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JAPAN
May 1, 2001

'Rose of Versailles' comic to be made an Italian opera

A hit 1970s comic book about tragic love in 18th-century France that spawned its own musical is to become an opera, the author of "Berusaiyu no Bara" ("The Rose of Versailles") said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 30, 2001

One man's fight for the unvarnished truth

My historian friend Richard Minear tells me that Saburo Ienaga has been nominated for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He then follows up on this news by sending me Ienaga's autobiography, which he has translated, "Japan's Past, Japan's Future: One Historian's Odyssey" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2001).
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 29, 2001

No frills, no thrills: the hottest trend in retailing

The news that the discount department store chain Jusco made money last year while its two perennial competitors sank deeper into the red was met with surprise by the media. One can get a handle on how the press views the former underdog by reading this week's Aera, in which it describes the three-way...
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Koizumi floats popular vote for nation's prime minister

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has broken the norm in his Cabinet lineups, on Friday called for revising the Constitution to introduce a popular vote for the nation's top leader.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Opinions split on Tanaka promotion

While Junichiro Koizumi's appointment of Makiko Tanaka as foreign minister took the nation by surprise, some experts warn she could be a mixed blessing for the new prime minister despite her strong popular appeal.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2001

Kan urges removal of war criminals from shrine

Naoto Kan, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, said Friday that Class-A war criminals enshrined at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which is dedicated to Japan's war dead, should be enshrined at a different location.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 28, 2001

Not your average garden-variety squabble

My garden is a mixture of potted house plants, herbs and flowers. I can't help but think that when I'm not home, they squabble. I don't think they're your average garden-variety squabbles, either.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2001

North Korea seeks 4 billion yen for its atomic bomb survivors

North Korea has asked Japan for 4 billion yen in compensation for victims of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, government sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Apr 27, 2001

New York upturn positive news for Japan

The recent upturn in New York share prices could presage a more stable market in Japan, too.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2001

FTC urges care in import curb use

A senior official of the Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday called for prudence in adopting emergency import curbs.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2001

Koizumi's choices break from norm

Junichiro Koizumi, newly elected president of the dominant LDP, broke with tradition Wednesday and awarded the top three party spots to lawmakers outside of the largest faction.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2001

Three nonlife insurers to merge in fiscal '02

Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and two other nonlife insurers due to merge April 1, 2002, inked a deal Wednesday to merge into a single entity on April 1, 2002.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2001

Foreign Ministry panel urges discretionary funds be reduced, monitored

A Foreign Ministry panel of outside experts on Tuesday urged the ministry to reduce the amount of secret diplomatic funds and strengthen its inspection system in order to regain public trust in the wake of a fraud scandal involving a former ministry official.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2001

Koizumi promises to base appointments on ability

New LDP President Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday pledged to fill his Cabinet and party posts according to ability rather than factional concerns.
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2001

Bush defers decision on selling Aegis ships to Taipei

WASHINGTON -- In a decision closely watched by China, President George W. Bush deferred deciding on Taiwan's request to buy U.S. destroyers equipped with high-tech Aegis combat radar equipment, leaving open the possibility of future sales if Beijing's military threats against the island persist, officials...
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2001

Reorganization of Kyoei Life now complete

The Tokyo District Court on Monday ended reorganization proceedings for failed mid-tier life insurer Kyoei Life Insurance Co., renamed Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. at the beginning of this month.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2001

Unaffiliated voters reject bloc members: survey

Unaffiliated voters do not want the ruling Liberal Democratic Party or its coalition partner, New Komeito, to gain seats in July's House of Councilors election, according to a recent Kyodo News poll.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2001

Dollar likely to stay firm against yen

The U.S. dollar is likely to be firm against the yen in Tokyo next week as uncertainty over Japan's politics and economy continues to restrain the currency, dealers said.
EDITORIALS
Apr 22, 2001

Poetry and the people

When the poet Chaucer saw that it was April, one year in the late 1300s, he wrote cheerily about its sweet showers piercing the drought of March to the root. When T.S. Eliot saw that it was April, some five and a half centuries later, he wrote bleakly about it being the cruelest month, "breeding lilacs...
COMMUNITY
Apr 22, 2001

Fashion cuts above and shapes to come

The offerings by over 40 designers at the recent Tokyo collections mapped out the direction for next autumn/winter: bias or asymmetrical cuts, draping and wrapping, patchwork, fringing and quilting, and lots of stripes (both vertical and horizontal).
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2001

49% of leading firms plan increased recruiting in spring '02

About half of Japan's 150 leading companies plan to hire more new graduates in spring 2002 than they did this spring, according to a Kyodo News poll.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2001

Anmitsu dishes up some hot licks

In junior high school, going to shamisen lessons was something Yuka Annaka and Kumi Kindaichi hid, even from their friends. "There was this image that it was something our grandparents did," says Kindaichi. "Other kids reacted like it was strange. I didn't talk to anybody about it all through junior...

Longform

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