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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Aug 22, 2002

Blooms to brighten summer's days -- and nights

Japan's floral symbol of summer, the asagao (morning glory; Ipomoea purpurea) is an interesting climber with beautiful blooms that has been cultivated on these islands for more than 1,000 years since being brought from China during the Nara Period (710-784). Before that, its origins are a matter of some...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 22, 2002

Time to change, or find another planet

First of two parts Next week, tens of thousands of politicians, bureaucrats, activists and policy analysts will descend on Johannesburg, South Africa, for the largest conference in human history: the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
EDITORIALS
Aug 21, 2002

Resolving the plight of southern Africa

Food shortages in southern Africa are reaching alarming proportions. The World Food Program, or WFP, says tens of millions of people in six countries -- Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho and Swaziland -- face starvation as a result of disastrous crop failures. The U.N. agency is calling for...
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2002

UNICEF envoy discusses Somalia with Kawaguchi

Actress Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, told Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Tuesday about her recent visit to Somalia and asked for Japan's continued support for UNICEF, Foreign Ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2002

English school exec sees kids as growth market

English-conversation schools in Japan are facing a major business opportunity as demand for their services for children increases, according to a senior local official of a top chain of foreign-language schools.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2002

Governors split on national education role

Nearly half of the nation's governors see the need to rethink the current role of the national government in financing and controlling the compulsory education system, according to a recent Kyodo News survey.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2002

Nippon Ham founder Okoso to step down as chairman

Nippon Meat Packers Inc. on Tuesday told the farm ministry that its founder, Yoshinori Okoso, will resign as chairman of the firm over a suspected beef-labeling scam, according to informed sources.
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2002

Employee-leasing agencies helping Chinese computer engineers to cash in

More Chinese computer engineers are coming to Japan via temporary-staff employment agencies, and some of them are finding a niche in the information technology industry, earning as much as 10 million yen a year.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2002

Beyond trance: Juno's sonic odyssey

The passing fancies and capricious changes in taste that mark electronic dance music make it very hard for most musicians to sustain a career. Buck the trends, and you'll never get noticed; settle into the style du jour, and you may as well put a "sell-by" date on your albums.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2002

Trance music: Taking it to the next level

When deep into the music at a trance party, most people dance a sort of mechanized primal stomp, working their arms like pistons and clomping their feet. Although these maneuvers may look awkward, they are a natural reaction to the music's rigidly 4/4 industrial-sounding beats, which, though sublime...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 21, 2002

Universal comedy without errors

Hold on to your seats: We're going back to the essence of theater -- entertainment. "The Kyogen of Errors," directed by and starring 36-year-old Mansai Nomura, is a fitting way to celebrate his five-year appointment as artistic director of the Setagaya Public Theater (SEPT), which was announced two weeks...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2002

Light My Fire festival to heat things up

Relaxing in a conference room crowded with shelves of CDs and a couple dozen bottles of Belgian beer, Shohachiro Haga recently explained how he chose the four acts for the Light My Fire world music festival. A middle-aged man wearing an enviably broken-in polo shirt, Haga says, "We can find the roots...
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2002

NTT disconnects 'wangiri' caller

OSAKA -- NTT West Corp. on Tuesday suspended connection services to a company in Fukuoka that allegedly made "wangiri" phone calls in such massive numbers that it threatened to paralyze NTT's telephone networks, NTT West officials said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 21, 2002

Revenge is a dish served to chill at Kabukiza

In the heat of summer, Japanese people turn to noryo (activities to enjoy the evening cool) -- and kabuki is among the enjoyments on offer. Noryo programs were started at the Kabukiza Theater in August 1990, and have been in the charge of Nakamura Kankuro, 47, ever since. For this year's program he has...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 21, 2002

The busiest bad guy around

Show Aikawa is the hardest-working man in Japanese movies, but one that Japanese cinemagoers have rarely, if ever, seen. Unless, that is, they happen to be fans of straight-to-video films. They would know Aikawa as the gangster glaring down from the boxes of dozens of action films with titles like "Shuraba...
EDITORIALS
Aug 20, 2002

Clearing up the haze

Since it first commanded world attention in 1997, "haze" -- an ugly smog created by fires -- has become a regular feature of the Southeast Asian environment. A new United Nations report identifies the grimy acid cocktail as a major health hazard for that region and the world. It is killing millions and...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2002

DNA scholars hope to stock Siberia 'park' with mammoths

"Jurassic Park" was a work of fiction. Pleistocene Park is in the process of becoming fact.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2002

More flexible school holidays to be considered

The government will consider introducing flexible school holidays so families with children can take more relaxed and less-crowded summer and other vacations, government officials said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 20, 2002

Forum breaks new ground

The recent meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF, the Asia Pacific's premier track for security dialogue, has been applauded as a watershed for the institution -- and rightly so. The group's pledge to fight international terrorism breathed new life into the forum. But the real significance of this...
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2002

East Timor leader requests aid in talks with Nakatani

DILI -- East Timor President Xanana Gusmao asked Japan on Monday to help with his country's efforts to deal with unemployment and build a judicial infrastructure.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2002

Researcher urges water consciousness

A common saying in Japanese is "mizu to anzen wa tada" ("water and safety are free"), meaning they can be taken for granted.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2002

Japan, North Korea claim progress at two-day talks

PYONGYANG -- The North Korean Red Cross confirmed Monday the whereabouts of six Japanese among the 49 Tokyo has demanded Pyongyang search for, but the six are not among the 11 Tokyo says were abducted.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2002

Residents to seek redress over Tokai nuclear accident

Three residents of the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, home to Japan's worst nuclear accident, said Monday they will seek compensation for health hazards from the operator of the uranium processing plant and its parent company.
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2002

Yokohama to host psychiatry confab

Around 7,000 experts from around the world are expected to attend an international psychiatry conference in Yokohama later this month, according to organizers.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2002

Cyclists continue Silk Road trek

A Japanese citizens' group will cycle to Turkmenistan in Central Asia at the end of this month on another leg in their 15,000-km journey along the Silk Road.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear