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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 12, 2004

Wrapping things up in time for Christmas

Tokyo bibliophiles will no doubt look back at 2004 as the year in which a revered Tokyo institution -- the Maruzen book store -- moved from its original location in Nihombashi, where it had operated since 1870, to a new home on the first through fourth floors of the OAZO Building in Marunouchi. While...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 12, 2004

Until dearth do us part

It is a condition that many married Japanese know all too well.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 12, 2004

Lord Shrimp gets deep-fried over New Year's special

While surfing for coverage of the most recent NHK scandal on commercial television, I naturally had my radar tuned for expressions of schadenfreude, especially on the wide shows, where commentators enjoy a little more freedom to be critical. But there hasn't been much gloating. Last Monday, the host...
MORE SPORTS
Dec 12, 2004

Noguchi shuns JOC plan

Athens Olympic women's marathon champion Mizuki Noguchi is joining a growing list of gold medalists who have shunned the new marketing program being promoted by the Japanese Olympic Committee, her coach said Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2004

Yokota furor spells end to food aid for North Korea, Machimura says

North Korea will not receive the remaining half of its food aid package from Japan, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2004

Seibu Railway listing hopes dashed

Seibu Railway Co. said Friday it has abandoned efforts to get its shares listed on the Jasdaq over-the-counter market by the end of the current fiscal year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2004

Cell phones answer music players' call

After e-mail, Internet access and cameras, music will likely be the next killer application for cell phones in Japan, where online distribution is yet to catch on.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2004

State names hospitals in blood scandal

The health ministry on Thursday disclosed the names of 6,916 hospitals and 17 medical suppliers believed to have stocked a hepatitis C-tainted blood product that caused one of the largest medical disasters in Japan's postwar history.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 10, 2004

Getting holy in Wakayama

Since ancient times, pilgrims have ventured into heavily forested mountains in Wakayama Prefecture to visit Koyasan, the headquarters of the Shingon sect of esoteric Buddhism. This is regarded as one of the most sacred places in Japan, lying in an alpine basin at an altitude of about 800 meters, and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Dec 10, 2004

Six sure-fire gift ideas for fellow wine-lovers

There appears to be an entire cottage industry dedicated to making the kind of wine-themed gifts that imbibers everywhere are hoping not to receive this season -- our favorite of which is the doormat which says, "We love good wine. Did you bring any?"
JAPAN
Dec 9, 2004

State looks to photograph, fingerprint all foreign arrivals

A government task force has drafted an antiterrorism plan that includes fingerprinting and photographing all foreign visitors upon entry into Japan, government sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2004

IRCJ to close 53 Daiei outlets, ask creditors to help retailer

The Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan, which has been asked rehabilitate Daiei Inc., plans to close 53 of the money-losing supermarket chain's 263 outlets across Japan, sources familiar with the plan said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 8, 2004

To keep the SDF in Iraq or not

The government is set to extend Japan's troop deployment in Iraq beyond Dec. 14 for another year, although Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has not adequately explained why an extension is necessary. Nor has the Diet debated the question in detail. A joint opposition bill aimed at ending the dispatch...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 8, 2004

Trading in a master for an agent

When Yasuo Kitai first attempted to introduce Japanese calligraphy into Western art markets, he discovered he was up against thousands of years of tradition.
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Dec 7, 2004

Taniguchi nails second MVP award

Toru Taniguchi, who rebounded in 2004 following a season plagued with health problems, was named the Most Valuable Player by the Japan Golf Tour Organization for the second time in his career Monday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 5, 2004

Way of the corporate giant robot

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM, by Yoshiyuki Tomino, translated by Frederik L. Schodt with an introduction by Mark Simmons. Stone Bridge Press, 2004, $14.95 (paper). Yoshiyuki "Kill 'em All" Tomino is the mega-prolific creator of the Mobile Suit Gundam phenomenon, known, perhaps a little patronizingly, as the "Star...
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2004

Capital spending surged in third quarter

Capital spending by Japanese companies grew 14.4 percent in the July-September quarter from a year earlier, the Finance Ministry said Friday, fueling hopes that Japan's economic growth data for the third quarter will be revised upward.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 4, 2004

A little knowledge can be a silly thing

One hitch about living long years in Japan is that sooner or later people expect you to know something about it. Not folks from home, mind you, for they mostly practice that ignorance is bliss. A la:
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 3, 2004

Olives Tokyo: For a night to remember

It was one of those evenings that called for -- nay, stridently demanded -- a special celebration. Not a quiet, intimate table a deux; nor some sober parade of rarified gourmet delicacies; but a full-on, self-indulgent feast in a setting to match. It was time for dinner at Olives.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 1, 2004

Kiyohara to play for Giants in 2005

Disgruntled veteran slugger Kazuhiro Kiyohara said Tuesday he has reached middle ground with the Yomiuri Giants and will play for the Central League club next season, the final year of his four-year deal.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 30, 2004

Healthy food and immigration

Immigration update Tony writes regarding a recent Lifelines column which instructed foreign residents with immigration issues living in the metropolitan area and surrounding prefectures to head for the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau at 5-5-30 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo (03-5796 7112 -- Web site: www.moj.go.jp/ENGLISH/IB/ib-18.html...
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Nov 28, 2004

'Golden Jubilee Day' at the races

R acing fans will be treated to a must-see today at Tokyo Racecourse. In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Japan Racing Association, two of the biggest Grade I events of the year -- the Japan Cup Dirt and the Japan Cup -- both international invitationals, follow each other in a one-two, top-level...
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2004

Yahoo targets Net content dangers

Yahoo Japan Corp., Japan's largest Internet portal site operator, plans to offer a service that lets parents restrict their children's access to Web sites with harmful content by using filtering technology from a company it recently acquired, company sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2004

Izuhakone Railway vows to get relisted, curb 'annoyances'

Izuhakone Railway Co. pledged Friday to make efforts to list its shares again on the Tokyo Stock Exchange following the bourse's decision to delist them in December for falsifying financial statements.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan