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COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2003

DDT our best weapon in war on malaria

NEW YORK -- A serious debate is raging over the use of DDT to combat malaria. As one of the world's most serious tropical diseases, malaria kills more than a million people a year -- most of them young children. To a great extent, success in controlling malaria is owed to the use of DDT in spraying houses...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2003

Thais create Buddhist studies landmark

CHIANG MAI -- Against a background of terror, conflicts and violence worldwide, during times when consumerism and materialism have been elevated as never before on pedestals surrounded by a divine aura, a small group of modest but dedicated Thai scholars, monks and nuns have worked quietly and efficiently...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jan 13, 2003

Learning from living things, often the hard way

Since I write this column at home, school holidays are always a problem. It's impossible to get any work done with my kids hanging around. One day during the recent winter holidays, I complained about feeling pressured. The deadline for today's column was looming, but I didn't even have a topic.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jan 13, 2003

Bee hawkmoth

* Japanese name: Sukibahoujyaku * Scientific name: Hemaris radians * Description: Bee hawkmoths belong to the moth family Sphingidae. They are large moths (wingspan 37-40 mm) able to fly at high speeds (hence the name hawkmoth). Caterpillars are bright green and recognizable by the black spine on the...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 12, 2003

Ueda leads Hall inductees

Toshiharu Ueda, who as manager led the Hankyu Braves to three consecutive Japan Series Championships, was inducted into the Japanese Hall of Fame along with four other notable contributors to the game, baseball officials announced Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 12, 2003

A price on their heads

Help wanted: Able-bodied, handsome men required to wine and dine as many women as their schedules permit; some extracurricular cosseting may be called for. Educational requirements: None. Salary: Enough to make a salaryman gag.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 12, 2003

It's no joke scripting a sitcom in Japan

When the six cast members of the hit American comedy series "Friends" recently agreed to a 10th season, no one was really surprised, even though the six had implied that the present season would be their last.
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Asahi Mutual cans Millea tieup plans

Struggling Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co. announced Friday it has scrapped plans to team up with the Millea Insurance Group, saying it may look for another partner.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 10, 2003

Buffs open vault for Nakamura

OSAKA -- Norihiro Nakamura signed a free-agent deal with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes on Wednesday, becoming the highest-paid Japanese baseball player with an estimated annual salary of 500 million yen for 2003 plus incentives.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2003

Abduction suspect gathered military info

A Korean resident in Japan suspected of having been involved in the abduction of a Japanese national in 1977 is also believed to have gathered military information for North Korea, investigative sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2003

Deadly drug reached 296 before approval

OSAKA -- A cancer drug blamed for more than 120 deaths in Japan was administered to 296 patients before the health ministry approved it last July, with one dying of side effects in May, pharmaceutical company officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2003

Honda ends Corolla's 33-year reign

The Honda Fit compact took over the title of the nation's best selling car in 2002, a position held by the Toyota Corolla for 33 straight years, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 10, 2003

Takahashi setting sights on another Olympic gold in 2004

This is the second and final installment of an exclusive interview with Naoko Takahashi, the gold medalist in the 2000 Sydney Olympic women's marathon.
BUSINESS
Jan 10, 2003

FSA imposes operation ban on Unum Japan

The Financial Services Agency said Thursday it has ordered Unum Japan Accident Insurance Co. to halt operations for 30 days beginning Jan. 20. During the suspension, the nonlife insurance company will be banned from marketing and concluding insurance contracts.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2003

Osaka to tackle petty crime with increased streetlights, security

OSAKA -- The city of Osaka has announced a comprehensive plan to make local streets, parks and schools safer, combating a rise in petty crime that has put Osaka atop the national list for reported incidents.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2003

Toyama softens position on school deregulation proposal

Education minister Atsuko Toyama said Tuesday that her ministry may support moves to allow stock companies to run schools, marking a shift from its previous opposition toward the proposal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2003

Chinatown to be more tourist-friendly

Yokohama Chinatown, proud of its 140-year history as a symbol of the city since the early days of the port's opening, is gearing up for a makeover that it hopes will draw tourists back to its streets.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 8, 2003

'Mr. Reds' explains the reasons behind retirement

"I just thought it would be difficult for me to play in another uniform except the Reds' uniform," Urawa Reds and former Japan striker Masahiro Fukuda emotionally said of the reasons for his retirement on Tuesday at a Saitama hotel.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 8, 2003

What goes around, comes around . . .

The career of the Austrian author and playwright Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931) unfolded in Vienna during the heady 19th-century fin de siecle era, when major social and intellectual shifts were sweeping the city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 8, 2003

Calling to the gods with a true, independent female voice

The career of composer, vocalist and dancer Makiko Sakurai has followed a unique path. She is the only woman who has been trained in shomyo -- the Buddhist liturgical chanting that dates back to the ninth century and is traditionally practiced only by males.
EDITORIALS
Jan 7, 2003

Mr. Putin's resurgent Russia

Remember Russia? The government in Moscow no longer commands the international respect -- or fear -- that it did during the Cold War days, but a decade after the collapse of its empire, Russia appears ready for a comeback. President Vladimir Putin has revealed a deft touch at home and abroad, besting...
COMMENTARY
Jan 6, 2003

Time for a U.S.-South Korean divorce

WASHINGTON -- The United States has defended South Korea for 50 years. But newly elected President Roh Moo Hyun suggests that his nation might "mediate" in any war between America and the North. Whatever value the U.S.-ROK alliance once had has disappeared. The presence of 37,000 troops in South Korea...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 6, 2003

Navigating Japan health insurance

Deciding which I have lived in Japan and worked for the same company for six years. During this time the company has provided health insurance and paid all of the premiums. However, I will soon leave the company and thus lose my coverage.
EDITORIALS
Jan 5, 2003

The tale of a Spix's macaw

Two weeks ago, a lonely specimen of one of the world's rarest birds made a very special trip. "Presley," a male Spix's macaw, had been found last summer living quietly in a Denver suburb with his owner, a woman who had no idea of his importance in the scheme of things. Now Presley was finally on a plane...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 5, 2003

Japan's own meals on wheels

In the early morning of Dec. 1, the first "Hayate" shinkansen left Hachinohe Station in Aomori Prefecture. Its departure for Tokyo in a blaze of publicity signaled that Japan's fastest express trains had a new northernmost limit -- some 96.6 km further on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line from Morioka in Iwate...
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2003

North Korea abductees to be made eligible for financial help

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is to officially recognize 15 Japanese -- including the five people who returned to Japan on Oct. 15 -- as victims of abduction by Pyongyang, it was learned Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2003

Koreans on either side sweep offbeat honors

HONG KONG -- The two Koreas swept the board with the most Asian Institute of Discord Analysis (Aida) "awards" for 2002, in a way reminiscent of the glory days of the Indo-Pakistani antagonism, before those two South Asian nations won the "Rivalry of the Year" award in perpetuity.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 30, 2002

Pomp, ceremony and the U.S. presidency

NEW YORK -- A new book by Christopher Anderson is called "George and Laura: Portrait of an American Marriage." Andersen, who also wrote "Jack and Jackie" and "Bill and Hillary," may not always be "respectful," to quote a reviewer, toward America's First Couples, but the appearance of his latest book...

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