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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."
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2003

Rhetoric still trumps reality

After nearly two years in office, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is increasingly beleaguered in his bid to retool Japan's dysfunctional economic system. He is sticking to his banner slogans -- "Structural reform without sacred cows" and "No reform, no growth" -- but the gap between words and deeds...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 4, 2003

Converting to a healthier bento option

It's noon on a weekday in Tokyo's posh Daikanyama district in Shibuya Ward, and 52-year-old Buddhist monk Tenkai Miki makes a conspicuous arrival in front of Daikanyama station on his scooter.
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2003

Is the press fulfilling its role?

LONDON -- "In a democracy as stagnant as Japan's, you might expect the national newspapers to stir things up. But much of the Japanese press is adverse to change with reporters from some of the top newspapers sharing the clubby life of politicians and bureaucrats."
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2003

Pendulum swings on China vs. Japan

DAVOS, Switzerland -- How wildly the pendulum swings whenever "the experts" start talking about Japan vs. China. One can do no wrong, and the other can do no right.
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2003

Slogans without sanctuary

After nearly two years in office, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is increasingly beleaguered in his bid to retool Japan's dysfunctional economic systems. He is sticking to his banner slogans -- "Structural reform without sanctuaries" and "No reform, no growth," but the gap between words and deeds continues...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Feb 3, 2003

"The Wish List," "Winnie's Magic Wand"

"The Wish List," Eoin Colfer, Puffin Books; 2002; 200 pp. If you couldn't get enough of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, put this book on your wish list.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2003

Japan weighs disaster's impact on Tokyo's own space program

Japan expressed shock Sunday at the loss of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia as officials scrambled to assess the impact on Tokyo's own space program, jointly conducted with the United States.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2003

Asian bridges via Okinawa

SINGAPORE -- Earlier this month a closed-door workshop and open public symposium focused on bridging the divisions within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and those between Japan and Okinawa as well as on strengthening the ASEAN-Japan partnership through governance, human security and community-building....

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo