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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2004

Yawning contagious in chimps

Chimpanzees watching video scenes of other chimps yawning yawned more often in response, proving contagious behavior occurs among primates other than humans, according to a report by a group of scientists.
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2004

32% of domestic violence takes place after drinking

Thirty-two percent of domestic violence cases occur after the assailants have drunk alcohol, according to a nationwide survey.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 25, 2004

Gerling: "Bad Blood!!!"

Aussie electro-punks Gerling want it both ways: hardcore's caustic snarl with the insistent thump of disco and house. Fans of dance-punk darlings The Rapture and !!! may consider this opportunistic, but the Sydney trio have crossbred both genres for years.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 25, 2004

DPRK diplomacy or brinkmanship?

TARGET NORTH KOREA: Pushing North Korea to the Brink of Nuclear Catastrophe, by Gavan McCormack. New York: Nation Books, 228 pp., 2004, $13.95 (paper). Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's gamble on a trip to Pyongyang seems to have paid off, giving him a boost in the polls, reuniting some of...
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2004

MTFG's leaders eyed to head merged group

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. and UFJ Holdings Inc., eyeing a merger in the next fiscal year, are considering having the president and chairman of MTFG take the same positions in the merged banking group, informed sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 25, 2004

Cashing in on ideas

Thomas Edison's electricity, Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, the Wright Brothers' creaky biplane, H.G. Wells' time machine (OK, that last one hasn't happened yet), but through these world-changing discoveries, our daily lives have been made easier. Flick a switch and light banishes the darkness, pick...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 25, 2004

Rugby fans send JSports to sin bin over Bledisloe Cup fiasco

Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear!
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 25, 2004

LDP to promote architect of failed election

It's a strange promotion.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 25, 2004

Little Wings: "Magic Wand"

Portland, Ore.-based singer-songwriter Kyle Field, who performs under the alias Little Wings, initially comes across as one of those new folkies, like Will Oldham and M. Ward, who appropriate old-fashioned religious imagery for purely dramatic purposes. However, with his fragile, druggy voice and gentle,...
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2004

Illegal foreign labor worries Japanese

More than 70 percent of Japanese are worried that an increase in the number of illegally employed foreign workers could undermine public safety and result in human rights abuses against the workers themselves, according to a government survey released Saturday.
Japan Times
Features
Jul 25, 2004

Brolly good notion out of the blue

One evening in March, Daryn Peterson was stretched out on his sofa at home. After a hard day's work, he was totally relaxed and just watching TV. Then, when the weather forecast came on, he sat up suddenly. It was as if lightning had struck his brain; an idea had suddenly flashed into his mind.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 25, 2004

Way to go keigo: a loaded language of politeness

KEIGO IN MODERN JAPAN: Polite Language From Meiji to the Present, by Patricia J. Wetzel. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 206 pp. with illustrations, 2004, $45 (cloth). Keigo is often thought of as a separate kind of Japanese (often called "polite speech," "honorifics," or the like) that is used...
Japan Times
Features
Jul 25, 2004

Inspiration drawn from inconvenience

Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say. But for grandmother Yoko Sukekawa, it's the inconveniences she encounters in her daily life that get her inventor's juices flowing.
OLYMPICS
Jul 25, 2004

Japanese delegation launched

The Japanese delegation for the upcoming Olympic Games in Athens was officially launched with a ceremony Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 25, 2004

Home is where the financial heartbreak is

If you have a dedicated telephone line, you probably receive calls from sales people pitching new condominiums or single-family homes in your area. The pitch always starts the same way: "Do you rent? Do you pay more than 100,000 yen a month? If you were paying that much a month for a mortgage, you could...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 25, 2004

Kabuki star in Fuji TV's "Tuesday Special" and more

On July 25, kabuki star Nakamura Kankuro will wrap up a historic weeklong run in New York City. Though Kankuro has performed in New York before, this time he brought his portable Heisei Nakamura-za theater and had it erected in the plaza of Lincoln Center.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 25, 2004

Urawa Reds march on to Nabisco Cup quarters

Holders Urawa Reds came back from an early deficit to beat JEF United Ichihara 2-1 to reach the quarterfinals of the J. League Nabisco Cup on the final day of first-round clashes Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 25, 2004

Gender imbalance exacting social costs

HONG KONG -- A quarter of a century ago, China decided to focus on economic development rather than Maoist class struggle. As part of that drive, it adopted a policy of limiting population growth with couples allowed to have only one child in the cities. Chinese officials say that as a result, 300 million...
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2004

The governor and the 'girlie men'

Say this much for California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger: He is never boring. The "Governator" proved that again recently when he said that opposition lawmakers campaigning against his budget proposals were "girlie men." The remark caused a furor among U.S. Democrats. It also reignited a more general...
JAPAN
Jul 25, 2004

MTFG's leaders eyed to head merged group

Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. and UFJ Holdings Inc., eyeing a merger in the next fiscal year, are considering having the president and chairman of MTFG take the same positions in the merged banking group, informed sources said Saturday.
Japan Times
Features
Jul 25, 2004

Japan's inventor supreme shares the secret of 3,218 successes

Who is Japan's most famous inventor? No doubt about it, it's Yoshiro Nakamatsu -- or Dr. NakaMats as he styles himself. The doc says he has 3,218 inventions to his credit, including the floppy disk and the compact disc. Although his childhood dream was to become Finance Minister, from the age of 5, Nakamatsu...
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2004

Kamei blasts IWC over its 'rigidity'

Yoshiyuki Kamei, minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said Friday he was disappointed that the International Whaling Commission rejected a number of Japanese proposals at its annual meeting.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2004

Bolton talks tough on North's ambitions

U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton reiterated Friday that North Korea must completely abandon its nuclear program, which he maintained is exclusively for military use.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2004

Birthrate benefits future students

The nation's falling birthrate is good news for future university and junior college applicants but could spell disaster for some unpopular institutions, according to a report compiled by the Central Education Council.

Longform

A store clerk tries to cool things down in front of their shop by spraying a hose.
Is extreme weather changing the way Japan shops?