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JAPAN
Jun 10, 2001

SDF to go on peacekeeping duty for U.N.

The Defense Agency is planning to dispatch personnel to take part in the key operations of U.N. peacekeeping forces without reviewing one of the five conditions Japan attached to a 1992 peacekeeping law that restricts the bearing of arms, agency sources said Saturday.
SUMO
Jun 10, 2001

Mitoizumi has topknot removed

Former sekiwake Mitoizumi of the Takasago stable had his topknot removed Saturday in a ceremony that saw a record 470 officials, patrons and wrestlers take a snip of his hair at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.
COMMUNITY
Jun 10, 2001

Land ownership trends transformed after economic bubble

In the past, ordinary Japanese lived in rented houses while their richer brethren built homes on land they bought or leased.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 10, 2001

Tanizaki captured in full flow

THE GOURMET CLUB: A Sextet, By Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. Translated by Paul McCarthy and Anthony Chambers. Tokyo/New York: Kodansha International, 2001, 204 pp., 2,800 yen. This is the long-awaited collection of six of Jun'ichiro Tanizaki's shorter works, given us by two of the most eminent of Tanizaki's...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 10, 2001

Japan, America and women's place

THE ROAD WINDS UPHILL ALL THE WAY: Gender, Work, and Family in the United States and Japan, by Myra H. Strober and Agnes Miling Kaneko Chan. The MIT Press, 2001, $21.95. The image of Japanese women walking several steps behind their "master" husbands is alive and well in the American popular imagination....
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2001

Waseda Egyptologist says key to future is learning from past

A free ride to the Middle East on an oil tanker may not be the flashiest start to a career. But for Waseda University professor Sakuji Yoshimura, the voyage he organized to Egypt in 1966 was the first step in what has become 35 years of archaeological exploration born from a childhood fascination with...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 10, 2001

All problems, great and small

Up-to-the-minute trends and subjects are often incorporated into the story lines of television drama series. Unfortunately, topicality is usually given more consideration than relevance, and the dramas themselves rarely explore the reality of problems such as AIDS or teenage depression.
COMMUNITY
Jun 10, 2001

Turn on to feng shui for good vibrations

For 12 years, April Perkinson, a jazz pianist, has lived in a spacious, old apartment in Kawasaki City. Once sunny and inviting, her south-facing residence was recently blocked by the construction of a skyscraper next door. What to do?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 10, 2001

There's a fine line between parody and larceny

There is an unspoken belief among music critics that had George Harrison not been a Beatle, he wouldn't have lasted more than a minute in the pop business. This belief has nothing to do with Harrison's talent and everything to do with his professional judgment. First, he released all his good songs on...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 10, 2001

Publishing still in a slump; DaVinci stays popular with young

Last month, the National Tax agency made its annual announcement of those paying more than 10 million yen in income tax and, as always, the list reflected major trends of the times.
COMMUNITY
Jun 10, 2001

Home (not so) sweet home

"The word 'home' comes from the Nordic and Germanic languages and means a place of comfort, a warm fire and a place to sleep," said Colleen Lanki, artistic director of Kee Company, a Tokyo-based bilingual theater group.
LIFE
Jun 10, 2001

Joseph Conder: Enduring legacies of a 'high-collar' expat

Japanese domestic architecture has changed a lot in the last 100 years, but Western-style architecture was slow taking off and in fact the modern Japanese architectural establishment owes its organization, training system and much of its sense of style to one man: Josiah Conder.
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jun 10, 2001

Teaching Tokyo how to be cool

Bar Kitsune is a phenomenon. It is the brainchild of Production Company, an Osaka-based outfit that decided to sneak up the Tokaido and infiltrate Tokyo's nightlife. The company's success with home-turf projects like Under Lounge, one of Osaka's most happening clubs, gave it the confidence to tackle...
COMMUNITY
Jun 10, 2001

Feng shui tips for beginners

Inspired to try a little feng shui around your own home? Here are some tips to help you get started:
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2001

Restarting Korean peace talks

Stop blowing up the balloons. Put away the ribbons and confetti. There is unlikely to be any major celebrations as we mark the first anniversary of the historic June 13-15, 2000 summit meeting in Pyongyang between South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korean chairman Kim Jong Il.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jun 10, 2001

A daughter of Madagascar traces a path home to Asia

"I feel at home in Asia," said Hanitra, leader of the group Tarika, during a recent visit to Tokyo. "Africa is more foreign to me."
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 10, 2001

Can Japan leave Les Bleus feeling blue after Confederations Cup final?

If you take the negative aspects of the Confederations Cup (the League Cup of international football) away from the equation, then FIFA couldn't have asked for a more intriguing final today at International Stadium Yokohama.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jun 10, 2001

Sake gold standards shifting

Last week, on May 30, the Zenkoku Shinshu Kanpyo Kai, or National New Sake Tasting Competition, was held in Hiroshima. This year 1,133 sake that made it through the nine regional competitions were tasted blindly by a panel of government-employed, highly trained judges. Out of these, 382 were given a...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 10, 2001

Zetton: A buzz that can't be resisted

Call it what you like -- drawing power, charisma, sex appeal or the Koizumi quality -- new restaurants need that extra something to succeed, no less than populist politicians with big, Beethoven-look hair. Zetton, the hot new place just up from Shibuya-bashi in Ebisu, has just the right sort of buzz....
COMMUNITY
Jun 10, 2001

Learning to live in a house with attitude

Architects Ben Matsuno and Kumi Aizawa have a dream in which homes are not just for sleeping and serve as more than just private spaces for residents only. But the husband and wife team doesn't intend to sit back and wait for society to change. By forming Life & Shelter Co., they're putting their architectural...
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2001

Secret fund is still under wraps

The Foreign Ministry, responding to a recent embezzlement scandal involving a senior ministry bureaucrat, has put together a package of measures designed to "reform" its secrecy-shrouded diplomatic war chest. The package falls far short of public expectations, largely because the ministry has not disclosed...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Workers to get average nine-day summer holiday: survey

Workers at major Japanese firms will have an average of nine consecutive days summer vacation, the highest number since surveys began in 1985, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2001

Upper House approves bill to reform pension

The House of Councilors on Friday approved a pension reform bill designed to revamp the corporate pension system, paving the way for its enforcement next April 1.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Koizumi's reform foes entrenched

With Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi firing off a barrage of reform proposals aimed at turning the ailing economy around, his foes, including fellow Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and bureaucrats keen to protect vested interests, are drawing battle lines.
BUSINESS
Jun 9, 2001

FRC wanted major changes at banks

The Financial Reconstruction Commission, the predecessor of the Financial Services Agency, set out to push through a major reorganization of 17 major banks immediately after its inauguration in December 1998, according to minutes of the FRC's meetings disclosed Friday by the FSA.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Panel to call for freeze on dam, road projects

A key government economic panel will call for a freeze on dam and road projects on which construction has not yet begun when it issues a blueprint for reform on June 27, government sources said Friday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jun 9, 2001

Putin picks a new gas czar

Behold, Russia has got a new czar. No, the Romanovs did not rise from their graves. No, the Russian people did not invite a Romanov cousin, Prince Charles, to claim the throne of his Russian ancestors. No, the authoritarian Russian president, Vladimir Putin, did not crown himself Vladimir I. He just...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2001

Thieves may have targeted abandoned Miyake residences

More than 20 possible cases of theft have been reported on Miyake Island after its residents were forced to evacuate last summer due to volcanic eruptions, according to police.

Longform

The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports