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COMMUNITY
Oct 7, 2001

Tokyo's own hot spots

In Japan, mention "hot springs" and people instinctively think of mountain hideaways and seaside vistas. High on the list of onsen hot spots are Atami and Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula, Kusatsu in Gunma, Kinugawa in Tochigi, Hakone in Kanagawa and Beppu in Kyushu to name but a few.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 7, 2001

Failure on a grandiose scale

DOGS AND DEMONS: Tales From the Dark Side of Japan, by Alex Kerr. Hill and Wang, New York, 2001, 432 pp., $27.00 (cloth) Staff writer What has happened to Japan? Coming on the heels of the "lost decade," the January government reshuffle and a series of reforms that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Oct 7, 2001

Make punk rock, not war

While I was in Britain, the world went mad. A puppet, Bob the Builder, beat French disco kings, The Supermen Lovers, to No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart; across the Atlantic, a puppet, George W. Bush, was not an idiot anymore, but a national hero; and, after 10 years, I'd suddenly become allergic to my...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 7, 2001

Ichiro, Ichiro, Ichinooo!

"All the world's a stage," a well-known English playwright declared in "As You Like It," adding: "And all the men and women merely players . . . "
JAPAN
Oct 7, 2001

American dies in gangsters' attack

A 26-year-old American resident of Kanagawa Prefecture died early Saturday after allegedly being assaulted by a group of men who looked like gangsters, police officials said.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 7, 2001

Schools of hard knocks and TV docs

Several of the new fall drama series begin this week, and one of the season's topics is education. Trendy drama mainstay Masakazu Tamura steps out of character as the title character in "Sayonara Ozu Sensei" (Fuji, Tuesday, 9 p.m.), playing the former manager of the New York branch of a major Japanese...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Oct 7, 2001

From plonk to classics, Shinanoya has got it all

For wine fans, the Daita neighborhood in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward is a worthy destination. This part of town is home to one of Tokyo's most impressive wine stores. Shinanoya Shokuhin Co. has existed for 50 years. By 1998, the wine and spirits department at Shinanoya Supermarket was outgrowing its shelf...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 7, 2001

A lonely struggle for recognition

LEGACIES OF THE COMFORT WOMEN OF WORLD WAR II, edited by Margaret Stetz and Bonnie B.C. Oh. M.E. Sharpe: Armonk, NY, 2001, 230 pp., $55 (cloth) More than 50 years after the end of World War II, the question of whether or not the Japanese government bears responsibility for forcing tens of thousands...
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Visa offices to extend service time

The Foreign Ministry will extend the service hours of its visa consultation center and offices dealing with consular matters starting Tuesday, ministry officials said Friday.
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2001

Panel wants adequacy ratios disclosed often

A multilateral committee on banking regulations has proposed that international banks in major industrial nations disclose capital adequacy ratios every three months, banking sources said.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Firms urged to recall suspect beef products

The health ministry urged the food industry Friday to inspect and voluntarily recall products containing cow parts that could transmit mad cow disease to humans, ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Japan's response satisfactory, Baker says

The United States is "satisfied" with Japan's response in supporting U.S. antiterrorism efforts in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon last month, the U.S. ambassador to Japan said Friday.
SOCCER / World cup
Oct 6, 2001

Senegal stifles Japan

LENS, France -- Japan bowed to Senegal, a World Cup qualifier from Africa, 2-0 in a friendly on Thursday night at Stade Felix Bollaert in Lens, France.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Guard shot in 5 million yen robbery

OSAKA -- A gunman snatched 5 million yen in cash Friday morning from a vehicle parked outside a Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. branch in Osaka, shooting and wounding a guard in the leg, police said.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Ministry told to bolster ex-pats' safety

The public management ministry asked the Foreign Ministry on Friday to take measures to ensure the safety of Japanese living overseas in nations without Japanese embassies or consulates, ministry officials said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 6, 2001

Puppet opera for adults and the Shinoda she-fox

Now here's an intriguing collaboration. A troupe of puppeteers from Sado Island in Niigata Prefecture and a group of musicians from the small farming village of Hartland in Devon, southern England, have come together to perform a puppet opera, based on a traditional Japanese story about a fox that transforms...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 6, 2001

The joy of being old, tough and 'hugly'

If life was a construction site, Japan's "obaachans" would be the steamrollers. These old ladies have the ability and authority to conquer anything in their paths.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

Farmers angry at ministry foot-dragging

NODA, Chiba Pref. -- It is worse than the market collapse during the economic slump triggered by the 1973 oil crisis, when beef prices plunged by two-thirds.
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2001

State nixes pay hikes for its employees

The government said Friday that it will not give state employees a pay raise this fiscal year, the second straight year there has been no increase, government officials said. The government instead will issue lump-sum payments to state workers to narrow the gap between public- and private-sector salaries....
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2001

Japan announces $120 million in aid for Afghanistan refugees

Responding to calls by the United Nations for financial assistance to the people of Afghanistan, Japan announced Thursday that it is ready to provide up to $120 million to the U.N. in preparation for the "worst-case scenario in the coming six months."
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2001

Global university strives to become Oita's melting pot

BEPPU, Oita Pref. -- Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, aiming to become a pioneer in the internationalization of higher education, accepted new students of diverse nationalities in a ceremony earlier this week.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2001

Import, making of MBM to be outlawed

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has decided to outlaw the importation and domestic production of meat-and-bone meal, which is suspected of transmitting mad cow disease, ministry sources said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2001

Terrorism fears force JAL to slash U.S.-bound flights

Japan Airlines said Thursday it will temporarily slash its weekly flights to the U.S. by 34 due to drastically reduced passenger bookings in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2001

For NYSE, worse may be still to come

Although calm has returned to the New York Stock Exchange, further volatility appears inevitable in the near term amid uncertainty about the scope of U.S. military action against terrorism.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2001

Minister to discuss forex concerns

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa will hold bilateral talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill in Washington on Saturday before attending a meeting the same day of finance ministers and central banks governors from the Group of Seven major economic powers.
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2001

UNHCR seeks more aid as Afghan crisis looms

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is urging Japan to make further financial contributions to help with the expected influx of Afghan refugees into Pakistan and other neighboring countries, a top UNHCR official said.
SPORTS / TALK OF THE TIMES
Oct 5, 2001

Rhodes finds formula for success in Japan

American Tuffy Rhodes is the senior-most foreign pro baseball player in Japan, currently completing his sixth season with the newly crowned Pacific League champion Kintetsu Buffaloes. The 33-year-old Rhodes, who played for the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox during his six-year major-league...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 5, 2001

Open your ears to nature's rainbow of sound

In Japan, autumn fills nature, not only with visual colors, but also with "colorful" sounds: blowing wind, birdsong, the chirping of insects and the crunching of leaves.

Longform

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