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JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 4, 2002

Sea lampreys excited by eau de liver bile

The sea lamprey is a parasitic, eel-like fish with a fearsome, tooth-covered "oral disk" instead of a regular mouth. When attacking, the lamprey rears its head, and clamps its oral disk onto the skin of other fish. With its grasping tongue, it feeds on blood and body fluids for an average of 76 hours,...
LIFE / Digital
Apr 4, 2002

Self-absorbed little Dreadly better love his Moop

Taking your children to see movies would not be bad if all cartoons were the quality of "Totoro" and "Princess Mononoke."
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Apr 4, 2002

Better to skip this 'adventure' and just go to Osaka

You've probably already been inundated with news that Universal Studios opened a theme park last year in Osaka. If you have any interest in seeing that park, do not try to preview it with "Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure" (UA), a relatively new game for the Nintendo GameCube published by a company...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 3, 2002

O'Malley adds icing to Tigers' cake

One of the best moves the Hanshin Tigers have made this year is to bring back former star first baseman Tom O'Malley as a coach and invite him to stay on throughout the 2002 season. There is no doubt the addition of his presence to an already electrified atmosphere surrounding the Tigers manager, coaches,...
EDITORIALS
Apr 3, 2002

Not an enduring recovery

A ray of sunlight is breaking through the clouds. That may be one way to describe the state of Japan's economy, judging from the latest "tankan" quarterly survey of business sentiment. The March report from the Bank of Japan, released Monday, says the confidence index for major manufacturers has stopped...
EDITORIALS
Apr 2, 2002

A completed life

Last Saturday saw the death of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, mother of the present monarch, Elizabeth II. The queen mother, or "queen mum," as she was affectionately known, was 101 years old and had been in poor health for several months. Although her role in public life -- like that of most members of...
Japan Times
Events
Apr 2, 2002

Museum displays home articles of 'typical' family from Seoul

SUITA, Osaka Pref. -- South Korea may never have felt closer to Japan than it has this year. Not only are the two nations cohosting the World Cup later this year, but a three-day tour to Seoul nowadays costs less than 30,000 yen, and Korean food is popular across Japan.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2002

Extend tariff investigation: LDP

Senior members of the Liberal Democratic Party asked trade minister Takeo Hiranuma on Monday to extend by six months an investigation into whether tariffs should be imposed on towel imports from China and Vietnam.
BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
Apr 2, 2002

Strong start doesn't ease fears

The Tokyo stock market rang in the new fiscal year on a positive note Monday, ignoring worries about the underlying economic reality.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 1, 2002

Tigers shock Giants

The Hanshin Tigers gave notice Saturday night that their preseason surge was no fluke.
COMMUNITY
Mar 31, 2002

Keigo: A lexicon of control

Whether you're Japanese or not, chances are you have conflicting feelings about Japan's formal respect-language, keigo. On the one hand, it is one of the most difficult aspects of the language to truly master. On the other, many feel that it somehow contains and expresses a truly Japanese essence. Then...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 31, 2002

How to teach the teachers to teach?

To Doreen Simmons, who for more than 20 of her 28 years in Japan has been an editor in the International Affairs Department of the Diet, the idea of Japan adopting English as its second official language sounds "totally unrealistic."
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2002

DoCoMo set to post appraisal losses

NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Thursday it may, if necessary, post appraisal losses on its overseas investments for the 2001 business year due to stock price movements.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 29, 2002

Earthworm

* Japanese name: Aka mimizu * Scientific name: Lumricus rubellus * Description: An earthworm's body consists of a tube within a tube. The inner tube is a digestive tract, the outer is segmented and muscular. Between the two are reproductive organs, and running the length of the body is a simple nervous...
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2002

DaimlerChrysler's Eckrodt to take over at MMC

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. announced Wednesday that its executive vice president, Rolf Eckrodt, who came from DaimlerChrysler AG, will become the automaker's president and chief executive officer.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

New postal players face flat-rate service

New players in Japan's postal services would be obliged to set flat rates nationwide for ordinary mail of up to 250 grams after partial liberalization in 2003 under government-drafted legislation, Liberal Democratic Party officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2002

Big banks continue to write off bad loans

The nation's 13 major banks are expected to book a combined 7.5 trillion yen in loan-loss charges for the business year to March 31, about 1 trillion yen more than the 6.44 trillion yen previously estimated, banking sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Mar 27, 2002

Pet Shop Boys: 'Release'

More than 16 years ago, Neil Tennant emerged as the Noel Coward of dance pop when he and fellow Pet Shop Boy Chris Lowe exhorted all the young dudes to "make lots of money." Like the playwright, Tennant sauntered on to the scene fully jaded, his wit already acerbic, his ironies prickly with cynicism....
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2002

More needed than festive spirit

This year is a special one for Japan and South Korea. Not only does the World Cup kick off in two months' time, but 2002 has also been designated the "Year of People-to-People Exchange Between Japan and the Republic of Korea." The governments of both countries have high hopes that the successful cohosting...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 24, 2002

The past made perfect

THE POLITICS OF RUINS AND THE BUSINESS OF NOSTALGIA, by Maurizio Peleggi. Studies in Contemporary Thailand, No. 10, forward by Craig J. Reynolds. Bangkok: White Lotus Press., 2002, 100 pp., 450 baht (paper) Now that Kyoto is to all intents "Kyotoland," it might be instructive to turn to other countries...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 2002

Hotel turns over a new leaf

Big hotels are features of most big cities, and Tokyo is no exception. Rearing into the sky, often straddling whole blocks, they're the temporary homes and permanent workplaces for small armies of people -- which brings serious environmental consequences.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 24, 2002

And for your comic delight: The Suzuki Show

Contrary to popular belief, what's good for the goose is not always good for the gander. When Makiko Tanaka was ousted as foreign minister, tears helped crystallize a victim image that guarantees her political longevity. On the other hand, those of Muneo Suzuki, the main victim of Makiko's victimhood,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 24, 2002

Helmsdale: A spot of haggis and ale, lads?

Helmsdale is not so much a pub as a shrine to the "water of life," known to the ancient Gaelic peoples as uisge beatha and to their modern-day descendants as whisky. Almost every inch of space is devoted to it, from the groaning shelves of classic single malts arrayed behind the counter to the empty...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 23, 2002

Erich A. Berendt

After several years' membership in The Asiatic Society of Japan, Erich A. Berendt was elected to the society's council. Since 2000 he has been serving conscientiously and actively as the society's president.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 22, 2002

Revenge time: Bunnies jump all over Seibu

It was time for a little payback.
LIFE / Language
Mar 22, 2002

The boy who's been everywhere

Over the last 73 years, this boy's been everywhere. He's zoomed to the moon in a red-and-white checkered rocket, trekked snow-covered Tibet in search of the yeti and has been saved at the last minute from being sacrificed to the Sun God by angry Aztecs. For all his hair-raising adventures, he hasn't...
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2002

Sanyo Electric expects lower earnings

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. said Wednesday it has revised its profit outlook downward for the year to March 31, primarily due to smaller-than-expected sales.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Mar 20, 2002

Institutional investors turn to Japan stocks

The shift among investors toward Japanese stocks -- the primary catalyst for the yen's rise in recent weeks -- has helped drive the Nikkei average back above the key 11,000 level.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2002

Drain the swamp that breeds terrorism

This week U.S. President George W. Bush meets in Monterrey, Mexico with 50 other heads of state to discuss financing for Third World development. Last week, the president announced that he would ask Congress to set aside $5 billion for a special development-aid fund. This aid will be on top of the 10...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years