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BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 19, 2004

Japan must preserve upswing by allaying public fear with reform

Expectations are growing that Japan will finally achieve a full-scale economic recovery this year.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2004

S. Korea's recipe for economic disaster

COLOMBO -- A gathering of South Korea's leading policymakers and economists have agreed that Seoul should apply fiscal-stimulus measures through the first half of 2004. It is a great tragedy that this conclusion reflects the best judgments of mainstream economic orthodoxy, because the simple fact is,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2004

Nearly 590,000 begin university tests

Nearly 590,000 university applicants on Saturday began sitting two-day national entrance exams across the country.
SUMO
Jan 18, 2004

No stopping Asashoryu Express

Unbeaten yokozuna Asashoryu blasted out Tamanoshima to maintain pole position at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Saturday while ozeki Tochiazuma took another step toward promotion to grand champion with a sixth straight win heading into the second week of the 15-day meet.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2004

Koizumi proposes new IT ministry to reduce red tape

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has instructed Cabinet ministers to consider integrating the various information technology sections of different ministries, possibly into a new ministry, to reduce red tape, sources familiar with the issue said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 18, 2004

Europe's tower of Babel

A funny thing happened on the linguistic fringes of the European Union earlier this month. A group of demonstrators had gathered outside Dublin Castle in Ireland, where talks on an EU constitution were being held, to demand that the EU officially recognize the Irish language. Then Ireland's minister...
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2004

Journalist killed for 'not apologizing'

One of the suspects in the killing of a freelance journalist who wrote about Japan's underworld groups allegedly committed the crime because the reporter refused to apologize for criticizing him in publications, police sources said Saturday.
Events
Jan 18, 2004

KANSAI: Who & What

Osaka seminar to look into Belgian-Dutch ties: Flanders Center, a liaison office of the government of the Belgian region of Flanders, is offering five pairs of free tickets to a cultural seminar examining the friendship between Belgium and the Netherlands from 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 30 at the center in Tennoji...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 18, 2004

Kanto freezes Waseda for title

What a difference a year makes.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 18, 2004

Aburaya to skip Tokyo marathon

Shigeru Aburaya, a strong Athens Olympics candidate for Japan, is leaning toward opting out of the Feb. 8 Tokyo International Marathon and will make the official announcement early next month, his coach Yasushi Sakaguchi said Saturday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 18, 2004

'Losing dog' believers are barking up the wrong tree

In last week's column I mentioned that the media now likes to divide people and things into winners and losers (kachigumi, makegumi). This device is mainly used for economic-related matters, but it has trickled down into other social spheres.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2004

LDP's Arai sends resignation letter to Lower House

Masanori Arai, a lawmaker of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, submitted a letter of resignation Saturday to the House of Representatives secretariat, two days after prosecutors indicted him on charges of vote-buying.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 18, 2004

Masuoka tops stage at Dakar Rally

Hiroshi Masuoka drove for pride in Mauritania on Friday and recorded the fastest time in the 15th stage despite seeing his hopes of winning the Dakar Rally for the third consecutive year nearly dashed.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 18, 2004

Miura rewrites Guinness record

Japanese pro skier Yuichiro Miura has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records after becoming the oldest man to scale the 8,850-meter Mt. Everest in May last year.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 18, 2004

Cop on the steppes, cults in the subways

THE MONGOLIA CONNECTION, by Scott Christiansen. Hong Kong: Asia 2000 Ltd., 2003, 406 pp., $18 (paper). THE SONG OF SARIN, by Stew Magnuson. Xlibris Corp., 2003, 430 pp., $24.99 (paper). One of the tried-and-true techniques used in police procedural mysteries -- but even more often in so-called "buddy...
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2004

Osaka's governor candidates target bureaucracy, economy

OSAKA -- Candidates for the Feb. 1 Osaka gubernatorial election, who began their campaigns Thursday, are focusing on reducing bureaucratic waste and promoting economic revitalization, plans long supported by local business organizations.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 18, 2004

NHK's variety show, "Top Runner On Campus" and more

Comedian Takeshi Fujii is best known as the effeminate, fake-blonde TV host Matthew Minami on the popular late-night variety show "Matthew's Best Hit TV," which is featured in Sophia Coppola's movie "Lost in Translation." Fujii is doing his first serious leading dramatic role in the new series "Rampo...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 18, 2004

Millions in quest for 'miracle cures'

Cocoa isn't exactly the No. 1 drink of choice in Japan, but late in 1995 you would have been hard pressed to find any at all in stores. That wasn't because of a contamination scare or anything -- but because shoppers were clamoring to get their hands on the stuff.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 18, 2004

On a mission for the future of funk

Coming up with a technical definition for funk isn't easy, but New York Times critic Jon Pareles did a pretty good job in his review of a Nov. 2003 concert by the New Orleans band Galactic. Stating that the "discipline of funk [is] the repetition and deliberate space that give the music its solidity...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 18, 2004

George Pajon Jr.: "Fried Plaintains"

Three years ago, Soulive's CD "Turn It Out" started an avalanche of groove-based, jazz-inflected instrumental music. Followed by soulful, good-time releases from newcomers Rodney Jones, Bobby Broom, Karl Denson and stalwarts like the Greyboy Allstars and Maceo Parker, an entire shelf of funk-jazz CDs...
COMMENTARY
Jan 18, 2004

Authoritarian threat grows

LONDON -- The real threat from terrorists is being used as a pretext for growing authoritarian tendencies in democratic countries. On the grounds that every possible step must be taken to prevent terrorist attacks, suspects are being imprisoned without trial or access to lawyers, and Draconian controls...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 18, 2004

Dirtbombs

You could make a case that Detroit's Gories, who released their first album in 1989, prefigured the garage-rock revival, but then you could make an equally strong case that they simply were hangovers from an earlier garage-rock movement. Either way, you wouldn't necessarily say that the bassless trio,...

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40