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SUMO
Jan 27, 2003

Asashoryu finishes in style

Mongolian Asashoryu put an exclamation point on his second straight Emperor's Cup on Sunday, shoving out Musoyama to improve to 14-1 on the final day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2003

Yokota trip to N. Korea nixed; U.S. visit planned

A group of the families of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea said Sunday the group's representative, Shigeru Yokota, will not visit Pyongyang for the time being, but group members are planning to visit the United States to raise awareness of the abductions issue.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2003

Obituary: Gentaro Kawase

OSAKA -- Former Nippon Life Insurance Co. President Gentaro Kawase died of heart failure Friday at a hospital in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, his family said Sunday. He was 86.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 27, 2003

Trials of a singleton

When a man's been single for too long, he can start to exhibit strange symptoms.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2003

Trend of rising interest rates no cause for optimism in U.S.

Long-term interest rates are on an upward trend in the United States. The yield on 10-year U.S. government bonds, which stood around 3.8 percent in December, has climbed to around 4 percent. But has the U.S. economy been strong enough to trigger a rise in interest rates?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2003

U.S. pursuit of a second ASEAN track

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- Analysts tend to classify U.S. policies toward Asia -- and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in particular -- according to two irreconcilable stereotypes: the "unchangeable pattern," in which administrations come and go while fundamental American perceptions remain the...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2003

Flu epidemic shuts down 500 schools

Japan is in the grip of a severe flu epidemic, causing nearly 500 schools nationwide to close down in one week earlier this month, the largest number in recent history, health ministry officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2003

Arrest made in Mexico City murder

MEXICO CITY -- Authorities on Friday captured a man who they believe shot and killed a Japanese national after the two were involved in a car crash last weekend, Mexico City's attorney general said.
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2003

Bananas on the brink

Bananas don't usually figure much in the news. True, there were a few occasions in recent years when the ubiquitous yellow fruit slipped off the health and food pages and onto Page 1. Mostly those stories concerned the long-running dispute between the United States and the European Union over barriers...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2003

Philippine gunmen kidnap Japanese

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- Unidentified gunmen have kidnapped a Japanese man in the southern Philippines, local police said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Watery worlds on show without a snorkel

Although the Kaiyukan Aquarium is located right on Osaka Bay, it is truly a case of "water, water everywhere, ne'er any drop to drink" for the 39,000 fish and 580 species of other sea creatures kept there in 15 large tanks.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 26, 2003

Stories about the storytellers

FIVE MODERN JAPANESE NOVELISTS, by Donald Keene. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003, 144 pp., $24.50 (cloth) In this new book, the doyen of Western scholars of Japanese literature introduces the writing of five novelists with whom he has worked and reminisces about his relationships with them....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jan 26, 2003

One trip to Never Never Land, and you're hooked

Hiroshi Matsusaki is not a big Disney-film fan. His imagination was captured, however, when he read a Japanese translation of "Peter Pan" -- understandable for a child whose life's adventures began in the lush natural reaches of Kyushu, before his family moved on to Saitama.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 26, 2003

A warrior's hometown goes prime-time

Ohara, a tiny village nestled in the mountainous region of northern Okayama Prefecture, is usually pervaded by a sense of tranquillity. Its landscape is one of rice fields punctuated by gently rising hills and the infrequent sound of a passing train.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2003

Gangster held over 'loan shark' operation

Police arrested a gangster and an accomplice Saturday for allegedly lending money at exorbitant interest rates.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2003

Still time to rewrite script ending in war

WASHINGTON -- The U.N. inspectors in Iraq have suddenly taken front stage. But the process is a sideshow. The real issue is whether an invasion is necessary to protect the West.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 26, 2003

Suntory claims bragging rights as 'last champion'

The 55th and final name to be engraved onto the trophy for the Company Clubs Rugby Football Championship will be that of Suntory following its 38-25 victory over Toshiba Fuchu at Tokyo's National Stadium on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2003

Honda Motor abolishes wages based on seniority

Honda Motor Co. has abolished its seniority-based wage system and introduced performance-based pay for the 40,000 rank-and-file employees at the parent firm and nine subsidiaries, company officials said Saturday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 26, 2003

Cleaning up Japan is one tall order

Thanks to improved nutrition, the height of the average Japanese person has increased considerably since World War II. Nevertheless, many Japanese, especially those over a certain age, despair over what they believe is their short stature.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Whether crisis or not, sumo's show must go on

Of all the crises that the institution of sumo is said to be confronting -- and there are many -- yokozuna (grand champion) Takanohana's announcement last Monday of his retirement is being regarded by some as particularly ominous.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Shot eagle gains a domain

Late last year, in the mountains of Chiba Prefecture, hikers came across an owashi (Steller's sea eagle) -- a designated special natural treasure -- that was unable to fly.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Golden ages' glitter may be gone

The first exhibit of foreign animals in Japan seems to have been of Asian elephants imported from Vietnam in 1725 by Gen. Yoshimune Tokugawa. Originally a pair, the cow died soon after its arrival in Nagasaki, but the bull survived the overland journey to Hamagoten in Edo (now Tokyo), where it was sometimes...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2003

Reasoning against Iraq 'catastrophe'

Few were the world leaders who, in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, withheld moral support for the United States. Longtime friends and onetime foes, Christians, Jews and many Muslims alike sang as in one chorus: They would root out terrorism where it lurked. It seemed the birth of a new world...
SUMO
Jan 26, 2003

Asashoryu bags New Year basho

Ozeki Asashoryu pulled out all the stops against Kotomitsuki on Saturday to claim his second consecutive Emperor's Cup by winning the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament and virtually secure promotion to yokozuna.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2003

Agency drills for terrorist attack

The Defense Agency has conducted a drill involving geographic scenarios to prepare for the possibility of terrorist attacks involving biochemical weapons, Defense Agency sources said Saturday.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’