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LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 12, 2002

New on DVD: a family-friendly list

Christmas blockbuster movies don't only show up in theaters. Most of America's big box-office hits are timed to be released in the summer and roll into stores on DVD and VHS cassette just in time for the Christmas shopping season.
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 12, 2002

Mobbing comes naturally, too

Some years ago, while doing research on angelfish on the Papuan Barrier Reef, I was lying on a white sandy bottom 30 meters down observing males competing for females during the sunset spawning time.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 12, 2002

A rotten trick to play on a fly

Off the coasts of the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearics, there are a number of smaller islands, studding the sea like olives in a vast focaccia. On these sun-kissed islands there grows a plant with a feature entirely appropriate to the almost mythical setting. When this plant...
COMMENTARY
Dec 11, 2002

Pakistan's nuclear promises

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's new prime minister, Zafarullah Khan Jamali, has begun his tenure with renewed promises that the country's nuclear weapons will remain in safe hands.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 11, 2002

Relax, Australia's not invading anyone

SYDNEY -- To hear some Southeast Asian leaders sound off lately, a casual observer might suspect Australia is about to invade Indonesia or Malaysia or even the Philippines. Such is the folly of listening to "news" as whipped up by audience-boosting television channels fed by headline-grabbing politicians....
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 11, 2002

BayStars acquire foreign pair

The Yokohama BayStars agreed Monday to terms for the acquisition of Tampa Bay Devil Rays infielder Steve Cox and Tyrone Woods, an infielder from South Korean pro league club Doosan Bears.
SUMO
Dec 11, 2002

JSA announces tour to S. Korea

The Japan Sumo Association is to make a groundbreaking tour to South Korea in June next year, sumo officials said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2002

Moving in the right direction

Never in recent memory has a government advisory group engaged in such a bruising battle of words and ideas. Last week, following a stormy debate that caused its chairman to resign, a commission on privatizing debt-ridden highway corporations adopted a final report calling for a drastic cut in toll-road...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Dec 11, 2002

Solomon Burke: "Don't Give Up On Me"

Solomon Burke's new album, "Don't Give Up On Me," is being touted as not only the return of one of soul music's pioneers, but the return of soul singing itself. And while the sixtysomething Burke is in great voice, the record is somewhat frustrating. Producer Joe Henry hired a dozen big-name artists...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Dec 11, 2002

In search of the real artist-potter Ogata Kenzan

"Sensational art finds are both desired and feared: desired because they become a form of pleasure and capital; feared because they displace something or somebody. Japan has had its share of such moments."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 11, 2002

All I want for Christmas is the third of the tonic chord

As 2002 draws to a close, public halls are bracing themselves for the regular flood of yearend classical music concerts featuring Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 "Choral."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Dec 11, 2002

The Roots: "Phrenology"

'They have reached the level of their dreams: a major-label record deal and some international notoriety. But for all that, their concept has not yet blown up, and it is possible it won't."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2002

International ideas take shape in Lebanon

Though the word "symposium" comes from Plato's ideal of a drinking party held to facilitate philosophical discussion, most of us are familiar with its modern usage, meaning a conference or meeting. Few people, however, know about the sculpture symposium movement, started by Karl Prantl in Austria in...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Dec 11, 2002

Jimmy Thackery and Tab Benoit: "Whiskey Store"

The album "Whiskey Store" pairs up two guitar wizards, Jimmy Thackery and Tab Benoit, and lets the good times fly. The blues here is tough and uncompromising, but punches with sophistication and technique. It surpasses most recordings for its consistent rollicking energy and devotion to basic blues values...
MORE SPORTS
Dec 10, 2002

Onishi takes amateur sumo honors

Nippon Sports Science University junior Masatsugu Onishi floored Keisho Shimoda to claim his first title in the amateur sumo national championships Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 10, 2002

New taekwondo body formed

A new taekwondo body was launched Sunday after an internal feud within the Japan Taekwondo Federation reached the point where reconciliation appeared impossible between rival factions.
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2002

The larger, the better?

Japan has about 3,200 cities, towns and villages. The government and the Liberal Democratic Party, among others, think that is too many. They believe that small districts should be consolidated to improve administrative efficiency so that they can better meet the diverse needs of residents.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 10, 2002

One of the real good guys

How do you describe one of the real "good guys." For those of us 'kids' growing up in Tokyo there was one very special person.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 10, 2002

Chilling in the houses of the rising damp

Waking up on winter mornings always reminds me of how primitive life in Japan can be.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 10, 2002

Last-minute mailing over Christmas

Greetings Oh Lord, it's nearly Christmas again, and those of us (and I include myself here) who still have packets and cards to be mailed abroad need to get our skates on.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 10, 2002

Tigers want Nakamura to make up his mind

OSAKA -- The Hanshin Tigers will push Norihiro Nakamura for a prompt answer on whether the free-agent slugger wants to join the Central League club, manager Senichi Hoshino said.
COMMENTARY
Dec 10, 2002

Political stability decreasing

Nearly 20 months since the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi began, popular support for the Cabinet hovers around 50 to 60 percent, down from the extraordinarily high levels of 70 to 80 percent last year.
SUMO
Dec 8, 2002

Takanohana resumes training

Injury-plagued yokozuna Takanohana started his bid to return to the ring in time for the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament when he resumed training on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 8, 2002

Katayama's jumbo lead

Overnight leader Shingo Katayama carded his second straight 4-under-par 66 on Saturday to open up a six-shot lead over closest challenger Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki heading into the final round of the season-ending Nippon Series JT Cup.

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