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EDITORIALS
Dec 18, 2002

A collapse of fiscal balance

Japan faces a clear and present danger in public finance, epitomized by a crushing debt load equal to 140 percent of its gross national product. In this light, changes to the tax code for fiscal 2003, proposed by the ruling coalition last week, fall far short of expectations. It is essentially a patchwork...
MORE SPORTS
Dec 18, 2002

Inoue, Nomura may miss Kano Cup

Olympic champions Kosei Inoue and Tadahiro Nomura may miss next month's Kano Cup international judo tournament through injury, judo officials said Monday.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 18, 2002

Under the skin of strangers

Goldsmith's College is generally associated with the wave of Young British Artists (or YBA, as they are famously known) that rocked the contemporary art scene during the 1990s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Dec 18, 2002

Ivy: "Guestroom"

Before Adam Schlesinger penned the catchy title song to Tom Hanks' directorial debut, "That Thing You Do," and formed the excellent power-pop band Fountains of Wayne with Chris Collingwood, he was the impetus behind Ivy, the New Jersey trio that pioneered the French pops revival on the U.S. East Coast....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Dec 18, 2002

"el Christmas: The World in Winter"

Before British label el records went belly up, they were considered one of the hippest dispensers of candy-coated twee-pop and lounge music from the '70s and '80s. A holiday compilation album pulled from el's catalog of aural confectionary makes perfect sense as so much of the holiday season nowadays...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Dec 18, 2002

Chris Botti: "December" & Ella Fitzgerald: "A Swinging Christmas"

At the end of the year, music takes an ugly turn. Blaring from speaker after speaker are the same feeble renditions of songs that sound worse with each passing commercialized year. And what's worse, you probably know all the words. Even on hearing background music, the lyrics start to circle uncontrollably...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Dec 18, 2002

Sparkle Drives: "None But the Righteous"

A few years ago, three tall black men entered 29th Street Guitars on the west side of Manhattan. One of these men began playing the steel guitars at the back of the shop, tearing them up with the power and conviction that should be the envy of any musician. After the three men left, one of the clerks...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 18, 2002

'Red Demon' to claim British souls

Acclaimed in Japan for the last quarter of a century as a drama director, writer and actor, Hideki Noda is set to become a major player on the world stage from Jan. 31, when his "Red Demon" opens for a near-monthlong run at the famed Young Vic in London's West End.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 18, 2002

Asia, in a nutshell

In Douglas Adams' future dystopia novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a giant computer finally determines the answer to the meaning of life: 42. The joke was that nobody knew the question.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 17, 2002

Getting cash reimbursed for medical costs

We lost one of the anchors of the international community with the sudden and unexpected death of Corky Alexander, longtime Tokyo resident, editor of The Tokyo Weekender and a dear friend.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2002

Check the spread of missiles

The seizure and release of a North Korean ship carrying Scud missiles bound for Yemen highlights two serious international issues: Pyongyang's readiness to export destabilizing weapons and the proliferation of ballistic missiles. The ship and its cargo were released because there was no apparent violation...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 17, 2002

Putting in a bad word for Japanese

The other night, the wife and I were watching NHK's evening news when the announcer began a segment on the topic of "domestic violence." The term he used was exactly that. Well okay, not exactly: what I heard was domesuchikku baiorensu.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 17, 2002

Ooft outlines plans for development of improving Reds

Former Japan manager Hans Ooft completed his first regular season with the Urawa Reds at the end of last month.
COMMUNITY
Dec 17, 2002

TELL counseling program 2003

Tokyo English Life Line (TELL) is offering a 60-hour counseling training program for volunteer telephone counselors. TELL is a 365 days-a-year free counseling line for English speakers and has been serving the international community in Japan since 1973.
COMMUNITY
Dec 17, 2002

What are Japan's teens on about?

Why do Japan's teens sound so incomprehensible these days?
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2002

It's still the economy, stupid

U.S. President George W. Bush has shaken up his economic team. The moves had been long expected. Despite the U.S. administration's claim that the economic downturn was the product of events beyond its control -- an assertion that is largely true -- the president's top officials were not doing him much...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Dec 16, 2002

Sicily's sobering message for grandparents

SYRACUSE, Sicily -- Sicily is an ideal place to ponder the fate of civilizations and to reflect on the future. This island off the boot of Italy, with a population of 5 million, has been a crossroads of civilizations for almost three millennia. The Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Normans, Catalans, French,...
COMMENTARY
Dec 16, 2002

Britain braces for dilemma

LONDON -- At the speed of an express train, a formidable new dilemma is hurtling toward the British government: how to respond to the prospect of a written constitution that the leaders of the European Union are determined to have. Drafts are already being circulated and will be finalized in the next...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2002

Anti-Americanism sharpens U.S. attitudes

HONOLULU -- As anti-American emotions have erupted in the Islamic world and Asia, the response from Americans has increasingly taken on a hard edge. Some of the rejoinders have been predictable, but others are a surprise.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2002

Withholding food aid only kills innocents

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara does not like Japanese charities sending dog biscuits and old rice to North Korea to feed its hungry people.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear