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BUSINESS
May 1, 2002

Nomura Holdings posts 43% drop in consolidated net profit

Nomura Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that its group net profit plunged 43.4 percent in fiscal 2001 due mainly to a fall in both brokerage commissions and revenue from stock and bond trading on its own accounts.
COMMENTARY
May 1, 2002

Le Pen victory a dark sign of the times

LONDON -- Political experts of all shades have been professing surprise and amazement that Jean-Marie Le Pen, with his wild mixture of views, some overtly racist, should have collected around 17 percent of the votes in the first round of the French presidential elections. But the real surprise is that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 1, 2002

Young artists are making a splash

The third installment in an almost-annual series (they skipped it last year), "New Media New Face 02" is now showing at the NTT InterCommunication Center, in Shinjuku. The work here, from four Japanese artists, falls into the vague but trendy, technology-based genre known as "media art."
BUSINESS
May 1, 2002

Fuji Photo sees 74% sales growth

Fuji Photo Film Co. said Tuesday its group sales in fiscal 2001 grew 73.6 percent from the year before to 2.4 trillion yen because Fuji Xerox Co. was included as a direct subsidiary.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 1, 2002

Marc Chagall: painting the great power of love

In Japan, July 7 is a special day. It is the festival of Tanabata, the one night of the year when two celestial star-crossed lovers -- the Weaver (Vega) and the Cowherd (Altair) -- are said to cross the Milky Way to meet.
JAPAN
May 1, 2002

Tokyo, Seoul to swap airport-based hooligan inspectors

Japan and South Korea will exchange airport customs inspectors in an effort to enhance checks on travelers during the World Cup soccer finals, which will run from May 31 to June 30, the Finance Ministry announced Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 1, 2002

Golden Syrup Lovers: 'Hue'

Remember what British guitar-pop was like in the '80s. No? Exactly. Because it was all totally forgettable apart from The Smiths (who were gods and thus an exception).
JAPAN
May 1, 2002

Sato served fresh tax evasion warrant

Saburo Sato, a former top aide of ex-Lower House lawmaker Koichi Kato, was served a fresh arrest warrant Tuesday on suspicion of failing to declare 150 million yen that he received from talent agency Rising Production Co., investigative sources said.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2002

Export demand lifts industrial output 0.5%

Industrial output for March increased 0.5 percent from the previous month due to a rise in demand for exports, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 1, 2002

Antipop Consortium: 'Arrhythmia'

'Disturb the equilibrium" has been Antipop Consortium's credo since they formed five years back, and their second album, "Arrhythmia," is another welcome one-finger salute to hip-hop's pop mainstream.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2002

Impoorts of crude oil down 5.8%

Japan's crude oil imports fell 5.8 percent in fiscal 2001 to 1.508 billion barrels due to slack demand for petroleum products in the country's lumping economy, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 1, 2002

N*E*R*D: 'In Search Of . . .'

'This album is like a life soundtrack," N*E*R*D frontman Chad Hugo says on their Web site. "It's a diary of shit we've been through over the last year or two."
BUSINESS
May 1, 2002

Japan steel industry blasts U.S. dumping charge

The Japanese steel industry on Tuesday criticized a preliminary ruling by the U.S. Commerce Department that cold-rolled steel products from Japan and 19 other exporters are being dumped on the U.S. market.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 1, 2002

The U.S. Ambassador of Magic

Neither clown nor magician but something of both, Steve Marshall has, from early childhood, been charming audiences with his unique brand of comedy magic. Watching him in action, it is difficult to tell where performance genres begin and end -- what's certain is that they blend into a seamless, entertaining...
BUSINESS
May 1, 2002

End of road for Snow Brand Foods

Snow Brand Foods Co. disbanded Tuesday, just over three months after it admitted it had deliberately mislabeled meat products in an effort to swindle the state. The Tokyo Stock Exchange delisted Snow Brand Foods, a subsidiary of Snow Brand Milk Products Co., the same day.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
May 1, 2002

A heaping spoonful of satire helps the politics go down

Mixing music and politics is always tricky. While it sometimes results in great art (e.g. Bob Dylan's pacifist tirade "Masters of War"), often the music is ruined by too much didacticism (John Lennon's "Some Time in New York City" is a prime example).
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Apr 30, 2002

Sex, lies, videotape and something fishy

I hate April in Japan. Step outside and the air smells of sweaty underpants. My friend Percy tells me it has something to do with trees secreting spitballs. Which is nice.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2002

Rough going awaits postal reforms

The Diet is set to debate legislation that incorporates Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's cherished plans to privatize the postal services (mail, savings and life insurance). At stake is a set of four reform bills. Two were introduced by the government last week. One will create an umbrella postal corporation;...
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2002

Inventors advised to take out patents

Amid the prolonged recession, more people are trying their hand at inventing in the hope of making a fast fortune.
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2002

METI group set to tackle copyright abuse in Asia

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will organize a private group of publishers and producers of music, movies, games and other software in June to deal with rampant piracy in China, South Korea and Taiwan, METI officials said.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2002

Asia awaits Japan's recovery

Despite Japan's protracted economic slump, its neighbors are still looking to it for support and leadership.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 30, 2002

Japan kicks off Kirin Cup campaign with 1-0 victory

Japan's national soccer team got its Kirin Cup campaign off to a winning start with a 1-0 victory over Slovakia at Tokyo's National Stadium on Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 30, 2002

Matsuzaka fences in Buffs for fifth straight win

Daisuke Matsuzaka held Kintetsu to one run over seven solid innings and picked up his fifth win this season -- and the 50th of his career -- as the Seibu Lions beat the Buffaloes 4-1 at the Seibu Dome on Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2002

Fashion world banking on teenage girls' yearning to grow up

In an effort to capitalize on the Golden Week holiday period, many department stores across the country are targeting preteen and early teen girls with a series of brand-name clothing promotions, fashion shows and makeup classes.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2002

Japanese cheerleader back for second season with NFL team

When Ai Yasuda was named to the San Francisco 49ers' Gold Rush cheerleading squad for the second straight year, she realized that although the door may not be wide, it is always open.
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2002

'Community currencies' seen fulfilling only half of mission

The recent boom in community "currencies" -- a virtual form of payment being used to promote exchanges of goodwill and business -- seems to have reached a turning point.

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’