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JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Jobless rate hits record 5.3%

The unemployment rate soared by 0.3 percentage point in September to a record 5.3 percent, the government reported Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2001

Nissan, Renault tighten alliance

Nissan Motor Co. and Renault S.A. announced Tuesday they will strengthen their partnership by increasing Nissan's stake in the French automaker to 15 percent. Likewise, Renault's stake in Nissan will increase from the current 36.8 percent to 44.4 percent.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Court issues injunction on DoCoMo spammer

In what is believed to be the first legal action against spamming on mobile phones in Japan, the Yokohama District Court has issued an injunction against a firm that is allegedly sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mail messages to customers of NTT DoCoMo Inc.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

Mistress, queen and empress unmasked?

Ambition. Tragedy. Romance. The lives of Madame de Pompadour, Queen Marie-Antoinette and Empress Josephine read like the publisher's blurb on the cover of a historical novel. Yet they were real people, and a new exhibition from France sets out to unmask that reality.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

Cute art: clued-up or clueless?

I used to dismiss cuteness as kid stuff. But I found such a sophisticated aesthetic of cuteness here in Japan that I was forced to reconsider.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 31, 2001

Product Placement

Turntablism is the physical part of DJing, the act of slipping records on spindles and manipulating them in whatever configuration inspiration dictates. Some solo turntablists liken themselves to jugglers, which means their craft only has meaning in a live context. DJ Shadow is one of the ablest turntablists...
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

The gift of Ghibli

When I first heard that Hayao Miyazaki was planning a museum in Mitaka dedicated to the films that his Studio Ghibli animators and he had created over the years, I imagined animation cels framed on beige walls. Save for dedicated fans, it wasn't the most thrilling prospect for a Saturday afternoon, especially...
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Ethiopian envoy pushes stronger ties

With its recent peaceful transition of power demonstrating stability and democratic maturity, Ethiopia is now in a situation "very conducive" to deepening bilateral relations in trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchange, Ethiopian Ambassador Mahdi Ahmed Gadid said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Oct 31, 2001

Hey, world, meet Hasebe

DJ Hasebe looks set to become the latest Japanese platter-spinner to make a name for himself internationally, following in the footsteps of DJ Krush, DJ Honda, Ken Ishii and Captain Funk.
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Obituaries: Yoshie Koizumi / Toshiki Yashiro

Yoshie Koizumi, mother of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, died Tuesday morning of respiratory failure. She was 93.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 31, 2001

Backward and forward

Director Christopher Nolan's "Memento" has turned out to be the runaway indie hit of 2001, so the local press were out in force for his press conference. It's not every day that a talent blindsides viewers with such an accomplished and innovative work. In person, Nolan seemed a bit dry for someone who...
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Ex-envoy hails ties through education

Australia offers an attractive alternative for Japanese students and an opportunity to enhance ties with Japan through education, according to a former Australian envoy to Japan and one-time CEO of Qantas Airways.
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2001

Takenaka hints at contraction in '02

Heizo Takenaka, minister of economic and fiscal policy, said Tuesday that the economy may also contract in fiscal 2002.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 31, 2001

University Music Festivals

If you can avoid the drunk undergraduates and terrible yakisoba, the university festival season is an excellent time to see good bands for cheap. Musashino University consistently draws crowds to its Ekoda campus with cool, offbeat groups. It's worth going just for the venue: a Meiji Era concert hall...
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

Todaiji's Imperial legacy of treasures beyond counting

NARA -- Almost every year since 1946, the treasures of the Shosoin, storehouse of Nara's famed Todaiji Temple, have been put on display for all to see. These treasures have survived from the eighth century, preserved and protected by both Imperial favor and the unusual structure of the Shosoin, which...
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2001

Ministry compiles list of nation's 100 best-smelling spots

Sulfurous hot springs, lavender blossoms, grilled eel and wisteria are a few of the smells cited on a list of 100 especially fragrant places released by the Environment Ministry on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

A window on Miyazaki's animated world

Colorful characters and animals come alive in the stained-glass windows of Ghibli Museum Mitaka.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 31, 2001

Charles Lloyd: 'Hyperion With Higgins'

Charles Lloyd's 1966 release, "The Flowering," was one of the few jazz albums to find itself regularly tucked into living-room album stacks among the likes of Hendrix, Santana and the Dead. But, when the music industry shifted in the '70s to constricted market niches and less artist control, Lloyd tuned...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 31, 2001

Pulp: 'We Love Life'

Surely Pulp vocalist Jarvis Cocker hasn't turned into a hippie? Note the title of the new album, "We Love Life." Note that it's produced by '60s maverick Scott Walker. And, above all, note that it's all about . . . nature. A Pulp album not about sex? Well, there's bits of sex in it, of course, but basically...
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2001

Major electronics makers suffer first-half losses

Five electronics makers swung into losses in the first half of the 2001 business year, plagued by the global slump in the information technology industry, according to interim earnings reports released Tuesday.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

Talent on show and love for sale

LONDON -- I am sitting upright in a corner; a 2-meter length of gray, vinyl piping protrudes from each of my ears, extending horizontally along the wall on both sides of my head.
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2001

Nomura eyes tieup with U.S. bank

The Nomura Securities Co. group is negotiating a tieup with U.S. investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, the Japanese brokerage said Monday.
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2001

Teijin, Enron begin study on electricity sales

Major textile maker Teijin Ltd. said Monday it has begun a feasibility study with the Enron group of the United States to improve the output of Teijin's private power generator and sell the excess to other corporate users.
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2001

LDP wins by-elections, gains simple majority

Two Liberal Democratic Party candidates won by-elections in Miyagi and Shiga prefectures Sunday, securing for the LDP a simple majority in the Lower House.
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2001

New liquidation rules sought for hopeless firms

OSAKA -- Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa proposed Monday that rules be established to liquidate companies whose debts exceed assets and whose rehabilitation is deemed impossible so that banks' disposal of soured loans can be accelerated.

Longform

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