search

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2004

Graham Fitkin's "Kaplan," Max Richter's "Blue Notebooks"

The border between popular and new classical music has long been blurred. Glass, Stockhausen and Reich lurk in the background of much electronica and avant-rock, while many contemporary composers owe a debt to ambient or even punk. The upcoming performances of Graham Fitkin and Max Richter offer an opportunity...
Japan Times
Features
Jun 20, 2004

Vast budget fuels huge arms industry

Deep in the heart of Aichi Prefecture is the headquarters of an engineering company founded 100 years ago to make textile looms. Having borne the name Howa Machinery, Ltd. since 1945, today its products range from window frames to road-sweepers -- but it also derives around 12 percent of its business...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2004

De La Soul: "Live at Tramps, 1996," "De La Mix Tape"

Few hip-hop fans argue the relevance of golden-age innovators De La Soul, but two recent releases from the Rhino label may cause debate.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 20, 2004

Fuji's "Friday Entertainment" with Yoshimi Tendo and more

Following the killing of a sixth-grade girl in Sasebo by her classmate, some TV networks postponed the airing of mystery dramas when reports circulated that the suspect may have gotten ideas for her chosen method of killing from a mystery she'd seen on TV. Eleven-year-old girls are not the target audience...
MORE SPORTS
Jun 20, 2004

Maruyama retains share of lead

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- Japan's Shigeki Maruyama maintained the lead he took after the opening round that was postponed due to heavy fog and shared the top spot with Phil Mickelson after two rounds of the U.S. Open on Friday.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 20, 2004

Talent agencies enjoy the biggest laugh

Yoshimoto Kogyo, one of the biggest talent agencies in Japan, recently announced that it plans to build a new 1,000-seat comedy theater in Shinjuku. The company already operates a 458-seat theater in the Shinjuku Lumine building, and like that one the new venue will present only Yoshimoto acts. The company's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2004

Badly Drawn Boy: "One Plus One Is One"

One of the great things about Damon Gough's 2000 Mercury Prize-winning debut, "The Hour of Bewilderbeast," was its efficiency. The economy of the sound combined with the sophistication of the writing and arranging set a benchmark for bedroom music-making.
OLYMPICS
Jun 19, 2004

Inoue set to lead Olympic team

Men's judoka Kosei Inoue has been named the top choice for captain of the Japanese Olympic team for the summer games in Athens, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 2004

SDF's new role raises questions

Reiterating in effect what he had told U.S. President George W. Bush in a Japan-U.S. summit earlier this month, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced on Thursday that Japanese troops now stationed in Iraq will participate in the U.S.-led multinational force following the June 30 transfer of sovereignty....
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jun 19, 2004

Selfishness short-circuited Lakers

NEW YORK -- If it helps them to sleep better at night thinking the result of The NBA Finals would be reversed had Karl Malone remained healthy, Laker fans, by all means, are encouraged to dream on.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 19, 2004

Things you must do before leaving Japan

Leaving Japan? Don't. At least not until you've experienced some of these must-do things here:
COMMENTARY
Jun 19, 2004

Where has America gone?

LONDON -- The 60th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings focused attention on the nature of the relationship between Europe and America. The liberation of France and the overthrow of the Nazis in 1944-45 could not have been achieved without American forces. Britain had stood alone against Adolf...
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2004

Tanigaki talks down interest rates

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said Friday that sharp rises in long-term interest rates are detrimental to the overall economy, a comment apparently designed to stem a further rise in rates that have risen to near four-year highs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 19, 2004

Walt Disney 'imagineer' also promotes 52 virtues

It has taken John Kavelin 40 minutes to drive from his job as director of design and production at Tokyo Disneyland to his home in Minami Azabu. At least 20 minutes faster than if he took the train, he notes, pleased.
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2004

Shareholders' meetings to begin in earnest

Shareholders' meetings will get into full swing next week, with giants Sony Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. meeting investors during the annual events.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 19, 2004

Hawks bag 10th straight win

Kenji Jojima belted a solo homer and Tadahito Iguchi added a two-run blast Friday to power the Daiei Hawks to a 7-3 decision over the Chiba Lotte Marines for their 10th straight win.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jun 19, 2004

Doom and despair -- worry, worry, everywhere

"If there's one thing I've learned from my life in Japan," I tell my wife over a pot of black coffee, "it's how to worry."
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2004

BOJ plans merit-based pay system

The Bank of Japan said Friday it will introduce a merit-based annual salary system for managerial staff beginning April, widening the salary gap among senior officials to 2.5 million yen from 800,000 yen.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 19, 2004

Kohei Yamada

For 27 years Kohei Yamada has worked professionally in different capacities for the Young Men's Christian Association. As a gerontologist deeply committed to community care, he says he looks for quality in the life of the elderly. "In Japan, very often people with good will take care of the elderly,...
MORE SPORTS
Jun 18, 2004

Japan, U.S. to team up in Ivy-Samurai Bowl

Matthew Calbraith Perry arrived at Uraga, Kanagawa Prefecture, in 1853 to break open the then-closed-to-foreigners Japan. His arrival eventually caused the Meiji Revolution that ended the samurai era.
EDITORIALS
Jun 18, 2004

Verdict on Koizumi beckons

Debate in an election-year Diet session is liable to lead to confrontation. So it was with the 150-day regular session that ended Wednesday. With an Upper House ballot set for next month, the ruling and opposition parties faced off on both domestic and foreign policy issues, sometimes resorting to heavy-handed...
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2004

UFJ in hot water over concealment

The Financial Services Agency will hit UFJ Bank with a business improvement administrative order, possibly later this week, over its attempts to evade an agency inspection by concealing in-house documents on borrowers, government sources said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 18, 2004

Enjoy a taste of Boso's byways

When I got off the train at Sanuki-machi on the Uchibo Line in Chiba Prefecture, I realized, in a vague kind of way, that I knew the old little station. Perhaps I'd visited this rural town near the sea on a grade-school summer trip. Certainly, the 89-year-old station at the foot of the hills was exactly...
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2004

Toshiba, Mitsubishi Electric plan power module transfer

Toshiba Corp. will transfer a major portion of its high-capacity power module business to Mitsubishi Electric Corp. as part of a joint strategy to focus management resources, the two companies said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2004

Nonresidents buoyed market in '03

Japanese stocks staged a sharp rally in fiscal 2003 on aggressive buying by nonresident investors, according to survey data compiled by the Tokyo Stock Exchange and other stock exchanges that was released recently.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 18, 2004

Boorish behavior of England fans reaching outer limits

LONDON -- After each Euro 2004 game representatives of UEFA's technical committee select the Man of the Match. Correction, the (fill in the sponsor name) Man of the Match.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight