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COMMENTARY
Apr 22, 2001

Overlooking the real victims of foot-and-mouth disease

LONDON -- Americans and Japanese have been shunning Britain because of the stories and images of burning animals in the foot-and-mouth-disease scare. One Japanese, I hope in jest, asked if we had enough to eat. We responded that we did not need food parcels just yet! Another group to whom I had promised...
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2001

Support for road construction down

Those in favor of constructing new highways in Japan were outnumbered for the first time by those who believe it unnecessary, according to a government survey released Saturday.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 22, 2001

The enigma of power in medieval Japan

THE GATES OF POWER: Monks, Courtiers, and Warriors in Premodern Japan, by Mikael S. Adolphson. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2000, 456 pp., $29.95 (paper), $60.00 (cloth). Who rules Japan? This question has a modern ring to it and has been belabored by many a student of political science....
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2001

TTNet plans high-speed Internet access service

Tokyo Telecommunications Network Co. plans to commence a high-speed fiber-optic Internet access service, perhaps within the current fiscal year, company sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2001

49% of leading firms plan increased recruiting in spring '02

About half of Japan's 150 leading companies plan to hire more new graduates in spring 2002 than they did this spring, according to a Kyodo News poll.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 22, 2001

A bird's-eye view of history

JAPAN: A Short History. Supervised by John Gillespie. New York/Tokyo: ICG Muse Inc. 2001, 80 pp., map, profusely illustrated, 950 yen. When Ralph Waldo Emerson remarked that "there is no history, only biography," he was implying that our annals are really only accounts. Like so much else, history...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 22, 2001

Okinawan writers provide a breath of fresh air

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: Modern Japanese Literature from Okinawa, edited by Michael Molasky and Steve Rabson. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 362 pp., $27.95 (paper). Okinawa consists of just .6 percent of the total landmass of Japan and contributes 1 percent to the population, according to the introduction...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2001

Anmitsu dishes up some hot licks

In junior high school, going to shamisen lessons was something Yuka Annaka and Kumi Kindaichi hid, even from their friends. "There was this image that it was something our grandparents did," says Kindaichi. "Other kids reacted like it was strange. I didn't talk to anybody about it all through junior...
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Apr 22, 2001

Real block-rocking beats

With dance music gaining more of a presence on the charts and more play on many people's CD players, rhythm rather than melody is supreme. Granted, much of it -- from fey pop to dance crossovers -- is soulless. It is mechanical, not just in the way it is produced, but also in the way it sounds.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2001

Test track to help find reasons for train derailment

The Railway Technical Research Institute will lay a test track as early as this autumn to run experiments aimed at shedding light on the causes of train derailments, such as the fatal Tokyo subway collision in March 2000, institute officials said Saturday.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2001

Musicians take it back to the bridge

It's Saturday night, and the basement rock 'n' roll club Penguin House in Koenji is packed to bursting. As late-coming guests crowd down the stairs, the performer, Dai Yamamoto, takes the stage and tunes up his instrument.
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 22, 2001

Yukio Ninagawa: Now that's the fighting spirit

In the theater world, director Yukio Ninagawa is a living legend. Practicing his craft for more than 30 years and in the international spotlight for 20, he has yet to exhaust his renowned creativity and energy.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 22, 2001

All together now: Let's all shill for Universal!

Before Universal Studios Japan opened on March 31, media commentators were asking why the new Hollywood theme park wasn't called Universal Studios Osaka. After all, Tokyo Disneyland isn't called Japan Disneyland. Here's the punch line: If they called it Universal Studios Osaka, the acronym would be USO,...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2001

A new drumbeat resounds around the world

The powerful beat of taiko (Japanese drums) of different sizes vibrates the air, while the delicate sound of shinobue (bamboo flute) adds spice to the dynamic rhythm. On stage is taiko troupe Tokyo Dageki Dan: four muscular men drumming and another with the flute.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2001

Where to go to hear hogaku

With the gradual extinction of the old Japanese yose vaudeville theaters in the postwar era, regular venues for enjoying hogaku have become hard to find.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2001

Tokyo-Beijing relations expected to decline despite visa conditions

Although the government cited "humanitarian reasons" in deciding to issue an entry visa to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, the Foreign Ministry recognizes the decision will have political implications and will certainly serve Tokyo-Beijing ties yet another blow.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2001

Nurturing the next generation of traditional musicians

Many observers attribute the steep decline of Japanese traditional music in the 20th century in large part to the fact that Japan's school system teaches Western music intensively and hogaku almost not at all. That situation is due to change as the Education Ministry introduces new guidelines, effective...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Apr 22, 2001

Days of wine and picnics

The ideal picnic wine must meet several criteria. Since a throbbing hangover can ruin an afternoon, the wine should be low in alcohol. On a warm day, it is best to avoid heavy red wines; harsh tannins can leave the mouth feeling parched. Finally, the wine should convey a sense of celebration. It is hard...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 22, 2001

More sonic power to the people

I first met Shunnosuke when he was a gangly 19-year-old art student. We both subscribed to the "give art the flick, let's dance" school of thought. And we did.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 22, 2001

You will read this -- now

Tokyo recently witnessed the latest stage of an arresting visual campaign -- the sudden appearance around town of black, white and red posters and stickers featuring the iconographic face of pro-wrestler Andre the Giant and the ominous message "Obey" printed below.
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Apr 22, 2001

Taking stock of basics

All great food begins with perfect dashi (stock).
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 22, 2001

Underground Mr. Zoogunzoo: A cave of wonder, down under

Underground Mr. Zoogunzoo has an interior to match its singular name. The walls are daubed with adobe designs, as if decorated by aboriginal dot artists. Light diffuses from opaque lamp shades resembling irregular crystals or the seed pods of an alien life form.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 22, 2001

Killing the Buddha -- form vs. content in hogaku

Nagauta shamisen players and singers line up in perfect rows across the kabuki stage, facing the audience while singing deeply expressive music with deadpan faces.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 22, 2001

Big novels get the small-screen treatment

Jiro Asada won Japan's prestigious Naoki Prize for literature in 1997 for his novel "Poppoya," which was later made into a hit movie starring Ken Takakura. His followup, "Tengoku made no Hyaku Mairu (The One Hundred Miles to Heaven)," was published in the fall of 1998. Veteran TV director Katsumi Oyama...
EDITORIALS
Apr 21, 2001

A reassuring signal from the Fed

One question uppermost in the minds of political and business leaders the world over probably is whether the slowing U.S. economy will pick up in the second half of this year. The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday provided its answer by cutting key interest rates for the fourth time since January. The...
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2001

TDK halts CD-R production in U.S.

TDK Corp. said Friday it is halting production of CD-R discs, videocassette tapes and floppy disks in the United States in the wake of slack demand, leading to a cut in its workforce to 250 from 580 at two U.S. plants.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2001

Researchers decode genome of highly-resistant bacterium

Japanese researchers said Friday that they have produced the world's first complete genetic sequencing of a bacterium which is a major source of human infection and one of the most resistant organisms in hospital-acquired infections.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2001

Japan Airlines ups earnings forecast

Japan Airlines Co. said Friday that it revised upward its earnings forecast for the 2000 business year to March 31, due mainly to increased demand for its international flight services, especially between Japan and Europe.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2001

Tanaka avoids rap for Obuchi slur

The Liberal Democratic Party on Friday said it will not reprimand outspoken lawmaker Makiko Tanaka for speaking ill of the late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi.

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