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COMMUNITY
Jan 13, 2002

Time catches up with old men and the sea

HAKODATE, Hokkaido --Kenji Fujita sits among his crabs, the wood fire in a tin bucket at his feet a thin defense against the predawn chill. It's minus 3 degrees at Hakodate's famed morning market, the pitch darkness of 4 a.m. adding layers to the cold.
COMMUNITY
Jan 13, 2002

Fukuoka fish are jumping

FUKUOKA -- First-time visitors to this sunny city are often told with a certain friendly belligerence that Fukuoka's seafood is the best in Japan. Usually, just a glimpse of its sparkling harbor and rugged natural coastline is enough to whet their appetite to test this claim.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jan 13, 2002

A great group effort

After the yearend holiday whirlwind, a mood of austerity settles over the month of January. It's a shame, since deep winter evenings are arguably the best time of year to pop the cork on rich, dark and warming red wines. Yet there is a way to savor special wines even in tight-budget times. Start a wine-tasting...
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2002

Tokyo police chief emphasizes World Cup security at drill

Takeshi Noda, superintendent general of the Metropolitan Police Department, instructed his staff Friday to take full security precautions for the World Cup soccer finals that are to be jointly hosted by Japan and South Korea this year.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2002

Aum victim can keep welfare, compensation

A woman on welfare who was a victim of Aum Shinrikyo's 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system will be able to keep her welfare money, as well as 3 million yen in compensation she was awarded after the attack.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2002

Populist politics behind Argentine crisis

Those who would blame Argentina's economic woes on free-market policies or pegging the peso to the U.S. dollar choose to be willfully blind to reality. Although the most evident and most disastrous results are economic in nature, the bases of the problems are political.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 11, 2002

Northern fur seal

* Japanese name: Kita-ottosei * Scientific name: Callorhinus ursinus * Description: Fur seals have bodies streamlined for life in the sea. They have four limbs (unlike dolphins and whales, which have only two), but the arm and leg bones are relatively short and are contained within the body. The hand...
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2002

State appeals ruling on A-bomb survivor

The welfare ministry filed an appeal Tuesday against a Nagasaki District Court ruling that ordered the state to compensate a South Korean survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing for health-care benefits he was denied.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2002

Uniqlo earnings outlook is revised downward

The operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing store chain said Tuesday it has revised downward its earnings forecast for the current business year due to significant declines in sales.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 9, 2002

Harada to be named captain of Olympic team

Olympic ski jumping gold medalist Masahiko Harada will later this week be named captain of the Japan team for the 2002 Winter Olympics at a Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) directors meeting, sources said Monday.
BUSINESS / TAKING STOCK
Jan 8, 2002

Sense of crisis means steps are in the offing

The Tokyo stock market finds itself in a do-or-die situation at the beginning of the new year.
COMMENTARY
Jan 8, 2002

India set to keep full press on Pakistan

NEW DELHI -- The biggest question now is whether war will break out between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan. Although no right-minded citizen in either country wants war, many forget that Pakistan has thrust an undeclared war on India for years, bleeding India noticeably. Thus the aim is not...
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jan 8, 2002

Former Sanfrecce boss Thomson itching to get back into J. League

SYDNEY -- Former Sanfrecce Hiroshima manager Eddie Thomson is the sort of person who could sell Michael Schumacher a used Skoda.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2002

One step up, two steps sideways in Nago

WASHINGTON -- On Dec. 27, Japanese central government officials and leaders from Okinawa Prefecture announced agreement on a basic plan for the proposed construction of a joint civil-military use airport on the reef off eastern Nago City. The announcement by the Futenma Relocation Committee ("Daitai...
COMMENTARY
Jan 6, 2002

Pakistan needs trade, not aid

WASHINGTON -- The United States has assembled a dubious collection of allies over the years. Washington long has had to emphasize the vices of its adversaries rather than the virtues of its friends. Instead of tying itself to morally putrefying regimes through aid programs and military alliances, the...
COMMUNITY
Jan 6, 2002

A.I. shows new signs life

The so-called handicapped are only a special case of human imperfection -- all humans are handicapped by nature, without being aware of it.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 6, 2002

Dewi Sukarno: 'Miss Ambition' who's done it her way

Ratna Sari Dewi Sukarno has become a well-known Japanese media figure in recent years and has just raised some $90,000 for victims of terrorist attacks in the United States.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 6, 2002

Oh, what will they think of next?

It's never a good idea to start a new year by looking over your shoulder. But there's no harm in saluting the trends that have emerged over the past 12 months, especially if they represent a significant slippage in the gourmet zeitgeist. After all, yesterday's dabblings by the food fashionistas become...
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

Foreign workers in Japan rise for ninth straight year

The number of foreign workers in Japan totaled 221,807 as of June 1, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

Yamanote adds English and standing room

Come April, Tokyo's Yamanote Line will be kinder to English-speaking foreign passengers.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2002

Mazda lets buyers fine-tune Roadster

If you are a fan of Mazda Motor Corp.'s Roadster, shopping for your next new car might be a little different than what you expect.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 5, 2002

Hiroshi Ito

When he was a merry little boy in Seijo in the '50s, Hiroshi Ito disliked having to practice playing the piano. As often as he could, he escaped to play outdoors with his friends. When he advanced to Meiji University, however, with the aid of an instruction book he taught himself to play the banjo. Once...
BUSINESS
Jan 4, 2002

Tokyo stocks expected to recover by yearend

Share prices on the Tokyo Stock Exchange are predicted to gradually recover toward the end of 2002 after testing lows at the start of the year amid growing fears of credit risks.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 4, 2002

Town ties fate to remnants of an industry

KUSHIRO, Hokkaido -- Although the new year was just around the corner, there was little joy to be seen in the southeast end of this port city.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 4, 2002

Horsefly

* Japanese name: Akaushiabu * Scientific name: Tabanus chrysurus * Decription: This is a stout-bodied insect with huge, iridescent compound eyes (the eyes touch in the center in males but are separated in females). They have one pair of wings and are strong fliers, able to cover long distances. The...

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