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BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2001

NTT dials in reform program

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. unveiled on Thursday a reform program to cope with recent changes in the telecommunications industry and revised downward its sales projection from 12.1 trillion yen to 11.94 trillion yen for this business year.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2001

Volkswagen to accelerate sales promotion, presence in Asia

MAKUHARI, Chiba Pref. -- German auto giant Volkswagen AG is accelerating sales promotions to increase its presence in Asia, especially in Japan and China, according to an executive of the firm.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2001

Human cell strains up for grabs

The Tokyo District Court has seized human cell strains that were used as collateral on loans and will have them auctioned at the end of this month, judiciary sources said Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 26, 2001

Lesser mole

COMMUNITY / THE PARENT TRIP
Oct 26, 2001

If it's Tuesday, it must be . . . swimming?

No doubt about it, life in Japan is busy -- and even small children have a "schedule." All of my son's first-grade friends at Japanese elementary school have at least one after-school activity, if not two or three. An informal survey revealed that piano and ballet are tops with the girls, that the boys...
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 25, 2001

Swallows a win away from fifth Series title

The big guns drew blanks for the Yakult Swallows on Wednesday, but a role player picked up the slack.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Oct 25, 2001

Foreign equity funds' ways changing face of Japan Inc.

When hunting for a company to buy out, Kenji Ueda doesn't wait to be introduced. The Ripplewood Holdings LLC executive director makes his phone calls cold.
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2001

Asia holds key to GM's outlook, chairman says

The boss of American auto giant General Motors Corp. believes the Asia-Pacific market will dictate the carmaker's global sales outlook.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Oct 25, 2001

And the AL MVP winner is . . .

Forget about the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Ichiro Suzuki bagged that puppy back in May with a 23-game hitting streak. The million-dollar question is: Who will win the AL MVP Award? Ichiro has a shot at becoming the first rookie since Fred Lynn in 1975 to garner the honor.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 25, 2001

Cedar cull may still leave pollen victims fuming

This week's column is about air pollution, principally emissions from diesel engines. But first, the forest and cedar trees.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2001

Interest in new religions mirrors social change

While the definition of "new religion" varies among scholars and religious groups, the term is generally used for groups founded sometime between the mid-19th century, when Japan started modernizing, and the mid-1970s.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 25, 2001

Serendipity in Hokkaido's autumnal air

It was just a bridge, not even a special bridge. The Heiwa Bridge spans the eastern end of Lake Tofutsu in northeastern Hokkaido. To the north there is a narrow neck of wooded land and then the Okhotsk Sea. To the south lies more woodland, then great expanses of farmland. It was just a bridge, but suddenly...
ENVIRONMENT / IN BLOOM
Oct 25, 2001

Nogiku (Wild asters)

CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2001

Escape to Allen's New York

Small Time Crooks Rating: * * * * Director: Woody Allen Running time: 95 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2001

TIFF take 14

Japan has one of the largest film markets in the world. Accordingly, every year the Tokyo International Film Festival serves up world cinema on a grand scale, screening more than 140 films over the course of a week.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2001

His turn to talk

I interviewed Hideyuki Hirayama in the summer of 2000 at Nikkatsu Studio, after spending a morning inside a dim, dank soundstage, watching him film Riho Makise. Makise was working on an etching and was padding silently about her house -- an early scene in "Turn," but one of the last in the shoot.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2001

Plaintiffs in CJD damages suits call for quick settlement

About 2,400 signatures were submitted Tuesday to the Tokyo District Court, calling for an early resolution to lawsuits accusing the government of failing to contain the spread of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease through allegedly infected dura mater transplants.
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2001

NEC slashes white-collar hours

Compiled from wire reports NEC Corp. said Tuesday it will scale back the hours of all 9,000 white-collar workers employed in its domestic semiconductor division.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2001

Air dioxin levels exceed limits near Atsugi base

Air samples taken near the U.S. Naval Air Station at Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, exceeded the national tolerable standard of dioxin concentrations, the Environment Ministry said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2001

Buddhist author Setouchi condemns U.S.-led attacks against Afghanistan

Popular writer and Buddhist preacher Jakucho Setouchi said in a recent interview that the U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan will only contribute to the cycle of hatred and animosity and solve nothing.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2001

Koizumi hints at possible lifting of Pakistan aid ban

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi hinted Tuesday that he may lift Japan's more than three-year-long freeze on new aid to Pakistan to help it fight terrorism in the U.S.-led coalition.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 24, 2001

Bill Callahan: 'Rain on Lens'

Bill Callahan isn't known for his bright, cheery outlook on life. Nor is he known for making slick, glossy overtures with his musical vehicle, Smog. With "Rain on Lens," his latest release, Callahan remains true to form, delivering the stripped-down, somber rock that made him one of the founders of the...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’