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JAPAN
Nov 27, 2002

Ministry punishes bureaucrats who helped rig Hokkaido bids

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry took disciplinary action Tuesday against Hokkaido Development Bureau officials for arranging for certain construction firms to rig bids in 1997 and 1998, including one company that allegedly offered bribes to Lower House member Muneo Suzuki in 1998.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2002

Dissension surfaces in Cabinet

In a rare gesture of ministerial dissent over a government policy that has just been formulated, the industry and land ministers said Friday that a planned supplementary budget for fiscal 2002 is too small.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2002

Extra budget to feature 3 trillion yen in fresh funds

The government and ruling parties agreed Thursday that the supplementary budget for fiscal 2002 will feature 3 trillion yen in fresh spending, with 1.5 trillion yen earmarked for both public works projects and safety net measures.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2002

Former Tokushima governor given suspended prison term

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Tokushima Gov. Toshio Endo to a suspended three-year prison term Friday and fined him 8 million yen for bribery.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2002

Innovation takes off if colleges, businesses link: Stanford head

With the economy in dire need of a boost, an increasing number of Japan's universities have, with government support, started collaborating with the private sector to create new businesses to revamp the nation's industrial competitiveness.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2002

Bank receipts prove aide took kickbacks: lawmaker

A former secretary to farm minister Tadamori Oshima received at least 5 million yen in kickbacks from a consulting company executive for helping contractors land public works contracts, an opposition Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker said Monday.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Oct 31, 2002

The spy who tickled me

"No One Lives Forever 2," a stylish PC game from Fox Interactive, provides tense moments and lots of laughs. As a first person-perspective shooting game revolving around spies, it has loads of guns and enemies; but it also parodies both spy movies and its own game genre.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 25, 2002

Building juggernaut hijacks tourist plan

Japan's new tourism drive, designed to double the number of foreign visitors to the country by 2007, should send a shiver down the spine of conservationists and environmentalists.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 17, 2002

Human traffickers targeting kids

Wani is an umbrella bearer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2002

Savoring and saving China's art

Japan's history is replete with examples of the assimilation of art and artifacts from China, yet in many cases the cultural traditions that produced them have disappeared in China itself. Often, the best clues to further our understanding of these lost artistic traditions lie in examining artifacts...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 13, 2002

Dear old dads star in series, specials

Fathers of all shapes and sizes are the stars of this week's lineup of drama specials and new series. "Otosan (Father)," premieres Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. on the TBS network.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 13, 2002

Composer Toru Takemitsu gets his turn in the spotlight

A WAY A LONE: Writings on Toru Takemitsu, edited by Hugh de Ferranti and Yoko Narazaki. Tokyo: Academia Music, Ltd., 2002, 258 pp. with musical examples and one b/w photo, 3,000 yen (paper) THE MUSIC OF TORU TAKEMITSU, by Peter Burt. Cambridge University Press, 2002, 294 pp., with 133 musical examples,...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Oct 10, 2002

Disney lives in 'Kingdom Hearts'

"Kingdom Hearts" may be old news in Japan, where more than 800,000 people already own it, but it's new to the United States.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 9, 2002

A celebratory cake to get your teeth into

The good news: Sensational Swiss video artist Pipilotti Rist, 40, is doing but a single gallery show this year, and it is happening here in Tokyo, right now, at the Shiseido Gallery on the Ginza strip.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2002

The ugly truth about Pre-Raphaelite beauty

Had Sigmund Freud psychoanalyzed whole eras, not mere individuals, the late 19th century would have been a prime candidate for his therapist's couch. Take the example of empire-building Britain. Victorians may have been prudish to the extent of covering shapely table legs, but they were sexually voracious....
EDITORIALS
Oct 8, 2002

The U.S. returns to Pyongyang

The visit by Mr. James Kelly, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, to Pyongyang yielded no breakthrough in relations between North Korea and the United States. Nonetheless, the two sides are talking and appear committed to a serious dialogue. The U.S., like Japan, should give...
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2002

Law to cut illegal bidding lags at local level, ministry says

The implementation of a new law to correct improper bidding processes has been lagging at the local level, the land ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 12, 2002

Major builders' merger still under construction

Mitsui Construction Co. and Sumitomo Construction Co. said Wednesday progress is being made in their business integration talks but no specifics have been settled.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2002

Designed to dazzle: a lacquerware celebration

The quintessential Japanese aesthetic is that of wabi sabi, a beauty associated with things that are simple, rustic, unpolished or even plain rundown. It is perhaps surprising, then, that this aesthetic is so little in evidence at an extensive exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum of one of Japan's...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 4, 2002

John Hicks: "Music in the Key of Clark"

Tribute albums only work if the feeling's right. Songs can always be rearranged, styles copied and energy siphoned off past achievements, but if the feeling isn't right, it's just parasitic. John Hicks' new CD, "Music in the Key of Clark," dedicated to jazz piano great Sonny Clark, avoids this problem...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 28, 2002

Ninagawa gives his best -- all over again

People always comment on Shakespeare's incredible productivity, but director Yukio Ninagawa surely deserves to be right up there with him -- at least in terms of hard work.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 28, 2002

All things in the universe, and some

The very idea of a comprehensive retrospective of Tadanori Yokoo's work is a daunting one. How to bring together an oeuvre that spans almost a half-century and is, by turns, strident, nationalistic, homoerotic, funny and cosmic; that is both representational and abstract; that comprises posters, photographs,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 25, 2002

On the streets of our town

TOKYO STORIES: A Literary Stroll, translated and edited by Lawrence Rogers. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2002, 315 pp., $19.95 (paper). This interesting collection of short stories about Tokyo does indeed suggest much of the ambience of the place -- enormous, ugly, random,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 23, 2002

Kobe activists hope to repay Tanaka by rallying behind his Nagano race

KOBE -- Kobe-based activists who had worked with former Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka as volunteers helping this city following the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake are lending support to his re-election bid in the Sept. 1 gubernatorial race.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 21, 2002

Universal comedy without errors

Hold on to your seats: We're going back to the essence of theater -- entertainment. "The Kyogen of Errors," directed by and starring 36-year-old Mansai Nomura, is a fitting way to celebrate his five-year appointment as artistic director of the Setagaya Public Theater (SEPT), which was announced two weeks...
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2002

Nagano's Tanaka vows to create additional jobs

Ousted but popular former Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka on Monday pledged to create jobs in local industries while continuing to reform public works spending.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2002

Shiokawa pushes tax-cut plan

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Wednesday he wants to introduce tax cuts over three years and offset expected revenue shortfalls with tax hikes over five years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 7, 2002

Vincent Gallo: the one that got away

Twenty-odd years ago, I moonlighted as a cab driver in Toronto. I still remember how easy it was to glance in the rearview mirror and peg visitors from the American city of Buffalo, N.Y. They were generally polite and well-dressed, but in the affected manner of a child done up in his Sunday best, squirming...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2002

A U.N. lifeline to ordinary Palestinians

NEW YORK -- Consensus has emerged in the Middle East, among people of otherwise widely divergent views, on one point: Something must be done for ordinary families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They face a crisis that threatens everyone in the region.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat