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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Nov 20, 2001

Mysteries of the Matopos

The Matopos Hills near Bulaweyo have always had the reputation of being a little special, a little uncanny.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2001

Turning victory into permanent success

LONDON -- Four out of five: Mazar-e Sharif, Herat, Kabul and Jalalabad. All but one of Afghanistan's major cities have been lost by the Taliban and captured by the Northern Alliance in less than a week, and the last, Kandahar, is likely to fall at any time. Neither Washington nor anyone else expected...
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2001

Dollar likely to stay firm against yen this week

The U.S. dollar will likely stay firm against the yen this week on growing optimism about the U.S. economy and hopes for developments in Afghanistan that are favorable to the United States.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2001

G20 OKs plan to block money for terrorists

OTTAWA — Finance ministers of the Group of 20 nations agreed Saturday to freeze the assets of terrorists and implement a sweeping U.N. resolution against terrorist financing in a show of support for U.S. goals following the Sept. 11 attacks.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2001

Pitfalls litter Koizumi reform path

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi needs to place a bit more emphasis on growth-oriented economic policy if he wants to maximize the effect of his structural reform measures, British economic journalists said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
Nov 19, 2001

Japan needs a new foreign minister

In a recent speech before the United Nations General Assembly, former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa proposed that an international conference be held urgently to discuss ways of bringing peace to Afghanistan and rebuilding the war-torn country. Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, not the 82-year-old Miyazawa,...
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2001

Exchange program targets intercultural understanding

Amid growing calls for dialogue among civilizations in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the United States, Japan is preparing to launch a unique exchange program for Islamic and other countries to help promote such a dialogue.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2001

Ministry still alert for mad cow cases

Despite a rise in beef consumption in Japan, the health ministry remains on alert over the deadly mad cow disease one month after a screening program began for all cows in Japan, according to ministry officials.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 18, 2001

Japan remains undefeated in baseball World Cup

TAIPEI -- Nippon Ham Fighters right hander Hayato Nakamura pitched a two-hitter over six innings and Lotte Marines southpaw Kosuke Kato held the rest scoreless as Japan defeated South Korea 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket of World Cup baseball Friday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2001

A turning point for Afghan art

Most Afghans have good reason to be celebrating the Taliban's departure from Kabul and Jalalabad last week. Chief among them, of course, are Afghanistan's brutally subjugated women, but there are others, too -- not least those who cherish the country's cultural treasures and have mourned their destruction...
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

Universal fashion: One design fits all

Everyone knows how hard it is to find clothes that fit, but imagine how much harder it would be if you had special needs. If you were a wheelchair-user looking for pants with gathers at the knees, or a frail senior looking for a blouse with easy-to-detach buttons, chances are you wouldn't find them easily...
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

Hell on four wheels

It is a bad, humiliating start to the day. Usually, I can get from my office to the platform of JR Tamachi Station in about 10 minutes. Today it has taken just under 50 minutes.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2001

Report calls for kids to use life jackets

The government should oblige children of elementary school age and younger to wear life jackets while aboard small boats such as yachts and motorboats, according to an interim report on a bill being drafted by the transport ministry to regulate the operation of small vessels.
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

Life on the yellow brick road

Minoru Maeda dreads going outside alone. For him, one wrong step could be fatal.
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

Charting a route through the obstacle course

Whoever said "It's a jungle out there" must have been talking about Tokyo. Or perhaps it's more of a gigantic maze, with buildings squashed together, and stations with stairs and escalators going in every direction -- all filled with crowds of irritated people.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Nov 18, 2001

Seriously, where are you?

Lately, I've found myself worrying about you. Yes, you -- my vicarious companions; my invisible tagalongs. You, who follow my adventures by remote control. You, whose presence is most notable by your absence. But that's not what's bothering me. It seems that your absence has also been noted in my absence,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 18, 2001

Judgment day falls on celebrity panelists

On Nov. 9, one of the long-discussed judicial reform laws was finally enacted. Next month a committee task force will be set up under the Cabinet to discuss its implementation. How should committee members start such a huge, long overdue task?
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2001

Ministry still alert for mad cow cases

Despite a rise in beef consumption in Japan, the health ministry remains on alert over the deadly mad cow disease one month after a screening program began for all cows in Japan, according to ministry officials.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 18, 2001

Next stop . . . the Twilight Zone

I've heard that the greatest challenge facing linguists today lies not in understanding how the brain encodes language, nor in mapping the lexicons of the world's vanishing dialects, nor in any other such grinding academic chore.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2001

Dismal outlook for Sri Lanka's president

The political crisis is Sri Lanka appears to be worsening, and in the latest government's call for a ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- fighting a long and bloody battle for the independence of the island's minority Tamil-speaking population -- one can sense a state of near panic,...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 18, 2001

New breed of bookstore born out of cafe

Ever experienced the intimidating sideways glances bookstore staff often throw your way when they feel you've been browsing too long? Ever had them state the obvious by saying, "This is not a library?" What about bookstores that wrap books in clear plastic, forcing you to judge the book by its cover?...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

The long road to a barrier-free Japan

Compact size. Lightweight. High-speed. Extra new features. Appealing design. Competitive price. Manufacturers have long focused on criteria like these in their quest for successful product lines. In the single-minded pursuit of profits, though, consumers unable to adapt themselves to standardized products...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 18, 2001

Booksellers looking for competitive edge online

E-commerce ventures have been flourishing in Japan, and they are expected to bring dramatic changes to the nation's traditional book distribution business.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 18, 2001

Aiming for the heart

ONE FOOT IN LAOS, by Dervla Murphy. Overlook Press, 2001, 284 pp., $27.95 (cloth) Dervla Murphy's journeys as a travel writer, usually in the remoter, poorer parts of the world, are made, appropriately enough, in the old manner -- on foot, by donkey or mule, or on decrepit trucks or buses on their last...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 18, 2001

Too much of a good thing

YAKUZA PERFUME, by Akahige Namban. New York: Blue Moon Books, 2001, 206 pp., $7.95 (paper). This curious book is an American-published pornographic novel that purports to be written by a Japanese. Though its main aim is to excite, its interest lies in the cultural assumptions it makes, these rendered...

Longform

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