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BASEBALL / MLB
May 9, 2002

Half-Japanese Dodger making name in L.A.

CHICAGO -- Want to stump your know-it-all boss or neighbor with a good baseball question?
COMMENTARY
May 9, 2002

EU not growing anti-Semitic

LONDON -- The Jewish lobby and the religious right in the United States have described European critics of the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his government as anti-Semitic. Such comments reveal a woeful ignorance of Europe and the real issues in the Middle East. They also tend to...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 9, 2002

Sons light up mum's life, but also take years off it

All sons know that we get more flak than daughters. Does "You've taken years off my life" or "Why can't you be more like your sister?" sound familiar?
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Ban sought on Norway whale meat

Concerned consumers and antiwhaling groups on Tuesday petitioned the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to abandon the idea of allowing whale meat to be imported from Norway because of potentially high levels of pollution.
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Duo injured while filming TV sports show for TBS

Two participants in a Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. athletic TV game show were seriously injured Sunday during filming at a Yokohama studio, TBS officials said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Info brokers have got your number, among other things

In the spring of 1999, Haruo Tanaka (not his real name) became interested in buying a condominium and visited several showrooms in Tokyo. Each time, he was asked to fill out a questionnaire. He provided his name, age, address and phone number as well as his annual income.
EDITORIALS
May 6, 2002

Mutual Sino-American respect

Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao's weeklong visit to the United States, which culminated in a meeting with President George W. Bush on Wednesday, seems to have achieved its purpose: introducing China's next leader to U.S. officials. The 59-year-old Mr. Hu is expected to become secretary general of the...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 5, 2002

Death and the old maid

"Tokyo Friend Park II" (TBS, Monday, 6:55 p.m.), hosted by veteran announcer Hiroshi Sekiguchi, is a prime example of the mindless, pointless game-show genre. The main idea is to match up two complementary celebrities who will work together to win prizes for themselves and selected viewers. Because the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 5, 2002

Straight from Tsukiji to Harajuku

What's the difference between an izakaya and a restaurant? Often very little, if the izakaya in question serves good food and comports itself with a degree of sophistication. Perhaps the best yardstick is the noise level. The louder the conversation and more voluble the pleasure, the less likely a place...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2002

Girl, you'll be Madonna soon

It's no surprise that the mums have turned out in force to chaperone their kids at Britney Spears' show at Tokyo Dome: They've seen her recent, more raunchy videos, witnessed her fondling a huge snake during her performance at the MTV video awards and noticed that on her third and latest album, "Britney,"...
BUSINESS
May 4, 2002

Pursuit of FTAs vital but troublesome

Last month, leading brewer Asahi Breweries Ltd. began shipping its Super Dry beer to Singapore from Japan, instead of from its facilities in China.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2002

IMF is backing the wrong horse again

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Oh dear, oh dear! The International Monetary Fund supports the Hong Kong dollar's peg to the dollar. In Hong Kong recently, a senior representative of the IMF applauded Hong Kong's decision not to break its fixed link to the greenback, saying that the IMF believes that "the peg...
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2002

'Third way' to stay in power

LONDON -- New Labour baffles just about everybody who comes across it. Is it "new" simply in the sense that a relaunched soap powder is new -- essentially the same plus a claim to have stronger power to wash away sins? Or is it really new, with just the Labour bit being misleading? And what on earth...
SOCCER / World cup
May 2, 2002

Troussier plans no more 'surprises'

KOBE -- Japan coach Philippe Troussier didn't promise any more "surprises" for Thursday's Kirin Cup match against Honduras at Kobe Wing Stadium, saying only that it was a practice match for the World Cup and he would be happy to win 1-0 with an own goal.
JAPAN / THE OKINAWA FACTOR
May 2, 2002

Nago ponders base-for-cash community conundrum

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. -- A prefabricated building behind Jisei Asato's home in the Toyohara district of Nago used to be an office occupied by the Kube Area Economic Promotion Council. It is now closed and bears "for rent" signs.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 2, 2002

Sachiyo Nomura given suspended prison term

Sachiyo Nomura, the high-profile wife of ex-Hanshin Tigers manager Katsuya Nomura, was sentenced Wednesday to a suspended two-year prison term and fined 21 million yen for evading 213 million yen in taxes between 1997 and 2000.
JAPAN
May 1, 2002

Sato served fresh tax evasion warrant

Saburo Sato, a former top aide of ex-Lower House lawmaker Koichi Kato, was served a fresh arrest warrant Tuesday on suspicion of failing to declare 150 million yen that he received from talent agency Rising Production Co., investigative sources said.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2002

Rough going awaits postal reforms

The Diet is set to debate legislation that incorporates Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cherished plans to privatize the postal services (mail, savings and life insurance). At stake is a set of four reform bills. Two were introduced by the government last week. One will create an umbrella postal corporation;...
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Apr 30, 2002

Timing is everything in redoing contracts

Negotiating, often denigrated as a field for those with more attitude than aptitude, is often the place where very smart executives make glaringly dumb decisions. A good example of this surfaced when ABC attempted to woo David Letterman away from CBS.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2002

75% question domestic violence law

Almost 75 percent of professionals recently polled feel a new domestic violence law enacted in October is ineffective, primarily due to poor governmental efforts to educate the public about it, the Cabinet Office said.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2002

Another train trip in the cards for Kim?

SEOUL -- In the wake of South Korean presidential envoy Lim Dong Won's recent and apparently successful visit to Pyongyang earlier this month, there is renewed optimism not only over resuming inter-Korean dialogue but also on realizing the promised reciprocal visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2002

Latest Chinese puzzle has experts baffled

HONG KONG -- For China-watchers, the puzzling China contrast is between a nation that sends the capsule Shenzhou 3 into space and one that drags a seemingly useless rusty hull halfway around the globe. China's first aircraft carrier has finally arrived in port, but the mystery remains as to what conceivable...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 28, 2002

Shinjo-mania begins to wear thin with Giants teammates

CHICAGO -- When the San Francisco Giants arrived at Wrigley Field on Tuesday for a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs, Tsuyoshi Shinjo was batting a depressing .168. Considering how much attention he was receiving from the Japanese media, you'd think he was batting 1.000.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 28, 2002

Public rests easy with cash under the futon

As the scandals keep a-comin', the citizens are receiving what many believe is a healthy and long overdue reality check about those whom they've entrusted with their collective well-being. Politicians have always been suspicious types and bureaucrats only slightly less so. But now teachers, policemen...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 27, 2002

Let's celebrate nature at Disneyland

Monday is Greenery Day, a national holiday. Let's hear it for plants! But the question on everyone's mind is: Do plants really need a day off? Let's find out with some roving in-the-pot interviews.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2002

Revulsion grows toward Vajpayee's party

NEW DELHI -- India's secularism is in flames. The western Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps the most economically prosperous region in the entire country, has been in the midst of communal carnage for many weeks now. The majority Hindu population there has been systematically butchering members of the...
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Apr 26, 2002

Market subdued amid conflicting signals

With stocks locked in a crosscurrent between rosy expectations and bearish sentiment, activity has been subdued on the Tokyo stock market in recent weeks.
SUMO
Apr 25, 2002

Kotomitsuki out of summer basho

Sekiwake Kotomitsuki will pull out of the upcoming Summer Grand Sumo Tournament after failing to recover from a broken jaw sustained in March, sumo sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2002

IWC factions set for annual showdown

Government delegates and experts from prowhaling and antiwhaling nations have gathered in the traditional whaling town of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, for the Thursday start of the International Whaling Commission's 54th annual conference.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight