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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 24, 2003

Some timely lessons from 'Richard III'

In this column, the curtain rose on 2003 with a new production of Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" directed by Yukio Ninagawa. Now, the final curtain of the year comes down here with another blockbuster from Japan's international-drama standard-bearer -- his version of Shakespeare's "The Life and Death...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2003

Top court rules against ex-JNR workers

The long legal battle over the fate of former employees of the now-defunct Japanese National Railways seeking to be hired by the successor carriers created with JNR's 1987 privatization ended in their defeat Monday at the hands of the Supreme Court.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 23, 2003

Train trips, veggies and stitch-ups

Moonsky star trip Further to last week's information on where to buy tickets for the Trans-Siberian railway, Colette in Yokohama describes the trip she took in 1993 as, "one of the most amazing experiences of my life." She organized her journey through Moonsky Star, a travel agent based in Beijing that...
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2003

Convenience store sales down again

Sales at convenience stores in Japan dropped 0.7 percent in November from a year earlier on a same-store basis, marking a ninth straight monthly decline, the Japan Franchise Association said Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2003

Five more held in shootings, bomb threat

Five more members of a sword collectors group were arrested Sunday in connection with a bomb threat at a deputy foreign minister's house in September and three shootings at an association of pro-Pyongyang residents in Niigata in July and other facilities.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2003

Festivals and food are top selling points to entice tourists

Festivals and food are the top two selling points that foreign nationals working at local Japanese governments use to convince friends to visit Japan, according to a Foreign Ministry survey.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 22, 2003

Yamaoka snares women's halfpipe

Japan's Soko Yamaoka competes during the women's halfpipe final at a World Cup snowboarding competition in Stoneham, Canada.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 21, 2003

Zen and the art of gardening

INSIDE JAPANESE GARDENS, by Shunmyo Masuno. Osaka: Commemorative Foundation for the International Garden & Greenery Exposition, 350 pp., 4,800 yen (cloth). In the formal Japanese garden -- a source of delight but also puzzlement to some visitors -- every element has a reason for being there, an ordained...
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2003

Draft 2004 budget relies heavily on bond issuance

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki submitted on Saturday a draft budget for fiscal 2004 worth 82.11 trillion yen -- but is reliant on bond issuance as Japan faces growing social welfare costs due to the rapidly aging population.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2003

Backer's arrest is egg on DPJ man's face

Shingo Nishimura, a House of Representatives member of the Democratic Party of Japan, wrote an essay expressing his gratitude for help in his election campaign in a magazine published by a man arrested Friday in connection with three shooting attacks.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2003

Hinomaru hoisted at all spring graduation events

All public elementary, junior high and high schools in Japan raised the Hinomaru during their spring graduation ceremonies, according to an education ministry survey released this week.
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2003

Minister orders release of asylum-seeker

Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa decided Friday to temporarily release a 46-year-old Myanmarese asylum-seeker, who had been detained for overstaying his visa since Oct. 31, citing humanitarian concerns over his two daughters.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2003

McDonald's founder's exit doubles loss

The Japanese unit of U.S. fast-food chain McDonald's expects its loss for this fiscal year to double because of a special loss it will book for costs related to cutting ties with a longtime management consultant.
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2003

Sky Perfect to acquire Plat One

Sky Perfect Communications Inc., operator of the Sky PerfecTV digital satellite broadcasting service, said Thursday it will acquire smaller rival Plat One Corp. through a share swap on March 1.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 19, 2003

Candy firms jump on CD bandwagon

Giveaways attached to packets of candies and chocolate are nothing new in Japan. Recently these omake have commonly taken the form of wonderfully detailed little toys and figurines in themed, collectable sets such as animals, anime characters, dinosaurs, birds, cars or motorbikes.
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2003

Toyota aiming to sell 7 million vehicles

The Toyota group aims to sell a total of 7.08 million vehicles in calendar 2004, up 4 percent over projected sales of 6.78 million units for this year.
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2003

3G phones to boast music, animation

Animation attachments for e-mail, complex role-playing video games and Hollywood film cuts as screen savers will be some of the features offered in new third-generation cell phones from Japan's top mobile carrier.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 19, 2003

'Tis the season to eat, drink -- and be opinionated

'Tis the season again when the Food File anoints itself as demiurge, handing out gongs and accolades, winnowing the worthy from the weak, and pronouncing unashamedly subjective opinions about the past 12 months. So here's our annual toast to all those restaurants and stores -- most of them new, but also...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Dec 18, 2003

Colorblind schoolkids can see clearly now

Red. Green. Red. Green. A simple pattern. Or so I thought, until I spent an hour at the Japanese elementary school my son attends. I had come in to do holiday crafts, and was showing the kids how to make a paper chain in Christmas colors. I told them to take a strip of red paper and bend it into a circle....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2003

Japanese Embassy in Baghdad issues alert

The Japanese Embassy in Baghdad has asked Japanese nationals to refrain from visiting it for the time being after receiving threats of attack, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2003

'Quality' of foreign students seen as key

An education ministry panel called Tuesday for changes to Japan's policy on foreign students, seeking a greater emphasis on quality rather than quantity.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2003

Economic outlook given an upgrade

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday upgraded its assessment of the economy in its monthly report for December for the fourth month in a row, citing improved corporate sentiment and more personal spending.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 17, 2003

Sound tidings we bring

The gift of music never fails and you can fill plenty of stockings with these re-releases, compilations and holiday music, handpicked by the JT music elves Tom Bojko, Philip Brasor, Jeff Hammond, Jason Jenkins, Michael Pronko and Suzannah Tartan
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2003

2 Channel most popular keyword

Internet bulletin board 2 Channel was the most typed-in keyword on the Yahoo Japan Web site in 2003, the operator of Japan's leading Internet portal said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2003

Rengo backs detained Myanmar activist

The nation's largest labor organization urged the government Monday to release a 46-year-old man from Myanmar facing deportation, submitting a joint petition by 20 labor unions under its umbrella.
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2003

Crime crackdown includes plan to cut illegal foreign residents

In an effort to regain its reputation as a safe nation, Japan aims to halve by 2005 the number of illegal foreign residents from the current estimate of 250,000, according to a government action plan to combat crime obtained by Kyodo News on Saturday.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers