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EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2002

Abductees' brief reunions with kin

Five of at least 13 known Japanese nationals who were kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s returned home on Tuesday aboard a government-chartered plane. But their family reunions -- the first since they disappeared in the summer of 1978 -- will be temporary; they are scheduled to return...
COMMENTARY
Oct 17, 2002

Face down lobbies, factions

LONDON -- Why can't Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi carry out his promised reforms of the Japanese economy? Some may argue that he never really intended to reform the system and that his promises were all sham designed as a political boost. I don't agree, although I do question whether he and his close...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2002

El Nino plays havoc with drought-stricken Australia

SYDNEY -- First a devastating drought grips the nation. Now bush fires have begun burning down houses. And the real sting of summer is still months away.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 17, 2002

Ticks: playing a waiting game to gorge on blood

Being in the field for several months each year in search of wildlife to study, photograph and write about may sound wonderful, and it certainly does make for an exciting life. There is a downside, though, because there's also wildlife out there looking for me. Well, not me specifically, but warm-blooded...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 17, 2002

Prince

The artist formerly known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince has suddenly embarked on a world tour and will be in Japan in mid-November. You should be excited, though no one can blame you if you're not. Having spent most of the '90s trying to figure out what to call him as he dropped one multidisc...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 17, 2002

Poncho Sanchez

Poncho Sanchez built his reputation as the West Coast's hottest conga player the old-fashioned way -- with hard work and hot rhythms. Coming up outside the New York-Havana axis of Latin music, he had to work a little harder to get his stylistic variation of Latin jazz accepted. The subtle differences...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Oct 17, 2002

A proud town founded on ferries

The Ara River rises in the Chichibu Mountains of Saitama Prefecture, from where it flows southeast for some 140 km to reach the capital and discharge itself into Tokyo Bay. As its name (which means "rough") implies, it used to be a violent river, swelling after heavy rains and raging across the wide...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 17, 2002

Doug Martsch: "Now You Know"

When rock musicians "rediscover" the blues, it usually means one of two things: They feel a need to step back from their careers and look at one origin of their craft, or they've run out of ideas and need to give writer's block a swift kick in the pants.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 17, 2002

Tisziji Munoz: "Shaman-Bala"

"I've always known music as a way of spontaneously expressing free heart feeling," says guitarist and metaphysical theorist Tisziji Munoz in an e-mail from his home in upstate New York. "Playing music as a broken or wounded heart is a constant characteristic of my heart feeling, or Soul, as some call...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 17, 2002

Human traffickers targeting kids

Wani is an umbrella bearer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 17, 2002

'Tis a pity she's the leading actress

Contemporary theater in Japan existed as something akin to an underground cult in the 1960s and '70s. In the '80s, with bubble money swilling around everywhere, many of these youthful, looselyknit groups came in from the cultural margins and formed theater companies. Led by experimental directors such...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Oct 17, 2002

Japan image that resonates

Ichitaro Nakanoshima likes nothing better than to spend the late morning watching videos of old musicals like "Singin' in the Rain."
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 17, 2002

Searching within ourselves for the vaccine against HIV

It is 2005, in what was formerly the state of California. After a massive earthquake, the golden state has been divided into two: So. Cal and No. Cal. Scrawled and sprayed on walls and wreckage is the name of the people's savior: J.D. Shapely.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Oct 17, 2002

Honor (and fun) among thieves

American-made adventure games do not typically hit the Famitsu top 10 rankings that determine what's hot in gaming in Japan. "Donkey Kong Country," a British-made Super Famicom game, was Japan's all-time best-selling foreign-made adventure game.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 16, 2002

Lions' Cabrera finishes on 55

CHIBA -- Alex Cabrera will have to wait another year for a chance to erase Sadaharu Oh and Tuffy Rhodes from the record books.
SOCCER / World cup
Oct 16, 2002

Nakata gets Japan armband

New Japan coach Zico has named Parma midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata captain of the team ahead of Wednesday night's friendly against Jamaica, the Brazilian said Monday night.
EDITORIALS
Oct 16, 2002

A most fitting Nobel laureate

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has been awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. It is a fitting selection. Mr. Carter has worked tirelessly for peace and to help the poor and the powerless throughout his career; his efforts deserve the recognition afforded by the Nobel selection committee. Just as important,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 16, 2002

Tale of honor that'll run and run

This October, the Kabukiza is anticipating the 300th anniversary of the famous act of revenge accomplished by 47 ronin (masterless samurai) on Dec. 14, 1702 by staging one of kabuki's most celebrated dramas, "Kanadehon Chushingura (The Forty-seven Loyal Retainers)." Selections from this epic work are...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 16, 2002

Educational crazy golf is a hole in one

If life is a crap shoot, then the Japanese educational system is a game of mini-golf, or so reckons Peter Bellars: That's the message behind the English artist's current Yokohama Museum of Art Gallery exhibition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2002

Savoring and saving China's art

Japan's history is replete with examples of the assimilation of art and artifacts from China, yet in many cases the cultural traditions that produced them have disappeared in China itself. Often, the best clues to further our understanding of these lost artistic traditions lie in examining artifacts...
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 14, 2002

Cabrera gets one last shot at home run record

Tuffy Rhodes has been there, done that. Well, almost.
SOCCER / J. League
Oct 14, 2002

Marinos grab late winner

Brazilian forward Will converted a penalty in the 93rd minute to give the Yokohama F. Marinos and their new manager Yoshiaki Shimojo a 1-0 extra-time win on Sunday afternoon at Tokyo's National Stadium.
EDITORIALS
Oct 14, 2002

Victory for the working man

A s Brazil heads into the second round of its presidential election, history looks to be in the making. For the first time since their country became a republic, the Brazilian people appear set to elect a working-class man as president. Although the front-runner, Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has promised...
COMMENTARY
Oct 14, 2002

Resurgent Asia may yet help buoy America

LOS ANGELES -- Think of the world economy as one huge ship with many passengers from all over and wildly varying tiers of service.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Oct 14, 2002

Acute case of linguistic 'disconnectivity'

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- One of the best terms of the 21st century is "global connectivity." Composed of three elements -- (1) entrepreneurial and energetic individuals, (2) the Internet and (3) the English language -- global connectivity serves not only to exchange information and ideas but also to...

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