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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 23, 2001

Writ large on the small screen

'Platonic Sex," the memoir by popular talent and former AV queen Ai Iijima, has sold more than 1.2 million copies in Japan and, translated into Chinese and Korean, has become the "bible" of young women throughout Asia. It tells the story of a teenage runaway who, free from the obligations of family and...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2001

Banker-turned-'barista' predicts big things for gourmet coffee

Kouta Matsuda's obsession with world food began in his childhood, when he traveled around the globe with his father, a trader.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 23, 2001

'Comfort' education at expense of standards?

Earlier this year, the Education Ministry announced a set of guidelines for public schools that go into effect next April. These changes include reduction of the school week to five days, a 30 percent cut in "academic content" and the development of "general studies," the gist of which remains vague...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2001

Obituary: Lee Chang Sok

Lee Chang Sok, a South Korean resident of Japan who served in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and sued for payment of a war pension, died at a Kyoto hospital Friday morning, his family said. He was 75.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 23, 2001

Arcane lore as taught by the masters

BUDO SECRETS: Teaching of the Martial Arts Masters, by John Stevens. Boston/London: Shambhala, 2001, 116 pp., with illustrations, $19.95 The term "budo" is relatively recent one. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the martial arts were no longer to be used in combat, but rather to be considered...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 23, 2001

Arossa: Best cellars Down Under

When a recent cover feature in a heavyweight U.S. weekly magazine assures us that New World vintages -- especially those from Down Under -- are giving the French (and Californians) a run for their money, then it's safe to say that Australian wine has arrived. But we in Tokyo have known that for a long...
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Nation's police put on antiterrorist alert

The National Police Agency ordered prefectural police forces across the country Friday to do all they can to prevent terrorist attacks in Japan in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

SDF team may head for Pakistan

The government may dispatch elements of the Self-Defense Forces to Pakistan as well as to the Indian Ocean to provide logistic support to the U.S. military should it follow through with threats of force in the region.
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2001

Insurers face 20 billion yen bill

Thirty Japanese nonlife insurers will be forced to fork out a combined 20 billion yen in insurance and reinsurance benefits in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 22, 2001

Clijsters, Dokic set up semifinal clash in Princess Cup

The top seed and third seed in the Toyota Princess Cup set up a semifinal clash after both Kim Clijsters and Jelena Dokic breezed to straight-sets victories Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Koizumi to meet Bush on Tuesday

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will hold talks with U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday in Washington to discuss Japan's support for possible retaliatory action against terrorists, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 22, 2001

Dyeing to make a difference with fair trade clothes

The world this week is sadly less of a global village than it was 10 days ago. At least Kusum Tiwari is back in India, safe and sound after her first trip to East Asia, and two weeks in Japan.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

First ever surgery employing remote robots is performed

The age of automated, computer-controlled surgery came closer than ever this week with the report that surgeons in New York successfully used remote-controlled robots to remove the gall bladder of a patient in France. The procedure, performed on a 68-year-old woman in Strasbourg, was the world's first...
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2001

Ogi slips out of hospital for meeting

Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chikage Ogi partially resumed her official duties Thursday, one week after entering a hospital to receive liver treatment.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 21, 2001

Japanese macaque

ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Sep 20, 2001

Giant umbellifer stalks northern Japan

Towering above the surrounding lush summer herb growth stands the hollow-stemmed monster known locally as Ezo nyuu and to botanists as Angelica ursina. These pearl-headed plants appear at the height of summer, a potent reminder that the longest days are past and that, despite the heat, autumn is not...
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 20, 2001

Cranes make a song and dance about it

CHENGDU, China -- Japan and China share an age-old love for cranes. In recent years there have been many exchanges and co-operative projects between these countries, working toward the protection of cranes.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2001

LDP panel sets schedule on tax reform

Senior officials on the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's tax panel agreed Wednesday to compile a proposal for securities tax reforms by early October.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2001

Bomb threats to top hotels spook Nikkei

The Nikkei stock average closed higher Tuesday but lost about 100 points in the last three minutes of trading after bomb threats were made against two top hotels in Tokyo. Police later determined the threats were pranks.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 19, 2001

Ai gives Tokyo tournament a lift

Ai Sugiyama gave the troubled Toyota Princess Cup a cheer Tuesday when the Japanese No. 1 beat eighth seed Cristina Torrens-Valero of Spain 6-1, 6-2 in a first-round singles match at Ariake Colosseum.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 19, 2001

Tinseltown, meet Chinatown

Rush Hour 2 Rating: * * * Director: Brett Ratner Running time: 90 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Sep 19, 2001

Prepared for blastoff

The title of British pub-rocker Nick Lowe's 1978 album "Pure Pop for Now People" aptly describes the sound of Tokyo-based band The Cymbals. The trio's music is bright, intelligent, catchy and easy on the ears -- but with enough of a rock punch to avoid saccharine overkill.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2001

BOJ eases discount rate to quell recession fears

The Bank of Japan on Tuesday decided to further ease credit to help quell fears of a global recession in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in the United States.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 19, 2001

Land of the high-and-mighty

History seems to be a dirty word these days. Discussion of it is liable to raise questions of which country or race did what to whom, and whether financial compensation is due.
JAPAN / INTERNATIONAL RATIONALE
Sep 19, 2001

Foreign firms slowly influence job-for-life market

As foreign companies have increased their presence in Japan in recent years, many have found it difficult to hire quality local staff.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 19, 2001

Art with some things to say

When the Yokohama Triennale opened a couple of weeks ago, several people asked which of the pieces I particularly liked. When pressed, from the works of more than 100 artists on show, I singled out Yoko Ono's "Freight Train" and Casagrande & Rintala's "Bird Cage," two large outdoor installations located...
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2001

Rice monitors arrive in North Korea

A Japanese government mission arrived Tuesday in North Korea to monitor the distribution and use of rice donated by Tokyo since last year, Foreign Ministry officials said.
BUSINESS
Sep 18, 2001

Nikkei down on European tumble

Tokyo stocks plummeted Monday morning, with the key Nikkei average dipping below 9,500 at one point, as the tumble in European stocks Friday made investors nervous ahead of the restart of U.S. trading.

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