Search - things-to-do

 
 
EDITORIALS
Nov 5, 2002

Extensive debate on the Constitution

A Lower House constitutional research panel last week released an interim report summarizing nearly three years of its discussions. The voluminous document covers a wide range of subjects, including the Emperor system, roles of the Self-Defense Forces and basic human rights. However, it leaves open the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2002

Nisei seeks 'kiyomoto' doctorate

Mark Oshima first wanted to study Japan's prewar colonial policy and become an academic, changed his mind and decided to earn a doctorate in 19th century kabuki, and ended up studying "kiyomoto" -- musical accompaniment to kabuki dancing.
COMMENTARY
Nov 5, 2002

Testing Koizumi's commitment to change

Last week was likely the most important in the tenure of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Three events -- by-elections, the unveiling of his economic plan and the start of normalization talks with North Korea -- tested his commitment to bringing about change in Japan.
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2002

Greatest generals gave peace a chance

LOS ANGELES -- Sometimes the vital struggle for peace and stability is too important to be left to civilian "experts," especially when there are exceptional generals to help save nations from disaster. That was patently the case after Japan's crushing World War II defeat: The Japanese certainly benefited...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Nov 4, 2002

Contributing to the crisis of capitalism

YAOUNDE, Cameroon -- During a conversation at a dinner in Shanghai recently with some Chinese friends, the comment was made that Japanese businessmen in China were now known quite willingly to accept various forms of bribes and kickbacks. The man who was making this comment, who knows Japan quite well...
COMMENTARY
Nov 4, 2002

Market approach to intimacy

LONDON -- The front page of Wednesday's Daily Mirror said: "Angus Deayton is a coke-snorting, hooker-hiring, three-in-a-bed love rat . . ." The front page of the Daily Mail said: "John Leslie is a vile, arrogant man who despises women . . ." Both men were sacked by their TV employers the same day.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2002

Russian youth dodge conscript military

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- It took a while to get the young deserter to talk. Roman had fled his army unit and was staying with Tatiana Barykina and her family, and they could see the scars on his wrist and sense the pain that hung upon him like a millstone.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 3, 2002

Bustling Chinatown's squeaky-clean world within

Even before you pass beneath one of the 10 ornamented gates marking the boundaries of Yokohama's Chinatown, you start picking up signals that you're about to cross into a different country.
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Nov 3, 2002

Sapporo makes quickest ever exit from J1

Consadole Sapporo was relegated to Division Two with four more matches remaining in the season -- the quickest ever exit from the top division of the J. League.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 3, 2002

Abductees watch fate unfold through TV

Fuji TV, the Asahi Shimbun and the Mainichi Shimbun received unanimous disapprobation for their Oct. 25 interview with Kim Hye Gyong, the 15-year-old daughter of Megumi Yokota, who was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 at the age of 13 and is presumed dead. The three media companies apologized,...
JAPAN / Media
Nov 3, 2002

Vernacular Views

Philosophy Professor Kenji Tsuchiya of Ochanomizu Women's University has got a big problem, as related in his column in the weekly Shukan Bunshun.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2002

Bush's legacy of cynicism and contempt

U.S. President George W. Bush and his henchmen stole the presidency. They threw thousands of innocent people into prison without even charging them with a crime. They're gearing up to invade Iraq without bothering to come up with a substantial justification. Now some Democrats and progressive Americans...
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2002

Targets for debt ratios to be part of rescue deal

The government is considering setting debt-ratio targets that companies in danger of folding will be required to meet before getting government help securing further financing, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma said Friday.
COMMUNITY
Nov 2, 2002

Design consultant draws on stores of good sense

If you see a conservatively dressed Englishman pop a plastic bag over his head as it begins to rain, it's most probably Tim Toomey: "I'd rather turn up for a meeting dry and comfortable than arrive sopping wet in some misguided attempt to preserve my image."
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 1, 2002

Saints skipper Strachan runs tight ship

LONDON -- It was, said Southampton striker James Beattie, "a moment of madness."
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 1, 2002

Bean me down, Scottie, bean me down

"I don't think the human race will survive the next 1,000 years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars."
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2002

China gets handle on weapons exports

HONG KONG -- The summit meeting at Crawford between Chinese President Jiang Zemin and U.S. President George W. Bush should usher in a period of relative stability in Chinese-American relations. While unexpected developments -- such as the air collision last year off the Chinese coast -- cannot be ruled...
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 30, 2002

Giants move a step closer

TOKOROZAWA, Saitama Pref. -- The Yomiuri Giants put a third nail in the Seibu Lions' coffin Tuesday night with a 10-2 win in Game 3 of the Japan Series before a crowd of 30,933 at the Seibu Dome.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 2002

Louis XIV understood power, absolute power

Ovid's "Metamorphoses" (composed 8 A.D.) described the palace of the sun, tall-columned and fashioned from precious metals, inside which sat the radiant god Apollo on a throne studded with emeralds. The Roman poet's description was pure fantasy, but Louis XIV, King of France from 1643-1715, seemed set...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 30, 2002

Patricia Barber: "Verse"

Patricia Barber's singing, piano playing and songwriting have an intimacy that is veiled in intimation. She feels close, but elusive, as if she's constantly singing from the shadows. They are beautiful shadows, though, with an alluring stylishness. Over the course of seven releases, Barber has steadily...
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 29, 2002

Lions find that 'Ihara magic' is all smoke and mirrors

If the Seibu Lions lose the Japan Series, don't be surprised if the team hauls Haruki Ihara to court.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 28, 2002

Giants take 2-0 series lead

It took just two games for the Seibu Lions to evolve into another species: underdogs.
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2002

Economic policy adrift

Japan's economic policy is adrift, as the government keeps putting off action to clean up debt-burdened banks and prop up the flagging economy. Mr. Heizo Takenaka, the chief banking regulator, wants to speed up the write-off of banks' nonperforming loans, but the release of his much-heralded action plan...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 27, 2002

The long goodbye

Without a traditional funeral, common thinking goes, the departed souls of Japanese would aimlessly wander the earth for all eternity. The ritual occupies the very core of the Buddhism practiced in Japan today, and the fees charged for it -- as high as the price of a luxury car -- are a main source of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 27, 2002

Coldfeet raise pop to a higher plane

"Sure, we want to be famous," Coldfeet's chanteuse, Lori Fine, says a little defensively in the faux tavern environs of Shibuya's TGIFridays, stabbing at a half-eaten pizza quesadilla. Fine is a former model and has the effortless poise and posture of one -- minus the myopic egotism.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 27, 2002

Before I go, these are a few of my favorite things

After precisely eight years, this is to be the final installment of the Nihonshu column. It has been extremely enjoyable write it over the years. The amount I have learned along the way has been nothing less than phenomenal -- and it only got more interesting as time went on.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 26, 2002

Social entrepreneur targets cross-cultural themes

Ken Nakamori has a dream: a vision of deepening the understanding between people of different countries and creating a new bridge of communication through digital media communities.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan