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JAPAN
Oct 2, 2001

Obituary: Kokontei Shincho II

Kokontei Shincho II, a master of "rakugo," the traditional Japanese art of comic monologue storytelling, died Monday morning of liver cancer at his home in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, his family said. He was 63.
JAPAN
Oct 2, 2001

Koizumi, Mbeki talk of expanded cooperation for Africa

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and visiting South African President Thabo Mbeki agreed Monday to step up cooperation on Africa's development and also pledged to cooperate with global efforts against terrorism.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2001

Yamasaki pushes for easing SDF weapons-use limits

Taku Yamasaki, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Sunday that weapons-use restrictions on the Self-Defense Forces must be eased because the medical and refugee support they will be providing for the United States military in Pakistan will endanger them.
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 30, 2001

Kawaguchi heading to Pompey

YOKOHAMA -- After a seemingly endless period of waiting, Yokohama F. Marinos and Japan goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi finally landed a transfer deal with Portsmouth and will join the English Division One side on Oct. 21 after the two clubs reached a provisional agreement on Saturday morning.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 30, 2001

Book Bites

KODANSHA'S ROMANIZED JAPANESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY, edited by Timothy J. Vance, et al. Kodansha International, Tokyo, 2001, 666 pp., 3,500 yen (paper) A completely rewritten and expanded version of Kodansha's 1990 "The New World Japanese-English Dictionary for Juniors," a popular reference work among...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 30, 2001

A pervasive power that goes largely unnoticed

POLITICS AFTER TELEVISION: Hindu Nationalism and the Reshaping of the Public and India, by Arvind Rajagopal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001, 15.95 British pounds, pp. 393 (paper) In "Politics after Television," Arvind Rajagopal presents a theoretically and empirically rich account of...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 30, 2001

Kame no O dreamin'

Kame no O is a sake rice that has recently become popular with a number of brewers around the country. While it may not lead to the elegant, refined and lively fragrances and flavors derived from that most hallowed (yawn) of sake rices, Yamada Nishiki, Kame no O lends sake a definite character and solid,...
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Sep 30, 2001

The reluctant politician reflects on a life less than ordinary

NAGOYA -- Toichiro Kuno is as ordinary a person as can be.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 30, 2001

An ancient cult with contemporary significance

ENDURING IDENTITIES. The Guise of Shinto in Contemporary Japan, by John K. Nelson. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2000, 324 pp., 5,271 yen (paper) In 1475, a fight erupted between the priests of a shrine in Kyoto and local farmers, who claimed that the priests had unlawfully driven them off...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 30, 2001

Take a ride on the travel food choo-choo

TBS withdrew from the morning wide-show sweepstakes in 1996 after it was revealed that a wide-show producer had secretly shown members of Aum Shinrikyo a tape of an interview with anti-Aum lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto in 1989 as a means of gaining favor with the cult. Sakamoto was subsequently murdered by...
BUSINESS
Sep 29, 2001

State set to answer airlines' SOS

Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chikage Ogi expressed her readiness Friday to provide financial support for the nation's airlines to help them cope with the added financial burden of compensation payments and increased security.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2001

TSE approves move to go private Nov. 1

The Tokyo Stock Exchange formally adopted a plan Wednesday at an extraordinary general meeting of TSE member brokerage houses to transform the world's second-largest bourse into a stock company.
BUSINESS
Sep 27, 2001

Will dollar fall from favor?

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sounded a somewhat optimistic note on the prospects for the U.S. economy last week.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Sep 27, 2001

Medicinal ornaments

Last year, while searching the southern part of the Kii Peninsula for the elusive yellow-flowered toad lily (Kii joro-hototogisu, Tricyrtis macranthopsis), I came across an unusual tree, a "new discovery" that made my day.
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2001

SDF, economic reforms top Diet session agenda

With a 72-day extraordinary Diet session convening today, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his government face two major challenges: seeking consensus on Japan's support for expected U.S.-led military operations against terrorists and on steps to help the flagging economy.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2001

Woodstock: three days of . . . whatever

My Generation Rating: * * * * Director: Barbara Kopple Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2001

Asia's best shine at cinema showcase

Film festivals are addictive, especially if you've got that magical piece of laminated paper called a press pass. Volunteers smile at you, directors schmooze with you and theater doors swing open for you at the flash of a badge. Best of all, you can spend all day watching movies with no guilty feelings...
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2001

Koizumi's letter on way to Pakistan

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura departed Tuesday for Pakistan to deliver a letter from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf asking him to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2001

Living on songs and a prayer

Duets Rating: * * * Director: Bruce Paltrow Running time: 112 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Sep 26, 2001

Pop to the sixth power

Hermann H. & the Pacemakers are one of Japanese pop music's brightest new hopes. As with the superlative Cymbals spotlighted in last week's column, this six-piece band specializes in the musical genre known as "power pop." But in the case of Hermann (as the band is collectively known), the emphasis is...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 26, 2001

India Express

While it was Ravi Shankar who brought Indian music to the world, it's been left to others to help it sink roots. In Japan, that task has been taken up by Nagoya-based sitarist Amit Roy, who has been imparting the Hindustani tradition to his Japanese students for the past decade.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 26, 2001

Revisiting his ancestors' art

Taro Okamoto (1911-96) is perhaps Japan's most famous post-war artist. With his trademark artistic style, his eccentric, media-friendly personality and ready catchphrases, he presented the perfect picture of the inspired artist brimming with original ideas.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 26, 2001

Macy Gray: 'The Id'

Webster's defines the id as "the part of the psyche that is the source of instinctual impulses and demands for satisfaction." For Macy Gray, it is simply "what you do before you think. The real you . . . unedited."
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 26, 2001

Third time a charm for Carp's Diaz

Part-time foreign players in Japan and those who post sub-par batting statistics usually do not get a second-year contract, let alone a third, to continue playing here. Hiroshima Carp utility infielder Eddy Diaz hit a mediocre .263 with eight home runs and 53 runs batted in, playing 110 games during...

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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