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COMMUNITY
Jan 6, 2002

Change: Now new and improved!

Whether through genetically modified foods, the mapping of the human genome or global climate change, technology and science are changing our lives, often much faster than we might like. Things are moving so fast that it is difficult to imagine our lives 20 years from now, let alone what's in store for...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jan 6, 2002

Uncorking the bubbly, Nihon-style

Happy New Year to all Japan Times readers. May 2002 be a year of health and prosperity for all.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 6, 2002

All the tricks, touch-ups and trip-ups of the trade

TV Asahi's new dramatic comedy series, "Trick 2," which premieres this week (Friday, 11:15 p.m.), fits comfortably into the current TV zeitgeist of pop spiritualism and magic shows. A lot of the renewed interest in paranormal phenomena has been boosted by the addition of debunking elements. On many recent...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 6, 2002

Deconstructing Tokyo

INSIDER'S TOKYO, by Angela Jeffs. Times Books International (Singapore), 2001, 280 pp., with numerous maps and photographs, 2,100 yen (paper) Tokyo must have more foreign-language books devoted to it than any other major city -- not only the guides, which endlessly proliferate, but also serious books...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2002

New eye grown from frog embryo cells

Researchers at the University of Tokyo said Saturday they have succeeded in growing eyeballs in tadpoles using undifferentiated cells taken from frog embryos.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2002

South Asian drumbeats of war

NEW DELHI -- Exactly one week after a terrorist attack on India's Parliament that left over a dozen people dead, I visited a senior lawmaker in that building. The atmosphere was as heavy with anger and determination as shock and trauma. Preparations for war were obvious everywhere, including troop movements...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 5, 2002

13 another lucky number for 'surimono' albums

David Bull is as insistent as he is stubborn. No sooner has he sat me down beside his workbench (the only warm room in the house), with younger daughter Fumi (16) creating a Web page on the computer on top of the "kotatsu," then he is demanding how much I know about "hanga" (woodblock prints).
COMMENTARY
Jan 4, 2002

Globalization's Faustian pact

LONDON -- The glories of globalization are taking on the specious glitter of a Faustian pact. We human beings have been promised that capitalism will never die; the threats of crashes, revolution and depression have been banished by vigorous free markets and judicious state interventions, all held in...
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2002

Tokyo handed rights to explore Mexico oil fields

Japan National Oil Corp. has acquired exclusive exploration rights to major Mexican oil fields, paving the way for Japan to lessen its dependency on Middle Eastern oil, according to government sources.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 3, 2002

Newly noticed whiskey makers forced to diversify products

It's winter, the perfect season to sip a glass of whisky on a long, quiet night to warm up, as well as a good time to sample the variety of quality whiskeys available on the market.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 3, 2002

Sometimes the gaming is too rough

When it comes to video games, Japan generally gets the good stuff first. Nintendo, Sony, and NEC hardware generally comes out in Japan before the United States. "Devil May Cry," "Final Fantasy X," and "Luigi's Mansion" all came out in Japan before they made it to the United States.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2002

Chinese teas overcome coffee boom as Japan turns new leaf in Asia

Unlike Starbucks coffee, it can be drunk steadily over three or four hours, with no risk of caffeine addiction.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 1, 2002

Shunsuke reportedly off to Real

Yokohama F. Marinos and Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura could be on his way to Spanish giant Real Madrid this month, a Japanese daily sports newspaper reported Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2002

Nikkeiren pushes job-sharing to stabilize unemployment

Employers and employees will eventually agree on wage cuts in the form of work-sharing as they undergo the much expected pains of ongoing structural reforms initiated by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the chief of Japan Federation of Employers Association (Nikkeiren) said.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2002

Nation's birthrate in 2001 expected to hit record low: survey

The nation's birthrate in 2001 is expected to hit a record low of 9.3 births per 1,000 people, according to a government survey released Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jan 1, 2002

Getting lost and feeling hungry in the Amazon

Tour Operator One (hereafter TOO) would romp through auditions for Mistah Kurtz, should anyone decide to remake a movie version of Joseph Conrad's fable of moral rot, "Heart of Darkness." He works and broods from a decaying river boat on the Beni River.
BUSINESS
Dec 31, 2001

The euro's tangible new legacy

On New Year's Day, many traditional Japanese performance arts come into their element. Rakugo is a time-honored version of standup comedy. Well, sit-down really, since the kimono-clad performer actually sits on a cushion and uses nothing but a towel and a fan as props -- any kind of prop that may be...
COMMUNITY
Dec 30, 2001

Getting out to see the new year in

So you want to be there to join in a great mass countdown to 2002 -- or you are determined to be one of the early birds catching sight of the Sun's first New Year rays? With so many venues vying for your bleary presence on New Year's Eve/New Year's Day, some observatories are opening their doors before...
COMMUNITY
Dec 30, 2001

Starting anew through the ages

The world's most universally observed festival, New Year is also its most diverse, with timing, inspiration and celebration differing among countries, cultures and religions. For some, it is an occasion on which to give thanks for another year of survival; for others it's a vantage point from which to...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2001

Japan, U.K. to link up in mad cow study

The farm ministry will conduct a comprehensive survey of mad cow disease in fiscal 2002, in conjunction with a British research institute, it was learned Saturday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Dec 30, 2001

This will be the last slurp of the rest of your year

Even if preparing other Japanese New Year's dishes seems beyond your ability, you can't go wrong with toshikoshi ("year-crossing") soba, the noodles eaten just before midnight on o-misoka, New Year's Eve.
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 30, 2001

Cerezo, S-Pulse reach cup final

SAITAMA -- Cerezo Osaka, relegated to Division Two next season, advanced to the final of the Emperor's Cup after beating the Urawa Reds 1-0 thanks to midfielder Michiharu Sugimoto's second-half goal on Saturday at Saitama Stadium 2002.
JAPAN / Media / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 30, 2001

A holiday basking in the blue glow

Depending on how you feel about the New Year's holidays and Japanese TV programming in general, the first week of the year is either the best week for TV or the worst. Most New Year's specials mimic what the average Japanese family is doing at home. Celebrities sit around in their finest holiday duds...
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2001

Japan, South Korea and China eye launch of IT talks

Japan, South Korea and China are expected to launch regular ministerial talks on information technology issues, telecommunications minister Toranosuke Katayama said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2001

Osaka to surpass Tokyo in crime

For the first time since the end of World War II, Osaka this year will overtake Tokyo and have the highest crime rate in the country.

Longform

Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.
As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows