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JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

Elephant trumpets 50 years of Japan-India ties

An Indian cultural festival opened Saturday at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Japan and India, with an elephant presented by India making a public appearance.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

Suzuki linked to another 1 million yen bribe

Lower House member Muneo Suzuki, indicted in a bribery scandal involving a lumber company, also accepted at least 1 million yen in unreported money from a construction firm in Hokkaido in the late 1990s as reward for favors in a public works project, informed sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

Information age stunting our imagination, director believes

The explosive spread of information technology is leading to an overload of data and images that is cramping our creativity and even stunting our minds, according to noted stage drama director Amon Miyamoto.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 21, 2002

Maruyama shares British Open lead

GULLANE, Scotland -- A damp day at Muirfield ended with a logjam of five players tied for the British Open's second-round lead and Grand Slam chaser Tiger Woods ominously lurking just two shots back after a steady 68.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 21, 2002

A rollicking romp through ancient Edo

THE PILLOW BOOK OF LADY WISTERIA, by Laura Joh Rowland. St. Martin's Minotaur: New York, 2002,292 pp., $24.95 (cloth) While sports fans' attention is focused on Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle Mariners baseball fame, the exploits of Ichiro Sano, the Tokugawa shogunate's "Most Honorable Investigator of Events,...
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2002

Will Jiang cling to power?

HONG KONG -- As top politicians in the Communist Party of China consult and confer with each other at Beidaihe during their annual seaside retreat, one key question facing them is whether 76-year-old President and CPC Secretary General Jiang Zemin will seek to extend himself in office.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 21, 2002

Public works projects? Dam them all to hell

The person who said that all politics is local probably wasn't thinking about Japan, where regional officials don't seem to have much purpose in life beyond trying to cadge money from Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 21, 2002

On the crest of something big

When you drop from the crest of a vertical wall of water teetering on a narrow piece of fiberglass, the human instinct for survival takes over and there's only primal fear and wild excitement in your heart. The ocean's roar engulfs you, though all seems strangely silent; time freezes, and the gods look...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 21, 2002

The man who would be dolphin

In the corner of a dive shop in a small city on the tip of the Boso Peninsula two hours' drive northeast of Tokyo, there is a shrine dedicated to Jacques Mayol, the French free diver immortalized in Luc Besson's 1983 film, "The Big Blue," who hanged himself last December.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 21, 2002

Things you can't tell just by looking at her

I have a friend who is a man of only one conviction.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

Deaths linked to dieting aids from China increase to four

The number of people who have died after taking slimming products imported from China has increased to four, according to a Kyodo News tally based on announcements by the health ministry and local governments.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 21, 2002

The men of the house

The TV show that has most successfully exploited the current housing "reform" boom is Asahi's "Daikozo! Gekiteki Before/After (Big Construction! Dramatic Before and After)" (Sundays, 7:56 p.m.), which was the only program during the recent World Cup that managed to pull in double-digit ratings opposite...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 21, 2002

Take a dee . . . p breath

Umberto Pelizzari sits deep in meditation on the side of a boat, his legs dangling in the water, his hands clasped on his lap. He pulls a swim cap over his head and crosses himself.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jul 21, 2002

Right down to the nitty-gritty grains

Rice is not, as most readers know, simply rice. Good sake is made from proper sake rice, and cheaper sake is made from much less expensive rice. In fact, most run-of-the-mill sake is made with rice bought from the local agricultural co-op, and often the purchaser knows nothing about it other than it...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 21, 2002

Flawed assumptions that courted disaster

PEACE, POWER AND RESISTANCE IN CAMBODIA: Global Governance and the Failure of InternationalConflict Resolution, by Pierre P. Lizee. Macmillan/St. Martin's Press, 2000, 206 pp. (cloth) According to the famous dictum, war is the continuation of politics through other means. Is the reverse true? Is politics...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jul 21, 2002

They're out there, they're really out there

When I was a student in the United States during the 1970s, a classmate of mine went to a record shop in a large city and asked if they had any Japanese music. The shopkeeper excitedly pulled out a brand-new album titled "Koto and Shakuhachi" and talked about how wonderful and exotic the music was. Since...
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002

Economic support to China necessary, Kawaguchi says

OSAKA -- Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Saturday she believes it is necessary for Japan to extend economic assistance to China, despite international concerns about the country's increasing military budget.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 21, 2002

Basement beats and eats

So what do hip young French eat when they go out clubbing these days? Actually, that's a trick question. Nobody feels like eating much when there is a first-rate DJ working the turntables. But that doesn't mean there's nothing worth eating on the menu at La Fabrique Paris, the cutting-edge club-cum-diner...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 21, 2002

The Cro pipes off on juiced players, bad-karma Bud

Just wind him up and watch him go! Warren Cromartie, who thrilled Yomiuri Giants fans from 1984-1990 not only with his stellar play but also with his banzai-inducing antics in the outfield, was back in Japan recently over the All-Star break.
Japan Times
JAPAN / HONING ENGLISH
Jul 20, 2002

Japan experiments with Super English Schools

Principal Katsutoshi Wakabayashi gives a speech in English through the school's public address system at Gunma Prefectural Chuo High School every Wednesday morning, and all notices around the school are now in English.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2002

Slain pilot's family files three-way suit

The family of a pilot who was slain in the July 1999 hijacking of an All Nippon Airways airliner filed a damages suit Friday for 280 million yen against the government, the airline and the hijacker, the family's lawyer said.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Jul 20, 2002

'Father of Japanese soccer' voices opinions on World Cup

While Japan was battling to reach the Round of 16 during the recent World Cup, one man was closely watching over the cohost's performance as a coach -- and in some ways like a father.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Jul 20, 2002

Printing technology through the ages awaits

How have advances in printing technology contributed to our society as a means of communication?
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2002

'Spy ship' salvage operation to resume

Four chartered ships departed Kagoshima Bay on Friday evening to prepare to salvage a suspected North Korean spy ship that sank 390 km off Amami Oshima Islands in December.
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Jul 20, 2002

Foreigners find public housing off-limits

OSAKA -- Human rights groups have welcomed Shiga Gov. Yoshitsugu Kunimatsu's promise to review the prefecture's policy of barring foreign residents from living in public housing if they are unable to speak Japanese.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 20, 2002

Sheldon, BlueWave drown Hawks

Scott Sheldon homered for a fifth straight game Friday -- one shy of the Pacific League record -- and the Orix BlueWave pounded the Daiei Hawks 17-0 at Fukuoka Dome.
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2002

Eco-fund creator urges responsible investment

Mizue Tsukushi, who introduced so-called eco-fund investment trusts to Japan, has called on individuals to make socially responsible investments to create a better environment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 20, 2002

Kyoto's unique guide gives you tour to remember

It's unfortunate that I can't join one of Johnnie Hillwalker's world famous walks. His tours -- Walk in Kyoto, Talk in English -- are scheduled come rain or shine on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (excluding national holidays). I am in the city for the weekend.

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