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Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 27, 2005

Tamagotchi's rebirth sparking new sales binge

Every day for more than a year, phones at Hakuhinkan Toy Park have been ringing off the hook when the store opens at 11 a.m.
Rugby
May 26, 2005

Brave Blossoms fell Romanian Oaks to set up rugby final against Canucks

Daisuke Ohata may well be the pin-up boy of Japanese rugby but 19-year-old Ayumu Goromaru is the face of the future and the two combined on Wednesday to send Japan into the final of the Toshiba Super Cup as the Brave Blossoms beat the Oaks of Romania 23-16 at Tokyo's National Stadium.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 26, 2005

Butterfly dragonfly

* Japanese name: Choutonbo * Scientific name: Rhyothemis fuliginosa * Description: With huge wings colored a beautiful deep blue, this dragonfly is unmistakable. Its body is fairly short and stout, at 32-41 mm long, while its hind wings are 30-40 mm across. The name "butterfly dragonfly" refers...
Japan Times
Features
May 22, 2005

Retirees lead the way back to nature

Yoshishige Nagayama started farming when he retired nine years ago at age 60.
Features
May 22, 2005

A growing trend

These are hard times for Japan's construction workers. The days when they were forever taking flak for digging up roads and causing traffic chaos, or teetering on the edge of scandals as they built yet more roads and bridges into the middle of nowhere are now long gone.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2005

Economic assessment left intact

The government on Thursday left its overall assessment of the economy unchanged for a fifth straight month, stating that a slight improvement in exports was offset by weaker housing construction.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
May 20, 2005

Camping it up with style

Sexy, salacious and in your face, Dress Camp is an anomaly in the dour world of Tokyo fashion.
BASKETBALL
May 19, 2005

Kobe's dad to head 'bj league' team

Joe Bryant, a former NBA player and the father of Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, has been named the head coach of the Tokyo Apache of the "bj league," Japan's first professional basketball league which will open its inaugural season in November, team officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
May 19, 2005

Puppies for the digital age

Let me introduce Funky. He's a young, short-haired Chihuahua with a happy temperament and distaste for learning new tricks. With a job and family duties, it's hard to give Funky the attention he deserves. But I've surprised myself. Even though I'm more of a cat-lover than a dog-lover, I'm showing a great...
Japan Times
Features
May 15, 2005

A hands-on approach to healing in a trice

Lying on your back, you pull up your shirt and push down your pants a bit. Your partner gently touches your navel, then moves their fingers slightly down.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
May 15, 2005

No laughing matter

O n the stage, Charlie Chaplin was known as the tramp who made millions laugh without saying a word. But in his heart of hearts, it seems the great comic wanted to be a statesman whose words could change history.
Japan Times
Features
May 15, 2005

Never-ending playtime

Remember when you were little and the days were long and filled with play? Back then, too, your playmates likely included a happy band of figures and stuffed animals that took on lives of their own in your imaginary world.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 13, 2005

A Tokyo hotline to Bangkok

Hyakunincho, Tokyo's most polyglot district, is only a two-minute train ride from the heart of Shinjuku, but it almost feels like leaving the country. In the 1980s, when Southeast Asian food was still a novelty in other parts of town, this was where we came to forage, lured by the exotic perfume of lemongrass,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 12, 2005

Brown-eared bulbul

* Japanese name: Hiyodori * Scientific name: Ixos amaurotis * Description: These are medium-size songbirds that grow to about 28 cm long. They are mainly olive brown with a white face and eyebrow, throat and belly; they have a small crest. The bill, feet and eyes are black. Males and females look...
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2005

The crimes of Mr. Taylor

West Africa appears to be a political tinder box. Real democracy is a distant dream and the life span of governments is determined more frequently by bullets than by ballots. Not only are there civil wars in several countries but the combatants (on both sides) commit atrocities against civilian populations....
Japan Times
Features
May 8, 2005

Grilling he who would be Barbecue King

Steven Raichlen, a.k.a. the Barbecue King, is an award-winning American author, journalist, cookery teacher and television host. He is the author of 26 books on international foods and grilling, including the "Barbecue Bible" cookbook series that has clocked up sales over 3 million. His show, "Barbecue...
Features
May 8, 2005

How to look hot or not

Dressing properly for a barbecue party is a daunting task.
Features
May 8, 2005

Goodies just a click away

Can't get your grilling goodies directly? Too far from a city center to pop into a specialty store? Or are you just too busy? Here are some Internet sites that can deliver hard-to-find ingredients for a blazing BBQ party at the click of a mouse.
Japan Times
Features
May 8, 2005

It's time to get out there and grrrrrrrill!

Years ago, at a friend's house in Kobe, an intense argument broke out between the Americans and Australians present. It turned into quite a searing row, and for a while it threatened to inflame tempers and disrupt the otherwise festive occasion.
Japan Times
Features
May 8, 2005

Where to go for a lark in the park

There may be no place better than home to haul in friends for a good grilling -- if you have a big enough balcony or a garden. But for those lacking such spaces, or those who just enjoy getting out, here are some barbecue sites where your group may not be alone, but you'll likely be in good company....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 4, 2005

Girls in the company of wolves

For more than a decade female Japanese artists have been a dynamic force in contemporary photography, and now they are making big waves in other artistic media as well, as the phantasmagoric work of Tomoko Konoike best illustrates.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 3, 2005

Shakeup in the lending business

O Kobayashi was stunned last year when he found that his mortgage applications had been rejected by two banks.
Japan Times
Features
May 1, 2005

Heading for the stars on high

KONA, Hawaii -- The big white 4WD driven by Yasuhiro Nishida left the hotel in Kohala Coast at 2:50 p.m. with 13 people on board. It was another windy afternoon on the west coast of the island of Hawaii -- "the Big Island," as this, the largest and youngest in the Hawaiian chain, is known.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 30, 2005

Rosie Stancer

Only three women have ever on their own reached the South Pole. The first was a Norwegian skier. The second was a Briton, who covered the requisite 1,123 km in 42 days, a record that stands. The third was Rosie Stancer, also a Briton and the eldest of the three when at 43 she trekked solo in one of the...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 28, 2005

Gray-headed Lapwing

* Japanese name: Keri * Scientific name: Vanellus cinereus * Description: Lapwings are attractive, plump, medium-size birds (body length 30 cm; wingspan about 85 cm) with large orange eyes, yellow legs and a yellow bill with a black tip. The head and neck are gray, as are the tops of the wings,...
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2005

Is the economy better off under Koizumi?

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday enters the fifth year of his administration.
Japan Times
Features
Apr 24, 2005

Menswear to the rescue

The Fall 2005 season saw the Tokyo Collections in a sorry state.
Japan Times
Features
Apr 24, 2005

Surreal circus of 'beasts' and beauties

Before the Heatherette show, during Fall 2005 New York Fashion Week, the paparazzi are doing what paparazzi do best: stalking their quarry with the determination of psychotic bounty hunters.
Features
Apr 24, 2005

Grande dame of haute kuchuuru

In the fickle world of fashion, where players come and go with the regularity of the seasons that their working lives are firmly pinned to, there are fortunately just a few who hang in there to lend some sense of continuity.
Features
Apr 24, 2005

Wannabe style capital puts on a 'cute' show

"Fancy a trip to the Singapore Fashion Festival?" My gnarled editor swiveled around from the Mac and shot me a grin. "This looks like a junket."

Longform

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