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EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2001

A crime for the times

Italy, a country we are celebrating this year in Japan, is at the cutting edge of all sorts of things: food, fashion, fast cars, films and some interesting criminal practices. Oh, and bizarre opera plots. Sometimes it seems as if those last two get a bit entangled.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 1, 2001

Modern gagaku: Experiments with tradition

In the late 1960s, the National Theater of Japan made a decision to commission new music for gagaku (court music) orchestra and changed the destiny of traditional Japanese arts.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 1, 2001

Time for fans to pick 'em

As promised, this week's column is devoted to predictions sent in by Baseball Bullet-In readers offering their hunches on how the 2001 Central and Pacific League pennant races will play out. Ten people responded and, since I offered to accept the picks by e-mail, there were even a few entries from outside...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 1, 2001

Squid tentacles draw the crowds

OSAKA -- If asked to name Osaka's local specialties, most outsiders would say okonomiyaki (meat and vegetable pancakes) and takoyaki (octopus dumplings, or, as former Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama once introduced them to visiting world leaders, "samurai balls"). While it's true that these dishes originated in...
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Apr 1, 2001

Tea fit for royalty glows at L'Epicier

For the last three months, I have been inexplicably drawn to tea shops with yellow color schemes. Is there a magical connection? Maybe only in a subliminal desire for the very best.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2001

You really don't want to go there

There must be an organization in Hollywood called Bad Sequels Inc. (not to mention Happy Endings.com and Dial-a-Corpse). The people over at Bad Sequels are dressed in gray, carry briefcases and have the furtive look of a nervous salesman. They go up to some successful producer at some 7-ish cocktail...
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Spending by wage earners grows 0.9%

Spending by Japan's wage-earning households in February grew a real 0.9 percent from a year earlier to an average of 314,197 yen for the third straight month of increase, the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said Friday in a preliminary report.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Jobless rate declines to 4.7%

Japan's unemployment rate eased in February to a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent, down from a record-high 4.9 percent for the previous two months, the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Revised social security may sting rich

The government and the ruling coalition adopted a proposal Friday for reforming the social security system, covering pension and medical insurance and centering on having well-off elderly people shoulder a greater burden of social security costs.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Tokyo's prices sank record 0.9% in 2000

Consumer prices in Tokyo fell a record 0.9 percent in fiscal 2000 from the year before for the second straight year of decline, reaffirming that the economy is experiencing deflation, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Ministers urge curbs on Chinese imports

The ministers of agriculture, trade and finance reached a basic agreement Friday on the need to invoke temporary curbs on surging imports from China of stone leeks, fresh shiitake mushrooms and rushes used to weave tatami.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Sell public on ODA: white paper

Japan should make its official development assistance more efficient and transparent to convince the public that the funds are spent in the nation's interest, according to the fiscal 2000 white paper on ODA released Friday by the Foreign Ministry.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Nikkei ends fiscal 2000 at 12,999

The Nikkei stock average closed a fraction below 13,000 Friday, the last trading day of the fiscal year, as sharp morning advances prompted profit-taking in the afternoon.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 31, 2001

Giants start with a bang!

The Yomiuri Giants, 18-9 against Hanshin last season, continued their mastery over the Tigers as the defending Japan Series champions powered their way to a 17-3 victory over the Tigers at the Tokyo Dome on Friday night in the opening day of regular-season action for the Central League clubs.
COMMENTARY
Mar 30, 2001

Jockeying to replace Mori

Executives of the governing Liberal Democratic Party have reportedly decided to hold the party's presidential election around April 20, although Prime Minister and LDP President Yoshiro Mori claims he has never expressed his intention to resign. Mori and the LDP are totally irresponsible.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

Investors in the dark; Tokyo rally elusive

Although global stock markets have restored a degree of stability, skepticism abounds over what is in store for the months ahead. On Wall Street, worries remain over company profits and the U.S. Federal Reserve's stated aim to engineer a soft landing. Earnings reports for the January-March quarter, due...
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

Bridgestone president apologizes for tire recall

Bridgestone Corp. President Yoichiro Kaizaki apologized Thursday at the company's shareholders' meeting for last year's voluntary recall of millions of defective tires produced by its U.S. subsidiary.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2001

Bar president says citizens should be involved in trials

The head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations said Thursday that opening the Japanese trial system to participation by citizens will be inevitable because society is moving toward civic authority.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2001

Eye in the sky to help mutual green policies

Japan and China are about embark on an innovative new program using satellite-generated information updated daily to more closely integrate environment policies in Asia, according to the Environment Ministry.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

Expansion fails to lift industrial activity rate

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry downgraded its assessment of the country's industrial activity for the third consecutive month Thursday, despite modest growth observed in February.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2001

Record-low 40 bureaucrats took 'amakudari' jobs in 2000

A record-low 40 former government officials were hired in 2000 by companies linked to the ministries and agencies they worked for, according to an annual report compiled by the National Personnel Authority.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

Matsushita Electric eyes labor shift to IT section

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Thursday it will transfer 1,000 surplus workers from its marketing division to a new information technology service section that will report directly to its president.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2001

Monthly wages rise for second year

Average monthly wages for regular payroll employees in 2000 came to 302,200 yen, a 0.5 percent rise from a year before and the second consecutive annual increase, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Wednesday.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’