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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2002

Where the finest get on the fast track

Imagine, just for a moment, that you are a horse.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 12, 2002

Making each note dance on the wind

In 1968, at the age of 13, Akikazu Nakamura began playing electric guitar. A few years later, he discovered that one of his favorite bands, King Crimson, counted contemporary classical music among their influences. Intrigued, Nakamura pursued this thread and soon discovered "November Steps" by the composer...
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Glass takes center stage at Shinbashi museum

Nestled among office buildings in Tokyo's Shinbashi district is a glass museum packed with historical information and shimmering displays.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 10, 2002

Crane fly

* Japanese name: Kiriuji gaganbo * Scientific name: Tipula aino * Description: Crane flies are slender insects with light-brown bodies, a black rim around the wings and long legs that dangle beneath them when they fly. This gives them their other English name (used by children): daddy longlegs. Crane...
JAPAN
May 8, 2002

Duo injured while filming TV sports show for TBS

Two participants in a Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. athletic TV game show were seriously injured Sunday during filming at a Yokohama studio, TBS officials said Monday.
BUSINESS
May 4, 2002

Snow Brand Milk drafts austere rehab plan

Struggling dairy product maker Snow Brand Milk Products Co. has drafted a rehabilitation program that features a 90 percent reduction in capital and financial assistance from major creditor banks, sources close to the program said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2002

Kawasaki finds cultural assets among industrial blight

A year ago, a ward along Kawasaki's waterfront launched a campaign to rediscover the district's attraction and dispel its negative image as a pollution-plagued home to smokestack industries.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 3, 2002

Water strider

* Japanese name: Himeamenbo * Scientific name: Gerris latiabdominis * Description: Water striders are common, semiaquatic insects, with bodies that are brown on top and silver-white underneath. They have three pairs of long legs, the front pair being well-separated from the others. Water striders use...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
May 2, 2002

Are you going to Kayabacho plant fair?

Yakushi-in Temple in Kayabacho, Edo, is hosting a bustling plant fair, and people of all ages and every walk of life are there. In this woodcut print (right) by Hasegawa Settan (1778-1843), we can see tonsured monks, geisha, a senior samurai holding the hand of a little boy, a young woman under an umbrella...
JAPAN
May 1, 2002

Land ministry prepares for volcanic contingencies

The land ministry said Tuesday it will create computerized hazard maps for evacuation and emergency plans to cover volcanic eruptions, lava flows and ash falls nationwide.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 1, 2002

N*E*R*D: 'In Search Of . . .'

'This album is like a life soundtrack," N*E*R*D frontman Chad Hugo says on their Web site. "It's a diary of shit we've been through over the last year or two."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 28, 2002

Where history was made

As supreme commander of the U.S. Occupation of Japan, Gen. Douglas MacArthur had his share of faults. His temper rattled members of his staff and an open disdain for authority enraged his boss, President Harry S. Truman.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 28, 2002

Public rests easy with cash under the futon

As the scandals keep a-comin', the citizens are receiving what many believe is a healthy and long overdue reality check about those whom they've entrusted with their collective well-being. Politicians have always been suspicious types and bureaucrats only slightly less so. But now teachers, policemen...
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Apr 27, 2002

Craftsmen keep alive hair ornaments that were all the rage in Edo Period

The display of fine Japanese hair ornaments at Tsumami-Kanzashi Museum in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward illustrates a small world of plums, cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums, chestnuts, bees and phoenixes created with pieces of colorful silk.
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 26, 2002

J. League put on hold as Nabisco Cup starts

Following last weekend's action the J. League Division One has just started a three-month break for the World Cup but the players will be busy with another tournament -- the Nabisco Cup.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2002

Rise in computer prices to reflect winds of change

"Now is your chance," reads a sign at the personal computer section of a Yodobashi Camera outlet in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 26, 2002

Indian fritillary

* Japanese name: Tsumaguro-hyomon * Scientific name: Argyreus hyperbius * Description: This is a common butterfly in the nymphalid family. It has an orange body and distinctively marked orange wings with black spots (hyomon means "panther pattern"). The female, but not the male, has black wingtips....
LIFE / Digital
Apr 25, 2002

Broadband security: put a lock on the back door

It's late one evening last July, and a green activity light is blinking on the front of the DSL modem next to my desk.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2002

LDP acquiesces on bills for postal deregulation

The Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday backed down from its crusade to block a package of bills on postal services deregulation, saying it would approve the legislation's submission to the Diet.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2002

'Spirited Away' boosts Toho profits

Film producer and distributor Toho Co. said Tuesday it posted record group revenue and pretax and net profits on the success of its box-office hit "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" ("Spirited Away").
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2002

Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda enjoy increases in overseas production

The nation's five major automakers reported mixed results for exports in the 2001 business year, according to data released Tuesday, with three of them seeing an increase in overseas production figures.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2002

Time features living Asian heroes

A special issue of Time magazine to be published Monday highlights 25 living Asian heroes, including Japanese sports stars Ichiro Suzuki and Hidetoshi Nakata, who are featured on the cover.
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
Apr 20, 2002

NGOs target immigration center

OSAKA -- Amid concerns over allegations of human rights abuses at the West Japan Immigration Detention Center in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, local nongovernmental organizations will form an immigration watchdog group later this month.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2002

Posts deregulation bills may shatter LDP, Aso warns

The Liberal Democratic Party may be torn apart if Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi goes ahead with his controversial plan to have four bills related to postal deregulation approved by the Cabinet on April 26, a top LDP policymaker warned Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2002

Daiei suffers 332.5 billion yen loss

Ailing supermarket operator Daiei Inc. announced Friday a consolidated net loss of 332.51 billion yen for the business year that ended in February, blaming the losses on increased restructuring costs.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 19, 2002

Copperhead snake

* Japanese Name: Nihon mamushi * Scientific name: Agkistrodon blomhoffii * Description: Copperheads are reddish-brown, coppery colored snakes of the viper family. They have thick bodies, 40-70 cm long, with chestnut-brown rings. * Where to find them: In forests and surrounding farmland, from Hokkaido...
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 17, 2002

Troussier to test combinations in Costa Rica friendly

YOKOHAMA -- With six weeks remaining before the start of the World Cup, Japan coach Philippe Troussier will be out to fine tune his team in Wednesday night's friendly against Costa Rica at International Stadium Yokohama, by giving a playing opportunity to those who haven't featured in the side much....
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2002

Mazda unleashes remodeled minivan

Mazda Motor Corp. on Tuesday released a new version of its MPV minivan, the first of four new or remodeled products that the automaker plans to launch in Japan this year.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 14, 2002

It's spring and renewal is in the air

English teachers will definitely want to check out Sunday's two-hour "SmaStation Spring Berabera Festival" (TV Asahi, 6:56 p.m.). "SmaStation" is the latest SMAP-related hit variety series, normally broadcast Saturday nights at 11 p.m. Taking its name from TV Asahi's influential nightly news program,...
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.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan