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JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

Matsushita unit hit for assets error

OSAKA -- Matsushita Electric Works Ltd. failed to declare about 300 million yen in assets, mainly in connection with the development of a computer system, over the two years through the business year that ended in November 2001, company sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 20, 2003

Desertification, Tsurutaro Kataoka back on TV; Nogiwa and Kuroyanagi together again

Desertification is one of the major ecological catastrophes the world in facing right now. It is estimated that every year the amount of land that changes from a state that supports vegetation to desert is equal to the size of the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku combined.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 20, 2003

Newspaper says Daiei to sell Hawks

Struggling retailer Daiei Inc. and its main creditor UFJ Bank have decided to sell Daiei's professional baseball club, the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, as well as two other businesses in Fukuoka, a major newspaper said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

Unemployment benefits to be cut

Basic unemployment insurance benefits will be reduced from Aug. 1 in response to a 0.8 percent fall in average pay in fiscal 2002, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 20, 2003

Mutated beats for postmod grooving

Scott Herren is many things to many people. To some, he is Delarosa & Asora, the purveyor of jagged, techno dissonance. To others, he is Savath & Savalas, a mutating musical project that navigates electronica, postrock and Spanish folk with equal ease. At the moment, however, Herren's hip-hop outlet,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 20, 2003

Need to leave Japan?

YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN IN JAPAN TOO LONG . . . , by Bill Mutranowski. Tuttle Publishing, 2003, 120 pp., $14.95 (paper). Many foreigners will tell you that if you plan to stay in Japan long term then "for sanity's sake, get out of the country at least six times a year!" It is one of those warnings that...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 20, 2003

Get in touch with your inner Tarzan

It can be difficult to get my kids moving on weekends, but I knew just how to motivate them for an outing one Saturday. "Hey boys," I said. "Wanna go to a park where visitors fall into the water so often that they rent out spare clothes?"
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

NGOs renew call on ODA guidelines

A group of nongovernmental organizations has repeated its demand that the government review a draft guideline on official development assistance, saying the projects should be used to ensure the nation's security and prosperity.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 20, 2003

Here's your red hot mama, daddy

When the smoke cleared from the retro swing boom of the '90s, only a few bands remained. Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers was one of them. The swing bands resurrected an entire corpus of old-style dancing, slick dressing, and lyrics not heard in public for a half-century. While the posers...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 20, 2003

Making sure your fragrance fits

There is always something sensual about the scent of the opposite sex -- or more particularly, the aroma he's wearing. On the streets, I pass by a man and often find myself glancing back, not because I've been struck by his looks but because I've caught a faint whiff of his cologne. The intoxicating...
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

Koizumi backs Blair's decision to attack Iraq as 'courageous'

HAKONE, Kanagawa Pref. -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi agreed Saturday with his British counterpart, Tony Blair, that there were justifiable grounds to launch the war against Iraq.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 20, 2003

Fighters add to Lions' misery

Angel Echevarria homered twice and Michihiro Ogasawara also went deep as the Nippon Ham Fighters won their third straight and sent the Seibu Lions to a season-worst fifth loss in a row in a 4-2 victory in the Pacific League on Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 20, 2003

Summer suspense and nuclear intrigue

PROJECT KAISEI, by Michiro Naito. Indiana: 1stBooks Library, 2003, 321 pp., $19.95 (paper). THE INUGAMI CLAN, by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Yumiko Yamazaki. Tuttle Shokai Inc., 2003, 300 pp., $14.95 (paper). Unless the dire warnings of electric power shortages that were raised earlier this summer...
COMMUNITY
Jul 20, 2003

Being nasally challenged is nothing to be sniffed at

To be honest, I never gave much thought to noses, ne'er even my own, until my sense of smell departed.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 20, 2003

Excesses of the exotic: Siam in the eyes of the West

SIAM & THE WEST: 1500-1700, by Dirk Van der Cruysse, translated from the French by Michael Smithies. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2002, 564 pp., $32.50 (paper). Relations between Siam (now Thailand) and the rapacious West were distinguished by Siam's never having been colonized. The European powers --...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 20, 2003

Scents of slimness

For most people, losing weight is about as easy as climbing a mountain on all fours. It's tough work. But for those who still want to try shedding calories (however daunting that might seem), there are any number of dieting methods and theories -- from simply exercising to becoming vegetarian; from eating...
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jul 20, 2003

Yokoyama's ship finally comes in

Ken Yokoyama is crazy.
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

More people favor stricter rules on traffic safety

An increasing number of Japanese approve of stricter rules on traffic safety, including the use of seat belts and driving under the influence of alcohol, according to a government survey released Saturday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jul 20, 2003

'Potter': the order of parents

MOSCOW -- It is normal for a parent to distrust the things kids like. Having heard enthusiastic reports about some new product, be it a toy, computer game or movie, an average parent issues a suspicious grunt, thinking that it is probably overpriced, stupid and aggressive, and that the kid will never...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 20, 2003

Life's a drag for all those 'guilty' parents

State Minister Yoshitada Konoike's comment July 11 that the parents of the 12-year-old boy accused of murdering a 4-year-old in Nagasaki should be "dragged through town" and "beheaded" shocked a lot of people. He later apologized, but added that he did believe in the "principle" behind what he said,...
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

Satellite system to link ambulances, trained doctors

Researchers have developed a remote diagnostic system that can send doctors medical information on patients while they are still in an ambulance and heading for the hospital.
EDITORIALS
Jul 20, 2003

Driving Jesus crazy

Sooner or later, there had to be a backlash against the largely American phenomenon of preempting political debate by injecting "Jesus" into whatever social or political argument happened to dominate the hour. The fad started several years ago and quickly found favor among a surprisingly broad swath...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 20, 2003

Taking readers to the edge

RUNNERS IN THE MARGINS: Poems by Akira Tatehata, translated by Hiroaki Sato. Vermont: P.S A Press, 2003, 103 pp., $12.95 (paper) The poet Akira Tatehata has a wide-ranging imagination as rich, and yet as controlled, as the brush of the most delicate artist. His poems are sometimes playful, sometimes...
JAPAN
Jul 20, 2003

Doi denies she will quit over scandal

Social Democratic Party leader Takako Doi denied speculation Saturday that she will resign to take responsibility for the arrest of former party lawmaker Kiyomi Tsujimoto, who is being questioned over the misuse of the salaries of her state-paid secretaries.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2003

Japan Highway on the road to ruin; 617.477 billion yen in debt: document

A set of secret documents allegedly compiled by Japan Highway Public Corp. suggest that the semigovernmental corporation is in a state of capital deficit.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight