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LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 17, 2002

Language help lets foreign students fit in

You'd think my sons were the first gaijin kids ever to attend a Japanese elementary school, judging from the surprised responses we get from people. But there are lots of foreign children in Japanese schools, and their numbers are growing. Unfortunately, most schools aren't equipped to teach newcomers...
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.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2002

Big banks to get FSA inspectors

The Financial Services Agency plans to appoint inspectors specializing in each of the nation's 12 major banks to enhance supervision and expedite bad-loan disposals, sources close to the FSA said Wednesday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 7, 2002

Guess who's coming to dinner?

Thanks to a series of scandals, Snow Brand Dairy Products has seen one subsidiary fall and its image seriously damaged, but that's not the worst of it. Last Sunday, "Ryori Banzai," one of Japanese TV's longest-running cooking shows, signed off forever with a long, tearful thank-you speech. Ever since...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 31, 2002

Manuel: Iberian inspirations

Portuguese cuisine -- much like Belgian fashion and Canadian rock music -- has an identity problem. Overlooked and underrated by the world at large, it inevitably suffers by comparison with the better-known output of its far larger neighbor, Spain.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 22, 2002

Asian hive bee

* Japanese name: Nihon mitsubachi * Scientific name: Apis cerana * Description: Asian hive bees are social insects. Hairy and bullet-shaped, they have well-developed tongues and back legs with special hairs that mesh together to form a flexible basket for carrying pollen. Bees are very strong and are...
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2002

Strategies for saving precious lives

The United Nations is not loved by everyone, nor does it always do everything right. Even when it is not being controversial, it often appears ineffectual or, worse yet, boring. There are only so many conferences, forums, summits, accords, agreements, understandings, commitments, resolutions and declarations...
BUSINESS
Mar 14, 2002

Panel hopes to spur reform with deregulation zones

A government advisory panel on deregulation has proposed creating special deregulation zones and compiling an interim report as early as June.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Mar 12, 2002

JFA introduces new status for experienced refs

The Japan Football Association has this season introduced a new status for its top referees, called "S.R."
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 10, 2002

All you can eat and then some

L ately, there has been a lot of news about a certain Japanese politician who profited personally from his interest in Russia. Tonight, on Nippon TV's newsmagazine "Document '02" (12:25 a.m.), we get to see the opposite: Russians who profit from their interest in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 3, 2002

Hard realities and total fabrications

Ten years ago, Chikako Kaku was the most popular actress in trendy dramas. Though not classically beautiful, she was good at conveying the type of well-bred charm that's considered a paramount virtue in Japanese wives, while at the same time possessing a formidable capacity to exhibit nail-biting fear....
COMMUNITY
Feb 23, 2002

Beauty and brains behind company clear as glass

Company President Narumi Tanaka is alone Monday morning, holding the fort in her office in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. Her staff -- three full-timers, one part-timer and her husband -- are out and about on what she calls "the client site." A good thing, we agree, because it means TRANSe Project is at full...
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2002

Takenaka ups deadline for fund-injection decision

Economic and fiscal policy minister Heizo Takenaka said Sunday the government may decide by the end of March whether an additional public fund injection into major commercial banks is necessary.
BUSINESS
Feb 1, 2002

Ministry panel to weigh creation of economic zones

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry asked an advisory panel Thursday to look into the creation of more special economic zones in Japan in an attempt to reinvigorate the sluggish economy.
COMMENTARY
Jan 30, 2002

Chinese, when convenient

HONG KONG -- In an unusual move, China in recent weeks twice denied visa applications by a group of South Korean lawmakers. Relations between China and South Korea have been good in recent years, so it is strange that Korean legislators who wish to visit China should be denied the chance to do so.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 27, 2002

Can't start a fire without a match

A popular format for variety specials is the omiai, bringing together single men and women for the purpose of making couples. Often the stated goal is nothing more than dating, but of course the ultimate goal is matrimony.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / FLOWER WALK
Jan 3, 2002

A short trip way back to Shinto's arcane roots

In the depths of winter, when their barren fields yielded no blooms to adorn their altars, Japanese farmers traditionally fashioned flowers of wood to celebrate the New Year. To make their festive flora, they cut leafless branches and carved the white wood inside in a variety of ways. Tangled curly slivers...
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2002

Defense policy emerges from 2001 with new face

Kyodo News About 110 sailors aboard the Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweeper Uraga reached Yokosuka port in Kanagawa Prefecture on New Year's Eve and were received with welcoming cheers by their families and fellow MSDF ranks.
COMMUNITY
Dec 30, 2001

O-Shogatsu: a custom-made holiday

Yoshio Mamiya doesn't need reminding that o-shogatsu is almost here. For several weeks, the 78-year-old craftsman has been working 12-hour days, seven days a week at his studio in the Sanno district of Tokyo's Ota Ward, where he busily stitches away to meet his customers' demand to renew their domestic...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2001

Foreign Ministry to require diplomats use receipts

The Foreign Ministry plans to oblige officials dispatched to diplomatic missions abroad to submit receipts when claiming management expenses at overseas government establishments in the fiscal 2002 budget, ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2001

Government tax panel calls for overhaul of system

The government's tax panel Friday proposed an overhaul of the taxation system to deal with changes in the economy and called for the abolishment of special tax breaks meted out to individuals and corporations to avoid revenue shortfalls.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Dec 7, 2001

Taking centerstage without clamming up

On his first visit to Urato Junior High School a year and a half ago, David Goldberg was awestruck. He was glad that he had followed his predecessor's advice to take a camera along. On the early morning 30-minute ferry ride from Shiogama City in Miyagi Prefecture to the island of Nonoshima, Goldberg...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 6, 2001

'Shrek,' 'Final Fantasy' raise bar for DVDs

When ogres and space monsters battled last summer, the ogres won handsomely. At least they did in box offices across the United States.
JAPAN / Media / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 18, 2001

Saddle up for the mystery tour

Monday night at 8 and 9:15, NHK-G will broadcast the first two parts of a six-part drama series by best-selling mystery novelist Keigo Tono, who is famous for his elaborate plot twists. Tono himself was quite surprised that NHK had picked up his novel, "Akui (Malice)," for serialization, since, according...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Proposed bills detail Constitution review steps

A group of lawmakers considering review of the Constitution proposed two related bills Friday for submission to the ordinary Diet session to convene in January.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Proposed bills detail Constitution review steps

A group of lawmakers considering review of the Constitution proposed two related bills Friday for submission to the ordinary Diet session to convene in January.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2001

Police to get submachineguns to fight terrorism

Police in 28 prefectures will be issued with 1,379 submachineguns by the end of March to combat terrorism, the National Police Agency said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2001

Koizumi warms to debt concession plan

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday reacted positively to Pakistan's request to reschedule its debts to Tokyo, and Finance Ministry officials later indicated that Japan will discuss the matter with other creditors to Pakistan.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji