaoh's tomb inside one of the Great Pyramids, one dark corner of Sunshine City -- a large commercial complex near JR Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo -- is filled with ancient treasures.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2002

Mazda to release 36 new models as it accelerates out of the red

Mazda Motor Corp. President Mark Fields said Thursday that the company plans to launch 36 new models over the next couple of years, following expectations that it has returned to profitability in the just-ended fiscal year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
Apr 19, 2002

Language, music point way to stronger relations

When Akiko Konishi felt life had become routine after five years in the same company, she decided to spice things up a little by studying a foreign language.
EDITORIALS
Apr 19, 2002

Tyrants: be afraid

The complaint against international law has been that it lacks teeth. Absent enforcement authority, the norms and principles that govern international behavior are merely exhortations -- even though they can have sufficient precedence to be considered binding. That changed April 11 when 10 countries...
EDITORIALS
Apr 18, 2002

Emergency bills need consensus

After a quarter century of government discussion of security policy, the Diet is set to debate legislation designed to deal with emergencies directly affecting the security of Japan -- namely, military attacks from abroad. At stake is a set of three bills, adopted by the Cabinet on Tuesday and submitted...
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2002

Kono family liver transplant a success

Former Foreign Minister Yohei Kono received part of his son's liver in a successful transplant operation that was completed early Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Apr 18, 2002

Turkey's Mideast peace role

LONDON/ISTANBUL -- The only possible way of exerting outside influence on the ever-worsening conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is through a visibly balanced approach.

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