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CULTURE / Books
Jun 23, 2002

The courage to endure

BAD ELEMENTS: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing, by Ian Buruma. Random House: New York, 2001. 367 pp. $27.95 (cloth) Are the Chinese hard-wired for authoritarian government? Is there a cultural barrier to democracy? Ian Buruma spends more space than warranted in answering these questions with...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2002

S. Korea makes semifinals

KWANGJU, South Korea — South Korea's World Cup dream continues in incredible fashion.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 23, 2002

Following in the footsteps of Alexander and Marco Polo

AN UNEXPECTED LIGHT: Travels in Afghanistan, by Jason Elliot. Picador, 2001, 473 pp, 3,420 yen (paper) Jason Elliot's "An Unexpected Light" has been pigeon-holed in that genre of literature known as travelogue, but it is a great deal more. An account of the author's two visits to Afghanistan -- the first...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 23, 2002

Overcoming the tyranny of distance

TREASON BY THE BOOK: Traitors, Conspirators and Guardians of an Emperor, by Jonathan Spence. London: Penguin Books, 2002, 302 pp. 7.99 UK pounds (paper) In his short story "The Great Wall of China," Franz Kafka wonderfully evokes the enormity and complexity of imperial China by describing the travails...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jun 23, 2002

Stand me for a cup of sake?

Almost everyone interested in sake wants to know where to drink great sake at cheap prices. Perhaps you don't always want to settle down for the evening in a nice traditional pub. Perhaps you just want to sample a few decent sake on the cheap or have a quick drink on the way home. Well, assuming you...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jun 23, 2002

You too can take the natto challenge

Several years ago NHK broadcast an exhaustive special on natto, containing more than you ever cared to know about that much-maligned sticky, stinky dish of fermented soybeans. One of the exciting pieces of information that NHK's crack investigative journalism revealed was the number of times required...
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2002

Diet apathetic on political ethics

The regular Diet session, which was extended on Wednesday for 42 days through July 31, appears headed for further turmoil. The arrest of Lower House member Muneo Suzuki on the same day, immediately following a unanimous vote accepting a court request for an arrest warrant, has removed a big thorn in...
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 22, 2002

South Korea's composure impresses Pele

YOKOHAMA -- Brazilian soccer legend Pele said that the ability of the South Korean players to handle the pressure from their home fans was one of the reasons that South Korea progressed further than Japan in the World Cup.
COMMENTARY
Jun 22, 2002

Media: bulwark of democracy

LONDON -- The British prime minister's chief of communications has publicly accepted that the overuse of "spin" in government has led to cynicism and that the emphasis should now be on policy and delivery. Most British observers would agree. But government ministers, who have spent much of their life...
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

Book offers anecdotal glimpse at those on the bench

Few Japanese outside the legal community may be able to name even a single Supreme Court justice. Lower court judges are equally anonymous.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 22, 2002

Ronaldinho goal sinks England

SHIZUOKA -- It was billed as the three R's (Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho) of Brazil against the defense and organization of the England side. Fortunately for Brazil, two of the famed R's showed up to send England packing after an absorbing 2-1 come from behind win at the Shizuoka Stadium on Friday....
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

Lower House demands that Suzuki quit

The House of Representatives passed a motion Friday demanding the resignation of lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, who was arrested earlier in the week on corruption charges.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Jun 22, 2002

Sumida venue showcases accessories made from hawksbill turtle shells

Along the Sumida River in Tokyo's old "shitamachi" district, a small, no-frills museum with three generations of tradition behind it is waiting to be discovered.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 22, 2002

Germany edges past valiant U.S.

ULSAN, South Korea -- A single goal by Michael Ballack was enough to see Germany squeeze past a spirited United States team here Friday evening, although not without several nasty scares from a U.S. side who refused to be over-awed by its opponents' reputation.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2002

Honda, Nissan increase sales as rivals' pace slows

Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. posted increases in domestic auto sales in May, while the three other major Japanese automakers saw their sales slip, according to data released Friday by the carmakers.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

Brazilian win provides diversion from hard knocks

OIZUMI, Gunma Pref. — Cheers and car horns echoed through this rural industrial town, home to thousands of Japanese-Brazilian and Latin-American residents, heralding Brazil's 2-1 victory over England on Friday in a World Cup quarterfinal match.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2002

Reforms seen weak in short-term

Although a package of reforms finalized by a key government panel on Friday may point Japan's economic and fiscal systems in the right direction in the long term, pundits are skeptical whether it can deliver the boost of confidence necessary now.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

A judiciary ruled by conscience or politics?

The Constitution states that all judges must exercise their conscience in an independent manner and be bound only by the charter and the laws of the land.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 22, 2002

Islanders ward off cholera the rite way

Out the window, I caught a glimpse of the yellow silk tails of a Shinto priest's robes. He was walking up the stone staircase behind my house, followed by men in black suits. I grabbed my camera and ran after them.
COMMUNITY
Jun 22, 2002

Don Carmine: a great team for food and attitude

Welcome to Don Carmine in Tokyo's Nishi-Azabu, opened April 10 and described by its founders as an Italian restaurant with attitude.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

Road panel to include controverial writer

A long-awaited list of members of a key government panel that will discuss proposed privatization of road-related public bodies was released Friday, controversially naming the well-known nonfiction writer Naoki Inose.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2002

Ex-Mizuho chiefs' allowances eyed

Former top officials of Mizuho Holdings Inc. should either repay their retirement allowances or have them reduced as a means of accepting responsibility for the massive computer debacle that threw operations at the firm's two banks into chaos in April, Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa said...
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2002

Government wastes money, study says

Wasteful spending of taxpayer money is a common problem at both the central and local governments, according to preliminary data from a government-spending review released Friday by the Finance Ministry.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

Council finalizes basic reform policy

The government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Friday finalized a basic economic reform policy that features such revitalization and tax reform measures as corporate tax cuts and consolidation of government expenditures in the fiscal 2003 budget.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2002

Pensions face possible reductions

Chikara Sakaguchi, minister of health, labor and welfare, said Friday that his ministry will conditionally agree to lift a freeze that has kept pension payments from matching price declines during the past three years.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

'Spy ship' salvage to begin next week

The government said Friday it will start a monthlong effort early next week to salvage a suspected North Korean spy ship that sank in the East China Sea in December after a gunbattle with the Japan Coast Guard.

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