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EDITORIALS
Aug 29, 2001

An alternative to Yasukuni

The government is considering building a national cemetery for the nation's war dead. The immediate reason for this is the political and diplomatic backlash caused by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Aug. 13 visit to Yasukuni Shrine. The visit has provoked angry protests from China and South Korea....
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 29, 2001

A bearded Gore and the shrinking surplus

WASHINGTON -- At long last, Al Gore has reappeared! He is pursuing the political training school program that he had floated in a more full-blown way last spring. Al, sporting a full beard, is working with his fellow Tennessee loser, Republican presidential wannabe Lamar Alexander, training young people...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2001

Don't they just drive you crazy?

Driven Rating: * * Director: Renny Harlin Running time: 116 minutes Language: English Now showing Cars! Babes! Money! Explosions! You'll get all of these in one huge dose in "Driven," a film that dares to flaunt all the things feminism has been trying to stamp out for the past 20 years.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2001

A bolt from the past

Electric Dragon 80000V Rating: * * * Director: Sogo Ishii Running time: 55 minutes Language: Japanese Now showing What should rockers do when the paunch starts to sag over the jeans and the gray hair starts to glint in the spotlights? Have some self-respect and stop shaking that wrinkled booty,...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Defense chief planning fact-finding visit to East Timor

Defense Agency Director General Gen Nakatani said Tuesday that he plans to visit East Timor from Sept. 11 to 14 to see what sort of contributions Japan can make to international efforts toward the region's independence.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

New diplomat probe not needed: Tanaka

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka tried Tuesday to clarify earlier comments by saying she did not mean to suggest she had instructed the ministry's senior bureaucrats to reinvestigate allegations that a diplomat who served in Australia several years ago misused public funds.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 29, 2001

I've got to have you under my skin

The Isle Rating: * * * Japanese title: Sakana to Neru Onna Director: Kim Ki Deok Running time: 90 minutes Language: Korean Now showing Looking at the alluring and mysterious poster for "The Isle," it's hard not to think David Lynch. A nude young woman stands gazing straight ahead with an intensity...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Isahaya reclamation project faces review

An ongoing reclamation project in Isahaya Bay, Nagasaki Prefecture, will have to be scaled down as the current plan "is unrealistic to pursue," farm minister Tsutomu Takebe said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 29, 2001

Free tickets for Tokyo Dome

Get your free tickets for Yankees Day Sept. 16.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 29, 2001

Hawks slice Ham to retain PL lead

Shinji Kurano allowed one run in 72/3 innings and Kenji Jojima doubled in a pair of runs as the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks retained the lead in the Pacific League with a 4-1 victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday night.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2001

Boy Bands II Men Bands

On July 9, the day after the Backstreet Boys announced on MTV that their tattooed bad-boy member A.J. McLean was entering a rehabilitation facility for "alcohol and depression," advertisements appeared in the Japanese dailies announcing the Boys' Japan dome tour in November. Tickets, however, would not...
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 29, 2001

American culture now just part of the furniture

Following decades of hot pursuit, Japan feels it no longer needs to catch up with the U.S. Fifth in a series Staff writer Who would have believed 50 years ago that the hatred spawned during World War II could dissipate to the extent that former enemies now reminisce about shared cultural experiences,...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 29, 2001

Crafting a way back to natural Kyushu living

An exhibition of photographs, pottery and woodwork made by participants in an nonprofit organization, Eco Link Association, with a view to increasing public awareness of environmental issues will be held Sept. 1-9 at Session House Garden in Kagurazaka, Shinjuku Ward.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Trio held in loan scam tied to credit union NSK

Three people, including the head of a Tokyo-based consulting company, were arrested Tuesday for allegedly swindling a credit union out of some 160 million yen.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Koizumi targets rising joblessness

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday told his Cabinet ministers to take additional steps to deal with rising unemployment.
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2001

Pressure on reforms likely as bleeding starts

The nation's unemployment rate, which hit an all-time high of 5 percent in July, may present the greatest threat to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reforms, begging the question, "Is reform worth the pain?"
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Kyoto postmaster also taken into custody

OSAKA -- Yet another former senior official at the Kinki Postal Administration Office has been arrested on suspicion of using his position to urge postmasters to support the campaign of newly elected House of Councilors lawmaker Kenji Koso, police said.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 29, 2001

Sizzla: 'Black History'

This, I believe, is Sizzla's 16th album since his 1995 debut, although forgive me if I've missed one or two in my calculation, as we're talking about a reggae artist so prolific that, this year alone, we're looking at the possibility of four new albums.
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Ogi told to submit privatization plans

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday ordered transport minister Chikage Ogi to submit her ministry's draft plans for privatizing six controversial state-backed corporations.
EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2001

The world without the Soviet Union

Ten years ago this month, the Soviet Union collapsed in one final, drunken spasm. After decades of fear, the Soviet threat vanished with the proverbial whimper when Communist hardliners launched a last desperate coup attempt to bring then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev back into line. They failed,...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2001

Trends in life learning for senior citizens

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- So much talk about globalization issues nowadays overshadows a couple of other equally important current developments: the longer life span of individuals and their wish to lead a meaningful period of time as silver-haired "senior citizens."
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

State to finance NGOs' participation in conflict-prevention activities abroad

In a bid to raise its low profile in international peacekeeping efforts, Japan is embarking on a significant financial-assistance program for domestic nongovernmental organizations participating in overseas conflict-prevention activities.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Mitsui, Sumitomo to merge fertilizer sales subsidiaries

Mitsui & Co. and Sumitomo Corp. plan to streamline their operations by merging their wholly owned fertilizer sales subsidiaries by around April, officials of the two trading companies said Monday.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Aug 28, 2001

J. League bosses don't always get enough support from front office

Before the start of the J. League Division One second stage earlier this month, four clubs -- the Yokohama F. Marinos, Kashiwa Reysol, Nagoya Grampus Eight and Tokyo Verdy 1969 -- changed their managers. Last week Cerezo Osaka also changed its boss with the departure of Hiroshi Soejima and the arrival...
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Investigators search home of slain policeman's assailant

Investigators Monday searched the home of a man who fatally stabbed a police officer in Setagaya Ward on Sunday before dying of a gunshot wound suffered in the struggle, Metropolitan Police Department sources said.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Ikeda Elementary reopens in wake of June slayings

IKEDA, Osaka Pref. -- Eighty days after the massacre of eight children at Osaka Kyoiku University Ikeda Elementary School, the school reopened Monday at a new temporary structure with several new features designed to ensure the safety of its approximately 680 students.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

70 billion yen sought to launch spy satellites

The government is seeking 70.7 billion yen from the fiscal 2002 state budget to launch its first spy satellites, government officials said Monday.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 28, 2001

Whither the mighty Mekong?

"The boat moves off, the river banks remain." -- Old Khmer proverb
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Firms urged to lower boundaries to shares

The Tokyo Stock Exchange will urge its listed companies to make available to investors shares for less than 500,000 yen, TSE officials said Monday.

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’