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BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Oct 31, 2001

Dollar could ride out rash of negative data

Although hopes for an early U.S. economic recovery are receding, the dollar seems likely to hold firm against the yen for the time being.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2001

Like we didn't know already?

Someone Like You Rating: * * Director: Tony Goldwyn Running time: 97 minutes Language: English Now showing
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Tanaka at odds with ministry again

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Tuesday reiterated her demand for the transfer of Akitaka Saiki, head of the ministry's Personnel Division, claiming he was "manipulating personnel matters."
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Beef back in Osaka public school lunches

OSAKA -- Fifty-two public elementary schools in Osaka began serving beef in school lunches again Tuesday after keeping it off the menu for around a month in response to the discovery of Japan's first case of mad cow disease.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Australophile to receive award

KOBE -- When Mineko Furusawa visited Brisbane in 1965, she never thought she would end up devoting the rest of her life to fostering better Japan-Australia relations.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Court issues injunction on DoCoMo spammer

In what is believed to be the first legal action against spamming on mobile phones in Japan, the Yokohama District Court has issued an injunction against a firm that is allegedly sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mail messages to customers of NTT DoCoMo Inc.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

Mistress, queen and empress unmasked?

Ambition. Tragedy. Romance. The lives of Madame de Pompadour, Queen Marie-Antoinette and Empress Josephine read like the publisher's blurb on the cover of a historical novel. Yet they were real people, and a new exhibition from France sets out to unmask that reality.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

Cute art: clued-up or clueless?

I used to dismiss cuteness as kid stuff. But I found such a sophisticated aesthetic of cuteness here in Japan that I was forced to reconsider.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

The gift of Ghibli

When I first heard that Hayao Miyazaki was planning a museum in Mitaka dedicated to the films that his Studio Ghibli animators and he had created over the years, I imagined animation cels framed on beige walls. Save for dedicated fans, it wasn't the most thrilling prospect for a Saturday afternoon, especially...
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Oct 31, 2001

Hey, world, meet Hasebe

DJ Hasebe looks set to become the latest Japanese platter-spinner to make a name for himself internationally, following in the footsteps of DJ Krush, DJ Honda, Ken Ishii and Captain Funk.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2001

Backward and forward

Director Christopher Nolan's "Memento" has turned out to be the runaway indie hit of 2001, so the local press were out in force for his press conference. It's not every day that a talent blindsides viewers with such an accomplished and innovative work. In person, Nolan seemed a bit dry for someone who...
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2001

Takenaka hints at contraction in '02

Heizo Takenaka, minister of economic and fiscal policy, said Tuesday that the economy may also contract in fiscal 2002.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

Todaiji's Imperial legacy of treasures beyond counting

NARA -- Almost every year since 1946, the treasures of the Shosoin, storehouse of Nara's famed Todaiji Temple, have been put on display for all to see. These treasures have survived from the eighth century, preserved and protected by both Imperial favor and the unusual structure of the Shosoin, which...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 31, 2001

Pulp: 'We Love Life'

Surely Pulp vocalist Jarvis Cocker hasn't turned into a hippie? Note the title of the new album, "We Love Life." Note that it's produced by '60s maverick Scott Walker. And, above all, note that it's all about . . . nature. A Pulp album not about sex? Well, there's bits of sex in it, of course, but basically...
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2001

Major electronics makers suffer first-half losses

Five electronics makers swung into losses in the first half of the 2001 business year, plagued by the global slump in the information technology industry, according to interim earnings reports released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2001

Teijin, Enron begin study on electricity sales

Major textile maker Teijin Ltd. said Monday it has begun a feasibility study with the Enron group of the United States to improve the output of Teijin's private power generator and sell the excess to other corporate users.
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2001

New liquidation rules sought for hopeless firms

OSAKA -- Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa proposed Monday that rules be established to liquidate companies whose debts exceed assets and whose rehabilitation is deemed impossible so that banks' disposal of soured loans can be accelerated.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2001

Single mothers left out in financial cold

Every morning, Yuko, a 33-year-old resident of Kanagawa Prefecture, gets up at 4 a.m., does the housework, prepares the evening meal, takes the three children to a nursery, and then goes to work.
Events
Oct 30, 2001

Forum holds up Omi feudal merchants as models of corporate responsibility

OMI-HACHIMAN, Shiga Pref. -- The 20th century socioeconomic system saw most people consumed with the pursuit of profit. Today's businesspeople, however, must re-examine their raison d'etre as the idea of corporate responsibility takes hold.
COMMUNITY
Oct 30, 2001

Hosts with the most, ma'am, at your service

BANGKOK -- Bangkok may be the sex capital of the world for men, but what do Thai women do for kicks? It's Saturday night and I am in an underground parking garage in central Bangkok trying to find out. It is damp and somewhat desolate, but across the ill-lit tarmac I see a promising neon sign that reads...
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2001

SDF bill passage by no means ends constitutional debate

Diet debate on allowing the Self-Defense Forces to provide logistic support to U.S.-led retaliation against the Sept. 11 attacks has highlighted unanswered questions on the constitutionality of the planned move.
Events
Oct 30, 2001

House of noble poets displays treasures from ancient Japan

KYOTO -- Tucked away near the southeast corner of Doshisha University in Kyoto is the last surviving house of Japanese nobility. Home to the Reizei family, it is now occupied by 54-year-old Kimiko Reizei and her husband, Tamehito, head of Tamao Kai, a school that teaches traditional "waka" poetry.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2001

Two people die, five hurt in Kabukicho massage parlor fire

Two people were killed and five others, including a firefighter, were injured in a Monday morning blaze in the Kabukicho entertainment district of Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, the Tokyo Fire Department said.
Events
Oct 30, 2001

Scare stops Kobe beef in its tracks

KOBE -- It's a warm, sunny day at the Okaba cattle ranch in Kobe's Kita Ward.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan