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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 30, 2002

Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble: 'Mnemosyne'

The collaboration between saxophonist Jan Garbarek and the a cappella vocal quartet Hilliard Ensemble is an avant-garde blend of modern European jazz and early music. On "Mnemosyne," their recent collaboration, the origin of their songs extends back to the second century B.C. with a Greek hymn to Delphic...
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Showa Denko revises earnings, expects net loss

Chemical manufacturer Showa Denko K.K. said Tuesday it revised downward its fiscal 2001 group earnings projection to a 34.5 billion yen net loss from a break-even estimate due to additional advanced writeoffs of about 31.6 billion yen in restructuring costs.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

JAL, JAS give merger details

Japan Airlines Co. and Japan Air System Co. on Tuesday unveiled details of their upcoming merger, saying they plan to cut 73 billion yen in costs by fiscal 2005 by shedding 3,000 workers and sharing aircraft and facilities.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Liberty Mutual Insurance to pull out

Major U.S. nonlife insurer Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. plans to withdraw from the Japanese market at the end of March because the country's business prospects are poor, industry sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 30, 2002

Scanner

In the land of ubiquitous cell phones, it's hard not to eavesdrop on the chatterboxes around you. Scanner, aka Robin Rimbaud, a British sound artist, has taken technology-abetted voyeurism to another level. Dubbed a "telephone terrorist," he rose to notoriety in the late '90s by filtering "found" cell-phone...
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Industrial output plunged 7.9% in 2001, early figures show

Industrial output in 2001 declined 7.9 percent from the previous year for the first drop in three years and the biggest plunge since 1975, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 30, 2002

The Dismemberment Plan

In addition to the usual semi-coherent tour diary and merchandising gambits, The Dismemberment Plan's Web site contains a list of the 10 greatest songs of all time that, apparently, changes on occasion. Though the idea of such a mutable list is seemingly contradictory, it sums up the aesthetic of the...
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Fujitsu reports 106 billion yen loss in latest quarter

Major electronics manufacturer Fujitsu Ltd. incurred consolidated losses of 106.1 billion yen for the October-December quarter of fiscal 2001, compared with net losses of 69 billion yen in the same period the previous year, company officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2002

A real sound and light show

Ever go to an exhibition and think, "Hey, I can do that"? If the passivity of being an art gazer is getting you down, you might want to join the kids enjoying the latest innovation at the Urawa Museum of Art, a hands-on drawing room.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 30, 2002

Woodblock art comes of age

Traditional Japanese woodblock prints (mokuhanga) were, until the beginning of the last century, generally disdained as merely mass-produced commodities that were as likely to be used as wrapping paper as to be viewed as art. But the early 20th century witnessed a change in attitudes, leading to the...
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Nissho Iwai to eliminate 5,000 jobs in restructuring

Major trading house Nissho Iwai Corp. on Tuesday announced a three-year restructuring plan featuring a cut of 5,000 jobs from its current consolidated workforce of 19,000.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Newsapers liable for printing wire reports

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling that newspapers should not be held responsible for publishing defamatory wire reports, and returned the cases to the Tokyo High Court.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jan 30, 2002

Going Ga Ga Ga for Ozawa

Ozawa is doing well on the charts these days. Not Kenji Ozawa, the nasally singer whose popularity I cannot fathom, but his uncle, classical conductor Seiji Ozawa. The elder Ozawa's "New Year's Concert 2002" album entered the music-industry trade paper Oricon's Jan. 28 album chart at No. 9, marking the...
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Asahi to cut 'happoshu' by 10 yen

Asahi Breweries Ltd. said Tuesday it will cut the price of Honnama, its brand of low-malt, beer-like "happoshu" liquor, by 10 yen between Feb. 21 and March 31 as part of a campaign to commemorate the first anniversary of the brand.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jan 30, 2002

Yen returns to normal level?

Government officials' commitment to a weak yen policy has played a key role in daily currency market activity in recent months.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 30, 2002

On the outside, but looking in

The Agora Theater is tucked away near Komaba Todaimae Station, just five minutes from the hurly-burly of Shibuya. It was here that I saw "Boken Oh (Kings of the Road)" performed by Seinen Dan, a youth theater-group led by Oriza Hirata, 39, who wrote and directed the play.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Red Cross wants ban lifted on hepatitis-tainted blood

The Japanese Red Cross Society has asked the health ministry to lift its ban on shipments of blood products made using blood tainted with the hepatitis B virus, according to ministry sources.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 30, 2002

Electric Soft Parade: 'Holes in the Wall'

Electric Soft Parade have been heralded by much of the British music press as the best of a bunch of bands that currently make up what some call the nu-acoustic movement, which includes the whining of bands like Elbow, Starsailor and Coldplay.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Contractors Sumitomo, Mitsui eye integration

Sumitomo Construction Co. and Mitsui Construction Co. admitted Tuesday that they are discussing integration of their management.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Baker says Bush will focus on economy during visit

U.S. President George W. Bush will express his support for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's economic reforms when he visits Japan next month, and the Japanese economy will be one of the major topics of discussion, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Howard Baker said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Fresh warrants issued in bid-rigging case

Prosecutors on Tuesday served fresh warrants to the mayor of Ishioka, Ibaraki Prefecture, a former aide to a lawmaker and two others over a 2 million yen bribe in connection with alleged bid-rigging.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Midsize brokers log group net losses

Seven out of the nation's eight midsize brokers, affected by the slumping stock market, logged group net losses in the first three quarters of fiscal 2001.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2002

Life term upheld in '95 sarin attack

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday upheld a life sentence handed down in 1999 to an Aum Shinrikyo defendant for his involvement in the 1995 gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
BUSINESS
Jan 30, 2002

Daiei to sell position in Maruko

Struggling retailer Daiei Inc. said Tuesday it will sell all its shares in its wholly owned real estate subsidiary Maruko Inc. for 15.1 billion yen as part of its rehabilitation plan.
SOCCER / World cup
Jan 30, 2002

Get your Japan friendly tickets

Tickets for Japan's first World Cup warmup against the Ukraine, slated for March 21 (kickoff at 6 p.m.) at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, will go on sale Feb. 6-11 for anyone registered at FamilyMart's ticket service, "Famima club."

Longform

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