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JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Kawaguchi eyes peace talks in India

Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Tuesday that she might visit India later this week, while en route to the Middle East, to urge the country's leaders not to escalate tensions with Pakistan over Kashmir.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

Food Ministry not in cards: Takebe

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe on Tuesday denied a newspaper report his ministry is considering changing its name by as early as fiscal 2003.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 5, 2002

Celebrate football's field of dreams

It's twenty minutes before England's opening World Cup game at Saitama Stadium and I'm sitting almost directly behind the goal, sacred posts that I'm hoping Michael Owen will tune his gold-plated radar into the moment he walks onto the pitch.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Shigenobu daughter pushes peace

OSAKA — While international calls are growing for another round of peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, May Shigenobu, daughter of the Japanese Red Army guerrilla group's founder, said little progress will be made unless Palestinian grievances are recognized.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

Hitachi, IBM to integrate their hard disk operations

Hitachi Ltd. and International Business Machines Corp. on Tuesday announced an agreement to integrate their hard disk drive businesses under a joint company to be majority-owned by Hitachi.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

METI enters fray over secondhand game software sales

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has announced that it will set up a distribution study group to mediate the protracted dispute between game software makers and secondhand shops that sell their products.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Suzuki to recall four minicar models

Suzuki Motor Corp. will recall four of its minicar models, including two it produces for Mazda Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., to fix air-bag defects, the transport ministry said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

Life insurance giants growing weaker

Hit by slumping share prices and mounting policy cancellations, the nation's top 11 life insurers are continuing to lose strength, earnings reports released Tuesday showed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 5, 2002

A Japan-Korea joint show that's wide of goal . . .

By this time, even the most blinkered of Tokyo's art enthusiasts will be aware that the planet's premier sporting event, the World Cup, is taking place in Korea and Japan. There is just no ignoring the newspaper and magazine coverage, the live television broadcasts and the hordes of dumbfounded soccer...
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

TSE, NYSE to share info

The Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange said Tuesday that they have agreed to share information on market transactions to ensure fairness and transparency in both markets.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

Computer server shipments down

Shipments of computer servers fell in the first quarter of 2002 for the first time in four years on a quantitative basis, a market research agency said Wednesday.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2002

It all starts here: a garage rock primer

Wondering how to start your garage-rock record collection? We asked a bunch of players on the scene to name their top picks, and this is what they came up with.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2002

Foreign Ministry pair indicted over fund fraud

A Russian affairs expert and his former Foreign Ministry colleague were indicted Tuesday on charges of using more than 33 million yen in funds earmarked for an international aid panel to pay for a trip to Israel.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

Political wrangling continuing over steel import curbs

Delaying a decision on whether to retaliate against U.S. steel import curbs will be possible if the United States offers further compromises over product exclusions, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takeo Hiranuma said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2002

She's with the band

Basking in the spotlight has never been the way of jazz instrumentalists; they know how much they owe the band. But for jazz vocalists, the opposite tends to be true. Female singers, in particular, tend to be seen as center-stage divas more than an integral part of the group.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 5, 2002

Japan draws with Belgium in seesaw thriller

SAITAMA -- Tuesday was a historic day for Japanese soccer as the boys in blue earned the first-ever World Cup point for the cohosting nation after fighting to a 2-2 draw with Belgium.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 5, 2002

. . . but soccer hosts are a dream team on stage

As in soccer, so on stage. Japan-Korea collaboration (or is it Korea-Japan collaboration?) is happening all over.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

Nation's economic chiefs to consider tax reforms

Japan's various economic chiefs were to meet Wednesday evening to discuss tax reforms, including tax cuts, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jun 5, 2002

With Shina, the songs don't have to remain the same

All too often, albums of cover songs are just stopgap efforts put out by artists whose creative juices have run dry. So when I heard that Ringo Shina was making her comeback in the form of a covers album after taking a year's maternity leave, I was skeptical. But my expectations were raised as the names...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2002

Raw power

The singer's name is Baba and he's the Japanese Iggy Pop -- when he was young and spritely. Baba's just smashed his head into a speaker, and blood from his nose splashes over the kids spilling onto the stage at a packed Shinjuku live house. In return, they offer him a similar rock 'n' roll sacrament...
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2002

Snow Brand appoints consumer guru to board

OSAKA -- Snow Brand Milk Products Co. on Tuesday said it has appointed Nobuko Hiwasa, former chief of a leading consumer group, as an outside director in charge of food safety.
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2002

Hollow debate on Diet extension

Discussions and bargaining on an extension of the current session of the Diet, which is scheduled to end on June 19, are heating up. Speculation about the extension of a Diet session that is tied up with the existing political situation is not unusual in itself, but discussions that reflect a leadership...
COMMENTARY
Jun 4, 2002

Wake-up call on diplomacy

Shenyang, in northeast China, is a city of historical significance for both Japan and China. Formerly known as Mukden, it was the last battlefield in the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War. Imperial Japan, emerging as a modern power after the Meiji Restoration, won a do-or-die war with imperial Russia, which...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2002

Activists put themselves in firing line

It was April 1, and Aisa Kiyosue and nearly 100 other activists from around the world were marching toward the Dehesha refugee camp in Beit Jala, northern Bethlehem, in an attempt to block it from an anticipated attack by the Israeli Army. They were in high spirits, clapping and singing songs of protest,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2002

The Palestinian intifada: a very American struggle

AL-BIREH, West Bank -- The Palestinian people have no grudge against the American public. We never did. As a matter of fact, if one resists the media spin and takes a closer look at what the Palestinians have been struggling for, it will be revealed that the Palestinian intifada is a very American struggle....
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2002

Kansai to ask for continued airport funding

OSAKA — A delegation of Kansai business and government officials was to visit Tokyo on Tuesday to ask that funding for the second-phase of construction at Kansai International Airport be continued.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2002

Single men in 30s save either a lot or naught

OSAKA — In terms of saving money, single males in their 30s generally fall into two extreme categories: those who diligently set aside their yen and those who spend all they have, according to a recent survey by a consumer credit company.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 4, 2002

Brazilians battle back to beat Turkey

ULSAN, South Korea -- Four-time champion Brazil, which staggered through its World Cup qualification matches for South America, made heavy weather of a hustling Turkey team Monday night before winning 2-1, causing coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to exhort his players to keep it simple.

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’