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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 4, 2002

Finding a place in history

SENTO AT SIXTH AND MAIN: Preserving Landmarks of Japanese American Heritage, by Gail Dubrow with Donna Graves. Seattle: Seattle Arts Commission, 2002, 220 pp., $19.95 (paper) A lumber camp in Selleck, Washington; a sento at 302 Sixth Avenue in downtown Seattle; a bowling alley in Los Angeles's Crenshaw...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 4, 2002

The sweet, soft option

Fukuoka sake, in general, hovers just below the surface of mass attention. You don't hear about it too much, and it doesn't have an image of overall style in the minds of most folks. But this belies its historical significance and, more importantly, ignores the fact that great sake can be found in Fukuoka....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 4, 2002

Shock of the new: modernism as a cultural force

TOPOGRAPHIES OF JAPANESE MODERNISM. By Seiji M. Lippit. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002, 301 pp., $22.50 (paper) Among the many results of the 19th-century "opening" of Japan to the West was a truly massive internalization of foreign culture, one which is now so advanced that concepts such...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 4, 2002

Salsita: Just like they do it back in old Mexico

'The best Mexican food in town,' the hand-chalked sign outside Salsita proclaims. That's certainly a cocksure statement for a cantina of such modest dimensions. But, as we all know (in Japan better than anywhere else), when it comes to eating well, what matters is neither the size of the kitchen nor the length of the menu but quality, attention to detail and that plus-alpha personal touch. You'll find Salsita has that in spades.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Press secretary seeks to redefine role

Hatsuhisa Takashima, newly appointed as the first press secretary for the Foreign Ministry to come out of the private sector, vowed Friday to be a new breed of government spokesman.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 3, 2002

Theismann: 49ers one of top 3 teams in NFL

OSAKA -- "I think the 49ers are one of the top three teams in the National Football League," former Redskins quarterback and ESPN commentator Joe Theismann -- who has visited both team training camps this summer -- said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

New arrest in nuclear bribery case

The former president of a waste management firm was arrested Friday on suspicion of bribing a government official to obtain classified information relating to the nuclear power industry, police said.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Roadside land prices drop for 10th straight year

The average price of land facing main streets dropped for the 10th straight year in 2001, falling 6.5 percent to 129,000 yen per sq. meter, the National Tax Agency said Friday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 3, 2002

Orix slugger Sheldon starting to make things happen

Scott Sheldon and his Orix BlueWave teammates may be in the same boat, but for the past month they've been rowing in opposite directions.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Law eyed to prevent 'wangiri' phone scams

Toranosuke Katayama, the minister of telecommunications, said Friday his ministry may submit a bill to the Diet in the fall to put an end to the phone scam known as "wangiri."
EDITORIALS
Aug 3, 2002

Positive moves from Pyongyang

The good news about North Korea is that it is ready to resume diplomatic contacts with Japan and the United States. At the ASEAN Regional Forum in Brunei this week, Pyongyang's foreign minister, Mr. Paek Nam Sun, expressed a willingness to mend fences with Tokyo and Washington in talks with Foreign Minister...
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 3, 2002

Buffaloes close gap on Lions

Norihiro Nakamura went 3-for-4 and Tuffy Rhodes smashed his Pacific League-leading 33rd home run to help the Kintetsu Buffaloes beat the Nippon Ham Fighters 6-3 at the Tokyo Dome on Friday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 3, 2002

Flaws mar proposed reforms

LONDON -- The Japanese Foreign Ministry has been much criticized over the last year. Reforms have been made and more changes are likely. Some of the criticism has been justified, but much is misplaced and some of the proposals for changes are mistaken.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Lack of rival leaves Koizumi boss by default

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's sky-high popularity is a thing of the past. Over the last six months, his public approval ratings have declined sharply, as has his image as a charismatic reformer.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Bank notes to get high-tech makeover

The government will start replacing 10,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 1,000 yen bills with new notes that include sophisticated features to beat counterfeiters as early as April 2004, Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa announced Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2002

JNOC poised to start operating gas-to-liquid plant

The government-run Japan National Oil Corp. said Friday it and five companies will start operating this month a gas-to-liquids pilot plant in Tomakomai, Hokkaido.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2002

Nonperforming loans rose sharply in fiscal 2001

The Financial Services Agency said Friday the value of outstanding nonperforming loans at commercial banks rose sharply to 43.21 trillion yen as of March 31.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Kokubunji snubs state resident registry

The western Tokyo suburb of Kokubunji on Friday became the latest municipality to refuse to take part in a national resident registry network that the central government plans to launch Monday, saying it will not join the system until a law to protect personal information is enacted.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Embattled USJ halts night show

OSAKA -- Theme park Universal Studios Japan will suspend its popular night-time performance following revelations it was using fireworks in violation of a local government permit, its operator said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Obituary: Shinshin Aoki

Shinshin Aoki, curator of the only museum in Japan dedicated to those who died in the Auschwitz concentration camp, died Wednesday of esophageal cancer at a Fukushima Prefecture hospital, his family said Friday. He was 67.
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
Aug 3, 2002

ASEAN is on the right track with ARF

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BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2002

Minister boos retroactive pension cuts

Welfare minister Chikara Sakaguchi said Friday he opposes cutting national pension payments equivalent to price falls over the past three years if the government lifts its freeze on linking price fluctuations to pension benefits.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2002

Tokyo welcomes more White House power over trade

Japan on Friday welcomed the U.S. Senate's passage of a legislative package giving the White House enhanced authority to negotiate new trade pacts.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2002

Doctor indicted over boy's death

A university hospital doctor was indicted but not detained Friday by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office on a charge of professional negligence resulting in the death of a 4-year-old boy in 1999.

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’