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ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Jan 24, 2001

See where the apricot (or is it plum) blossoms

Kairakuen Garden in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, is one of the three most celebrated gardens in Japan, located a very short distance from the city center.
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2001

Suzuki may sell to Nissan

Suzuki Motor Corp. said Tuesday it is considering providing Nissan Motor Co. with Suzuki minivehicles.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jan 24, 2001

Back in the loop

This is not what you would call a lede per se, but indulge me for a few paragraphs. This will take some explaining.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Ex-MITI chief Horiuchi to lead 'anti-Kato' faction

Former International Trade and Industry Minister Mitsuo Horiuchi was named Monday as the leader of a new faction in the Liberal Democratic Party formed by breakaway members of the faction headed by Koichi Kato, lawmakers said Monday.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 23, 2001

Lock, stock and instant noodles

Here's a word association game for you. What comes to mind when you hear "Thai cinema?" A blank? Don't worry -- in Japan, you're hardly alone.
EDITORIALS
Jan 23, 2001

Mr. Kim's tutorial

Mr. Kim Jong Il's "secret" trip to China was one of the worst-kept secrets in recent history. Although the Chinese government refused to officially confirm the visit by the reclusive North Korean leader, the news was out as soon as Mr. Kim's special train crossed the border into China last week. If much...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Release of human genome thesis criticized

The Science Council of Japan has complained to the U.S. journal Science about its decision to print a U.S. biotech company's thesis about the human genome, saying the company has not shared its data with international researchers.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Official spent 170 million yen on racehorses

A senior Foreign Ministry official who is suspected of embezzling money from a special state fund spent about 170 million yen to buy 14 racehorses and keep them since 1997, sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Hokkaido retiree gets new start as teacher

As a boy, Ichio Yachimukai wanted to become a teacher out of gratitude for the kindness of his junior high school teacher, but he never imagined that he would one day venture to Vietnam to realize his ambition.
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

Panel promises five-year plan to put Japan in IT lead

A new government panel on information technology said Monday it will compile an action plan by the end of March specifying the areas that need to be prioritized in order to give Japan one of the world's most advanced IT infrastructures in five years, government officials said.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2001

Give aid to China, but remain vigilant

The 21st Century Committee for Japan-China Friendship held its 14th meeting on China's Hainan Island Dec. 24-25, and I was among those present. Former Chinese Ambassador to Japan Yang Zhenya, the conference chairman, said he was pleased that the Chinese and Japanese governments were promoting regional...
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2001

Export decline portends slowdown for recovery

A decline in exports will slow the pace of economic recovery by slowing industrial production, the Bank of Japan said Monday in a monthly report.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 23, 2001

Okinawa's fate through women's eyes

WOMEN OF OKINAWA: Nine Voices from a Garrison Island, by Ruth Ann Keyso. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000, 168 pp., $16.95 (cloth). Ruth Ann Keyso traveled to Okinawa in 1997 to write a history of the island's postwar past. Following conversations with various people on the island, she decided...
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 23, 2001

Keeping it all in the family

The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is starting 2001 with special programs to celebrate the succession (shumei) of Yasosuke Bando, 45, to the prestigious stage name Mitsugoro Bando X, left to him by his father Mitsugoro IX on his death in April 1999.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Lottery proceeds to fund local projects

The Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications on Monday announced the launch of a new lottery, the proceeds of which are to be distributed among local governments to be used to finance revitalization projects.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jan 23, 2001

Artists with eclectic tastes dispute the 'healing' tag

Of all the nonsensical musical genres, perhaps the most irksome is one coined here in Japan: "healing" music.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 23, 2001

Gender, identity, plain old eros

MALE HOMOSEXUALITY IN MODERN JAPAN: Cultural Myths and Social Realities, by Mark J. McLelland. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 2000, 268 pp., b/w plates 17, 15.99 British pounds (paper). Mark McLelland begins this pioneering study by quoting Alfred Kinsey to the effect that nature rarely deals with...
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2001

Three held over smuggling of 'konnyaku' from China

OSAKA -- Three men have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling about 14 tons of "konnyaku" flour from China, police and customs officials said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2001

Cities merge to become Nishi-Tokyo

The city of Nishi-Tokyo was born in northwestern Tokyo Sunday as Tanashi and Hoya merged into a new entity of 15.8 sq. km and about 180,000 people, mostly commuters who work in downtown Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2001

Third teacher arrested in dental exam scandal

A 56-year-old professor at Nippon Dental University was arrested Sunday on suspicion of leaking questions on a national dentistry examination last year, bringing the number of those jailed in the scandal to three, police sources said.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2001

Nukaga likely to step down

State minister Fukushiro Nukaga is likely to resign from his Cabinet post today in the wake of allegations he received 15 million yen from KSD, a provider of industrial accident insurance, in 1999 and 2000, political sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2001

Dealing with regional anxiety

HONOLULU -- With the inauguration of President George W. Bush's administrations, anxiety levels about future U.S. policy in Asia remain high. In Tokyo, there are apprehensions that Japan will be liked too much; that Washington will expect more from its steadfast ally than Japan is prepared to deliver....
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jan 22, 2001

Hydrogen future: Iceland's quest for a clean, green energy legacy

The future is wherever people are "thinking outside the box," seeking atypical solutions to problems of the status quo.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2001

FSA should hire experts to enhance effectiveness of No-Action Letter system

Third in a series
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2001

Pregnancy, critics won't sway Ibaraki woman's re-election bid

IBARAKI, Osaka Pref. -- For Mutsuko Katsura, a 32-year old Ibaraki Municipal Assembly member, seeking a second term in office came as naturally as her desire to have a baby.
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2001

Female Internet entrepreneur prefers company-making to money-making

Back in 1986, Tomoko Namba didn't really know what management consultancy firms did. She just wanted to join a company where she could "work and make money" at the same level as a man.

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’