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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 19, 2002

Like grandfather, like grandson

The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo has been presenting special programs through May and June to celebrate the shumei (succession) of Onoe Tatsunosuke (real name Arashi Fujima), 27, to the stage name of Onoe Shoroku IV. He has inherited the name from his eminent grandfather, Onoe Shoroku II, who died in 1989...
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2002

Kidnapped boy's parents face new drama

The parents of a Chinese boy who was rescued a little over a week ago after being kidnapped were arrested Monday for allegedly being in Japan illegally.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 18, 2002

It's adios Mexico after loss to U.S.

CHONJU, South Korea -- Two well-taken goals and some stout defending were enough to see the United States overcome a Mexico side that failed to repeat its showing in the group phase here on Monday and, it must be said, were a little unlucky to find themselves up against a goalkeeper who is having an...
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2002

Ministry plans environment protection bill

The Environment Ministry said recently that it plans to submit to the Diet next year a bill aimed at helping nonprofit organizations and local firms promote environmental protection.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2002

Preventing a new dark age

On May 8 an American citizen with alleged ties to the al-Qaeda terror network was arrested on suspicion of plotting to build and detonate a radioactive "dirty" bomb in the United States. On May 31, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda of Japan -- the emotional touchstone of antinuclear sentiments for...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jun 16, 2002

Refined wining and dining without pretension

Japan's trendy wine boom ended a few years ago. Still, interest in wine did not plummet; instead, it normalized. In groceries stores, elderly ladies and hip twentysomethings alike scrutinize the wine shelves. At many Tokyo izakaya pubs, diners can opt for a glass of house wine with their sashimi, odenor...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jun 16, 2002

Big world sprouts from tiny grains of rice

When you travel between one small town and another in Japan often the panorama is a vast plain of flooded fields or a towering terraced mountain of rice paddies. In early June, up and down the Japanese archipelago, rice has been planted and the glistening paddies are teeming with life. Along with the...
EDITORIALS
Jun 15, 2002

Stop modern-day slavery

Human slavery is a difficult idea to comprehend. Treating another person as a piece of property is so fundamentally alien to every philosophical and legal tenet of our age that most people assume that slavery is a purely historical phenomenon. They are wrong. Slavery is very much alive. It continues...
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2002

Tax Commission policy advocates stiffer burdens

The government's Tax Commission on Friday compiled its basic policy for fundamental tax reform over the medium and long terms, aiming for fiscal reform by securing tax revenues.
COMMENTARY
Jun 15, 2002

Japan remains very abnormal

When the framers of Japan's postwar Constitution included the much-debated Article 9 prohibiting the nation from ever having armed forces or from ever going to war, they had a reason. They saw Japan as a nation with an incurable propensity to slip into militarism.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 14, 2002

Greater shrew-mole

* Japanese name: Himizu * Scientific name: Urotrichus talpoides * Description: The greater shrew-mole belongs to the mole family but, befitting its name, it has features of both moles and shrews. It has short, thick, dark-brown to black fur that conceals its small eyes and ears, a pointy nose and...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2002

Okinawa airline plots cheap flights to Haneda

A new low-cost airline hopes to capitalize on recent changes in the government's aviation policies and give Okinawans a cheaper option of getting to and from the mainland.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 13, 2002

Get yourself an attitude

"Human history," said H.G. Wells, "becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe." That was in 1920, but his words are more relevant than ever.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 13, 2002

Canny Japanese playing it by the numbers

Any time I require the services of a taxi, I can easily recall the telephone number of the Daiwa Taxi Co., 3563-5151, because it transliterates phonetically into "Sa, Goro-san, koi-koi" (Well, come and pick me up Goro-san).
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 12, 2002

Japan's Ono all set for Tunisia match

KAKEGAWA, Shizuoka Pref. -- "If we can stay focused, I think we can win the next match as well," Japan and Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono said Tuesday of his team's upcoming game against Tunisia, set for Friday at Osaka's Nagai Stadium.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2002

Panel wants 2003 budget to focus on information technology, aging society

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy will unveil a new policy blueprint later this month calling on the government to focus on information technology and the aging of society in the fiscal 2003 budget, sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jun 12, 2002

Message in a pop song

You've probably noticed a big mascara-lined eye staring out at you from billboards all over town lately. The eye in question belongs to Lisa, former vocalist with hip-hop/R&B trio m-flo, and the billboard is plugging her new single, "Babylon no Kiseki (Miracle of Babylon)," which was released on May...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 11, 2002

Flaws in Japan's nuclear-arms debate

The ongoing debate in Japan on nuclear arms lacks sophistication. On May 31, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said if the international situation were to change, public opinion might favor a nuclear-armed Japan. He was commenting on the government's long-standing three nonnuclear principles of not...
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2002

Pizza, convenience store sales surge for Japan-Russia match

Pizza deliveries and convenience store sales surged Sunday before and during the World Cup Group H match between Japan and Russia.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2002

Nonnuclear principles to stay: Fukuda

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, who provoked an uproar by suggesting that Japan's ban on nuclear weapons could be reviewed, told a Diet panel Monday the government has no intention of abandoning the "three principles" of not possessing, manufacturing or allowing nuclear arms on its soil.
BUSINESS
Jun 11, 2002

Bank lending falls for 53rd straight month

Lending by Japanese banks fell 4.5 percent in May from a year earlier, down for the 53rd consecutive month, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2002

Child pleads with official to stay in Japan

OSAKA — The 9-year-old daughter of an illegal immigrant from South Korea made an appeal to Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama to let her family stay in Japan so that she can continue to study here.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2002

Kidnapped boy, 6, rescued; six held

Police on Saturday rescued a 6-year-old Chinese boy who had been kidnapped two days earlier from a store near his home in Tokyo's Adachi Ward and held for a 15 million yen ransom, and arrested six people.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2002

Diet mulls fate of mentally ill criminals

The Diet is now debating a bill that would create a system whereby medical doctors and judges would decide together whether someone with a psychiatric disorder who commits a serious crime should be hospitalized.
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2002

A right royal celebration

LONDON -- Queen Elizabeth has just celebrated her Golden Jubilee (50 years) in splendid style. Her popularity has never been as high as it is today and people are now said to be planning for her Diamond Jubilee (60 years).
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2002

Foreign-exchange reserves hit record high of 420 billion yen

Japan's dollar-buying operations in May pushed the nation's foreign-exchange reserves to a record $419.65 billion at the end of that month, up $12.95 billion from the previous record of $406.7 billion, logged a month earlier, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jun 7, 2002

Slender shrew

* Japanese name: Togarinezumi * Scientific name: Sorex gracillimus * Description: The shrew is the archetypal small furry mammal, resembling the first mammals that ever existed. It has brown fur with a white underside, a long tail, small ears and eyes, and a pointy nose. Slender shrews are 6-7 cm...
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2002

Group to support hibakusha lawsuit

A nationwide organization for atomic bomb survivors said Wednesday it will support some hibakusha in filing group lawsuits demanding the government recognize them as suffering from bomb-related illnesses and pay them special medical allowances.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami