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JAPAN
May 14, 2002

Fourth cow infected with BSE

A Hokkaido cow was confirmed Monday to be infected with mad cow disease, the fourth case in Japan since September, health ministry officials said.
EDITORIALS
May 13, 2002

Conditions for SDF mobilization

National defense bills now before the Diet are drawing a mixed reaction from the public. In a Kyodo News poll earlier this month, nearly 50 percent said Japan needs emergency legislation to deal with military attacks from abroad, but when asked whether the package should be passed in the current Diet...
SOCCER / World cup
May 13, 2002

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity

"Passion" is the story of Japan soccer team coach Philippe Troussier, his struggle to make it as a player and manager and his travels around France, Africa and Japan. In the book, Troussier also details his philosophy and thinking as he prepares for the World Cup in June. In this, the ninth of 10 exclusive...
COMMENTARY
May 13, 2002

Wider economic gaps ahead

The first decade of the 21st century is likely to be no less turbulent than the last decade of the 20th century. It is next to impossible to predict how the world will change in this coming decade, but one thing is certain: The world in 2010 will defy predictions based on today's knowledge.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2002

Prime minister or nationalist puppet?

CAMBRIDGE, England -- The ink was barely dry on my April 21 Japan Times article "Koizumi trade pitch misses," which stated Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was thinking of going to pray at Yasukuni Shrine, when the news came that he had gone. We were told that he had felt the need "to mourn those who...
JAPAN
May 13, 2002

Health ministry confirms fourth case of mad cow

A test conducted Saturday on a slaughtered cow has revealed that it was infected with mad cow disease, the health ministry said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
May 12, 2002

High fives for the best kind of Japanese food

There are five sets of five rules one must consider when attempting to make traditional Japanese food: the five colors (goshiki); the five methods (goho); the five flavors (gomi); the five senses (gokan); and finally the five viewpoints/considerations (gokan no mon), a Buddhist treatise on the proper...
JAPAN
May 12, 2002

Man seized in Chinese Embassy in 1998

Japanese police seized a Chinese intruder inside the grounds of the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo in May 1998 and released him after questioning, police confirmed Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 12, 2002

The free press exercise their muscles

In addition to being Japan's Constitution Day and the United Nations' Press Freedom Day, May 3 marked the 15th anniversary of the unsolved murder of Asahi Shimbun reporter Tomohiro Kojiri in Kobe.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2002

Are local tracks up against the odds?

There is little glamor at Kawasaki Racetrack. Under grubby baseball caps, cigarettes and pencil stubs are jammed behind the ears of tense punters. The odor of ramen wafts along the betting slip-littered corridors and stairways under the stands.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 12, 2002

Brewing it naturally isn't so easy

In recent years, there has been increased interest in organic sake. To legally specify something as organic or organically produced is difficult, at least in countries that have begun enforcing the standards that are needed to ensure safety and quality, as well as the protection of the environment.
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 Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 12, 2002

Natural quality, Acquavino style

You don't get to become a successful restaurateur without knowing exactly what it is that people want. As the man behind the Acquapazza and Mangia Pesce stable of ristoranti, chef Yoshimi Hidaka helped to define the new high-end Italian cucina of the cash-flush 1990s. Now he shows he is equally in tune...
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2002

Murder in the Netherlands

The assassination of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is a wakeup call to the citizens of Europe. Coming only days after the defeat of rightwing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the runoff for the French presidency last weekend, the killing is a savage reminder of the threats to democracy in Europe. The Dutch...
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2002

Indian state frenzy borders on genocide

NEW DELHI -- The continuing communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat has not only left hundreds dead, but has also led to embarrassing condemnation by world leaders. New Delhi finds itself in an utterly shameful spot, a situation brought on by its own inept handling of the Hindu-Muslim...
COMMENTARY
May 11, 2002

Koizumi's pain, media's gain

Japan's gossipy media kingmakers have finally gone too far. Not content with creating Japan's system of revolving-door prime ministers, they now want to dump a creature of their own creation, Junichiro Koizumi, only a year after he took office. They want Tokyo governor, Shintaro Ishihara, as his successor....
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

Personal information bill endangers privacy, press: LDP politician

A government-sponsored bill to protect personal information, which critics fear would threaten freedom of the press, is more likely aimed at protecting bureaucrats rather than individual members of the public, according to a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who has openly criticized the legislation....
BASEBALL / MLB
May 11, 2002

Giants' utility man Crespo ready to do whatever it takes

If it were up to Felipe Crespo, he'd be chasing fly balls in the Tokyo Dome outfield. Somewhere -- left, right or center -- it doesn't matter.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2002

Reflecting on the future of Myanmar

CHIANG MAI -- The hopeful news from Myanmar calls for a pause and reflection: What really triggered these happy developments? Which is the most appropriate course for the international community to follow on the strenuous road to a full blossoming of democracy in Myanmar?
JAPAN
May 11, 2002

182 Koreans lost in '44 sinking of Japanese vessel

An estimated 182 Koreans were among the 956 people who died when the Imperial Japanese Army ship Taihei Maru sank off the Chishima Islands during World War II, the government said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 11, 2002

Coffee machines, bread, teas . . . whatever next?

Marcel Niederhauser is one happy businessman. In the lobby of Tokyo's Hilton Hotel in Shinjuku, visiting the small shop he opened with a Japanese partner just two weeks ago, he learns that the first day of Golden Week has been a bonanza. "We moved some 120 packs of tea. We're very, very happy with the...
SUMO
May 10, 2002

Free sumo tickets up for grabs

The Grand Sumo Kachinuki Yushosen tournament, which started in 1992, will be inviting 10 pairs (20 people) of Japan Times readers to the 11th Kachinuki Yushosen tournament to be held June 15 and 16 (five pairs each day) at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 10, 2002

Man held for allegedly using mace in train

A 23-year-old university student was arrested Thursday in Tokyo for allegedly using a self-defense spray in a packed train, leaving several other commuters slightly injured, police said.
JAPAN
May 10, 2002

Dead man thought to have fallen from stairs

OSAKA -- Police found a man with a serious head injury lying on a street in the city of Higashi-Osaka early Thursday after receiving an emergency call from a neighbor who said he noticed him after hearing something hit the ground.
JAPAN
May 10, 2002

Experts struggle to boost prophylactics among teens

Alarmed by the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and a record number of abortions among teenagers, educators and health experts are desperately searching for ways to increase condom use.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 9, 2002

Welcome to a new page, welcome to a new column

Welcome to a brand new new weekly column that will provide a forum for readers to help one another, and for myself and Ken Joseph, of Japan Helpline, to help you. We will be printing your letters, offering personal input and bringing in experts on a regular basis to help answer your queries on living...

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