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CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 2001

Fact and fiction meet in re-creation of Ainu past

HARUKOR: An Ainu Woman's Tale, by Katsuichi Honda. Translated by Kyoko Selden. University of California Press, 2000, 315 pp., $19.95 (paper). When I was a university student in Kyoto during the 1960s, Katsuichi Honda was the most glamorous adventurer-journalist of the day.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 23, 2001

Giants keep hopes alive

Akira Eto hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and Masumi Kuwata pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the frame Saturday as the Yomiuri Giants eked out a 4-3 win over the Yakult Swallows at Jingu Stadium.
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2001

Banker-turned-'barista' predicts big things for gourmet coffee

Kouta Matsuda's obsession with world food began in his childhood, when he traveled around the globe with his father, a trader.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 23, 2001

'Comfort' education at expense of standards?

Earlier this year, the Education Ministry announced a set of guidelines for public schools that go into effect next April. These changes include reduction of the school week to five days, a 30 percent cut in "academic content" and the development of "general studies," the gist of which remains vague...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Sep 23, 2001

Wine loving in the city, from dusk till dawn

This week brings good news for wine lovers whose schedules tend toward the late end of the Tokyo grind. Nissin World Delicatessen has extended its hours to 8:30 p.m., and a new Shirogane wine bar is pouring until the wee hours.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 23, 2001

Dream weavers of a bygone era

When made up for work, Norie is perhaps as close to the classic image of Japan as you could wish. Clad in a colorful yet demure kimono, wooden sandals and a jet-black wig that provides a striking contrast to the white makeup lavished on her fine features, she looks like a doll.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 2001

The struggle for a strategic prize

THE ORIGINS OF THE BILATERAL OKINAWA PROBLEM: Okinawa in Postwar U.S.-Japan Relations, 1945-1952, by Robert D. Eldridge. Garland Publishing, Inc., New York & London, 2001, 280 pp., $85.00 (cloth) Of all the issues plaguing Japan's relationship with the United States, none is as contentious as the U.S....
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2001

Obituary: Lee Chang Sok

Lee Chang Sok, a South Korean resident of Japan who served in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and sued for payment of a war pension, died at a Kyoto hospital Friday morning, his family said. He was 75.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Sep 23, 2001

Hip-hop takes responsibility

Once upon a time, hip-hop reflected -- and reflected upon -- the urban experience: It was another black art form akin to jazz. These days, its purpose appears to be to give suburban white teenagers a vicarious thrill. In the commercially driven dichotomy of contemporary hip-hop, the gangstas and their...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Sep 23, 2001

Getting lost in the Shibuya triangle

When railways and expressways are carved through an existing urban grid, awkwardly shaped scraps of land are often left in their wake. In central Tokyo, if the fragment is big enough for a single room and a stairwell, something will be built. Architects need to think both laterally and vertically to...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 23, 2001

Arcane lore as taught by the masters

BUDO SECRETS: Teaching of the Martial Arts Masters, by John Stevens. Boston/London: Shambhala, 2001, 116 pp., with illustrations, $19.95 The term "budo" is relatively recent one. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the martial arts were no longer to be used in combat, but rather to be considered...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2001

Airlines hit by insurance increases

Japan's two leading airlines, already hit hard by flight cancellations and slumping demand for air travel in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, will face a further uphill battle as nonlife insurance companies are increasing premiums to cover crashes and other accidents,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 23, 2001

Arossa: Best cellars Down Under

When a recent cover feature in a heavyweight U.S. weekly magazine assures us that New World vintages -- especially those from Down Under -- are giving the French (and Californians) a run for their money, then it's safe to say that Australian wine has arrived. But we in Tokyo have known that for a long...
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Parties agree on multiseat Lower House districts

The three ruling coalition parties have agreed to try to reintroduce multiple-seat constituencies for the Lower House in major cities, coalition officials said.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Minister begins blood supply drive

Health minister Chikara Sakaguchi urged the nation Friday to participate in an initiative aimed at securing the supply of blood products for hemophiliacs.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Laws thwart Japan's resolve to deal with crises

Staff writers The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States awakened Tokyo to the possibility that similar incidents could take place here, prompting lawmakers to review Japan's own emergency contingency preparedness.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

U.S. open to possible return to fusion project: minister

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham responded favorably earlier this month to the possibility of the United States returning to an international project on developing fusion energy, state minister Koji Omi said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Exchange schemes put on hold

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JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Nation's police put on antiterrorist alert

The National Police Agency ordered prefectural police forces across the country Friday to do all they can to prevent terrorist attacks in Japan in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Disposal of risky offal eyed

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering measures to ensure the disposal of the cow body parts that pose the greatest risk of transmitting mad cow disease, ministry sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Troubled youngsters turn to friends, not family

Young people are more likely to turn to friends in times of trouble than their parents or teachers, with most youngsters both dependent on and fearful of their peers' opinions, according to a government survey released Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Term for infant-murderer reduced

OSAKA -- The Osaka High Court on Friday reduced the sentence of a man convicted of killing his baby daughters to bring his punishment in line with that of his former wife, who was also convicted.
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2001

Yanagisawa says banks don't need state help

Major banks can maintain sufficient capital-adequacy ratios without public funds, even if 20 troubled borrowers were to fail, Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa said Friday.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 22, 2001

Two share lead at Taiheiyo Masters

Tsukasa Watanabe fired a second-round 67 to grab a share of the lead Friday at the halfway stage of the 140 million yen Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters golf tournament in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture. Joining him at 12-under 132 was joint overnight leader Lin Keng-chi of Taiwan who battled his...
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Vivre's demise will leave a gap in Osaka

OSAKA -- The bankruptcy of the Osaka-based Mycal group earlier this month sent shock waves through the business and financial worlds.

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’