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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 13, 2002

Different strokes, different folks

Former Olympic swimmer Yasuko Tajima appears tonight on the exotic travel show, "Sekai Ururun Taizaiki (World Sojourn)" (TBS, 10 p.m.), the program on which she made her showbiz debut last year.
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Jan 13, 2002

Take me to your anti-leader

The Shibuya Takeshi Orchestra is one of the most singular, challenging and unusual jazz units in Tokyo. Many local groups strive for accomplished technique, pushing their instruments to the far edge of rapid-fire playing or polishing one style to perfection. The Shibuya Takeshi Orchestra, however, delights...
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2002

Bank loans decline for fifth year in row

The average daily lending balance by the nation's banks in 2001 fell 3.9 percent from the year before to 447.05 trillion yen for the fifth straight year of decline, the Bank of Japan said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2002

METI to submit bill to regulate spam

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will submit a bill, possibly next month, proposing legal revisions to regulate unsolicited e-mail advertisements sent to consumers, ministry officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2002

Fujimori gives lecture at university in Tokyo

Alberto Fujimori, Peru's disgraced former president, made his first public appearance in 14 months Thursday, delivering a lecture at Takushoku University in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2002

Prepared foods seen growing in popularity

The popularity of prepared food, known as "sozai," is rocketing in Japan, with an increase in working women apparently helping to boost sales of the food.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2002

Okayama city sets sights on nation's first electronic ballot

Niimi, in Okayama Prefecture, is aiming to use the nation's first electronic voting system in its mayoral and municipal assembly elections in June.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / THE PARENT TRIP
Jan 11, 2002

When 'Snap to it!' is just no use

Patience. Parents need it by the bucketload; teachers, doctors and nurses must be able to summon it by the truckload. But where do other people get their reserves of patience?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 10, 2002

Arab nations leaving Palestinians to face Israel alone

BEIRUT -- There has always been a vital Arab dimension to the Palestinian struggle. For a long period, in fact, the Arabs bore the brunt of the struggle, waging four, mainly disastrous, wars, in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, with little or no Palestinian participation in them.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2002

Hokkaido skating marathon slated

Japan is the country of 1998 Nagano Olympics gold medalist speedskater Hiroyasu Shimizu and 2000 Sydney Olympics gold medalist marathon runner Naoko Takahashi.
EDITORIALS
Jan 10, 2002

A tough diplomatic challenge

In his first year in office, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi devoted most of his energy to promoting his economic-reform agenda. In doing so he demonstrated considerable leadership, supported by record public-approval ratings. In 2002, he faces an equally tough challenge on the diplomatic front. His...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2002

Mycal launches clearance sales at Saty, Vivre stores

OSAKA -- Failed supermarket chain Mycal Corp. on Wednesday started a clearance sale featuring some 10 billion yen worth of stock at discounts of up to 80 percent at all 104 of its Saty retail outlets and Vivre apparel stores.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2002

Failed listed firms leave record debt

Sluggish economic activity forced 14 listed companies to go bust in 2001, with their combined liabilities amounting to a postwar record 2.88 trillion yen, according to Teikoku Databank Ltd.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2002

Chinese man wanted for bogus bills

Japanese police have placed a Chinese national on an international wanted list for allegedly distributing counterfeit Japanese bank notes, the police said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2002

Quality-beef prices tick up in first auction

Prices of high-quality domestic beef recovered slightly Tuesday at Tokyo's central wholesale market, where a beef auction was held for the first time this year.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2002

Abolishing deposit cover will be safe: Yanagisawa

The government will ensure that the abolishment in April of its blanket protection of deposits in the event of bank failures will not cause a financial crisis, Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 9, 2002

Tokyo Kandenchi putting a little spark back into the Bard

For my first theater outing of 2002, I went to see "A Midsummer-Night's Dream" by Tokyo Kandenchi (Tokyo Dry Battery). In this -- their 25th anniversary performance, but their first-ever brush with the Bard of Avon -- the company made no pretense of striving to scale great literary heights, but instead...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 9, 2002

Back from the brink

The German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) said that people not drawing on 3,000 years of tradition are living on the edge of extinction. How, then, did Japanese craftsmen recover from the trauma of World War II, when their proud traditions, seemingly tainted by recent history, were thrown...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 9, 2002

Assisting artists to enrich the spirit

Despite the relentless advance of the global economy, the cliche of the starving artist or student has not completely lost its currency. Younger artists seeking to establish themselves, or scholars wishing to devote more time to their studies, are generally in for a belt-tightening experience.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 9, 2002

Basement Jaxx

What most people respond to when they first hear Basement Jaxx aren't so much the recognizable references -- the Prince and P-Funk nods, the Latin rhythms, the beats-per-minute rules of late-'80s house music -- but the even more basic stuff, like song structure. Even if you're a champion of electronica...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jan 9, 2002

Two looks back and three worth looking forward to

Akemashite, etc. . . . Before I do anything else, I'd like to thank NHK for providing me with my yearly dose of enka on the 2001 edition of "Kohaku Utagassen (Red and White Song Contest)."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 9, 2002

The next best thing

Happy New Year to one and all. I'm just back in Tokyo after spending the holidays in Bangkok, where, you might be interested to know, Project 304, About Art Space and the city's four or five other contemporary-art players got together to celebrate the finale of a successful video and film program that...
Events
Jan 8, 2002

Kansai / Who & What

Talk-no-kai holding two discussion sessions Talk-no-kai, a Nara-based citizens' group, is going to hold two English discussion sessions in Nara on Saturday.

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