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JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

Tanaka to pay for cancelling room

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said she will pay about 276,000 yen out of her own pocket for canceling a hotel suite and switching to a less expensive room during an official trip to Beijing in late May, Foreign Ministry sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

Doubt cast over Tanaka's pending U.S. trip

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's reported criticism of a U.S. missile defense plan makes her planned visit to the U.S. unlikely, government sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

War victims to speak out against contentious history text

About 40 people, including war victims, from several parts of Asia will speak against a recently approved Japanese history textbook at a two-day meeting in Tokyo starting Sunday.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

Falling land prices lure crowds back to Tokyo

Falling land prices in central Tokyo's Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato wards encouraged more people to live in the heart of the capital this year, the land ministry said in a report released Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2001

Does Bush's Spanish presage a bilingual America?

In his efforts to reach out to the American Hispanic community, former Republican leader Newt Gingrich sent out a greeting in Spanish to mark Cinco de Mayo, Mexico's Independence Day. The message came from "El Hablador de la Casa," which Gingrich's staff thought meant "Speaker of the House," but in fact...
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

Robbing of pork barrel has LDP squealing

When Hiroshi Kato, president of Chiba University of Commerce, stepped into a Tokyo hotel room one day in the early 1980s, he soon realized he had violated a political taboo.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

Tanaka reportedly hinted Japan should reconsider U.S. alliance

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka, already under fire for making controversial remarks about the U.S. missile defense plan, has insinuated that Japan needs to depart from its decades-old security alliance with the United States, government sources said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 6, 2001

Power surge in the Pacific League

Instead of playing up the Monday night games innovation (which it really is not doing anyway), the Pacific League should exploit the sudden increase in home-run power this season. Either they've juiced the ball or the guys are taking some go-go juice (just kidding), and Seibu Lions slugger Alex Cabrera...
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2001

Now you see her, but know you don't

Malena Rating: * * * * Director: Giuseppe Tornatore Running time: 92 minutes Language: Italian/EnglishOpens June 9 These days, we've become used to women in cinema meeting certain standards. They should be visually stunning, but they must also be brave, self-assertive, sometimes violent, smart and...
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2001

The toughest journey for Japan's toughest guy

Hotaru Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Yasuo Furuhata Running time: 114 minutes Language: JapaneseNow showing at Toei Marunouchi and other theaters National cinemas from Hollywood to Bollywood have their icons -- veteran actors who have become box-office powerhouses less for their performances than...
CULTURE / Music
Jun 6, 2001

Music for the masses

Lord knows, it ain't easy Call it the Happy Meal effect, but what used to be considered "bonus" is now taken for granted. The multiple-stage gimmick offers more of a festival atmosphere, but if you go for the music you will eventually have to choose, and sometimes it ain't easy.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 6, 2001

Diva serves up rare delights

A one-time teen model turned cyberdiva cum wannabe guru, she is no less than Japan's most celebrated artistic export, represented by the finest galleries in New York and Paris.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2001

Nonperforming ODA must be reviewed, Tanaka says

Japan needs to review the effectiveness of the aid it extends to developing countries and cut unnecessary official development assistance, Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2001

It's deja vu all over again

The Mummy Returns Rating: * * * Japanese title: Hamunaputora 2Director: Stephen Sommers Running time: 129 minutes Language: EnglishNow showing at Shibutoh Cine Theater and other theaters One of the better summer flicks of recent years was 1999's "The Mummy," which was everything that this sort of...
CULTURE / Art
Jun 6, 2001

American poet wins Chuya Nakahara Prize

Chuya Nakahara (1907-1937) was a master at using the 7-5 syllabic meter in the nontraditional, free-verse shi style. His birthplace, the city of Yamaguchi, has established the annual Chuya Nakahara Prize and a memorial library where his papers are collected to be preserved and available for research....
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Australian foreign minister denies saying he'd tattle on Tanaka

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Monday denied news reports that he told the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Ryutaro Hashimoto he would convey Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's remarks over the missile defense plan to the United States.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Aide to DPJ lawmaker receives suspended sentence for drug use

A former top secretary to Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukihiko Akutsu was sentenced Monday to a suspended two-year prison term for possessing and using stimulant drugs earlier this year.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Saikyo Line to test female-only cars

As part of its efforts to stop the problem of groping on commuter trains, East Japan Railway Co. announced Monday that it will introduce female-only cars on its Saikyo Line trains on an experimental basis next month.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Advisory panel starts discussing postal privatization

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi launched an advisory panel Monday to discuss the privatization of postal services.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2001

The trial of Unit 731

KHABAROVSK, Russia -- Late in December 1949, Soviet Communist Party leaders began distributing tickets in factories and institutes for an upcoming trial. Twelve Japanese physicians and military officers -- former researchers at a secret facility near Harbin, China known as Unit 731 -- stood accused of...
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Tanaka knocked Bush, missile plan in talks with Australian diplomat, Fukuda says

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Monday that Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka criticized U.S. plans for a National Missile Defense system when she met with her Australian counterpart last week.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2001

Major life insurers feel pinch

Low interest rates, a sluggish stock market and a steady stream of policy terminations continued to squeeze major life insurers, according to results for the 2000 business year released Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

'Foreign looking' intruders shoot man dead, hurt wife

A man was shot dead and his wife was seriously wounded apparently by two intruders in the couple's home in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward early Monday, police said.
COMMENTARY
Jun 5, 2001

Labor's win, democracy's loss

LONDON -- It is possible that in some dark cavern by the River Thames, or wherever it is that Labor's inner circle does its thinking, party planners are already plotting who is going to do what in government for the next five years. Labor is confident of winning the election on June 7: Its lead in the...
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2001

Poison toads threaten rare Iriomote cats

The endangered Iriomote wildcats on Okinawa Prefecture's Iriomote Island face a new threat from an invasion of poisonous marine toads, the Environment Ministry said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 5, 2001

America's diplomatic passage to India

LOS ANGELES -- While there was scarcely any American media coverage of the visit of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to India last month, the Bush administration's gesture, as well as the prior one made by Clinton, was intended to be profoundly significant. The Clinton state visit represented...
MORE SPORTS / THE DUKE OF HAZARDS
Jun 5, 2001

Hogan's 'home' course set to host U.S. Open

Summer in Tulsa, Okla., is hot and humid. The golf season's second major of the year, the U.S. Open, will be held at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa from June 14-17. The defending champion, of course, is Tiger Woods.

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’