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JAPAN
May 20, 2001

NTT West may halve its branch offices

NTT West Corp. is considering integrating and consolidating its 30 branch offices to between 10 and 15 in a bid to streamline operations, cut costs and weather intensifying competition, company sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
May 20, 2001

Tanaka informs China Lee not welcome again

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka told her Chinese counterpart, Tang Jiaxuan, earlier this month that Japan will not issue an entry visa to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui in the future, even for visits to receive medical treatment, informed sources said Saturday.
SOCCER / J. League
May 20, 2001

Antlers open stadium with win over Kashiwa

BY FRED VARCOE Staff writer KASHIMA, Ibaraki Pref. -- The Kashima Antlers and their fans had to go through a lot of anguish before celebrating the opening of the rebuilt Kashima Stadium with a 99th-minute goal from substitute Yoshiyuki Hasegawa and a 3-2 win over Kashiwa Reysol.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 20, 2001

Yoshimoto's talent for comedy

There was a time when parents in Osaka used to scold their kids by threatening, "I will send you to Yoshimoto!" if they were fooling around. Today, though, Yoshimoto Kogyo Co. has become Japan's largest entertainment agency, and most parents would be happy if their children worked for it. Its tarento...
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2001

Congratulations -- and questions

There was barely a pause after the good news of the pregnancy of the Crown Princess was announced before widespread discussion broke out on whether the law should be changed to allow a woman to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 20, 2001

The importance of being Osakan

"Osaka? You think Osaka is the same as Tokyo?"
JAPAN
May 20, 2001

More Okinawans accept presence of U.S. military

The percentage of Okinawans who accept the presence of U.S. military facilities in their prefecture exceeds the percentage of those opposed to the bases for the first time since 1975, according to the results of a government poll released Saturday.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 20, 2001

Cabrera gives Lions win

Alex Cabrera cracked his 23rd clout of the year in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Seibu Lions a "sayonara" victory over the Nippon Ham Fighters 4-1 at Nagano Olympic Stadium on Saturday. The Lions extended their win streak against Nippon Ham to six games.
COMMUNITY
May 20, 2001

The Tiger's meow

Anti-mainstream, anti-centralism, a love of losers. Such is the stuff of a Hanshin Tigers fan.
CULTURE / Books
May 20, 2001

Fortress Japan? Blame MacArthur and his team

THE GENESIS OF THE JAPANESE FOREIGN INVESTMENT LAW OF 1950, by Richard Rabinowitz. German-Japanese Lawyers' Association Vol. 10, 1999, 11,000 yen, $ 84.50. In 1853, Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Bay and demanded that Japan's quasi-military government allow foreign trade. The resulting interactions...
CULTURE / Music
May 20, 2001

Is you is or is you ain't . . . ?

Stephen Malkmus, formally known as SM, formally known as that tall, skinny guy who knows more neat metal guitar riffs than anyone in Stockton, Calif., was the leader by default of Amerindie's greatest band, Pavement, which called it quits last fall after a year of waffling.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 20, 2001

Ten weddings and a quiz show

'Timeshock" was one of the original Japanese quiz shows, an uncomplicated but tense trivia contest that kept viewers glued to their screens in the '60s and made its voluble host, the late Jiro Tamiya, a superstar. The heart of the show was the intense one-minute barrage of questions that the contestants...
COMMUNITY
May 20, 2001

Osaka's great, but hold on to your purse

OSAKA -- Osaka produces some of Japan's best comedians, tastiest food and most enterprising businesspeople. But who should really be taking the credit for keeping the prefecture at No. 1 over the past 25 years are its purse-snatchers.
CULTURE / Music
May 20, 2001

You gotta fight for your right to freedom

Adam Yauch, MCA of the Beastie Boys, has come a long way since 1986's "License to Ill," the obnoxious, wildly juvenile album that launched the careers of the punk-turned-hip-hop trio from New York. And not just musically. He's become one of the voices of a worldwide political movement, one heard in Tokyo...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 20, 2001

We're pretty rude -- and we don't care

OSAKA -- Forget the phrase "Excuse me." Here in Osaka, nobody's going to excuse you, much less give you a second thought. Besides, if you've been raised with, say, English manners, you'd have to say "Excuse me" a million times a day.
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
May 20, 2001

A good reason to hit the sauce

When a friend of mine dragged two other friends from the States to Osaka to eat at the first restaurant I apprenticed at in Japan, they were prepared to pay 10,000 yen for the pleasure of eating the omakase, a several-course menu selected by the chef. What they were not ready for was the main dish: a...
MORE SPORTS
May 20, 2001

East Asian Games under way

Japan's Naoko Takahashi, who captured the hearts of the nation by winning the women's marathon at the Sydney Olympics last fall, lit the cauldron amid a dazzling laser display at the opening ceremony of the East Asian Games on Saturday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
May 20, 2001

Large portfolio of wines blesses the Anderson Valley

An easy drive from San Francisco, Northern California's sun-drenched wine country is a favorite destination among devotees of food and drink. Napa Valley, home to many prestigious, big-name Cabernet Sauvignon producers, draws the heaviest tourist traffic. Napa visitors spill from buses at lavish tasting...
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
May 20, 2001

Taking Tokyo by the horn

When Luis Valle first came to Tokyo four years ago, he had a hard time. At his first trumpet sessions, he was hitting those way-high notes and his solos were hard and fast, but reading the jazz charts was something else.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 20, 2001

Audrey Hepburn's neck

"I don't understand cats and I don't understand women," confessed a foreign friend, half to me and half to his mug of beer. I leaned in closer to listen.
SOCCER / J. League
May 20, 2001

Jubilo keeps lead by beating Consadole

IWATA, Shizuoka Pref. -- Jubilo Iwata overcame a one-man disadvantage and 0-1 deficit to rally past Consadole Sapporo 2-1 in extra time on Saturday and maintain its J. League Division One lead.
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2001

Changing Australia celebrates its centennial

SYDNEY -- A smiling, articulate Australian schoolgirl standing before an audience of 7,000 of Australia's top dignitaries . . . it was a grand sight, worthy of this young nation's first 100 years of democratic government.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 20, 2001

Big taste treats await in Osaka's Little Korea

OSAKA -- As soon as you exit the station wickets, sometimes even before that, the aroma hits you.

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