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SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 3, 2001

Tackling the man without the ball

Japan entered the home leg of the World Sevens Series hoping to put itself on the international rugby map and to give the sport in this country a much-needed morale boost.
BUSINESS
May 3, 2001

DaimlerChrysler plans new fuel-cell pact

The Mitsubishi group and DaimlerChrysler AG plan to jointly develop fuel cells with the aim of producing pollution-free motor vehicles, sources close to the project said Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 3, 2001

Killer's coat, umbrella, cap found in park

Police said Wednesday they have found a long jacket and an umbrella near a bloodstained kitchen knife believed to belong to the man who fatally stabbed a 19-year-old female college student Monday in Tokyo's Taito Ward.
MORE SPORTS
May 3, 2001

Japan claims first table tennis medal

OSAKA -- Akiko Takeda and Mayu Kawagoe edged Croatians Tamara Boros and Eldijana Aganovic in the women's doubles quarterfinals of the table tennis world meet Wednesday to secure Japan's first medal in the event in 26 years. The Japanese pair assured themselves of at least a bronze medal by advancing...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
May 3, 2001

How dung beetles came to save Australia

For millions of years a whole host of landlubbers (mammals, reptiles, birds and insects) have been scouring the Earth for food and leaving behind the scraps of their meals and deposits of dung. Billions of creatures over thousands of millions of years, all dumping on the planet. Thank goodness for the...
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
May 3, 2001

Finance chief Shiokawa supports fiscal tightening

In line with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's fiscal reform policies, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa has acknowledged the need to make substantial cuts to general expenditures for fiscal 2002.
MORE SPORTS
May 3, 2001

Another lesson learned in hockey

Ryan Kuwabara is the captain of Japan's national ice hockey team currently playing at the Pool A World Championships in Germany. Kuwabara, a Japanese-Canadian who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens and now stars for Japan Ice Hockey League champion Kokudo, has agreed to keep a journal chronicling...
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
May 3, 2001

Turn the PM into a man of the people

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is right to suggest amending the Constitution to allow the people to elect the prime minister directly. The government of Japan currently lacks the ability to make quick and firm policy decisions. The Japanese tradition of decision-making by a consensus of powerful individuals...
JAPAN
May 3, 2001

Tanaka, Choi mull mending ties

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka and South Korean Ambassador to Japan Choi Sang Yong agreed Wednesday that an apology issued in 1995 by then Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama should be the basis for resolving the issue of a controversial Japanese history textbook.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2001

Talk of duty-free imports riles Japanese politicians

Yet another block has been added to a diplomatic wall being built by the international community to shut out Japan's rising protectionism on farm trade.
JAPAN
May 2, 2001

NPO tackles cybercrime as government drags its feet

A group of lawyers, scholars and housewives has launched a nonprofit organization to help victims of libel, fraud and other problems that have seen a sharp increase on the Internet.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
May 2, 2001

Public works projects not so easy to ax, Ogi reckons

The central government must look to local governments and their leaders when reviewing public works projects and avoid drastically reviewing or canceling them without such input, Infrastructure Minister Chikage Ogi said.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2001

Solution to China trade row sought

Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma on Tuesday called on China to seek common ground on the trade friction that is emerging between the two countries, after Beijing's move last week to slow Japanese imports.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2001

South Korea weighs a constitutional revision

SEOUL -- In private, even his friends acknowledge that South Korean President Kim Dae Jung has passed the peak of his term. With the opposition increasingly less inclined to cooperate, it has become ever more difficult for the "government of the people" to enact domestic reforms.
JAPAN
May 2, 2001

Japan to launch first Venus probe in 2007

Japan plans to launch its first unmanned space probe to Venus in 2007, with the probe expected to begin orbiting the planet in 2009, according to project members at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.
JAPAN
May 2, 2001

Koizumi's vice minister picks pay heed to factions

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi formally appointed his 22 senior vice ministers Tuesday, giving more consideration to factions than he did with his Cabinet picks.
EDITORIALS
May 2, 2001

Strike two for Mr. Wahid

It is hard to believe, but Indonesia seems to be heading toward yet more political chaos. That country's Parliament voted Monday night to censure President Abdurrahman Wahid for a second time. That sets the stage for an impeachment vote later this year, which would set off widespread demonstrations by...
BUSINESS
May 2, 2001

Yen faces seasonal factors

The yen could remain under downward pressure over the next two to three months.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2001

Just one BOJ panel member against new monetary policy

Only one member of the Bank of Japan's nine-member Policy Board opposed introducing quantitative monetary easing by pumping up the money supply at its March 19 meeting, according to the minutes the meeting released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 2, 2001

REITs banked on to ease market fears

As stock market woes and asset deflation continue to cast a cloud over Japan's economic recovery, a new type of investment trust will be introduced this month in a bid to solve these problems in one fell swoop.
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2001

Artcore

There's a scene in "Boogie Nights" in which porno director Jack Horner, played by Burt Reynolds, spells out his life dream: to make a "real movie" with hardcore action, something with a story that would make people want to stay beyond the money shot to find out how it ends.
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2001

Don't go messing with the Iron Ladies

Satree-Lex Rating: * * * Japanese title: Attack Number HalfDirector: Yongyoot Thongkongtoon Running time: 105 minutes Language: Thai, with Japanese subtitlesNow showing A lot of men say that femininity is a dying art. Women are no longer interested in polishing that side of themselves and, consequently,...
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2001

A war movie of guts, glory and heavy gloss

Merdeka Rating: * Director: Yukio Fuji Running time: 114 minutes Language: JapaneseNow showing War movies have a hard time telling the truth about one of humankind's most universal acts. Even when filmmakers loudly proclaim their intention to get it right, they nearly always make their films as...
CULTURE / Film
May 2, 2001

Generation X

While this month may mark artcore's high tide on Tokyo screens, the wave has been building over the past few years. Here's a quick review of some of the more controversial and boundary-pushing films to have opened here within the past six months alone:
JAPAN
May 2, 2001

New air-conditioning system may cool red-hot electricity costs

OSAKA -- With more and more heat-generating computers being used in workplaces, owners and tenants of office buildings are seeing their electricity bills shoot up.
JAPAN
May 2, 2001

Unionists blast Koizumi's plans at May Day rally

National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) -- a group with close ties to the Japanese Communist Party -- attacked the reform plans of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at a May Day rally held Tuesday in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park.

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