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SOCCER / World cup
Mar 16, 2000

Japan sparkles in draw

KOBE -- He couldn't bring back the goals that Japan's senior soccer team has struggled to score in the past few years, but in Wednesday night's 0-0 draw with China, manager Philippe Troussier did bring back some credibility to the much maligned "A" team; he also brought back some excitement; and he even...
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2000

Moody's mulls upgrading Tokai, Asahi, Sanwa banks

Moody's Investors Service Inc. announced Wednesday that it has placed its long-term and short-term credit ratings of Tokai Bank and Asahi Bank as well as the short-term rating of Sanwa Bank under review for possible upgrading.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2000

Obuchi may visit Russia to start talks

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi expressed Wednesday his strong intention to hold talks with the new Russian president as soon as possible after Russian elections on March 26, even implying that he may visit Russia to get them under way.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 16, 2000

NBA meets 'The Truman Show'

"And for tonight's halftime entertainment, Marv, let's go to the Blazers locker room and catch a glimpse of Detlef Schrempf undressing."
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2000

Joint computer system worries regional banks

The chief of the Regional Banks Association of Japan expressed caution Wednesday about calls from the alliance between Sanwa Bank, Tokai Bank and Asahi Bank for regional banks to join a planned integrated computer system.
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2000

Beauty oases in the big city

I have a confession to make: I love to be slathered with mud. I also love to be rubbed with Dead Sea salts and mummified with seaweed. And there's nothing I find more exhilarating than knowing that I have just emerged victorious from a hair-raising bikini-wax session, ready to look my finest at the beach....
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 16, 2000

Want to know your fortune? Go fish

In the West you might scan your tea leaves for a peek at what the future may hold, but in Japan you are more likely to grab your chopsticks (OK, mouse) for the latest craze -- sushi fortunetelling.
LIFE
Mar 16, 2000

Slowing down to the pace of nature

When he first came to Rebun Island, wilderness guide and temple carpenter Miyuki Kobayashi was struck speechless with the natural pageantry before his eyes.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 16, 2000

Sweet indulgences without the calories

Sugar and spice and everything nice . . . this column and the next will be dedicated to all those readers with a sweet tooth. There is a virtual candy store of recipes for health and beauty which make good use of sugar and other sweets. Honey, sugar and molasses may all be put to the service of your...
JAPAN / Media
Mar 16, 2000

Mercian salutes cluelessness with New Frontier awards

Spring is in the air, and a young publicist's thoughts turn to awards ceremonies. Across the sea, we've seen the Golden Globes and the Grammys, and at the end of the month there's the Oscars.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2000

Prosecutors search textile firms

Prosecutors on Wednesday searched Toray Industries Inc., Toho Rayon Co. and Mitsubishi Rayon Co. over allegations that the three textile companies illegally agreed to fix prices of carbon fiber in the United States in violation of U.S. antitrust law.
COMMUNITY
Mar 15, 2000

More than a pit stop in the Hita of the moment

It may not be on the typical tourist itineraries, and its name may sound almost like a home appliance, but Hita is a lovely town. It sprawls between two highland rivers in a lush valley at the back of Oita Prefecture, surrounded by forests and fruit trees. Hita is just 70 minutes from Fukuoka, and easily...
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Returnee sues Japan for assault

Nearly six years after he was deported, an Iranian man has returned to Japan to testify in court for his damages suit against the state.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Death-row inmates can hang if retrial unlikely, Usui says

Justice Minister Hideo Usui said Tuesday that death-row convicts seeking retrials could be executed if their demands for retrials are deemed highly likely to be rejected.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 15, 2000

Seeds of knowledge

Welcome to the digital revolution, where we crunch numbers, process information and mine data. Maybe we don't get grease under our fingernails, but one wonders how far we've progressed beyond the industrial revolution. Though the metallic cling-clang of factories is rare, isn't there something familiar...
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2000

Back in private hands, LTCB looks to expand

The Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, which has returned to private management after being under state control, is interested in taking over the operations of the failed Tokyo Sowa Bank, its top executive said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 15, 2000

Putting post-Seattle pieces back together

Billed as the most important meeting of the new millennium, the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD X) in Bangkok in mid-February deserved its designation as "mother of all conferences." While it might not have had the cachet of a Davos World Economic Forum, it did not lack for luster and...
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2000

eBay may herald an online revolution

The recent arrival of major U.S. online auction operator eBay Inc. may bring another online revolution to Japan, the world's second-largest Internet market.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Dental exam questions possibly leaked

Questions to be used in today's state license examination for dentists may have been leaked, the Health and Welfare Ministry revealed Tuesday.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Coalition leaders agree on police system reform

The leaders of the coalition government agreed on new measures to reform the nation's scandal-tainted police system on Tuesday, during a review of recent police misdemeanors in Kanagawa and Niigata prefectures.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2000

The marketing that made Japan

ASSEMBLED IN JAPAN: Electrical Goods and the Making of the Japanese Consumer, by Simon Partner. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000, 317 pp., $19.95/12.50 British pounds (paper). I was standing on the corner by the Hachiko exit of Shibuya Station, looking at two giant television screens...
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 15, 2000

No way out

Sometimes it seems my mailbox is a place for complaints. Today it is NHK fees. Wednesday's column will consider NTT's high initial charge for phone service. Don't look for ways to avoid the inevitable; your daily life entails certain obligations.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2000

Fertile soil for Japanese environmentalist groups?

ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS IN JAPAN: Networks of Power and Protest, by Jeffrey Broadbent. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, 418 pp., $13.95, (paper). Given Japan's economic growth after World War II -- a period often termed "miraculous" -- it is not surprising that the worst problems of ecological...
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 15, 2000

Wild animal tales -- with a pinch of salt

The image of wild animals visiting a salt lick is probably a familiar one to you if you are a regular watcher of television natural history documentaries. The scene is repeated over and over again, as large African or Indian mammals approach this particularly rich source of minerals.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2000

Tokyo hails progress in North Korea talks

Japanese leaders welcomed on Tuesday the results of a meeting Monday between representatives of the Red Cross societies of Japan and North Korea in which Pyongyang agreed to take appropriate steps if it locates any missing Japanese nationals.
COMMENTARY
Mar 15, 2000

The task of policing the police

Sections of the Japanese police force have recently been sharply and justifiably criticized, as have police in other countries from time to time. The maintenance of high ethical standards in police forces worldwide should be a high priority for all governments. Yet it is not an easy thing to achieve....

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes