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JAPAN
Nov 17, 2002

Japan urged to accept more refugees

Sadako Ogata, former U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, urged Japan on Saturday to recognize more asylum seekers as refugees in order to fulfill its international humanitarian obligations.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Nov 17, 2002

Sanfrecce ends Antlers' quest

KASHIMA, Ibaraki Pref. -- Defending J. League champion Kashima Antlers' second-stage title quest ended Saturday afternoon after bowing to relegation-threatened Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2-0 at home.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2002

Rengo to review its policy of support for DPJ

Japan's largest labor union group is to reconsider its relationship with its main political ally, the Democratic Party of Japan, by next February, sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2002

Public split on abductee family story

The magazine Shukan Kin'yobi (Weekly Friday) said Saturday it has received numerous complaints about its interview in Pyongyang with the family of Hitomi Soga, one of five Japanese abducted 24 years ago by North Korea who returned to Japan for the first time on Oct. 15.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 2002

Year of the dragon

DRAGON DANCE, by Peter Tasker. Kodansha International, 2002, 272 pp., $22.95 (cloth) After beating Tokyo's mean streets in "Silent Thunder" (1992) and "Buddha Kiss" (1997), Peter Tasker's Tokyo gumshoe Kazuo Mori finally hit his literary stride in 1999 with "Samurai Boogie" -- one of the most entertaining...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Nov 17, 2002

Despite years of experience, nature still fascinates weaver

KYOTO -- Fukumi Shimura has been weaving kimono from naturally dyed thread for 47 years, but she is continually surprised by the mysteries of nature.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Movers and shakers behind the scenes

For journalists and valued customers, the Tokyo Collections are all about the spectacle of the shows. For buyers from Tokyo's department stores and boutiques, they are epic spending sprees -- business gambles founded on knowledge and experience laced with intuition.
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2002

Winds of change in South Korean politics

MANILA -- What did I miss most after I had left South Korea nearly a year ago, a South Korean journalist asked me during a recent visit to Seoul. "Actually, it is Korean politics," I answered to his disbelief.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2002

Shinsei Bank faces fine over tax on bond interest

Shinsei Bank failed to withhold 3 billion yen in the late 1990s for income tax payments on interest paid to clients overseas, sources close to the case said Saturday.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2002

Prison guard held over killings

OSAKA -- An Osaka prison guard was arrested Saturday by prefectural police on suspicion of murdering his daughter-in-law and grandson in April, police said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Threads bared: Tokyo's Spring/Summer collections

Think Zen: the spirit of darkness; the essence of white. This was one of the main themes from Tokyo's fashion designers, who have just presented their Spring/Summer 2003 collections.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Make tracks to the new-look Yurakucho

Have you noticed the recent changes around Yurakucho Station? As fancy new cafes and restaurants pop up one after another, the tiny old izakaya under the railroad tracks, with their red paper lanterns, are gradually disappearing.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 2002

But no shortage of shocks and intrigue

Author Peter Tasker talks to Mark Schreiber about his latest novel, ``Dragon Dance,'' a thriller set against the backdrop of U.S.-East Asian relations in 2006.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 17, 2002

Big leaguers knot series

The big boys found a new way to win, and it had nothing to do with anyone's power.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 17, 2002

Media refuses to aim spotlight on prison life in Japan

At a news conference Nov. 12, Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama apologized for an incident that occurred at Nagoya Prison in September, when five guards allegedly used excessive force on a prisoner, who subsequently spent three weeks in hospital. Moriyama told the press it wouldn't happen again. She also...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Skeletons in the academic closet

"Those who have put out the people's eyes reproach them of their blindness'' -- John Milton (1608-74)
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 2002

Superiority met altruism when West advised East

TO CHANGE CHINA: Western Advisers in China, by Jonathan D. Spence. New York/London: Penguin Books, 2002, 336 pp., 21 b/w photographs, $15 (paper) This intelligent and entertaining book is a reprint of the original 1969 American edition, much missed and sought after, and now available again. In it, Jonathan...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Issey on a roll

The most astounding of Issey Miyake's latest fashion statements isn't about ready-to-wear garments; it's about ready-to-wear fabric.
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2002

A green light for ivory merchants

Japan said nothing in the runup to the 12th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the 160-nation forum that met in Chile last week to reconsider, among other things, the 13-year-old ban on ivory sales. It didn't have to, really. Everyone...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 2002

Sit up and beg, there's a good boy

The fatal stabbing of an independent-minded Diet member by an unbalanced ultrarightist last month raised the specter of the kind of political terrorism seen in pre-World War II Japan. If the global economy should worsen, could Japan once again fall into ultranationalism?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Nov 17, 2002

Getting syrupy about music

When I first heard the term "self-cover," I thought it referred to errant politicians or bureaucrats making excuses for themselves when caught with their pants down, metaphorically speaking or otherwise.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2002

Menswear in the spotlight

Menswear at the Tokyo collections was, as usual, sparsely represented. Just a handful of designers sent any male models out onto the runways. And as for shows devoted solely to menswear, only Kohshin Satoh (for the Arrston Volaju brand), Kiminori Morishita (showing his own diffusion label within the...
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2002

Early snow opens Niigata ski resort

A ski resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture, opened to the public on Saturday, one week earlier than expected because of an unusually heavy fall of snow.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 17, 2002

A guide in wine is a friend indeed

It's a story we've heard dozens of times before, in slightly varying versions. An acquaintance who does much corporate entertaining decided to treat a few office-mates to a late meal in Daikanyama. After an under-10,000 yen bottle of red, the sommelier suggested that they might like an unlisted Shafer...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 17, 2002

Cozy up to the 'new' classical

Classical music fans frequently complain that avant-garde music made after Schonberg hasn't resonated with listeners and that composers create tunes for their own satisfaction, without audiences in mind.

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