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COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2002

Another train trip in the cards for Kim?

SEOUL -- In the wake of South Korean presidential envoy Lim Dong Won's recent and apparently successful visit to Pyongyang earlier this month, there is renewed optimism not only over resuming inter-Korean dialogue but also on realizing the promised reciprocal visit of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il...
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2002

Nonpublic officials take more honors

The government on Monday announced recipients of its biannual awards, with nonpublic officials accounting for a record high 35 percent of the 4,624 Japanese honored.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2002

CPI falls for fourth consecutive year

The nationwide consumer price index in fiscal 2001 fell a record 0.8 percent as the deflationary spiral showed no signs of abating, the government said Friday.
SOCCER / World cup / EXCERPTS FROM PHILIPPE TROUSSIER'S BOOK
Apr 22, 2002

Media drove me to hell

"Passion" is the story of Japan soccer team coach Philippe Troussier, his struggle to make it as a player and manager and his travels around France, Africa and Japan. In the book, Troussier also details his philosophy and thinking as he prepares for the World Cup in June. In this, the sixth of 10 exclusive...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Apr 19, 2002

Drawing on their experiences

Orange flames shoot out from two black-and-white skyscrapers. Airplanes outlined in black head for the buildings from opposing directions. The street below is filled with red cars, sirens on top. Stick figures fall from windows high up; others on the ground wave their arms desperately. A text balloon...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CLOSE NEIGHBORS
Apr 19, 2002

Language, music point way to stronger relations

When Akiko Konishi felt life had become routine after five years in the same company, she decided to spice things up a little by studying a foreign language.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2002

Executive to face charges over worker's electrocution

Tokyo police said Wednesday they have turned over to prosecutors a case involving a 19-year-old worker who was electrocuted in November while engaged in renovation work on a building in Shinjuku Ward.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 17, 2002

Choreographer dances to a different tune

Choreographer Matthew Bourne, leader of his London-based Adventures in Motion Pictures company, shot to fame when his gay version of "Swan Lake" took the West End and Broadway by storm after being premiered at London's Sadler's Wells theater in 1995.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 17, 2002

Fighters' proposed move to Sapporo makes sense

Quite a controversy brewing over the proposed relocation of the Nippon Ham Fighters from Tokyo to Sapporo for the 2004 season. The Pacific League club wants to shift its franchise base from the Tokyo Dome to the Sapporo Dome, but the Seibu Lions are trying to block the move, because that team wants to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 10, 2002

Total eclipse of the art

In a residential area close to the bright lights and buzz of Shibuya, a fascinating theatrical experiment is taking place at the Agora Theater in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002

A profitable day at the races

The year was 1948: Japan was still recovering from the ravages of war. Bombed-out bridges needed rebuilding, cratered roads needed repaving and railroads had to be relaid. It would cost a fortune, but who would foot the bill?
LIFE / Digital
Apr 4, 2002

Self-absorbed little Dreadly better love his Moop

Taking your children to see movies would not be bad if all cartoons were the quality of "Totoro" and "Princess Mononoke."
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Apr 4, 2002

Better to skip this 'adventure' and just go to Osaka

You've probably already been inundated with news that Universal Studios opened a theme park last year in Osaka. If you have any interest in seeing that park, do not try to preview it with "Universal Studios Theme Park Adventure" (UA), a relatively new game for the Nintendo GameCube published by a company...
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2002

Sakata coed dreams of degree as classmates flee to find work

SAKATA, Yamagata Pref. -- Jin Xianhua, a 26-year-old Chinese student, tossed and turned as if in a bad dream as she took the night express bus to the snow-clad Shonai Plains in the north.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 31, 2002

These are a few of our favorite things

THINGS JAPANESE, by Nicholas Bornoff, with photos by Michael Freeman. Hong Kong: Periplus Editions, Ltd. 2002. 144 pp., profusely illustrated with full-color plates, $24.95 (paper) In 1890, Tokyo University professor Basil Hall Chamberlain codified an entire generation's view of Japan in his "Things...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 27, 2002

Humans' distance laid bare in two close-ups on 'intimacy'

Theater Project Tokyo's current, compelling double bill, "TPT Futures 2002," grapples head-on with how, as time and circumstances change, people deal with the eternally fraught business of maintaining or severing their intimate ties with others.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Mar 26, 2002

JAWOC puts fans on hold

A commercial running on Japanese TV at the moment shows an astronaut being told to go on a space trip by his boss. He complains, saying that he has tickets for some World Cup games. But his boss insists he has to go. The astronaut reluctantly goes leaving his tickets on the floor. The boss picks them...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 24, 2002

The past made perfect

THE POLITICS OF RUINS AND THE BUSINESS OF NOSTALGIA, by Maurizio Peleggi. Studies in Contemporary Thailand, No. 10, forward by Craig J. Reynolds. Bangkok: White Lotus Press., 2002, 100 pp., 450 baht (paper) Now that Kyoto is to all intents "Kyotoland," it might be instructive to turn to other countries...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Mar 21, 2002

Xbox ball: 'Inside Drive'

Strip away the marketing hype. If you want to know what kinds of people video game console makers are targeting, take a look at the kinds of games they play.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Mar 20, 2002

Come back, come back wherever you were . . .

As part of its continuing effort to promote J-pop overseas, Sony last week released an album in the United States titled "Japan for Sale 2," which is a great all-around introduction to Japanese music.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 17, 2002

Favorites that come widely recommended

The information in this column usually covers the gamut of sake nomenclature, types and brewing methods, as well as culture, history and the occasional oddities. But beyond the single recommendation in each column, rarely does it address the question, "So, uh, what are the good sake? What should I be...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2002

Researching business ops for African-Americans

They are packed and at the ready at the Westin Hotel in Tokyo's Yebisu Garden Place. Ready to return home to America. Ready to give me the remaining few minutes of their precious time before boarding the bus for the airport. Talk about a rush.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2002

Airline consolidation taking off

BANGKOK -- The lingering impact of Sept. 11 is prompting airline companies to "integrate deeper and quicker" into the safety of alliances, and these groups will form the basis of future competition in the industry, a top airline executive said in a recent interview with Japan Times.
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 2002

One nation under a hip-hop groove

Downtown West Shinjuku. The company workers have all gone home, leaving the streets quiet except for the sound of traffic.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Mar 7, 2002

Xbox grapples for Japan footing

Imagine a Sumo tournament with a young Konishiki battling Akebono, the winner of which must then challenge Godzilla. Such a battle is going on right now in the video game arena.
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Mar 7, 2002

Enron mania and other diversions

www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,50688,00.htmThe Spudmeister feels like he's cheating a bit here, directing you to a mere article, but it may foretell the next step in digital piracy. The tool tomorrow's pirates are using today is the iPod.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 6, 2002

A syllable becomes a word -- and a world

"When you say the word 'dog,' " the Swiss founder of modern linguistics Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) once remarked, "everyone imagines something different." But as Hasse Mitsuko's new one-woman show, "Voice," triumphantly demonstrates, even the simplest sounds, too, can be full of meaning.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 3, 2002

It takes a lot of work to fool a fish

One late summer afternoon, in the village of Oshino, Yamanashi Prefecture, I was sitting by a stream against the backdrop of Mount Fuji, my fly-fishing rod at my side. On a gentle breeze, a large mayfly came along and started fluttering on the water. It soon fell, getting its wings wet while trying to...
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2002

Household spending up 0.2%

Spending by wage-earning households increased by an inflation-adjusted 0.2 percent in January from a year earlier, following a 4.4 percent decline in December, the government said Friday.

Longform

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