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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 31, 2002

Abandon the search for meaning

A not-so-funny thing happened to the Australian band Gerling on the way to Japan last fall. Having presented a buzz-worthy performance at last summer's Fuji Rock Festival, the trio was completely psyched for a Japan tour set for November. Then, America was attacked. But while a lot of bands subsequently...
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2002

Matsushita kin to help debt-ridden developer

OSAKA -- The family of the late Konosuke Matsushita, founder of the Matsushita group, has decided to extend financial help to Matsushita Investment & Development Inc., a debt-ridden real-estate developer, industry sources said Friday.
COMMUNITY
Mar 30, 2002

Making music less than a job, more than a hobby

Donna Burke and Bill Benfield deserve to be sitting pretty. Just married (Dec. 28, in Australia), they live in a large apartment in Tokyo's Azabu-juban with three cats, and a flock of sparrows lined up on the balcony waiting to be fed every morning.
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2002

Habits hinder car parts imports: METI

A number of practices considered to be customary by domestic car users hinder imports of replacement auto parts, according to a trade ministry report.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Mar 29, 2002

Seize the reins and blaze your own kanji-learning trail

Dear Dario Simunovic,
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2002

BOJ signs currency swap deal with China

The Bank of Japan signed an accord Thursday with the People's Bank of China for a bilateral yen-yuan swap arrangement aimed at ensuring currency market stability through supplying short-term liquidity, BOJ officials said.
COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2002

Strategy for attacking Iraq

LONDON -- Ample evidence suggests that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is determined to develop weapons of mass destruction and terror. There are reports of various underground laboratories working on biological and chemical weapons and possibly on nuclear devices. Iraq probably also managed to hide from...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Mar 28, 2002

Zen gardens wondrous to behold, and not

I like nothing better than to go and explore gardens and to let my imagination ponder on what's to be seen. Kyoto has plenty of places just waiting to be discovered, and the best way to go and see its gardens and temples is either on foot or by local bus.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 28, 2002

Bunnies slip past Bears in final

It may be a Canadian game, and it was being played in Japan, but when all was said and done, it was the Swedish connection that came through at crunch time.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2002

Don't apologize to Li Peng

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Get out the bunting! Li Peng is on his way! One of the people that former U.S. President Bill Clinton described as the "butchers of Beijing" and now chairman of the National People's Congress, or China's "rubber stamp" Parliament, Li was the Chinese premier at the time of the Tiananmen...
EDITORIALS
Mar 27, 2002

Developing a new perspective

In an era of unprecedented prosperity, it is important to remember how unevenly this vast wealth is spread. More than 1 billion people -- one-fifth of the world's population -- must live on less than $1 a day; nearly half the population survives on twice that amount. There has long been agreement that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Mar 27, 2002

Groove is in the House

Ambitious is the word that comes to mind when looking at the publicity material for the inaugural New York-Tokyo Music Festival. Scheduled to take place in the Big Apple May 23-26, the event will feature live performances by a variety of Japanese artists, including Towa Tei, Ken Ishii and Mondo Grosso....
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Hiranuma frets over EU plan to curb steel imports

Trade minister Takeo Hiranuma said Tuesday he is worried that a reported plan by the European Union to join the United States in curbing steel imports will hinder the world's free-trade regime.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Warring factors may lock yen above 130

The yen has given up much of its recent gains and now sits just about where it did earlier in the year.
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2002

Big banks to slash rates April 1

Japan's four major banking groups plan to cut interest rates on their ordinary deposits to coincide with the April 1 abolition of full government protection of time deposits, banking sources said Monday.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Mar 26, 2002

JAWOC puts fans on hold

A commercial running on Japanese TV at the moment shows an astronaut being told to go on a space trip by his boss. He complains, saying that he has tickets for some World Cup games. But his boss insists he has to go. The astronaut reluctantly goes leaving his tickets on the floor. The boss picks them...
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2002

Nation's big retailers see continuing drop in sales

Earnings from sales at Japan's supermarkets and department stores continued their year-on-year fall in February due to price declines and slow winter clearance sales, industry associations said Monday.
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2002

'Grim' fundamentals to keep new bond issuance flat: S&P

Standard & Poor's Corp. expects Japan's poor economic fundamentals to continue undermining the new issuance of corporate bonds in the coming months.
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 2002

Living national treasures

Three is an auspicious number. Things grouped in threes are believed to acquire prestige by virtue of the number's magic. Likewise, a ritual action repeated three times is considered to bring good luck.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 2002

How does your balcony garden grow?

If you're chafing about the city's dearth of green spaces, but you're blessed with a balcony, you could make your own garden. It could be your little contribution toward greening the city. If you haven't tried it before, you might be pleasantly surprised by how much joy a tiny space brimming with leaves...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 24, 2002

Some gaijin pitfalls into which few have not plunged

I heard once that art is 2 percent creativity and the rest "derivativity."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Mar 24, 2002

What squids shine in yonder bay

Squid, octopus and cuttlefish belong to a large group of marine invertebrates called cephalopods. The word means foot-headed, and it is an appropriate name for these creatures because their tentacle feet sprout from above their eyes and brain. They are found all over, and sometimes in the stomachs of...
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2002

BOJ is almost positive in latest economic assessment

The Bank of Japan on Friday upgraded its economic assessment for the first time in 20 months, citing improvements in exports and inventories.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Mar 22, 2002

Students give seniors a rousing send-off

My first-grader sighed at the dinner table the other night. "Sakamoto-kun is graduating soon," he said sadly. Who? I had never heard of anyone by this name. "He's one of the sixth-graders," my son explained. "He showed me a magic trick and helps me at school."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2002

Brand power key to profits, U.S. professor advises

Japanese manufacturers have long considered the quality of their products to be their greatest strength.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan