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COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 8, 2002

Debunking strange Asian myths: Part II

This story began over a beer in a Kabukicho restaurant, when an adventuresome Canadian lassie named Christine, who had requested a tour of Shinjuku's sleazier hangouts, leaned suggestively across the table and asked me in a husky voice if I had ever eaten monkey brains.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2002

Wireless LAN services untether Internet surfers on the go

With high-speed wireless Internet connection points springing up at retail businesses in Tokyo and other cities, Kazuhiko Sekimoto has become one of many a mobile Internet surfers.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2002

USJ submits reform plan to city

OSAKA -- Universal Studios Japan announced Wednesday that it has fired or suspended six employees in the wake of a series of revelations about health and safety problems at the theme park.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2002

Achievement awards to be gender-neutral

The government said Wednesday it will simplify the ranks of honors it gives individuals for distinguished achievement and make them gender-neutral to try to improve the system.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 8, 2002

UNEP envoy strikes the right eco-chord

Tokiko Kato has been popular in Japan for decades as a singer and songwriter who is passionate about people and the planet. Two years ago, when the Environment Ministry asked her to act as a Special Envoy to the United Nations Environment Program it was a natural fit. Since then she has established herself...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2002

Government to file charges against Nippon Ham subsidiary

The government will file a criminal complaint against a unit of Nippon Meat Packers Inc. if it finds that the firm abused a beef-buyback program by disguising imported meat as domestic, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 8, 2002

DNA testing for all?

The 1986 rape and murder of a 15-year-old schoolgirl in an otherwise quiet village in central England did more than shock residents: It led to the worldwide acceptance of what Australian scientists Robert Williamson and Rony Duncan call in this week's Nature "the most important advance in forensics in...
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2002

Road panel calls for head of Japan Highway president

A government advisory panel considering ways to privatize four road-related public corporations urged the government Wednesday to oust Japan Highway Public Corp. President Haruho Fujii for dragging his feet.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2002

Kao to enter mayonnaise market

Kao Corp. will enter the mayonnaise market in early September with a product that uses its low-fat Econa cooking oil.
COMMUNITY
Aug 8, 2002

Prominent figures raise questions over numbering system

Last Monday, Japan changed forever. The old city registration system has been dramatically changed to the "juki network," or basic residential register network system numbering system.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Aug 8, 2002

Looking after your mental and physical well-being in Japan

"Several weeks ago you published information about English-speaking doctors and wrote that you would be glad to receive information on others," writes Mary in Tokyo.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Aug 8, 2002

A wetland wonderland way out west

In Tessei town in western Okayama, there is a wetland called Koi-ga-kubo Shitsugen whose range of rare and interesting flora makes even the difficulty of getting there well worthwhile.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2002

Shiokawa pushes tax-cut plan

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Wednesday he wants to introduce tax cuts over three years and offset expected revenue shortfalls with tax hikes over five years.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Aug 8, 2002

American football at its best

My pal Nathan played American football for Brigham Young University before going to graduate school to earn an MBA.
EDITORIALS
Aug 7, 2002

Keep the antinuke torch burning

That fateful moment is etched in the minds of the Japanese people: At 8:15 a.m., Aug. 6, 1945, the world's first atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima. Inscribed on the memorial cenotaph for the deceased victims, located at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, is a vow "never to repeat the mistake." The...
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2002

Suzuki bribe info faxed to property firm

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office mistakenly faxed a witness account about indicted lawmaker Muneo Suzuki's bribery case to a Tokyo real estate firm in June, a top official of the office said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2002

Defense Agency investigates data leak

The Defense Agency opened an investigation Tuesday into a suspected case of blackmail involving data allegedly leaked through a subcontractor hired to help develop a 1.1 billion yen computer network for the Self-Defense Forces.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2002

Hiroshima mayor calls on the U.S. to 'sever the chain of hatred'

HIROSHIMA -- On the 57th anniversary of the first atomic bombing, the view from this reborn city was of a world that since Sept. 11 has turned its back on the message of the bomb's survivors.
BUSINESS
Aug 7, 2002

48.1 trillion yen cap approved for fiscal '03 budget

The Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy approved Tuesday the guidelines for budgetary requests for fiscal 2003, capping outlays at 48.1 trillion yen.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2002

U.S. terror victim's kin joins Hiroshima remembrances

HIROSHIMA -- A New York retiree who lost her brother in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center participated Tuesday in the 57th memorial service for the 1945 atomic bombing here, sharing wishes for a world without violence.
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 7, 2002

Stories with head-on impact

Compared to "Fosse," a quintessential big Broadway production, "CVR" is somewhere close to the other end of the dramatic spectrum. It's certainly a significant event in the contemporary drama scene.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 7, 2002

The Streets: Original Pirate Material

Following hard on the heels of drum 'n' bass, U.K. garage (or two-beat) was already the hippest thing in urban Britain by the time the rest of the world had even heard of it. Critics called it the purest form of dance music since '70s disco, while practitioners made much of its up-from-the-streets credibility,...
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2002

USJ's problems may stem from a cultural divide

OSAKA -- The Universal Studios Japan theme park is in the throes of a cultural divide over the handling of negative publicity generated by a recent slew of scandals, with some local media outlets accusing American officials of dodging the issue.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan