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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 5, 2000

Diagnosis is key to curing the English patient

My English writing students always say they want me to correct them. But, I've decided to stop giving out correct answers. Instead, I'm going to give out prescriptions. The ESL doctor is IN.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 5, 2000

Long live the rock 'n' roll animals

A rock musician flaunts his intellect at his own peril, which is why Lou Reed is more of a survivor than his tired rep as the droning voice of the New York demimonde would have you believe. It's been almost 20 years since he started heads a-scratchin' with "My House," his ode to Delmore Schwartz who...
COMMENTARY
Nov 5, 2000

Mori administration reeling

The administration of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is in crisis, visibly weakened by the resignation of Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa over a drug-related extramarital affair.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2000

Big firms 'deliberately' hid 94 billion yen in income

Big companies deliberately failed to report a record 94.4 billion yen in income to evade taxes in the 12 months through June, up 12.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Tax Administration.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2000

Nissan manual tells how to hide secrets in pop inspections

A Nissan Motor Co. manual tells workers how to contact management if Transport Ministry officials show up for unannounced inspections and also instructs them to essentially hide information from inspectors.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2000

KSD affiliate hit for abusing foreign trainees' rights

An affiliate of KSD, a mutual aid group under criminal investigation for alleged lending irregularities, has been admonished by the Justice Ministry for alleged violations of foreign trainees' human rights, according to ministry officials.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 2000

Bar boss, staff held over death

OSAKA -- Police arrested a 50-year-old bar owner from Osaka's Chuo Ward early Friday in connection with the death of a 49-year-old man from Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, who investigators believe was a victim of a so-called rip-off joint.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Nov 4, 2000

Yamada-style koto master performs song-suite classics

The autumn performance season reaches its peak during the final months of the year, and an array of hogaku performances, including rare koto pieces, gagaku and dance, will be presented this November.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 4, 2000

The good, the bad and the confusing

"No. 7 Needles" (1975) oil on canvas Like many of his paintings, Luc Tuymans is a man easily misunderstood. At first glance, the tall and hulking Belgian seems more like the president of a stodgy old European corporation than the internationally acclaimed avant-garde artist that he is. Tuymans, 42,...
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2000

Getting beyond gridlock

LONDON -- The recent rail crash near Hatfield, north of London, that resulted in the deaths of four people was caused by a cracked rail. The crash occurred almost a year after the even more serious crash near London's Paddington Station. These accidents have once again highlighted the need for higher...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Japan, China agree to warship visits as bilateral security exchange step

Top officials from the Defense Agency and China's People's Liberation Army agreed Thursday that the two countries will start their first-ever mutual visits by naval vessels next year, agency officials said.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Ex-Sogo chief denies firm managed badly

Hiroo Mizushima, the longtime chairman of failed department store chain Sogo Co., on Thursday flatly denied that he sloppily managed the firm, although he said he is deeply aware of his responsibility as chief executive.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Web site gets volcano evacuees online and in touch

Hiroyuki Noda never imagined that he would become a messenger for fellow Miyake Island residents when he bought a personal computer six years ago to keep books for his inn and diving shop.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Project to transfer capital waste of money, Tokyo says

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Thursday took another swipe at the central government's plan to move the capital by claiming the transfer "does not make any economic sense" and would eventually waste up to 6.3 trillion yen.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 3, 2000

Throwing out complication to embrace simple life

Reflecting the downbeat mood in Japan, book sales continue to be sluggish, especially of hardcover books and serious fiction.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2000

Secrecy and greed behind BSE tragedy

LONDON --I am stunned at the awfulness of being British at the moment. A report written by Lord Phillips into the BSE tragedy has just been published. Though it does not roar with horror or screech with condemnation, its quiet steady tone fills me with anger and horror at Britain's farming, veterinary...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Fukuoka police get MAD, then get even

Fukuoka police are going mad over "bosozoku" biker gangs.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2000

Furor over Hindu die-hards

NEW DELHI -- It may not be an exaggeration to say that India's Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, or National Volunteers Corps) has a certain religious doggedness which is uncomfortably similar to the rabid Taliban in Afghanistan.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 2, 2000

Players' association wants Matsuzaka sanctions lifted

The Japanese professional baseball players' association has sent a letter to the Seibu Lions asking the Pacific League club to allow disgraced pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to resume playing as soon as possible, union officials said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2000

Japan eyes stronger ties with Caribbean

Japan and the 14-nation Caribbean Community will adopt a comprehensive policy document for the first time next week to establish a framework for strengthening cooperation in economics and a wide range of other areas.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2000

Child abuse cases rise by 70%

A record 11,631 cases of child abuse were reported in fiscal 1999, an increase of 70 percent from the previous year, according to a Health and Welfare Ministry report released Wednesday.
COMMUNITY
Nov 2, 2000

Healthy diet, healthy mother's milk

Last in a series
JAPAN / LIFE OFF MIYAKE
Nov 2, 2000

Assemblyman places fellow exiles first

The future of Miyake Island may be as hazy as the smoke billowing from its volcano, but for Kazuyoshi Yamada, it comes before his own losses.
COMMUNITY
Nov 2, 2000

Bank dealer trades finances for fiction

NIIHAMA, Ehime Pref. -- For most writers, the road to publication is paved with rejection slips. Not so for British expatriate Marisa Ishikawa, 35, who lives in Niihama-shi, Ehime Prefecture, with her Japanese carpenter husband and their two small children. Ishikawa dashed off her first novel in between...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 2, 2000

Red Sox interested in bringing Ichiro to Fenway

With seven straight Pacific League batting titles and a lifetime average of .353 topping his resume, Orix BlueWave superstar Ichiro Suzuki is now preparing for life in the major leagues.
COMMUNITY
Nov 2, 2000

Exhibiting style around Japan

Just ahead of the Tokyo collections, in which over 50 designers will show their spring/summer 2001 collections this week and next, here are some things to do if your name's not on the invite list or if you are looking for a fashion-related event to attend on a rainy day.
LIFE / Style & Design / SIMPLY DIVINE
Nov 2, 2000

New line boosts Levi's street cred

Levi's and well-known New York graffiti artist Futura, whose rare, original artwork has been in demand since he was spraypainting trains and walls back in the '80s, have joined up to collaborate on a limited-edition, Japan-exclusive denim line.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years