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BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 29, 2001

Free tickets for Tokyo Dome

Get your free tickets for Yankees Day Sept. 16.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 29, 2001

American culture now just part of the furniture

Following decades of hot pursuit, Japan feels it no longer needs to catch up with the U.S. Fifth in a series Staff writer Who would have believed 50 years ago that the hatred spawned during World War II could dissipate to the extent that former enemies now reminisce about shared cultural experiences,...
JAPAN
Aug 29, 2001

Trio held in loan scam tied to credit union NSK

Three people, including the head of a Tokyo-based consulting company, were arrested Tuesday for allegedly swindling a credit union out of some 160 million yen.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Infrastructure spending key to town mergers

The government plans to emphasize social infrastructure investment as part of a comprehensive plan to support mergers of cities, towns and villages, according to a draft plan obtained by Kyodo News.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 28, 2001

Whither the mighty Mekong?

"The boat moves off, the river banks remain." -- Old Khmer proverb
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2001

Rengo calls on Koizumi to curb job losses

The nation's largest labor organization called on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday to help stave off joblessness via a special law and a supplementary budget for fiscal 2001.
JAPAN
Aug 28, 2001

Kinki postal bureau searched over vote-rigging scandal

OSAKA -- Police on Monday raided the Kinki Postal Administration Office following the arrest of its head official Sunday in connection with a vote-rigging scandal.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Aug 27, 2001

U.S. wants justice for all -- except itself

NEW YORK -- On Aug. 2, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia convicted Bosnian Serb Gen. Radislav Krstic of genocide. But even before the verdict, the Bush administration had made clear its opposition to the effort to create an International Criminal Court, which would broaden...
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2001

205.8 billion yen job safety net planned

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry will seek 205.8 billion yen in budget requests for fiscal 2002 to help build a safety net for people expected to lose their jobs under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms, ministry officials said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 26, 2001

Shaping the future:the politics of language

LANGUAGE PLANNING AND LANGUAGE CHANGE IN JAPAN, by Tessa Carroll, Richmond, Surrey: Curzon, 276 pp., 40.00 British pounds (cloth) Most countries consider their official language to be an area of state responsibility requiring "planning" by government agencies or special institutions. Language, from...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 26, 2001

Sips of high-grade tranquillity

In parts of Asia, tea is more than a mere beverage: It is a social lubricant, a sacrament of complex rituals and a vital part of national identity. Throughout history, farmers and philosophers alike have treasured a steaming cup of cha. While there is some evidence of tea's health benefits, there is...
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

NPA to hire 5,000 officers as arrest rate falls

The National Police Agency intends to take on 5,000 more officers as an urgent measure and will incorporate the plan in its budget requests for fiscal 2002, which begins next April 1, agency officials said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 25, 2001

Kikumi Nakamura

The twists and turns that her life has taken have given Kikumi Nakamura a range of experiences that, early on, were steeped in the very traditional. Through circumstances and her own wit, she operates today at a prominent level in a contemporary milieu. "I've had many difficulties and crises, but my...
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2001

Reform panel eyes shake up of state-run oil, road firms

An advisory panel on administrative reform called for merging several oil developers affiliated with the state-run Japan National Oil Corp. into one entity after JNOC is scrapped.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 24, 2001

Salty dragonfly

* Japanese name: Shiokara tonbo * Scientific name: Orthetrum albistylum speciosum * Description: A fast-flying dragonfly 48-57 mm long. Males have a pale-blue body; the end of the abdomen is pointed and black, and is equipped with a pair of clasping appendages. Females are usually a brown-yellow...
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2001

New stalking law brings 66 arrests and 453 warnings

Police nationwide arrested 66 people over violations of the antistalking law between November, when it took effect, and the end of May, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 24, 2001

Mahathir goes all out to remove thorn in his side

SINGAPORE -- After months of futile attempts at various kinds of measures, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad may have hit upon the right combination to effectively deal with a formidable political opponent -- the fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2001

Emigration: a Kurdish national obsession

On the face of it, the Sheikhallah bazaar is just the shabby little side street in downtown Erbil where you go to change money. But the whole of "liberated" Iraqi Kurdistan knows that another, more serious business is conducted behind those counters piled high with debased Iraqi bank notes.
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2001

'Super science schools' in the works

The education ministry plans to select 20 high schools for nurturing a new generation of researchers and engineers who can compete on a global basis, ministry sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN / 50 YEARS SINCE SAN FRANCISCO
Aug 23, 2001

Japan's foreign policy still retains U.S. trappings

First of a six-part series looking back on 50 years of Japanese-U.S. relations since the 1951 signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the bilateral security treaty. By JUNKO TAKAHASHI Staff writer Nobuo Matsunaga was a young diplomat in Paris when Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

Better listening through circuitry

Theremin Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Steven M. Martin Running time: 83 minutes Language: English Now showing Just about everyone's listening to some sort of electronic music these days, but most people would be hard-pressed to name any of the medium's pioneers. Perhaps most would recognize Kraftwerk...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

Just please don't ask 'why?'

The first questions John Williams is always asked about "Ichiban Utsukushii Natsu (Firefly Dreams)" are the "whys": Why are you in Japan? Why did you shoot a film using only Japanese actors? The answers, Williams says, don't come easy, "because I never imagined I would end up making a film here."
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 22, 2001

Alex tops voting

Shimizu S-Pulse midfielder Alex topped the voting for the J. League foreign players team, World Dreams, to play against the league's Japanese players side, Japan Dreams, in the JOMO Cup on Sept. 2 (kickoff 5 p.m.) at Tokyo's National Stadium, the J. League announced.
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 22, 2001

Noda's kabuki brings the house down

The lobby of the Kabuki-za in Higashi Ginza -- the mecca of kabuki -- was swarming with people last week, ahead of the start of this year's noryo kabuki (summer festival of kabuki).
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 22, 2001

Wiggle

W iggle combine the hard, harsh beats of The Chemical Brothers with the noisy exuberance of The Boredoms and an occasional female vocal that sounds like Shonen Knife on speed. Bravely straddling the accessible and the arty, they would be worth going to see for the music alone.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2001

Options over last rites sought

When a citizens' group scattered human ashes at sea 10 years ago, they revived a burial practice unseen in Japan for more than 400 years.
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 22, 2001

'We all felt this could be a masterpiece'

Midway through the triumphant two-week run of his summer-festival kabuki classic "Togitatsu no Utare," cutting-edge director Hideki Noda took time to reflect on his remarkable crossover from contemporary theater to the Kabuki-za in Ginza (no less).
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2001

Misfortunes in tough times spur new breed of insurance plans

In May, Yamagata University disclosed that it had bungled its entrance exam grading, irretrievably altering the course of applicants' lives.

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