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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 2, 2002

Who's got the scoop on the Shenyang Five?

The disagreement between the foreign ministries of Japan and China over the attempted defection by five North Koreans at the Japanese consulate in Shenyang was intensified by a comment made early on by LDP Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda. During a press conference, Fukuda looked at the assembled...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jun 2, 2002

Snobbery will not be permitted

Once upon a time, wine in Japan was a hushed affair, conducted with starched linens and stiff-backed chairs. Elusive first-growth Bordeaux and top Burgundy accompanied the tense, dutiful rituals of business negotiations. The mood was earnest; the cost high. It sometimes seemed as if the highly codified...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jun 2, 2002

West-blessed authoritarian

MOSCOW -- U.S. President George W. Bush visited Russia just as a new wave of terrorist attacks was expected in North America. This grim background toned down the euphoric atmosphere of the Bush-Putin summit. Yet two things definitely stood out during the visit: the signing of an important arms-reduction...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 2, 2002

Looking behind life-or-death situations

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of eight young children at the Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka. Shortly after that, a young man killed a child in a Kyoto schoolyard before killing himself when faced with arrest, thus reinforcing the fear among the general public that Japan's schools...
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
Jun 2, 2002

Straight talking from Citizen Nic

Writer and naturalist C.W. Nicol left his home in South Wales in 1958 at the age of 17 to join an Arctic Institute of North America expedition to the Arctic. Four years later, he made his first visit to Japan to study karate and Japanese, before heading back to Canada to take part in a further six Arctic...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 2, 2002

The slow train to France

To reach AOC Yoyogi entails an undemanding stroll down a narrow shotengai shopping street in one of those quiet, unexceptional parts of Tokyo you would never have recourse to visit in the normal run of affairs. It's only minutes away from the JR station, but far enough that you feel well removed from...
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 1, 2002

Inamoto ready to show off

MORIMACHI, Shizuoka Pref. -- Ten months after joining Arsenal, Japan midfielder Junichi Inamoto is ready for the World Cup and he plans to show off all that he's learned playing in England.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 31, 2002

Black soldier fly

* Japanese name: Amerika mizuabu * Scientific name: Hermetia illucens * Description: Black soldier flies look a bit like wasps, but they have no sting and are not interested in humans -- at least while we are alive. They are robust black flies about 15 mm long, with wings that lay over the body when...
BUSINESS
May 31, 2002

Cyclical upswing no time to relax reforms: Hayami

BOJ Gov. Masaru Hayami said Thursday that Japan should not relax its efforts to promote structural reforms and dispose of banks' nonperforming loans despite the recent economic uptick.
EDITORIALS
May 30, 2002

The only way to clear debt burden

Stock prices for Japan's top banks have been rising lately despite the huge deficits they have suffered in the business year that ended March 31. Increases in loan losses are good news in the sense that they reflect progress in bad-debt write-offs. In the same year, the nation's seven banking groups...
JAPAN
May 30, 2002

Koizumi's office to be inspected over bomb threat

Police and security guards will conduct a special search of the Prime Minister's Official Residence in response to an e-mail threat that said explosives will be planted Thursday at the complex, government officials said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 30, 2002

The fuss-free way to get you and your stuff home

We were wondering how many inquiries would be coming in and we are all pleasantly surprised at how many we have. It is going to be a big job to reply to them all but that's what we are here for. Remember, we rely on you, the reader, to not only send in questions but help us with the answers. Please let...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CUP COUNTDOWN
May 29, 2002

Hotels vie for World Cup windfall

As the Friday opening of the 2002 FIFA World Cup approaches, hoteliers in and around Tokyo are making last-minute efforts to get their slice of the hoopla that will carry on through the next month.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2002

Japan Telecom posts net losses of 66 billion yen

Struggling with ongoing restructuring efforts, Japan Telecom Co. on Tuesday reported net losses of 66 billion yen for the business year that ended in March. It was Japan Telecom's first net loss as a publicly traded company.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
May 29, 2002

And the 'nice try' award goes to . . .

It is my sad duty to report that the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards Japan, held May 24 at the Tokyo International Forum, was a less than spectacularly successful affair.
MORE SPORTS
May 28, 2002

Japan's cricketers get a lesson from a master

For those with no knowledge of the game of cricket --imagine a player with Ichiro Suzuki's eye for the ball, speed and throwing arm, throw in Barry Bonds' power and Carl Ripken Jr.'s mental and physical toughness and you will come up with Dean Mervyn Jones. Jones was arguably the most popular cricketer...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
May 27, 2002

Doing one's duty in a desperate situation

NEW YORK -- In April, when a young Palestinian woman blew herself up, killing and wounding many Israelis, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "The president condemns this morning's homicide bombing."
JAPAN
May 27, 2002

Archaeological probe dismisses 'findings' of disgraced Fujimura

The Japanese Archaeological Association on Sunday concluded that none of the alleged stone tools that disgraced archaeologist Shinichi Fujimura said date back to the Paleolithic period have any academic value.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 26, 2002

Waxing monstrously about the first Japanese I ever got to know

The first Japanese I fell in love with was a little taller than my wife.
CULTURE / Music
May 26, 2002

And with a wave of his wand . . .

As cofounder and artistic director of the Asian Youth Orchestra, Richard Pontzious says one of his greatest delights is providing talented youngsters with an experience that might become the most significant musical memory of their lives.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
May 26, 2002

Soccer coach for the intellectually challenged lets 'em play

After being made head coach of the national soccer team last August, Hiroshi Ohashi's first order was for the grown-ups to get off the pitch.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 25, 2002

Amalia Lior

Since its founding in 1959, the Japan-Israel Women's Welfare Organization has usually invited the wife of the Israeli ambassador to Japan to be its honorary president. Each one who has accepted the position has praised the organization and devoted herself to promoting its activities and aims. Amalia,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 24, 2002

Wolf spider

* Japanese name: Komori-gumo * Scientific name: Pardosa astigera * Description: Wolf spiders are dark brown, predatory and fast-moving spiders measuring 7-10 mm long. Females may continue to grow after they are sexually mature. They do not spin webs like many spiders. They have eight eyes, in pairs:...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 24, 2002

Snow Brand Milk posts 71.74 billion yen net loss

Struggling Snow Brand Milk Products Co. said Thursday it posted a group net loss of 71.74 billion yen for the 2001 business year, 35 percent worse than the year before, due to plunging sales in the wake of a food mislabeling scandal at its meat packing subsidiary.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 24, 2002

Shenyang puts spotlight on refugee policy

While mystery continues to shroud the May 8 incident at the Japanese Consulate General in the Chinese city of Shenyang, in which police entered the compound and seized five North Korean asylum seekers, the spotlight has fallen again on Japan's reluctance to accept refugees.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 23, 2002

When it comes to giving money, just go with the flow

In answer to the reader in Mita-ku enraged with having to 'pay out' money for so many of the activities that at home she takes as freely granted (parties, weddings, funerals), best remember perhaps that everything has its price.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 23, 2002

Buyers be wares -- shopping consumes Japan

I was once asked to translate a pamphlet published by the municipal government of one of the most beautiful and historically endowed cities in Japan. The material was aimed at foreign companies and their expat employees to entice them to the city.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 20, 2002

Nilima Seth

"Divine!" Nilima Seth stood in front of a noh mask on her wall. "Don't you feel the vibes?" she asked, reverence in her tone. "What does it say to you?"

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat