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COMMUNITY
May 12, 2002

The King of Sports .... in the land of emperors

Some 15 years ago, I found racing -- or perhaps you could say that it found me. Free tickets to the international Japan Cup took me to Tokyo Race Course and marked the beginning of a continuing affair with the horses.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 12, 2002

Natural quality, Acquavino style

You don't get to become a successful restaurateur without knowing exactly what it is that people want. As the man behind the Acquapazza and Mangia Pesce stable of ristoranti, chef Yoshimi Hidaka helped to define the new high-end Italian cucina of the cash-flush 1990s. Now he shows he is equally in tune...
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2002

Murder in the Netherlands

The assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is a wakeup call to the citizens of Europe. Coming only days after the defeat of rightwing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the runoff for the French presidency last weekend, the killing is a savage reminder of the threats to democracy in Europe. The Dutch...
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2002

Indian state frenzy borders on genocide

NEW DELHI -- The continuing communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat has not only left hundreds dead, but has also led to embarrassing condemnation by world leaders. New Delhi finds itself in an utterly shameful spot, a situation brought on by its own inept handling of the Hindu-Muslim...
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
May 11, 2002

S-Pulse makes quarters

KOBE -- Shimizu S-Pulse secured its place in the Nabisco Cup quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory over Vissel Kobe at Kobe Universiade Stadium on Thursday night, celebrating the return of Shimizu and Japan defender Ryuzo Morioka from an injury.
COMMENTARY
May 11, 2002

Koizumi's pain, media's gain

Japan's gossipy media kingmakers have finally gone too far. Not content with creating Japan's system of revolving-door prime ministers, they now want to dump a creature of their own creation, Junichiro Koizumi, only a year after he took office. They want Tokyo governor, Shintaro Ishihara, as his successor....
COMMENTARY
May 11, 2002

A recipe for reconciliation

TAIPEI -- British writer George Bernard Shaw once said that Americans and Brits were two peoples separated by the same language. This is an even more apt description when describing the Chinese and Taiwanese. A week of visits to Taiwan and China leaves me once again to marvel at how poorly two peoples...
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Survivor of Nanjing Massacre wins lawsuit over book

The Tokyo District Court on Friday ordered the authors and publisher of the 1997 book "Nanjing-gyakusatsu e no Daigimon" ("Big questions on the Nanjing Massacre") to pay a total of 1.5 million yen in damages to a Chinese woman whom the book claims is a false witness of the massacre.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Japan wants secure airports during Cup

Japan will ask foreign countries to beef up security at their airports as the World Cup soccer finals approach in an attempt to prevent terrorist acts on airplanes flying to Japan, government sources said Friday.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Media bodies terrified by privacy legislation

Newspaper editors, publishers, broadcasters and freelance journalists across the country are vehemently protesting that two bills now in the Diet would gravely undermine freedom of the press.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Personal information bill endangers privacy, press: LDP politician

A government-sponsored bill to protect personal information, which critics fear would threaten freedom of the press, is more likely aimed at protecting bureaucrats rather than individual members of the public, according to a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who has openly criticized the legislation....
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

IY Bank unfazed by loss in '01, eyes profit by '03

In its first year of offering 24-hour ATM banking at convenience stores, Ito-Yokado Co.'s fledgling IY Bank reported a 12.18 billion yen after-tax loss in fiscal 2001.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Prosecutor gets new arrest warrant

OSAKA -- A fresh arrest warrant was served Friday on a former senior official of the Osaka High Public Prosecutor's Office on suspicion of accepting bribes from a gangster in return for investigative information, Osaka prosecutors said.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 11, 2002

Giants' utility man Crespo ready to do whatever it takes

If it were up to Felipe Crespo, he'd be chasing fly balls in the Tokyo Dome outfield. Somewhere -- left, right or center -- it doesn't matter.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

Softbank posts 88.76 billion yen net loss

Internet business investor Softbank Corp. dipped into the red in the year that ended March 31, due to costs to build infrastructure for broadband online services and a devaluation of the firm's stockholdings, company officials said Friday.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Prison term sought for ex-lawmaker

Prosecutors on Friday sought a three-year prison term for former Upper House lawmaker Takao Koyama, who is accused of accepting 31.6 million yen in bribes from the mutual-aid foundation KSD between 1996 and 2000.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

JAL suffers 36.7 billion yen in losses for fiscal 2001

Japan Airlines Co. on Friday said it slipped 36.7 billion yen into the red in fiscal 2001, it's first net loss in four years.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2002

Reflecting on the future of Myanmar

CHIANG MAI -- The hopeful news from Myanmar calls for a pause and reflection: What really triggered these happy developments? Which is the most appropriate course for the international community to follow on the strenuous road to a full blossoming of democracy in Myanmar?
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

Money supply up 3.6% but April time deposits dip

Japan's key money supply gauge rose 3.6 percent in April from a year earlier while the balance of quasimoney -- most of it time deposits -- saw a record drop in the wake of the April 1 abolition of the government's full-refund guarantee, the Bank of Japan said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 11, 2002

Takanao Muramatsu

Bright and bouncy Harajuku in Tokyo has been good to a lot of people. Takanao Muramatsu published a book, "Harajuku Success Story," for which he interviewed more than a hundred people who succeeded in business in Harajuku. The trendy district has been good to Muramatsu too. He commemorated the name in...
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

182 Koreans lost in '44 sinking of Japanese vessel

An estimated 182 Koreans were among the 956 people who died when the Imperial Japanese Army ship Taihei Maru sank off the Chishima Islands during World War II, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Japan cranks up pressure on China

Japan on Friday ratcheted up the pressure on China to hand over five North Korean asylum seekers who were dragged out of the Japanese consulate in Shenyang two days earlier by trespassing Chinese police.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Snow Brand officials arrested

KOBE -- Five former executives of Snow Brand Foods Co. were arrested Friday on suspicion of defrauding an industry body out of 196 million yen by mislabeling beef.
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Glass takes center stage at Shinbashi museum

Nestled among office buildings in Tokyo's Shinbashi district is a glass museum packed with historical information and shimmering displays.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2002

Panel urges drastic, extensive action to ensure Japan is competitive again

If Japan is to regain its competitiveness, the government must take drastic and extensive action to increase research and development and make the country a base for value-added industries, according to a report Friday by a government panel.

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