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JAPAN
May 14, 2001

InterAction Council opens summit in Awaji

AWAJI ISLAND, Hyogo Pref. -- The InterAction Council, a group of former heads of state and government, opened its 19th plenary session Sunday at the Awaji Yumebutai International Conference Center by criticizing the United States for turning its back on a number of global issues.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2001

Koizumi's chance to change privileged corporate entities

Now that Mr. Junichiro Koizumi has been elected Prime Minister on his campaign to "Change Japan," one issue that should not be overlooked is how Japan approaches its government-run special corporate entities, or "SPEs."
BUSINESS
May 14, 2001

NTT launches Internet certification exam

About 25,000 people took a computer test Sunday conducted by NTT Communications Corp. to receive a certificate of qualification in information technology.
COMMENTARY
May 14, 2001

Signs of creative destruction

Japan today needs what the economist Joseph A. Schumpeter once called "creative destruction." The immediate need is to shake up the political and economic systems from the ground up. Without such drastic changes Japan will not be able to regain vitality.
MORE SPORTS
May 14, 2001

Japan edges S. Korea rugby team with late try

Masahiko Toyoyama scored a try three minutes from time as Japan rallied to beat South Korea 27-19 in the opening game of the Asian Tri-Nations rugby competition on Sunday, celebrating new head coach Shogo Mukai's first test with a win.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
May 13, 2001

Don't take China so seriously

These days China is always in the news. If it's not the U.S. spy-plane incident, then it's Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympics or the Chinese Communist Party's human-rights record or Beijing's bullying of Taiwan. After decades of condescending reporting on China, the international media is finally starting...
JAPAN
May 13, 2001

Job-hunters besiege Tokio Marine's offices

Hundreds of mostly female college students and their parents lined up Saturday morning at the Tokyo headquarters of Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance Co. for reservations for clerical staff job interviews.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 13, 2001

Rediscovering nature's healing powers

Records of their use can be found in the ruins of Mesopotamia, dating back to 5,000 B.C.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 13, 2001

Everybody can't get stoned

Kenji Ogasawara returned from a visit to Hawaii seven years ago on a natural high. Partially paralyzed by multiple sclerosis in mid-1994, he left for Honolulu later that year in a wheelchair. On his return to Narita two weeks later, he stepped off the plane on his own two feet.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 13, 2001

The garden of good and herbal

Herbs have been used in Japan for hundreds of years, for both culinary and medicinal purposes, and a fun way to learn more about the rich heritage of Japanese folk remedies is to visit a herb garden.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2001

Japan-Aussie relationship losing its spark

SYDNEY -- They're like an old married couple, comfortable with each other's idiosyncrasies but hardly innovative in their relationship. Yes, we're talking about Japan and Australia.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 13, 2001

Reading, writing and fermenting

It is likely that few of us remember -- or put much value on -- our high school curriculum. After all, the three Rs and a dollop of foreign language is hardly a memorable course of study. Now, of course, if we were able to study and practice something like, say, sake brewing, well that would be fun --...
EDITORIALS
May 13, 2001

Short guide to a long career

An old man died in Nebraska last week. The event was noted briefly in newspapers across America, and people reading about it over their breakfasts probably experienced two sensations: a moment of surprise and then a rush of wry, affectionate memories. The old man's name was Clifton Keith Hillegass, not...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 13, 2001

From the farm to your table

Finding restaurants that serve food seasoned with herbs isn't that difficult in Japan. In fact, it would be more difficult to find a French or Italian restaurant that doesn't have herbs in its pantry.
CULTURE / Books
May 13, 2001

Portrait of California's nisei generation brings out diversity

GROWING UP NISEI: Race, Generation, and Culture among Japanese Americans of California, 1924-49, by David K. Yoo. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000, 180 pp., no price. The experiences of second-generation Japanese Americans -- the Great Depression, world war, postwar prosperity and Cold War...
CULTURE / Books
May 13, 2001

'Earth Mother' Randy Taguchi wins plaudits for her fiction

The novelist Randy Taguchi, known as queen of the e-mail magazine, is enjoying something of a boom. Although she started writing on the Internet in 1996 and now draws some 78,000 readers for the weekly essay she posts on the Web, she came to more general attention when her first novel, "Consent," was...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 13, 2001

Public participation aids media more than police

Prior to Thursday's arrest of a suspect in the April 30 murder of a 19-year-old woman in Asakusa, hundreds of people had called the police with information. The majority of these calls were not made until several days after the murder, when police found some items that they believe the killer discarded...
CULTURE / Books
May 13, 2001

When the nightmare broke through: "Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche"

UNDERGROUND: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche, by Haruki Murakami. Translated by Alfred Birnbaum and Philip Gabriel. Random House, Vintage International; 366 pp., $14.
CULTURE / Stage
May 13, 2001

The makings of an omozukai

Tamao Yoshida is a dominating figure in the bunraku theater of today: A living national treasure, he has a 62-year history as a puppeteer. Onstage, he is elegantly composed, his countenance impassive as he manipulates his puppet with the aid of two assistants covered in black. Offstage, he is vigorous...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 13, 2001

Just what the herbologist ordered

Have ever wondered why sashimi is always served with wasabi? It's not just because they go well together. Wasabi is a powerful sterilizer and reduces the risk of food poisoning.
JAPAN
May 13, 2001

Maglev link between Osaka, Tokyo starts to move forward

A plan to operate magnetically levitated -- or maglev -- trains between Tokyo and Osaka in one hour at speeds of up to 500 kph is moving ahead, with the government starting a feasibility study.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 13, 2001

Death and the maidens

TBS's "Sekai Fushigi Hakken," currently the longest-running quiz show on commercial TV, was also one of the first series to combine education and entertainment in a way that didn't compromise either. Whereas the previous record-holder, "Naruhodo the World," which went off the air several years ago, presented...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
May 13, 2001

Lonesome Strings come out of the shadows

Like anyone who's really good at something, Yoshiki Sakurai makes it look easy. On stage, as he lets fly with complicated riffs and rhythms in any variety of styles, he stands expressionless.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 13, 2001

Sit back, relax and let life pass you by

Summer's on its way, and none of us need any encouraging to make the most of it. There's no better way to celebrate the onset of the hot weather than with a leisurely lunch in the open air. Nothing too heavy, nothing too complicated -- this is the season to start lightening up the diet, anyway. Here...
COMMUNITY
May 13, 2001

Taking a leaf out of a traditional book

Eastern herbal remedies and traditional Chinese medicines are now more widely used than at any time in their long history. Thousands of people in the West, frustrated by perceived failures in Western medicine, or worried about the dangers of artificial drugs, are turning to herbal alternatives.
JAPAN
May 12, 2001

Foreign Ministry officials begin sniping at Tanaka

With Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka flexing her muscles over the ministry's personnel affairs, bureaucrats have begun a counterattack, questioning her diplomatic judgment.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2001

FamilyMart to buy 80 Kinki stores

Major convenience store chain FamilyMart Co. will acquire about 80 stores run by a subsidiary of Heiwado Co., a midsize supermarket chain operator based in Shiga Prefecture, the two firms announced Friday.

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’