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Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
May 15, 2003

Big-mouth bulbuls time it just right

Second of two parts Imagine, if you can, an opinion poll of Japanese forest plants. Question: which bird is most important to you? The brown-eared bulbul, or hiyodori, would have to take a bow.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2003

Foreign reserves hit new record

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves at the end of April hit a new record high for the fifth straight month, rising by $3.26 billion from a month earlier to $499.44 billion, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 9, 2003

Le Jardin: The fine art of museum dining

What could be more cultured and civilized -- indeed more pleasurable -- than to spend the morning strolling around a good museum and then, with legs aching and aesthetic senses saturated, to adjourn from exhibition hall to adjoining restaurant for a leisurely lunch? Especially when the cuisine is sophisticated...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 8, 2003

Japanese weasel

* Japanese name: Nihon itachi * Scientific name: Mustela itatsi * Description: Japanese weasels are fairly small mammals in the mustelid family (a large family of animals that includes otters, badgers, stoats, polecats, martens and skunks). Males are 29-37 cm long, females 20-26 cm. The fur is an orange-brown...
BUSINESS
May 5, 2003

Japanese government committed to promoting foreign investment

On April 22nd, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry selected five regions in Japan that are making special efforts to attract foreign direct investment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 3, 2003

Kathleen Gunn

"I very much enjoy working with children and young people," Kathleen Gunn said. In different cities in England and in Japan where she has lived, for many years she has volunteered her time to help organizations for young people. Older people have sought her out too, as she is also interested in welfare...
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Personal info bills OK'd by Lower House panel

A package of controversial bills aimed at protecting personal information was approved Friday by a special committee of the Lower House.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2003

Costs for bad loans climb 1.3 trillion yen

The Financial Services Agency reported Friday that the nation's 11 largest banks incurred additional bad loan disposal costs of 1.3 trillion yen for the 2002 business year, which ended in March.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2003

Is Koizumi's political star waning?

Last weekend, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was on the campaign trail alongside Liberal Democratic Party candidates fighting Diet by-elections in Tokyo and Ibaraki Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 25, 2003

Un Cafe: I'm falling in love again

Going back to favorite restaurants after a gap of several years is much like meeting up with an old flame after being out of touch for too long. Anticipation is likely to be tempered by a good measure of anxiety. How have they changed? What if they don't look so good any more, or they've gone to fat,...
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2003

332 municipalities inappropriately gave SDF data on youths

More than 300 municipalities across the country have provided the Defense Agency with personal data on teenage residents that should not have been shared, Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2003

Seibu to dismiss 250 employees at four outlets due for closure

Seibu Department Stores Ltd. will dismiss about 250 full-time employees at four outlets to be closed later this year in line with the firm's restructuring drive, company sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 23, 2003

Looking history straight in the face

"I want to live, I do not want to perish gracefully in battle," declares Yamato (Tatsuya Fujiwara), the young hero of Hideki Noda's "Oil."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 20, 2003

All roads still lead to Paris

Mother, grandmother, createuse extraordinaire, Hanae Mori is a woman of impeccable taste, the holder of many coveted awards and Japan's -- and Asia's -- only member of the prestigious, Paris-based Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2003

Genome breakthrough prompts scramble in pharmaceutical sector

With the task of unscrambling the human genome complete, Japanese pharmaceutical companies are trying to produce new medicines to fight diseases for which effective drugs don't yet exist.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2003

June eyed for SDF-Iraq bill

Legislation that would allow the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to Iraq for postwar reconstruction will probably be submitted to the Diet in June, a senior member of the ruling coalition said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2003

Koizumi promotes Okamoto to top foreign policy aide

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday appointed Yukio Okamoto, the Cabinet's foreign policy adviser, as his top foreign policy aide.
BUSINESS
Apr 15, 2003

Small firms get loan-guarantee help

The government said Monday it will expand special loan-guarantees for small and midsize travel firms to help them counter the effects of the Iraq war and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 13, 2003

SARS can't stop world of rugby's grand wake for fallen mates

Thursday, March 28, 2003, and noted Australian commentator Chris "Buddha" Hardy asks for quiet from the players and spectators gathered at the Hong Kong Football Club for its annual tens tournament.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2003

Homes for seniors not all created equal

Matsudo Nissei's Garden of Eden is a private seniors' home located in a natural environment near Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 28, 2003

Afternoon Tea Baker and Diner: More than just a pour

What's in a name? Since last year, and especially over the past month, the most in-demand dining spot in Ginza has been the one with the most unwieldy misnomer. Afternoon Tea Baker and Diner hardly trips off the tongue. It also disguises the fact this is no mere tea room: It's a proper restaurant, contemporary...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2003

Robot Winter Games on horizon?

It might not be ready for the Olympics, but Masaya Takahashi's skiing robot can take on the slopes with grace, and he hopes this inspires people to do likewise.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 23, 2003

Women on top

Shows about and for women will highlight the second week of Japan's pre-spring TV specials. Fuji TV will present the eighth in its occasional series of talk shows, "Ganbare! Onna Bakari no Jinsei Tatenaoshi Hitori Mi, Issho Kenmei Special" (Monday, 7 p.m.), in which a dozen or so single female celebrities...
JAPAN
Mar 18, 2003

Delegates press severity of African water situation

Participants at a special session of the ongoing World Water Forum voiced satisfaction Monday that Africa's water crisis is firmly on the agenda of the Group of Eight industrial nations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2003

Modern-day swordsmith forges perfection

Yoshindo Yoshihara is not looking forward to his trip to the United States this month. Ever since Sept. 11, Yoshihara, a master swordsmith, has had difficulty checking his baggage through U.S. airports. For security reasons, United Airlines has insisted that his chest of four swords, each one worth about...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 16, 2003

Sitting here in limbo

This week, commercial television networks enter that twilight zone between seasons where they trot out the same variety standbys: real-life police documentaries, musical impersonation contests, blooper shows, etc.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 13, 2003

Singing frog

* Japanese name: Kajika gaeru * Scientific name: Buergeria buergeri * Scientific name: * Description: The Japanese singing frog, known for its "fififi" call, is brown or gray-black. Other frogs merely croak or call, but this frog sings. In Japan it was once common to keep the singing frog in a special...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 12, 2003

Charlie Watts: The beat goes (40 years) on

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, 61, has sunk into a deep leather chair in a huge hotel room in Toronto. In the corner hundreds of jazz CDs cover the walls. The table is strewn with old snapshots. Watts coughs and straightens his brown jacket.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2003

MSDF ship refuels French vessel

A Maritime Self-Defense Force supply ship in the Arabian Sea refueled a French vessel for the first time Sunday as part of its logistic support for U.S.-led antiterror operations in and around Afghanistan, the MSDF said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 11, 2003

Japan's nation-building role

Amid escalating tension over the Iraqi situation, the international community, including Japan, has again pledged contributions toward reconstructing war-torn Afghanistan. The pledges came at the Tokyo Conference on Consolidation of Peace on Feb. 22, attended by officials from 34 countries, including...

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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