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COMMUNITY
Mar 4, 2003

Japan gets keen on green for Paddy's Day party

The great, the good and the goths of trendy Harajuku are in for a shock on March 16, when the chic shopping district will be taken over by Tokyo's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 2003

Koizumi envoy heads for Iraq in peace effort

A special envoy for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left Saturday for Iraq with a letter calling on Iraq to fully cooperate with weapons inspections.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Mar 2, 2003

Tours into mystery

Recently, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced a government plan to attract 10 million overseas tourists a year by 2010, which would be twice as many as presently visit Japan.
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Feb 25, 2003

Shipping news, foreign movies and medical bills

Shipping On the subject of shipping goods from the U.S.A. to Japan as unaccompanied baggage, reader Carol says that if you fly on United Airlines, they can provide you with the unaccompanied baggage forms.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2003

Donor nations pledge $50.7 million to Karzai

Japan and three other major donor countries pledged Saturday to continue to support Afghanistan's efforts to rebuild at a conference in Tokyo.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 16, 2003

Notes from the front

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of Hokkaido Television, Asahi TV will present a special installment in its Human Vision series of social-historical video documentaries. "Kiri no Nikki: Aryushan kara no Dengon (Diary in the Fog: A Message from the Aleutians)" (Feb. 16 at 2 p.m.)...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 15, 2003

Local boy with a liking for the finer things in life

Living in Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's "furusato" (hometown), it seems likely that Hisataka (Issa) Koizumi is related.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2003

Boutiques feast on Valentine's frenzy

St. Valentine's Day is a key occasion for confectioners as consumers snap up an estimated 50 billion yen worth of sweets to give to friends and loved ones on Feb. 14.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 9, 2003

Role models for a changing nation

One welcome exception to the gloomy news in Japan last year was the unexpected awarding of a Nobel Prize in chemistry to an apparently ordinary company worker. Koichi Tanaka's steadfastness, lack of personal ambition and open, nice-guy persona were a refreshing throwback to a less cynical age, and his...
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2003

Foreign reserves soar to $478 billion

Japan's foreign reserves hit a new record for the second straight month at the end of January, rising by $8.87 billion to reach $478.59 billion, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2003

Five prefectures call for end to casino ban

Tokyo and four prefectural governments delivered a petition to the national government Thursday calling for a ban on casinos to be lifted, saying it would generate income and create jobs amid the nationwide economic slump.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 1, 2003

Need a guide to Japan's flea markets? Here it is

Rather, here he is: Theodore Manning, whose book "Flea Markets of Japan: A Pocket Guide for Antique Buyers" was published last month. He no longer lives here, having returned last year to America after a 10-year stretch, so I call him in his new home base of Chicago and we talk by phone.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2003

Over half of nation's cities plan to merge

Most of Japan's cities, towns and villages have set up or plan to set up consultative panels with likely partners to examine the possibilities of mergers, according to the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2003

Highway bill calls for local consultation

The land ministry would be required to consult with prefectural governments when compiling or revising plans to build national highways, according to a bill to revise the National Expressway Law, ministry officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 30, 2003

IT lets people keep tabs on parents from afar

Advanced information technology allows people to check up on the living habits of elderly parents living in faraway places.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

Cabinet OKs set of corporate restructure bills

The Cabinet approved a set of corporate restructuring bills Tuesday, paving the way for the much-touted launch of a government-backed entity tasked with rescuing ailing firms the government deems salvageable.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Whether crisis or not, sumo's show must go on

Of all the crises that the institution of sumo is said to be confronting -- and there are many -- yokozuna (grand champion) Takanohana's announcement last Monday of his retirement is being regarded by some as particularly ominous.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2003

Kansai casinos a dicey proposition

OSAKA -- It's way past dinner time in the back streets of Osaka's Shinsaibashi district. But one establishment advertising itself as an all-you-can-eat Italian restaurant is doing a booming business.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2003

Kuroda likely as Cabinet adviser

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to appoint Haruhiko Kuroda, former vice finance minister for international affairs, as special adviser to his Cabinet, sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 17, 2003

Emperor enters hospital, prepares for prostatectomy

Emperor Akihito was admitted Thursday to University of Tokyo Hospital for a prostatectomy.
COMMENTARY
Jan 13, 2003

Dealing with multiple crises

The world faces a double threat posed by Iraqi and North Korean weapons of mass destruction and missiles, a peril no less serious than the terrorist scare following the 9/11 attacks. According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the year of the sheep, a nonviolent animal, but past years of the sheep have...
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2003

Hospital preparing for Emperor's stay for cancer surgery

Police and officials at the University of Tokyo Hospital are on alert ahead of the arrival of Emperor Akihito to undergo surgery for prostate cancer on Jan. 18.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Jan 12, 2003

Countdown to a 4/4 beat

On New Year's Eve, while thousands of celebrants packed Tokyo's shrines and temples to hear the 108 bells ringing out the sins of mankind, many others crowded into Tokyo's jazz clubs to hear musicians offer their own prayers. For these ritual yearend jam sessions, the doors remain open all night so people...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 12, 2003

Living on the edge and acting the part

There's an article in the current issue of Shukan Bunshun lambasting the "foolishness of no-talent celebrities" on all those overblown New Year's TV specials. But what's more annoying than the specials themselves is that they pre-empted the few shows that were worth watching, like "The Tetsuwan Dash!"...
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Forex reserves approach $470 billion

Japan's foreign-exchange reserves at the end of December hit a new record, up $9.26 billion from a month earlier to $469.73 billion, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2003

Aozora chief angry over allegation

Aozora Bank confirmed a media report Thursday that it provided customer information to U.S. investment fund Cerberus Group, one of its top shareholders, on request between January and February 2002.

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