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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 18, 2005

Best of friends kick up a storm in the fun house

Nothing frustrates a music critic more than a band that refuses categorization. Lots of bands, intoxicated with their own creativity, might make the claim. Not many, after a few records, resist a formula or a style that isn't easily pigeonholed in a pithy phrase or two.
CULTURE / Music
Nov 18, 2005

Tatopani

Some call Tatopani "contemporary world music," but such a simple description doesn't do justice to the musical magic they conjure up. A trio-turned-quartet of Tokyo-based Americans and Australians, the genres of world, jazz, classical, acoustic and ethnic all capture individual aspects of their music...
SOCCER / World cup
Nov 17, 2005

Sub fires in winner as Japan tops Angola

It was the late, late show from Japan once again on Wednesday night as substitute Daisuke Matsui powered in a last-minute header to give Japan a 1-0 win over fellow World Cup qualifier Angola in a friendly at Tokyo's National Stadium.
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 17, 2005

Verdy in ACL

Japan Football Association President Saburo Kawabuchi gave the green light Tuesday for Tokyo Verdy to play in next season's Asian Champions League even if they are relegated to the second division.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 17, 2005

Japan tops South Korea in three

Kana Oyama and Saori Kimura scored 14 points each to lead Japan to a straight-sets win over archrival South Korea in the women's volleyball World Grand Champions Cup on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

More arrests over mushroom claims

Seven people, including an executive of a Tokyo-based publishing company, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of advertising "meshimakobu" mushrooms as an anticancer drug in 2003 in violation of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, investigation sources said.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

War criminals, war dead same: Abe

The government should not look into the responsibility of the accused Class-A war criminals honored at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine and instead count them among the nation's 2.46 million war dead, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

30 billion yen extra-budget eyed for asbestos victims

The government will propose that 30 billion yen be allocated in the fiscal 2005 supplementary budget to redress asbestos victims not eligible for workers compensation, sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

Beleaguered Bush receives warm reception from ally in Asia

KYOTO -- U.S. President George W. Bush doesn't get many warm welcomes when he leaves the White House these days.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

Koizumi, Bush stress strong ties

KYOTO -- U.S. President George W. Bush, in reaffirming his close personal ties Wednesday with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, praised the latter's recent election win as a model for democracy and underscored that the close Japan-U.S. relationship is important for all of Asia and beyond.
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2005

Disappointment in Beijing

Negotiators have begun the fifth round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. There were high hopes for progress after the fourth round produced a joint statement agreed on by all parties. Whatever momentum existed was quickly lost, however, when the discussions stalemated and broke off...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2005

Companies rush to take advantage of Rakuten-TBS integration battle

A month since Internet shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. proposed integrating itself with Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., other players ranging from information technology firms to foreign financial firms have also entered the fray.
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2005

Murakami fund may still hold 6.5% stake in TBS: sources

An investment fund led by Yoshiaki Murakami notified Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. earlier this month that it still holds a 6.5 percent stake in the TV broadcaster, sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2005

Japan, Indonesia do air-cargo deal

Japan and Indonesia have reached an agreement to launch air freight services between the two countries in response to strong demand from firms on both sides, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry announced Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2005

Making sense of the senseless

LONDON -- How can sense be made out of the senseless? How are the prolonged outbursts of mindless street violence and car-burning in town after town throughout France to be explained?
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2005

Gas prices fall first time since June

The average retail price of a liter of regular gasoline in Japan fell to 130 yen, including tax, on Monday, down from the previous week for the first dip in about five months, the Oil Information Center said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 17, 2005

Passion for kabuki

After working for the Tokyo National Theater for almost 35 years, Koji Orita became director of its Department of Performing Arts in 2003.
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2005

AC Real Estate files in year's biggest failure

AC Real Estate Corp., set up to dispose of the nonperforming real estate holdings of ailing general contractor Fujita Corp., has filed for court protection from creditors with liabilities of some 352.6 billion yen, company officials said Wednesday, making it the year's largest corporate failure.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 17, 2005

Iriki pursues MLB

Nippon Ham Fighters right-hander Yusaku Iriki said Wednesday he will try to pursue a career in the major leagues via the so-called posting system this offseason.
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2005

Seoul aims for leading role

PUSAN, South Korea -- South Korea, long considered "a shrimp among whales" in Northeast Asia, senses opportunity. Diplomatic developments in the region hold out hope of a transformation of relations among states, and South Korean strategists see their nation as uniquely positioned to lead this process....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 17, 2005

A new art center, in Kiyosumi

This week brings some good news and some bad news to Tokyo's contemporary art scene. The good news is that a group of galleries that have been sharing a building in Shinkawa since January 2003 have relocated en masse, and now all boast significantly bigger spaces. The bad news is that the galleries vacated...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

Liquor union boss held in embezzling, vows to air bribes

A former senior official of a liquor retailer union was arrested Wednesday for allegedly embezzling about 16.5 million yen from the union's pension fund.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2005

Liberia's new president brings fresh hope

NEW YORK -- The election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as president of Liberia could mean that a tremendously positive transformation could happen in Africa, one that may extend beyond Liberia's borders. In a country where women make up more than half the electorate, the election of Johnson-Sirleaf could...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
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