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JAPAN
May 6, 2001

Transsexuals set to file civil lawsuits

A group of six people who have undergone sex-change operations will file civil suits May 24 seeking to have their new genders recorded on their family registrations, an activist supporting transsexuals said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
May 6, 2001

Pressing for freedom

Last Thursday was World Press Freedom Day. Most people probably missed it here in Japan, where Thursday was also Constitution Day, part of the mass timeout we call Golden Week. (They probably didn't spend much time thinking about the Constitution, either, or the coincidence that freedom of the press...
JAPAN
May 6, 2001

USJ limits entrance for third day

OSAKA -- Universal Studios Japan in Osaka temporarily restricted entry Saturday for the third day in a row after the number of visitors reached the daily maximum capacity of 39,000.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2001

The politics of land and race

The Western consensus about Zimbabwe holds that having inherited a country that was as beautiful as it was prosperous, and with the goodwill of the world behind him, President Robert Mugabe has outstayed his welcome at home, outlived his usefulness to his country and exhausted the patience and goodwill...
JAPAN
May 6, 2001

Teens surrender after victim dies in Tokyo hospital

Four male teenagers surrendered to police late Friday night after a banker they allegedly attacked in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on April 28 succumbed to his injuries earlier Friday and died in a Tokyo hospital, police said.
JAPAN
May 6, 2001

All is not lost with youth, beautician, 90, reminds women

The trouble with Japanese women in their understanding of beauty, according to one veteran beautician, is their obsession with youthfulness -- true beauty shines through regardless of age.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2001

Thailand's model of religious harmony

CHIANG RAI, Thailand -- To all students of Buddhism, the terms "Mahayana" and "Theravada" -- the greater and lesser vehicle, respectively -- reflect the dichotomy of this great teaching into northern and southern schools.
MORE SPORTS
May 6, 2001

Japan notches first point in spite of referee's efforts

Ryan Kuwabara is the captain of Japan's national ice hockey team currently playing at the Pool A World Championships in Germany. Kuwabara, a Japanese-Canadian who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens and now stars for Japan Ice Hockey League champion Kokudo, has agreed to keep a journal chronicling...
COMMENTARY
May 6, 2001

Koizumi: a balanced blend of silk and steel

Toward the end of last year I had an occasion to attend a gathering with Junichiro Koizumi. It was at a Japanese restaurant in Ginza. The master of the restaurant brought a couple of bottles of warmed sake to our table. One person in our group took a bottle and filled the cups of Koizumi and others....
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2001

Better safe than sorry

With many people worried about becoming the country's next crime statistic, the demand for advanced home- and personal-security products is on the rise.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 6, 2001

Drumming up some PR for the old neighborhood

Most of the current travel-information programs you see on TV are stylistic offshoots of TBS's long-running "Soko ga Shiritai," which has been off the air for several years now. One of the few variety shows that has done something different with the format is TV Tokyo's "Shutsubotsu! Ad-Machikku Tengoku"...
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2001

Think you're safe? Think again

Japan has long enjoyed a reputation for being one of the safest countries in the world. It's said that you can trust your neighbors here. That there's little need to be constantly worried about your belongings. That you can walk the streets safely at night.
LIFE / Travel
May 6, 2001

Britons aim for Pacific rowing record

Two corporals in the British Royal Marines have struck out into the unforgiving North Pacific Ocean in a 7.9-meter rowing boat called Crackers this weekend, aiming to complete the 8,000 km crossing from Japan to California in a record 120 days.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2001

The key to effective home security

It's a weekday afternoon at the Shibuya branch of Tokyu Hands and one section of the popular DIY store is attracting particular attention. Staff are kept busy by the flood of inquiries about the range of door locks neatly displayed in glass cases.
CULTURE / Books
May 6, 2001

Hot spot needs the 'virtual alliance'

U.S.-KOREA-JAPAN RELATIONS: Building Toward a "Virtual Alliance," edited by Ralph Cossa. Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1999, 207 pp., paper. ALIGNMENT DESPITE ANTAGONISM: The U.S.-Korea-Japan Security Triangle, by Victor D. Cha. Stanford University Press, 1999, 373 pp., $49.50 (cloth),...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
May 6, 2001

Shochu among bamboo

Tokyo's neighborhoods always offer one or two little bars (or sunakku) where down-home drinkers can shake off the workday blues. The greater Jiyugaoka area offers more options than most, and its most recent and welcome addition is Fukukaze.
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2001

Insurers reach out to women at risk

"Korobanu saki no tsue," goes an old Japanese saying. Literally "a cane before stumbling," the maxim holds that preparedness can soften, if not prevent, a fall. Today, insurance is often the cane people keep in hand.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 6, 2001

Funny hair beats dark blue suits and bad teeth

One can gauge the emotions now churning through certain portions of the Liberal Democratic Party by a tearful comment made by a member of the Hashimoto faction following the unveiling of a memorial statue of the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi in Okinawa last week. The politician was not crying over...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
May 6, 2001

Zeni Geva, up from the earth's bowels

K.K. Null is a name that conjures up a wicked and cruel nihilistic super-villain that could kick Ultraman's butt before breakfast and polish off the X-Men before afternoon tea. It's the perfect name for a dark lord of the underground, which is exactly what he is.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 6, 2001

A guide to Yunnan, China, that brings the province alive

CHINA: YUNNAN PROVINCE, by Stephen Mansfield, with contributions by David Reynolds. Buckinghamshire, U.K.: Bradt Travel Guides, 2001, 292 pp., with maps and 20 color plates, 13.95 UK pounds. Yunnan is China's most diverse province. Not only is it geographically varied, with glaciers in the north and...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
May 6, 2001

Zin and the art of wineries

For many years, California Zinfandel was the secret tip among red-wine fanatics who weren't obsessed with pedigree. The grape varietal earned its reputation for powerful, concentrated reds that sold for a fraction of the price of a decent Cabernet Sauvignon.
CULTURE / Music
May 6, 2001

The Modest Mouse that roars

There is something about Seattle. Maybe it's the water, the air, the rain or the amplifiers, but just as Austin or L.A. threatens to overtake it as the capital of alternative rock, Seattle's mosh pits belch out yet another batch of lank-haired, sullen-faced guitar heroes.
BUSINESS
May 5, 2001

ADB meeting to focus on weak yen, U.S. woes

The Asian Development Bank is expected to take up issues of regional concern, including the U.S. economic slowdown and the yen's weakness, at its annual meeting next week, Japanese government sources said.
JAPAN
May 5, 2001

Pyongyang leader's 'son' expelled to China

The government on Friday morning deported to China a man claiming to be the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, along with his three companions.
COMMENTARY
May 5, 2001

Racism loses its grip in Britain

LONDON -- "Britain risks becoming a mongrel land"; "Britain will become a foreign land to most of the British": two thoughts from the Tory Party uttered in the past few weeks, one from a back-bench MP of little repute (John Townend), the other from the Tory Party leader, William Hague, whose reputation,...

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan