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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 4, 2003

Movers and shakers

The J-pop singing duo Kinki Kids are considered "first-class idols" by everyone in show business. However, the premise behind "The Domoto Brothers" (Fuji; Sunday, 10 p.m.) is that they're struggling musicians. On this weekly half-hour show, Tsuyoshi and Koichi Domoto -- who, despite having the same family...
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2003

India: fertile ground for SARS virus

MADRAS, India -- The virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome just loves crowds. And India has crowds. Although there have been relatively few cases of SARS so far, fears of a pandemic are real.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 3, 2003

Shinkansen: shared stink, flying fruit

This is a followup to an article I wrote a few weeks ago on how to ride the shinkansen. As many readers pointed out, I overlooked some very important aspects.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 2, 2003

Studio J: Masahito Ueki does it again

While the eyes of the world -- or at least the Tokyo-centric portion of the planet -- have been fixed on the unveiling of the massive Roppongi Hills complex, our attention was focused on another new arrival, not so far away but on a totally different scale. For us, the main event last month was the opening...
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2003

Reform is key to keeping Asia on top

MANILA -- Asia's future is bright, but it is not preordained. Policy reforms that augment investment, lead to the adoption of new technologies and enhance productivity must be pursued to increase the growth potential of developing economies in Asia. The urgency of these reforms is accentuated by the...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
May 1, 2003

Radioactive fallout courtesy of U.S.

In 1789, a German chemist, Martin Heinrich Klaproth, announced that he had discovered a new element in the dull black mineral pitchblende. He named it after the planet Uranus, itself discovered only eight years earlier.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2003

Privacy bills still have faults

The Diet debate on the government-proposed privacy legislation cleared a major hurdle last week as a Lower House special committee approved it with the support of the ruling parties. The controversial package, designed to protect personal information held by government offices and private companies,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2003

Siting windmills in parks irks environmentalists

Efforts to build environmentally friendly wind power plants in Japan have been causing a stir because the best locations for windmills are often national parks, where they could actually do harm to natural ecosystems.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2003

TELL struggles amid foreigner influx

Tokyo English Life Line, a telephone counseling service for non-Japanese that celebrated its 30th anniversary this month, sees a need for such services increasing in line with the growing number of foreigners living in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 30, 2003

Symbols beyond the esoteric

Exotic chanting and the ringing of bells drifts from the corners of the dark room. All around are Buddhist statues darting sharp glances; paintings of buddhas and bodhisattvas in bright primary colors; and erotic and grotesque depictions of intertwined male and female deities.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 30, 2003

Inoue downs Suzuki with 'ippon'

Two-time defending champion Kosei Inoue beat his archrival Keiji Suzuki with an "ippon" complete win in the final to capture the All-Japan judo championship for the third straight time on Tuesday at Tokyo's Nippon Budokan.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2003

Hatfield of U.S., Devakula of Thailand to be decorated

Former U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield and Thai Privy Councilor Thep Devakula will be honored with the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, the second-highest decoration awarded regularly by the Japanese government, the Cabinet Office said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2003

Coalition wins three by-elections

Candidates from the ruling bloc won three of the four Diet by-elections held Sunday, while the Democratic Party of Japan, the largest opposition force, retained a Tokyo-constituency Lower House seat left vacant by the assassination of a DPJ lawmaker last fall, final results showed Monday.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2003

Lift ban on labor by illegal aliens: unions

Unions assisting foreigners working illegally in Japan are calling on the government to lift its ban on allowing them to engage in manual labor.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Apr 29, 2003

Overstaying visas, noisy neighbors and DIY trading

Visa overstaying I'm a Ukranian Citizen now in Japan. I have overstayed my tourist three-month visa. If I would like to go back to my country, what should I do? Can I buy an air ticket without a visa? Do they have money or other kinds of penalties for this type of case? -- Tokyo Don
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2003

Little light seen at end of job search

Job prospects for those leaving universities next spring appear nearly unchanged from this year, according to a Kyodo News poll.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2003

Six students injured in gym fire

A fire broke out Sunday at a five-story gymnasium at Hosei University in Tokyo, causing slight injuries to six students and a security guard, police and firefighters said.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 28, 2003

Time for Japan to return to reality and give us safer reasons to invest

"Wonderful thing, death. So uncontroversial," said Jim Hacker, the hero of BBC TV's highly successful 1980s political sitcom "Yes Prime Minister."
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 28, 2003

America is the greatest abuser of WMD

NEW YORK -- One duplicitous aspect of the United States' war on Iraq has been the use of the term "weapons of mass destruction" (WMD). No, I am not talking about the kinds of weapons that are assumed in the question raised by the conservative Chicago Sun-Times columnist Robert Novak on April 7 -- "Where...
COMMENTARY
Apr 28, 2003

Fair, transparent foreign aid

Last September the Japanese government was stunned by a lawsuit filed with the Tokyo District Court by 3,861 residents of Indonesia's Sumatra Island. The plaintiffs said their life had been disrupted by a dam for hydroelectric power and flood control built with Japan's official development assistance....
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2003

Research into diagnosis, cure for illness considered

Japan is to look for ways to efficiently diagnose and treat SARS, with several research projects scheduled to begin by the end of May, a science ministry official said Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 27, 2003

Time after time, show after show

Though Cyndi Lauper is much more than a one-hit wonder, her sudden stardom in 1984 made the subsequent lack of fireworks in her career seem as if she'd put everything she had into her debut album, "She's so Unusual." It's not entirely true, but in any case that LP went platinum five times in the United...
Events
Apr 27, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Photos, poems reveal children's school days: An exhibition of photos and poems depicting the school lives of children in Asia and countries bordering the Mediterranean will be held between April 30 and May 4 at the Kyoto City International Center in the city's Sakyo Ward.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 27, 2003

Enoshima: Kamakura's better half

Benten is one of those deities you can find yourself developing a soft spot for. She is the goddess of fortune and feminine beauty, she likes a bit of a song and, for a deity at least (as I was to discover), she seems like a game sort of girl.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2003

A shorter leash on China's Communists

LONDON -- Governments and political parties habitually find it hard to admit to having made mistakes. Ministers and party officials who resign after getting things wrong cover their tracks with talk of seeking new horizons or spending more time with their families. The more authoritarian a regime, the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2003

Lessons of a cult guru's trial

In the marathon trial of Aum Shinrikyo cult leader Chizuo Matsumoto (also known as Shoko Asahara) at the Tokyo District Court, prosecutors on Thursday demanded the death penalty. "The accused promoted teachings that even approved of murder," they said in a closing argument. "He planned and ordered indiscriminate...

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go