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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Jul 11, 2002

Osaka's peaceful heart

In 1972, two years after the Japan International Exposition in Osaka, redevelopment work began on the site. The result, eight years later, was the 260-hectare Expolands Green Oasis, which has now matured into a wonderful parkland with a wide range of attractions and facilities.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2002

EU envoy urges greater cooperation

The European Union and Japan should work together more closely on common international agendas, such as securing peace in the Middle East and reconstructing Afghanistan, to keep the the United States from taking a unilateral approach, EU Ambassador to Japan Ove Juul Jorgensen said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 11, 2002

Permanent status and foreign driving licences in Japan

Reader AEB from Kyushu writes: "I am single, have lived here in Japan for almost 10 years, and have a stable job. I hope to apply for permanent residency. I heard that you must have lived here for 10 years consecutively, or be married to a Japanese national.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2002

Ruptured sewage pipe floods USJ restaurant

OSAKA -- A sewage pipe ruptured in a restaurant in the Universal Studios Japan amusement park, prompting Osaka health officials to investigate, people familiar with the incident said Wednesday.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jul 11, 2002

Factors in U.S., Japan cloud stock outlook

Fears of another huge terrorist attack in the U.S. shrank after Independence Day on July 4. But terrorism is just one of many bearish factors affecting stocks.
COMMUNITY
Jul 11, 2002

Keep those cards and letters coming, folks

When customers sound off about problems, good companies listen, even in Japan
MORE SPORTS
Jul 11, 2002

Ex-WBA champ 'Celes' to retire

Former World Boxing Association super-flyweight champion Shoji "Celes" Kobayashi has decided to hang up his gloves, the head of Tokyo's Kokusai boxing gym revealed Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 11, 2002

Sperm commit hara-kiri

Aldous Huxley is most famous for "Brave New World" (1932), but among scientists working on sperm competition and reproductive biology his "Fifth Philosopher's Song" (1920) is also well-known:
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jul 11, 2002

Diving and biking to eco-awareness

Excuse me for a moment if I boast, but I am delighted with the progress my backyard is making in its quest for biological diversity. No doubt my neighbors view my garden as unruly and overgrown, but as it's no bigger than a parking space, I let it have its way.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 11, 2002

Knowing the silent sense of self

At birth, an infant has only the sketchiest notion of its own body. Only from moving its arms and legs and sensing the effects on skin, muscle and joints does a baby learn what belongs to itself and what to the external world. By the age of 9, a child's body image is more sophisticated, consisting of...
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2002

Prosecutors grill Mitsui exec on Kunashiri bid-rigging role

Prosecutors have questioned a managing director of Mitsui & Co. over his alleged role in interfering with bidding for a Japan-funded power plant project on a Russian-held island in 2000, informed sources said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2002

The ugly American again

There is always something disturbing about a leader that pronounces himself above the law. That only partially explains the unease surrounding the United States' decision to oppose creation of the International Criminal Court. Just as important have been the implications of that resistance -- which were...
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2002

Tanaka faces ethics panel grilling

Former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka will be summoned to appear before a special parliamentary ethics panel during the current Diet session to answer allegations that she misused the salaries paid by the government to two secretaries, lawmakers said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2002

Continental drift worries EU leaders

LONDON -- Ever since the end of World War II, Western Europe and the United States have felt like partners, sharing a wide range of common values and bound militarily by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance. There have, inevitably, been strains over the decades, and a need to re-assess the...
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2002

Husband frets over fate of wife held in China Falun Gong bust

The Chinese wife of a Japanese man has been detained for more than a month in China after she was arrested for supporting the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2002

Dollar's rapid fall must be checked: Shiokawa

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday that the rapid decline of the dollar must be checked before it reaches the 115 yen level.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2002

EU trade chief seeks overhaul of U.S. steel industry

European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy called Tuesday for a bold restructuring of the U.S. steel industry to resolve the global trade row prompted by Washington's imposition of emergency steel import tariffs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 10, 2002

The Sept. 11 Care Bear Bunch

Cleveland-born, New York-based Dan Asher lives and works in an East Village apartment/studio. Although the 54-year-old artist didn't actually see the hijacked jetliners crash into the Twin Towers on Sept. 11 last year, he has followed -- with not a little consternation -- the many changes that struck...
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2002

Assemblies say no to 'Big Brother'

Written opinions calling for the government to postpone the Aug. 5 introduction of a nationwide resident registry network have been endorsed by 59 local assemblies nationwide, a group of lawmakers said Tuesday, quoting home affairs ministry officials.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2002

Top court OKs officials' attendance of Shinto rite

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld two lower court rulings that Oita Gov. Morihiko Hiramatsu and two other officials did not violate the Constitution by using public funds to attend a Shinto rite related to the 1990 enthronement of Emperor Akihito.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2002

Air conditioner shipments to fall 10%

Domestic shipments of home-use air conditioners in the year through September are expected to fall about 10 percent from a year earlier to less than 7 million units for the first time in three years, industry officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2002

Asian trainees keep Kawaguchi's furnaces blasting

After a hard day's work at a blast furnace in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, Vietnamese trainees cheered as they watched a recent World Cup soccer match on TV.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jul 10, 2002

A card-carrying regular guy

One interesting aspect of Japanese meishi (name-card) etiquette is that entertainers never give them out. It took me a while to figure out that one. Several interviews with musicians I thought had begun inauspiciously when I handed the artist my meishi only to receive nothing in return.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2002

Koizumi backs India's self-restraint

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed support Tuesday for India's policy of self-restraint in its dispute over Kashmir with Pakistan, underlining Tokyo's concern about the tension between the two nuclear powers.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2002

Japan, EU focus talks on North Korea

Japan and the European Union agreed Monday to step up their cooperation in dealing with North Korea, the Middle East peace process and other international issues at their annual summit in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2002

A maverick among conservatives

In the hotly contested Nagano gubernatorial election held in October 2000, uncommitted voters gave a smashing victory to Mr. Yasuo Tanaka, a popular writer who is vehemently opposed to dam construction. On Friday, in a politically and emotionally charged climax to the running dispute between the governor...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2002

Howard's hesitation on ICC draws fire

SYDNEY -- A split in the Howard Cabinet ranks over whether to join the United States in refusing to support an International Criminal Court is the most serious threat yet to the dream run so far enjoyed by the Canberra government.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2002

BIS calls for honesty in banking policy

The Bank for International Settlements on Monday issued a dire warning to Japan over the shaky position of its banking system, urging the government to explain to taxpayers that their money could again be needed to clean up the problem-loan situation.

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