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Kaho Shimizu
Japan Times
JAPAN / PREFECTURAL FARE
Mar 1, 2003
Kumamoto citrus in Ginza air
Shoppers on Sotobori Street, in Tokyo's fashionable Ginza shopping district, may have been surprised by a sweet scent of citrus hanging in the air.
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2003
Bill seeks to ensure genetic engineering doesn't get out of hand
The government is facing an unusual challenge -- regulating a science that has not yet proved harmful.
Japan Times
JAPAN / PREFECTURAL FARE
Feb 8, 2003
Yamaguchi outpost touts relaxed alternative to madding crowd
The fresh air of Yamaguchi Prefecture may be far removed from Tokyo, but stepping inside Oidemase Yamaguchi Kan (Welcome-to-Yamaguchi Building), its outpost in the Nihonbashi business district, can make a visitor feel half-way there.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003
How long must the guilty wait to hang?
Sentenced to death for killing a farmer to claim an insurance payout in 1963, Tsuneki Tomiyama played his last card in early December when he and his support group filed a clemency plea.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2003
Recruiters adapt to a changing job scene
Are the days of the job-offering "recruiter" numbered? In Japan, recruiters are young employees who help their companies woo recent graduates from their alma maters. But the long-standing practice -- criticized for favoring students from a small circle of select universities -- is giving way to more...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 20, 2002
Pedicabs try 'eco-trendy' revival
When the brightly colored vehicles debuted in Tokyo's fashionable Omotesando district in mid-October, they turned heads and passersby wondered if some special event was afoot.
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2002
Merit evaluation eyed in public service
More than a decade into the continuing economic malaise, corporate Japan's seniority-based wage and promotion system based on the notion of lifetime employment is being threatened as firms increasingly emphasize job performance.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Sep 7, 2002
Inax Gallery enables mundane items to assume new, artistic dimensions
Free your mind and take a look around. Inax Gallery reminds visitors that everything that exists in this world -- even something that would be unlikely to ordinarily attract attention -- has an interesting story to tell.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2002
'Green map' points to Tokyo's sights, blights
On a sunny day in early August, three university students and four children walking near JR Shinagawa Station in Tokyo stopped when they came upon litter on the street.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Aug 10, 2002
Reformer Eiichi Shibusawa's ideals point way forward
With the country's economic problems continuing, and with people apparently at a loss over how to remedy the situation, Shibusawa Memorial Museum offers a hint to the path Japan should take by showcasing the starting point of its earlier era of modernization.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2002
Disclaimers cause waves in scuba business
Recreational scuba divers in Japan are subject to a long-standing, and contentious, industry policy -- signing a waiver to accept all responsibility for whatever happens when they take the plunge.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2002
Information age stunting our imagination, director believes
The explosive spread of information technology is leading to an overload of data and images that is cramping our creativity and even stunting our minds, according to noted stage drama director Amon Miyamoto.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Jul 20, 2002
Printing technology through the ages awaits
How have advances in printing technology contributed to our society as a means of communication?
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2002
Dentists prosper from quest for winning smile
An increasing number of people -- especially young women -- are visiting dental clinics. They're not having cavities drilled, but having their teeth whitened.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2002
NPO questions safety of electric cookers
A nonprofit organization's discovery in March that the radiation emitted by some portable induction-heating cooking stoves greatly exceed international limits has raised questions about the products' safety and what is being done about it.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2002
VDT electromagnetic field exposure said less than stoves
The uncertainties regarding the link between electromagnetic fields and human health are a source of confusion for electric appliance manufacturers and have in some cases led to inconsistencies in product safety standards.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CUP COUNTDOWN
May 30, 2002
Volunteers welcome Cup-goers
In and around the host cities of the World Cup soccer games, volunteers have been preparing in earnest to welcome spectators from abroad.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 17, 2002
Contractor focuses on middle-aged hires
A small contractor in Yokohama is challenging the country's rigid labor market with an unusual strategy -- recruiting the middle-aged.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2002
Kawasaki finds cultural assets among industrial blight
A year ago, a ward along Kawasaki's waterfront launched a campaign to rediscover the district's attraction and dispel its negative image as a pollution-plagued home to smokestack industries.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2002
Afghanistan faces isolation relapse: nurse
Japan and the rest of the world must stay engaged with and support Afghanistan's long-term reconstruction, according to a Japanese nurse who recently returned from the war-torn country.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?