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COMMENTARY
May 16, 2002

Another crisis feeds distrust

HONG KONG -- It is the stuff of drama. Chinese policemen grabbed three North Koreans -- two women and a toddler -- who were trying to seek asylum in the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang in northeastern China last Wednesday, but not before the two men with them succeeded in reaching the diplomatic...
BUSINESS
May 16, 2002

Dentsu reports profit drop for 2001

Dentsu Inc. on Wednesday blamed sluggish advertising revenues amid the stagnant economy for a 15.6 percent drop in operating profits in the 2001 business year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
May 15, 2002

Misora's ship has come in

Die-hard fans of the late Hibari Misora -- the greatest enka diva ever -- may want to book passage on the "Queen Hibari Misora cruise," a unique, if somewhat morbid, maritime event being held June 12 and 13 to mark the 14th anniversary of Misora's death at the age of 52 after a prolonged illness.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2002

Are local tracks up against the odds?

There is little glamor at Kawasaki Racetrack. Under grubby baseball caps, cigarettes and pencil stubs are jammed behind the ears of tense punters. The odor of ramen wafts along the betting slip-littered corridors and stairways under the stands.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

Money supply up 3.6% but April time deposits dip

Japan's key money supply gauge rose 3.6 percent in April from a year earlier while the balance of quasimoney -- most of it time deposits -- saw a record drop in the wake of the April 1 abolition of the government's full-refund guarantee, the Bank of Japan said Friday.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Kawaguchi sorry for scandals

In a highly unusual arrangement, Foreign Ministry scandals and reform plans were at the fore of the so-called diplomatic Blue Book for 2002, released on Friday, with Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi expressing resolve to regain trust in the ministry.
SUMO
May 10, 2002

Free sumo tickets up for grabs

The Grand Sumo Kachinuki Yushosen tournament, which started in 1992, will be inviting 10 pairs (20 people) of Japan Times readers to the 11th Kachinuki Yushosen tournament to be held June 15 and 16 (five pairs each day) at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
May 10, 2002

Twice shy investors still capable of rally

Share prices soared along a broad front Thursday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, taking market participants by surprise.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
May 6, 2002

Le Pen's philosophy is all too familiar

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The results in the first round of the French presidential elections on April 21 hit like a seismic shock. Veteran rightwing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen took second place. There are many reasons why. Some are statistical: Sixteen candidates across the spectrum split the votes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
May 5, 2002

Wire's London Nite: Let it be a lesson to you

Tokyo has one of the best underground rock 'n' roll live scenes in the world, with dozens of superb bands, but the club scene -- if you like dancing to loud guitar music until dawn -- has been in a coma for the past five years.
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2002

Why it must be Bush vs. Gore in 2004

NEW YORK -- It is impossible to overstate the importance of tossing U.S. President George W. Bush back onto the unemployment lines in 2004. His illegitimate presidency isn't even half-over, yet Bush's disreputable Cabinet of tin-pot gangsters has already succeeded in causing irreparable harm to our great...
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,"...
JAPAN
May 4, 2002

Rallies held for, against change to Constitution

Groups for and against a revision of the Constitution held rallies Friday in Tokyo to mark the 55th anniversary of the supreme charter.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2002

Signs the Cabinet may fall

As the limitations of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's government reveal themselves, there are emerging signs of the possible downfall of his Cabinet. The crushing defeat of a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in the Upper House by-election in the Niigata constituency on April 28 was one event testifying...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2002

A cocoon of grandeur and propaganda

PYONGYANG -- Is change really in the air north of the Korean Peninsula's 38th parallel?
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
May 2, 2002

20 years of writing on the wild side

The biological exuberance of the equatorial region is staggering to behold. Walking through a temperate forest (as one might find in many areas of northern Japan, the northern United States or across much of central Europe), it is commonplace to have a clear view for hundreds of meters -- even to the...
LIFE / Digital
May 2, 2002

IMAX 3-D puts outer space in your face

The astronauts are playing with their food.
JAPAN
May 1, 2002

Land ministry prepares for volcanic contingencies

The land ministry said Tuesday it will create computerized hazard maps for evacuation and emergency plans to cover volcanic eruptions, lava flows and ash falls nationwide.
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2002

METI group set to tackle copyright abuse in Asia

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will organize a private group of publishers and producers of music, movies, games and other software in June to deal with rampant piracy in China, South Korea and Taiwan, METI officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2002

Over 7,500 take advantage of new rehabilitation system

More than 7,500 heavily indebted individuals made use of a new system to receive court-organized rehabilitation in the first 11 months since the system's introduction last April, according to statistics released by the Supreme Court on Sunday.
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...
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Japan to take flexible stance on oil reserves: METI

Japan plans to relax its oil reserves policy and will unleash stockpiles in the event of a surge in crude oil prices, government sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2002

Lawmakers flock to Yasukuni

Ninety-one lawmakers, including Jin Murai, head of the National Public Safety Commission, visited Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday in the wake of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's surprise visit there Sunday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2002

Rage against the machine: anti-tech art

"The First Move," a showcase of finalists for the 2002 Philip Morris Art Award, opens this Saturday at Tokyo International Forum. On display until May 6, the exhibition includes paintings, photographs, 3-D pieces, videos, installations and computer-generated work by 57 young artists selected from more...
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2002

Koizumi says reform path stands firm

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi took the opportunity Saturday of a cherry blossom viewing party he hosted at a Tokyo park to emphasize that his structural reform policy stands firm.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2002

Koizumi trade pitch misses

CAMBRIDGE, England -- At the Baoa Forum for Asia that met on Hainan Island in China earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made yet another proposal for a greater economic cooperation agreement for East Asia. This time Japan's focus is on an ASEAN-plus-five formula, as announced...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 21, 2002

Whip me with your best shot

A frequent visitor to Tokyo for the past 20-plus years asked me whether I thought S/M was on the rise in Tokyo. The answer is both yes and no. Hardcore S/M bars have been discreetly operating throughout that period, but as with all specialty bars, they are controlled by a strict members-only door policy,...

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past