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JAPAN
Nov 14, 2001

Plan for Chichijima airport withdrawn

Tokyo officials said Tuesday they are withdrawing a plan to construct an airport on Chichijima Island in the Ogasawara Island chain, about 1,000 km south of Tokyo.
COMMUNITY
Nov 11, 2001

Japan's trepanning history is full of holes

In his 1967 study, "Prehistoric and Early History of Trepanation," Professor F.P. Lisowski of the University of Tasmania, Australia, cites the work of two anthropologists who suggested that trepanation might have been practiced in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 11, 2001

Prodigies in a flash -- but maybe much too soon

"My daughter can solve algebraic differentiation and integration." "My son reads the Nikkei Shimbun every morning." "My child has read 'War and Peace.' "
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 8, 2001

All the leaves are brown -- anyone know why?

In Japan, the beauty of leaves in autumn is revered with almost religious fervor. Part of the autumn weather forecast is devoted to showing the "leaf front" as the color change in trees moves across the country. Millions of tourists travel to marvel at the display.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 8, 2001

Creation of wants and the damage done

Who's consuming whom? Are we consuming advertising and living a better life because it educates us about a wide range of choices? Or is advertising consuming us, urging us to want, need and buy whatever the market has to offer?
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2001

Household spending continues to decline

Average household spending declined an inflation-adjusted 3.7 percent in September from a year earlier to 283,390 yen for the sixth consecutive monthly fall, the government said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 7, 2001

In search of simplicity

In turbulent times, we turn to the simple things of life with relief. But in fine art, simplicity is not easy, and it is a brave painter who spends his life depicting pots and pans, apples and pears.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2001

Labels eyed to track cows' history

The farm ministry has begun developing a system to numerically label every package of beef to show consumers the birthplace of the cow it is from and the farms where it was raised, ministry sources said Sunday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 4, 2001

Cities that go with the flow

LEARNING FROM THE JAPANESE CITY: West Meets East in Urban Design, by Barrie Shelton. London: E. and F.N. Spon/Routledge, 2001, 210 pp., profusely illustrated, 42.50 British pounds (cloth) In this interesting study of Japanese urban space, the author writes that when he thinks of the Western city he envisions...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 4, 2001

Isabella Bird's letters from Japan

UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN: An Account of Travels in the Interior Including Visits to the Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrines of Nikko, by Isabella L. Bird. New York: ICG Muse, 2000, 1,700 yen, 342 pp. (paper) "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" documents the journeys of Isabella Bird, an extraordinary woman for...
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2001

Metro government panel set to assess banks' management

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government will set up a third-party panel to scrutinize the management of banks that hold local government funds, metro government officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2001

Eight insurers to pay out over quake-related fire

OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Wednesday ordered seven nonlife insurance companies and an insurance group to pay a total of 12.15 million yen to 19 people whose homes were damaged in a fire caused by the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2001

Weaker 'keiretsu' prompt Antimonopoly Law revision

The Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday it plans to revise and update the Antimonopoly Law to reflect the recent weakening of "keiretsu" conglomerates.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Nov 1, 2001

A wonderland wrought from one man's vision

In June this year I had the pleasure of visiting three wonderful gardens in California -- all of which I would strongly recommend for a leisurely and enjoyable visit. I will cover one apiece in this and two following articles.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Australophile to receive award

KOBE -- When Mineko Furusawa visited Brisbane in 1965, she never thought she would end up devoting the rest of her life to fostering better Japan-Australia relations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

A window on Miyazaki's animated world

Colorful characters and animals come alive in the stained-glass windows of Ghibli Museum Mitaka.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Oct 30, 2001

The holiday that never began . . .

Romania has more brown bears per square kilometer than any other country in the world. Unspoiled forest covers 80 percent of the Carpathian mountains. Transylvania is home to thousands of wolves and 30 percent of Europe's lynx population. Wild boar, chamois, eagles and red deer abound.
COMMUNITY
Oct 28, 2001

Kazuo Ishiguro: In praise of nostalgia as idealism

Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki in 1954, and at age 5 he moved with his parents to London, where he has lived ever since. In 1986, his second novel, "An Artist of the Floating World," was nominated for Britain's leading award for fiction, the Booker Prize. Three years later, his next and arguably...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Oct 28, 2001

The golden girls of Shinjuku

Last week I introduced Tre Tre -- a funky little hole-in-the-wall near the entrance to Golden Gai. Gaku, the master, has not only helped many new-generation barkeeps leverage their way into the area, he also knows all the coolest spots to drink. So, this week and next, we will stay in Golden Gai and...
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2001

'Linguistic chameleon' novelist finds a voice in Japanese

Novelist David Zoppetti describes himself as a linguistic chameleon when he changes personality according to the language he speaks.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 28, 2001

Absorbing and transforming the new

TRANSLATING THE WEST: Language and Political Reason in Nineteenth-Century Japan, by Douglas R. Howland. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001, 312 pp., $27.95 (paper) It is commonly assumed that Western ideas somehow wafted to Japan and there landed and took root. A moment's reflection, however,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 27, 2001

Introducing 'nihonga' to the British art scene

I meet Sarah Waite in June, just days before she returns to the U.K. after five years in Japan. We talk about the exhibition she will have in London in October as part of the Japan Festival 2001, agreeing to run the interview then. So now, here we are in autumn, and the time is ripe.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2001

NTT dials in reform program

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. unveiled on Thursday a reform program to cope with recent changes in the telecommunications industry and revised downward its sales projection from 12.1 trillion yen to 11.94 trillion yen for this business year.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 24, 2001

Sophisticated tastes and surprising connections

Most of the action in the art world takes place out of the public eye in small, discreet galleries like the one run and owned by Noriko Togo, catering to the sophisticated tastes of a well-heeled clientele. Togo shows me around her gallery's latest exhibition, "Beyond the Visible World," which brings...
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2001

Stock-option holders fail to report 51.78 billion yen in income

Holders of stock options failed to report 51.78 billion yen in income earned by exercising those options over a two-year period through June, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Tax Administration.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2001

Coalition eyes peacekeeping role for SDF

The governing coalition will start discussing lifting a self-imposed freeze on Self-Defense Forces participation in U.N.-led peacekeeping forces after an antiterrorism bill is enacted, possibly Friday, coalition officials said Monday.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?