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JAPAN
Apr 13, 2002

Environmentalist says Japan should roll out solar energy Marshall Plan

Japan is in a unique position to help promote sustainable development in Asia and in developing countries in the area of solar power, an influential U.S. environmental pundit said in an interview.
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Apr 13, 2002

Toto showcases cutting-edge shapes in design

For anyone interested in contemporary architecture and interior design, as well as a little extra luxury in the kitchen or bathroom, the Toto Nogizaka Building is the place to admire the latest curves, lines and designs.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 12, 2002

Humpback whale

* Japanese name: Zatokujira * Scientific name: Megaptera novaeangliae * Description: Measuring 12-14 meters, weighing 25-30 tons and with flippers up to 5.5 meters long, the humpback whale is unmistakable. It is black, with white patches on the flippers, which may also be encrusted with barnacles....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Apr 11, 2002

Domestic, foreign insurers engaged in turf war

The deregulation of Japan's insurance sector last year has set domestic and foreign-affiliated companies squarely against each other in the cancer and medical insurance battlefield.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 10, 2002

Tracing the Eastward footsteps of Indian gods

Toshio Yamanouchi's job took him to India in 1951 -- but it wasn't simply work that kept him there for the next 25 years. What kept him based in New Delhi and took him traveling all across the subcontinent and Southeast Asia was a single-minded search: for the artistic trail blazed by religion on the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Apr 10, 2002

In a sentimental mood

For Westerners of a certain age, the '60s were an era of social and cultural ferment, when the Vietnam War, the Pill, rock music, drugs and the sexual revolution shook the foundations of society. In Japan, however, a "can-do" spirit prevailed as the postwar blahs were left behind and the country entered...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002

The trickle-down effect

It's late in Tokyo's Yurakucho district, and the pachinko parlors clustered here have shut off their garish neon signs. The consoles through which the game's trademark metal balls are sent cascading have gone quiet, and the hard-core players who hang on until closing time are scurrying out onto the pavement...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Museum rises from ashes of Hanshin quake

KOBE -- The opening of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art here Saturday is a testament to the port city's restoration since the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2002

GSDF wows potential recruits with games

The Ground Self-Defense Force has established its first public relations center, aiming to offer potential young recruits a positive image of the nation's de facto army.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 5, 2002

Fruit fly

* Japanese name: Shojobae * Scientific name: Drosophila melanogaster * Description: This is a tiny (3-mm) fly, with red eyes and one pair of wings. It is almost too small to notice, yet the fruit fly is one of the world's most important organisms. Study of the fruit fly led directly to the science...
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Apr 4, 2002

Win for Tigers in 2002 pennant race may spark Kansai recovery: analyst

OSAKA -- As a rabid Hanshin Tigers fan, Daiwa Research Institute President Koichi Kunisada seems pretty sure of the destiny of this year's Central League pennant -- it is bound for Osaka.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2002

Employment conference under way

The International Confederation of Temporary Work Businesses (CIETT) kicked off a three-day conference Wednesday in Tokyo aimed at examining the temporary employment sector in Japan and other countries.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 3, 2002

In the realms of the spirits

"Ghosts, we hope, may be always with us -- that is, never too far out of the reach of fancy." So wrote British novelist Elizabeth Bowen in the preface to her "Second Ghost Book," published in 1952.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 2002

The hair-raising art of Lennie Mace

A hair salon in Harajuku seems an unlikely venue for an art museum, especially one dedicated to a shaven-headed, New York artist who works principally in ballpoint pen.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2002

KDDI starts high-speed mobile service

KDDI Corp. launched a third-generation high-speed data transmission service Monday for its au mobile phone service, moving to compete with a similar service offered by rival NTT DoCoMo Inc.
COMMUNITY
Mar 31, 2002

The horror from the heart of darkness

It was a rough drive to the Cambodian town of Takeo in 1992. Going faster than 30 kph would have been suicidal. National Highway 2 was an unsurfaced dirt road pockmarked with craters from shells and land mines. Takeo, about 60 km south of the capital Phnom Penh, served as a base that year for an engineering...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 31, 2002

Sake with a raw bite

With the sakura in bloom -- in some places, anyway -- this is one of the best times for experiencing Japan's wonderful knack for tying just about everything in to the seasons. Clothing, food, drink, design; all seem to resonate with the sakura this time of the year. The sake world's seasonal equivalent...
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Mar 29, 2002

Seize the reins and blaze your own kanji-learning trail

Dear Dario Simunovic,
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 29, 2002

Earthworm

* Japanese name: Aka mimizu * Scientific name: Lumricus rubellus * Description: An earthworm's body consists of a tube within a tube. The inner tube is a digestive tract, the outer is segmented and muscular. Between the two are reproductive organs, and running the length of the body is a simple nervous...
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 27, 2002

Putting a 'gloss' on exhibitions

A computer-geek friend of mine recently posed an interesting problem to me: "If you wanted to save a document so that it was easily accessible 100 years from now, what format would you use?"
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 2002

Hotel turns over a new leaf

Big hotels are features of most big cities, and Tokyo is no exception. Rearing into the sky, often straddling whole blocks, they're the temporary homes and permanent workplaces for small armies of people -- which brings serious environmental consequences.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 24, 2002

Shimoda sounds a literary lament

SAN FRANCISCO -- A foreigner in Japan is an outsider by default, a fact foreign residents have lamented for centuries in what is now a ritualized barstool grievance: "I've lived here for so long, learned the language, love my natto, but still . . . "
EDITORIALS
Mar 22, 2002

America's dangerous nuclear posture

The leak of a Pentagon report on the U.S. nuclear posture has unleashed a storm of controversy. Critics argue that it lowers the threshold at which the United States will use its nuclear weapons. That is not necessarily true. The cornerstone of the U.S. posture continues to be deterrence. The real concern...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 22, 2002

Asian hive bee

* Japanese name: Nihon mitsubachi * Scientific name: Apis cerana * Description: Asian hive bees are social insects. Hairy and bullet-shaped, they have well-developed tongues and back legs with special hairs that mesh together to form a flexible basket for carrying pollen. Bees are very strong and are...
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2002

Daiei seeks government handout

As part of its rebuilding efforts, debt-saddled supermarket chain Daiei Inc. filed with the government Tuesday for tax breaks and other preferential treatment under the industrial rehabilitation law, government officials said.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 16, 2002

49ers, Redskins set for Osaka Dome

OSAKA -- The five-time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers will take on the Washington Redskins on Aug. 4 at the Osaka Dome in NFL Osaka 2002, the National Football League announced Thursday.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 15, 2002

Harvest mouse

* Japanese name: Kayanezumi * Scientific name: Micromys minutus * Description: This is Japan's smallest mouse, growing 5-8 cm long and weighing only 5 grams. Harvest mice have long, prehensile tails which they use for gripping the stems of grass when climbing. They have stubby noses and hairy ears;...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Mar 14, 2002

Junior hoops nearly scores

"Backyard Basketball," a new PC/Macintosh game from Infogrames, is not what you would call a full-fledged simulation. You play most of the game using one button on your mouse, and it only has two professional basketball stars on its roster.

Longform

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