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JAPAN
Feb 5, 2003

No welcome mat for North Korea escapees

On a rainy night in fall 1996, a Japan-born tractor driver in North Korea dived into the fast and muddy current of the Yalu River on the border with China in a last-ditch attempt to escape the hunger and poverty that had plagued his family for decades.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2003

Artists in search of absolute painting

"We call together all young people and -- as young people who bear the future -- we want to acquire freedom for our hands and lives, against the well-established older forces. Everyone belongs to us who renders in an unfalsified way everything that compels him to be creative."
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2003

Japan seeks international talks on management of KEDO

Japan wants international talks on an energy project for North Korea because the U.S. has set no money aside for it for fiscal 2004 due to the nuclear standoff with Pyongyang, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2003

Slip into Wonderland in a museum of marvels

The Koishikawa Annex of Tokyo University Museum is currently hosting an eye-catching exhibition, "Microcosmographia: Mark Dion's Chamber of Curiosities." The brainchild of New York-based contemporary artist Mark Dion, the show runs until March 2.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 5, 2003

From a guy to the King

Just what is the essence of Elvis Presley? The sideburns? That sneer? Those pelvic thrusts?
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2003

Monetary base up 13.4% to 95.367 trillion yen

Japan's monetary base in January rose 13.4 percent from a year earlier to 95.367 trillion yen, up for the 24th straight month, the Bank of Japan said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2003

'Human shields' eye prewar Iraq trip

A citizens' group in Japan is planning a second visit to Iraq later this month in hope of blocking a threatened U.S.-led attack on the country by acting as "human shields," the group said, and some members may try to stay there until fighting erupts.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2003

Entity to give gambling winning spin

OSAKA -- The nation's first academic association specializing in the economic effects of gambling, including horse racing and pachinko, has been established in Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2003

Record number of individuals file for bankruptcy

A record 214,634 individuals filed for bankruptcy in 2002 as Japan continued to struggle with its now chronic economic slump, the Supreme Court said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 5, 2003

The song remains the same . . . sorta

2001 marked the 10th anniversary of the release of "Nevermind," the album that broke alternative rock on non-college radio and MTV. Owing to disagreements among the interests that control the Nirvana legacy, the anticipated career-survey box set was never released. Instead, a single-disc greatest hits...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Feb 5, 2003

Baka Beyond: "Heart of the Forest"

Before we get into the new album by the world-beat collective, Baka Beyond, let's get something straight about the name. In Japan, "baka" may be what you call your boss behind his back, but this four-letter word also denotes the pygmy tribe indigenous to the rain forests near the Cameroon/Congo border....
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

K-1 promoter arrested over taxes

A key promoter of the popular K-1 martial arts event was arrested Monday on suspicion of evading about 177 million yen in taxes, according to sources.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Sea waste-dumping treaty compliance eyed

The Environment Ministry is considering banning the dumping at sea of waste such as sewage sludge in a bid to curb marine pollution.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Docs find flu drug dearth hard to swallow

Pediatrician Jiro Tsukada says that being stingy has become part of his job.
COMMENTARY
Feb 4, 2003

Girding for a snap election

Events of the past month suggest that 2003 will be a turbulent year at home and abroad. In Japan, rumors of a snap general election are already making the rounds, while the ailing economy appears to be slipping back into recession.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2003

Girding for a snap election

Events of the past month suggest that 2003 will be a turbulent year at home and abroad. In Japan, rumors of a snap general election are already making the rounds, while the ailing economy appears to be slipping back into recession.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Nursing home operator taken in for not paying overtime

A nursing home operator in Hamura, western Tokyo, was arrested Monday on suspicion of making employees work without overtime pay in violation of the Labor Standards Law.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Video shorts become cafe fare

OSAKA -- The 20-odd people sipping coffee and tea in a shop in Chuo Ward here haven't come in just for the beverages. They also want to see free short videos made primarily by amateur filmmakers such as high school students and citizens' groups.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Condo owners win compensation

The Tokyo District Court on Monday ordered Urban Development Corp. to pay 67 million yen to a group of residents demanding compensation over the public entity's decision to lower the prices of condominiums after they had bought theirs.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2003

Hiroshima mayor wins re-election with ease

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and Aichi Gov. Masaaki Kanda sailed to re-election Sunday, while former Kofu Mayor Takahiro Yamamoto won a narrow victory in the Yamanashi gubernatorial race.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2003

JGBs prove a hit with individuals

The first Japanese government bonds specifically targeting individuals moved quickly on Monday, the first day investors were allowed to place orders for them at commercial banks, securities houses and post offices.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 4, 2003

Refunded cash for working at home and a sumo day out

Greetings Greetings from 10,000 meters -- I am beginning this week's column from somewhere high over the Pacific Ocean on United Flight 897 bound for Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 4, 2003

Kitting out the big man in Japan

If this writer had to pick a Tom Hanks film to depict his three-and-a-half decades of life in this country, it would be a tossup between "Forrest Gump" and "Big."

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person