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BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 3, 2002

Orix slugger Sheldon starting to make things happen

Scott Sheldon and his Orix BlueWave teammates may be in the same boat, but for the past month they've been rowing in opposite directions.
EDITORIALS
Aug 3, 2002

Positive moves from Pyongyang

The good news about North Korea is that it is ready to resume diplomatic contacts with Japan and the United States. At the ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei this week, Pyongyang's foreign minister, Mr. Paek Nam Sun, expressed a willingness to mend fences with Tokyo and Washington in talks with Foreign Minister...
COMMENTARY
Aug 3, 2002

Flaws mar proposed reforms

LONDON -- The Japanese Foreign Ministry has been much criticized over the last year. Reforms have been made and more changes are likely. Some of the criticism has been justified, but much is misplaced and some of the proposals for changes are mistaken.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Lack of rival leaves Koizumi boss by default

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's sky-high popularity is a thing of the past. Over the last six months, his public approval ratings have declined sharply, as has his image as a charismatic reformer.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Kokubunji snubs state resident registry

The western Tokyo suburb of Kokubunji on Friday became the latest municipality to refuse to take part in a national resident registry network that the central government plans to launch Monday, saying it will not join the system until a law to protect personal information is enacted.
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
Aug 3, 2002

ASEAN is on the right track with ARF

With reference to the July 19 article by Felix Soh on the ASEAN Regional Forum ("Security issues may be too hot to handle for ASEAN bloc"), as former foreign affairs secretary of the Philippines under two presidents during 1995-2001, I wish to clarify several points of regional and historical interest....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 3, 2002

I'm a carefree street food vendor, baby!

You know what I like about Japan? The mobile food. And I'm not talking about going to the drive-through at McDonald's for takeout. Albeit a dying tradition, in Japan you can still get some food such as noodles, octopus balls and "yaki imo" from street vendors who cruise the neighborhoods. If you have...
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2002

Koizumi seeks prudent budget requests

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told his ministers Friday to strictly screen their budget requests for fiscal 2003 because of the government's austerity policy, the top government spokesman said.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2002

Household spending rises, ends five-quarter trend

Average household spending in the April-June period rose a real 1.1 percent from the same period in 2001 to 300,802 yen, marking the first rise in five quarters, the government said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Aug 3, 2002

Artist's work brings copper plate color prints to life

An impression of stillness amid the wonder of color is a beautiful thing to behold.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Aug 3, 2002

Solstice weekend under the fog; Camping with the aliens

I knew it was going to be an interesting weekend the moment my press armband arrived in the mail marked No. 13, though I'm not superstitious enough to turn my back on an event like the Solstice Music Festival.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 3, 2002

Keeping up with family weddings around world

Betty Glover from Perth, Australia, cannot walk too easily these days. This does not stop her from traveling however. Assisted by daughter Mo (Maureen) and son-in-law Deg (Derek), she is just coming to the end of a two-month trip to the U.K. and -- a bit of a surprise this one! -- Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 3, 2002

Hema Parekh

At her family home in Bombay, as part of her religion Hema Parekh was taught "never to take away another's right to life." That meant she lived as a vegetarian.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2002

Uphill battle for regional hub aspirees

SEOUL -- South Korea (where the idea of becoming a regional hub is now all the rage) and Malaysia share the same basic vision for Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, respectively. In addition, the two countries are cosponsoring an initiative to formally coordinate the ASEAN plus three forum. Last month,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Aug 2, 2002

Sheep replace lawn mowers on river bank

OSAKA -- Sheep graze as children watch or pet them -- a sight reminiscent of a farm or zoo. Such a scene, however, might become more common on riverbanks here as the animals are used as an alternative to lawn mowers.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2002

Private-sector leader urged for postal entity

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Thursday that the public corporation that will take over the state-run postal service operations in April should be headed by someone from the private sector.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 2, 2002

Kawakami tosses gem

Chunichi Dragons pitcher Kenshin Kawakami couldn't have come up with a better time to earn a spot in Japanese baseball history.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2002

Suginami will not join registry network: mayor

The mayor of Suginami Ward, Tokyo, announced Thursday his ward will not join a controversial nationwide registry network of citizens.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2002

Tokyo cooling system in the pipeline

In an effort to curb Tokyo's ever-warming urban sprawl, the government is considering a massive project to cool the heart of the capital using an underground network of pipes -- tantamount to the world's largest radiator.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 2, 2002

Flatworm

* Japanese name: Namiuzumushi * Scientific name: Dugesia japonica * Description: Flatworms are tiny animals a bit like miniature slugs, about 1 cm long. They have thin, gray-brown bodies with a brain and sense organs at the head end (you can see the eyes in the photo). Flatworms move by gliding --...
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2002

NTT units plot 'wangiri' crackdown

NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp. plan to stiffen the terms of their telephone service contracts to prevent phone callback scams known as "wangiri" from paralyzing their networks, company officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2002

Disclaimers cause waves in scuba business

Recreational scuba divers in Japan are subject to a long-standing, and contentious, industry policy -- signing a waiver to accept all responsibility for whatever happens when they take the plunge.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2002

USJ struggles to save image from 'sophomore jinx'

OSAKA -- The Universal Studios Japan theme park, which drew 11 million people in the first 12 months after it opened in March 2001, is having a bad second year as it struggles to regain public trust following a series of management blunders.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Aug 2, 2002

School trips help cut the apron strings

My son is leaving home. I've always known, of course, that the day would come when he'd strike out on his own. But I never imagined it would happen when he was only 11 years old. Or that he'd make his big break to a mountain in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2002

What matters for Nago airport

Japan is set to build an offshore airport for U.S. military and Japanese commercial planes in Nago City, northern Okinawa, almost six years after Tokyo and Washington agreed to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan City, central Okinawa. On Monday, the central government and...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2002

A marine's lessons for Europe

WASHINGTON -- As expected, it has just been announced that U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Jones will soon take the reins as NATO's top military leader, otherwise known as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, or SACEUR. It will be the first time that a marine officer holds that position, which has...

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