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BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2001

Improving profitability critical to concluding bad-loan debacle

The government's emergency economic package released April 6 featured steps to promote bad-loan disposal in the banking industry. The specific targets involved a two-year deadline for major banks to remove some 12.7 trillion yen in outstanding loans to borrowers either bankrupt or on the brink of collapse,...
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2001

Noted movie director Teshigahara dies at 74

Hiroshi Teshigahara, film director and "Iemoto" grand master of the Sogetsu school of flower arrangement, died Saturday of acute lymphocytic leukemia at a Tokyo hospital, his family said Sunday. He was 74.
EDITORIALS
Apr 15, 2001

Prepare now for demographic changes

The rapid aging of Japan's population, combined with a steady decline in the birthrate, makes it certain that the productive-age population will begin to fall sharply in the not-so-distant future. As a result, the entire population will also start shrinking, making it necessary to redesign the economic...
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

Kyoto university hall faces first repairs in 100 years

The first complete renovation of the Clarke Memorial Hall at Kyoto's Doshisha University, a symbol of one of Japan's oldest private educational institutions, is to begin in 2004, more than a century after the building was completed, university officials said Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

Expert sees legendary Asian horse 'sweat blood'

Horse researcher Hayato Shimizu says he has captured a photograph of a Central Asian horse that appears to be sweating blood, apparently confirming Chinese legends of a similar horse famed for its great speed.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

Japan may help fund effort to save Afghan artifacts

The Japanese government is considering contributing funds to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's plan to preserve remaining valuable cultural assets in Afghanistan.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

Singer Haruo Minami dies of cancer at 77

Popular singer Haruo Minami, best known for his performances of "Tokyo Gorin Ondo" ("Tokyo Olympics Chorus") and "Sekai no Kunikara Konnichiwa" ("Good Afternoon From Countries of the World"), died of prostate cancer Saturday afternoon at a Tokyo hospital, his family said. He was 77.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2001

Shared interests bolster Sino-Pakistani ties

ISLAMABAD -- As the United States and China were trying to resolve their standoff over the downing of a Chinese plane and the subsequent landing of a U.S. surveillance aircraft on Hainan Island, Pakistan was preparing to welcome Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

New road law set to protect environment

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry is planning to introduce a revised ordinance regulating highways to minimize the impact of new roads on the environment, ministry sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

Japan plans meeting on reform of UNSC

Japan will call for a special ministerial meeting to be held at the United Nations in New York in 2003 to seek a broad consensus on reform of the U.N.'s powerful Security Council, including possibly increasing its membership, government sources said Saturday.
COMMUNITY
Apr 15, 2001

A yen for thrift

There was a time when Japan prided itself on its thriftiness. Hard times after World War II produced the need to save money and cut every corner. Children were taught that each grain of rice was sacred and not to be wasted. Sardines and mackerel were standard fare, beef reserved only for special occasions....
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

Headhunter laments sorry state of finance sector's job-hunters

The candidate on the phone has an attractive resume and, having worked his way up to bank branch manager, is now looking for another position, perhaps at a foreign investment bank.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 15, 2001

Love and commiseration, all in a day's work

Show-biz synergy reaches critical mass Saturday with the premiere of "Ashita ga Arusa" (NTV, 9 p.m.). The title, which translates as "there is a tomorrow," meaning you should work hard because the future is always staring you in the face, was also the title of a popular song by Kyu Sakamoto in the '60s....
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Apr 15, 2001

Let's raise a glass to the final batch

The sake brewing season is drawing to a close. Except for the handful of large breweries that brew year-round in climate-controlled factories, most sakagura (breweries) will be finishing up their brewing sometime this month. Naturally, there will be ceremonies connected with significant activities within...
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 15, 2001

Jubilo leaves it late in win over Cerezo

J. League leader Jubilo Iwata pulled out an eventful victory over Cerezo on Saturday, edging the Osaka club 3-2 in Iwata thanks to a last-minute goal by Naohiro Takahara.
COMMUNITY
Apr 15, 2001

Where the reading's free and easy

As England was once called a nation of shopkeepers, Japan could be called a nation of readers.
COMMUNITY
Apr 15, 2001

Put your cafe surfing on someone else's tab

Racking up huge phone bills accessing the Internet from home? Eagle-eyed boss preventing you from writing e-mail at work?
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Apr 15, 2001

Between rock and a jazz session

What do famous guitarists do after climbing to the top of their field, having contributed to literally hundreds of the most influential jazz, rock and pop records of the past 30 years? Well, if you ask Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather, the answer is: They turn up the amps, load their guitar chops with...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 15, 2001

At long last, Tokuda Shusei

ROUGH LIVING, by Tokuda Shusei, translated by Richard Torrance. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, April 2001, 184 pp., $45 (hardcover), $21.95 (paper). This is, I think, the first translation into English of a novel by a writer that Japanese think is one of their finest. Tokuda Shusei (1871-1943)...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 15, 2001

The miracle man of Shimokitazawa

Self-professed "Miracle Man of the World" Masahiko Hirota sits me down on his massage table and quickly locates the knot just to the left of my right shoulder blade that has been bugging me for days. Closing my eyes, for an instant I am gratefully transported away as my knot is gradually unraveled by...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 15, 2001

Kiyohara hammers game-winning HR

Kazuhiro Kiyohara drilled a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Yomiuri Giants extended their winning streak to four with a second straight "sayonara" victory over the Yokohama BayStars at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 15, 2001

Eyeballing a personal language coach

Upon first meeting my wife-to-be, my entire future flashed before me. Already I could foresee this girl as my life partner, the mother of my children and the person I would wrestle with for legroom in the kotatsu.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 15, 2001

Cracks in the great wall of China

CHINESE SOCIETY: Change, Conflict and Resistance, edited by Elizabeth J. Perry and Mark Selden. London, Routledge, 2000, 249 pp., $27.99. A single image dominates Western perceptions of the regime in China since the Tiananmen massacre of 1989: that of a government willing to crack down mercilessly...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 15, 2001

Sake heaven, free on earth

Like wine, different sake have distinct flavor profiles -- some are light and fruity, while others are heavy and rich. Trying to distinguish between different sake in a kikizake (blind taste-testing), however, is harder than it sounds. At Sake Plaza in the Kasumigaseki district, you can put your taste...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 15, 2001

Check him out now, the funk, soul brother

If I told you I know of a great place to catch an excellent dinner show at an affordable price, you might think it a fairy tale. Well, pinch yourself, because this one is true.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2001

Bush's Spanish narrows gap with Latinos

In the late 1800s, U.S. President James Garfield, a former classics professor, amused friends by translating simultaneously an English document into Greek with his left hand and Latin with his right hand. President George W. Bush cannot match this linguistic ability, but his use of Spanish and his family...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Apr 15, 2001

Music of the gods on 20 koto strings

There is a wealth of contemporary compositions for the koto. Since the war, various Japanese composers have expanded the repertoire of this ancient string instrument and provided new contexts for its traditional sonorities while encouraging the development of new and experimental techniques.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

Cabinet divided on Lee's visa

Divisions within the government of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori deepened over whether to issue an entry visa to former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui, with five Cabinet ministers urging the reluctant Foreign Ministry for a quick decision to issue the visa.

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