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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Mar 16, 2003

Prison for some, refuge for others

Second of two parts Robben Island is more than a world-famous symbol of racial reconciliation. On the insistence of Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned here for 18 years, Robben is also "a monument to [ecological] preservation."
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2003

Water activists gather ahead of Kansai forum

KYOTO -- Representatives of citizen's groups in Japan and abroad gathered here Saturday to raise awareness of worldwide water issues before the start of the Third World Water Forum, which begins Sunday at three venues in Kansai.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2003

Deprived, ignored and scorned, North Korea driven into a corner

CAMBRIDGE, England -- For several years now North Korea has been carrying out a process of economic reform and opening up. Sound familiar? That is what the Chinese did 25 years ago when they, too, realized that their economic system was out-of-date and unable to meet the aspirations of its people.
EDITORIALS
Mar 13, 2003

Greater patience could pay off

The world is holding its collective breath as the U.N. Security Council moves toward a crucial vote on a U.S.-British draft resolution laying the groundwork for war against Iraq. At the moment, the outcome of the vote is a matter of conjecture. Yet the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 13, 2003

Developing toward 'living democracy'

When she was a child, environmental activist Vandana Shiva spent her free time walking in the Himalayan forests of northern India. Much later, before going to do her doctorate at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, she returned there to one of her favorite places. "There was a beautiful...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 12, 2003

The good, the great -- and the freaky

Japan, without a doubt, has the world's largest number of art museums devoted solely to pottery -- more than 500 venues, I've heard. That's a lot of beauty (or not) to take in.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 9, 2003

Sordid offspring of Uncle Joe

MOSCOW -- Wednesday was the anniversary of Joseph Stalin's death. The sordid man who for 30 years held the Soviet Union in an iron grip expired 50 years ago, but still casts a long shadow.
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2003

Written in stone and light

Poised on the edge of a war of their own seeking, Americans have not forgotten the event that, in their leaders' minds, at least, brought them to this point: the three-pronged attack of Sept. 11, 2001. While the plans to invade Iraq proceeded, so did the competitions to design fitting monuments to the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 9, 2003

Dropping out and tuning in to the rhythm of nature

SANTOKA: Grass and Tree Cairn, translated by Hiroaki Sato. Vermont: Red Moon Press, 2002, 74 pp., $14.95 (paper) No matter how deep one's faith or religion is, one may experience feelings of resignation and defeat as well as the loss of compassion for others and oneself.
COMMENTARY
Mar 8, 2003

Japan's oil diplomacy is dead

LOS ANGELES -- Since September 2001, Tokyo has come a long way toward redefining its international security interests. One significant result of this is that should any American hostages be taken in the war with Iraq or anywhere else in the Middle East, the Japanese are not likely to be indifferent to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 5, 2003

All ye that pass by, behold

A little girl, neglected by her busy parents, one day meets a headless man in a suit, holding an umbrella in one hand and a hat in the other. This ghostlike stranger gives her the hat and when she puts it on, her familiar world disappears and she finds herself in "Quidam" -- a wonderland where nothing...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 2, 2003

Modernization seen from the bottom up

A MODERN HISTORY OF JAPAN FROM TOKUGAWA TIMES TO THE PRESENT, by Andrew Gordon. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003, 384 pp., $35 (cloth) In this superb book, by far the best in its genre, Andrew Gordon, director of the Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies at Harvard University, provides a...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 2, 2003

The Great North

"It is Japan, but yet there is a difference somehow.'' -- Isabella Bird, 1878
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2003

Pull unwanted U.S. troops out

HONOLULU -- As a tsunami of anti-Americanism circles the globe from Seoul to Jakarta and on to Paris and Berlin, a focal point of protest is the visible presence of U.S. military forces.
COMMENTARY
Mar 1, 2003

Chirac remains on the attack

PARIS -- French Finance Minister Francis Mer has at last acknowledged that there is no chance the government will achieve its target of 2.5 percent growth in GDP this year. A steady increase in unemployment, a massive fall in stocks and plummeting car sales all indicate that France has not escaped the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 26, 2003

No sex please, we're pacifist

Sex and war. These two universals are, like their cousins death and taxes, woven into the very fabric of human history. And next week both the battle to procreate and the desire to dominate will be on the receiving end of ridicule as groups around the world -- and at least two in Tokyo -- give readings...
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Feb 25, 2003

The perils of package deals: When the client comes with a loved one, buckle your seatbelt

If there is one area of expertise that is perhaps underestimated in business, it is the need and ability to negotiate with the package deals that come with certain clients, customers, buyers or suppliers. I'm talking about those people whose talents or patronage you desire, but who come with strings...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2003

Shifting fortunes for France's 'bulldozer'

LONDON -- A year ago, he was dropping in the polls as he faced a tough re-election fight. Allegations of political and financial scandal surrounded him. His rival for the presidency accused him of being old and tired. Five years of having ruled with a government of the opposing party had marginalized...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Feb 24, 2003

Speak Japanese? You've got yourself a job

What kind of work will I find after leaving Japan? This is a question nearly all language teachers in Japan ask themselves at some point. And it's a question that's being asked more frequently, given the present state of the economy and its dwindling job prospects. There are, however, remarkable opportunities...
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 2003

Iraq crisis increases risks for Musharraf

ISLAMABAD -- Protesters marching in Pakistani streets during worldwide demonstrations last weekend against United States-led plans to attack Iraq have triggered fresh speculation about the South Asian country's future relations with Washington. Pakistan has been a key U.S. ally in the fight against terror...
LIFE / Travel
Feb 23, 2003

Austere monks in a lavish monastery

It seems at first that they are not of this world, these monks living out their lives of mountain seclusion. They glide purposefully -- as if on some devout mission from on high -- through the monastery corridors. At times, they flit by at great speed, their black tunics and dark blue robes swishing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 23, 2003

The picture of innocence?

Sex, nudity and violence -- there's a lot of it happening in Kobe.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Feb 23, 2003

Try to score a pint here

Sports bars and pubs were big business during the 2002 World Cup Soccer finals cohosted by Japan and South Korea. Many opened in Tokyo just in time to milk the influx of fans. But for the three partners who teamed up to create the Clubhouse in Shinjuku, the soccer was simply a bonus. Their target had...
JAPAN
Feb 22, 2003

Bill seeks to ensure genetic engineering doesn't get out of hand

The government is facing an unusual challenge -- regulating a science that has not yet proved harmful.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 21, 2003

Shimizu to lead Japanese squad

Two-time Olympic medalist Hiroyasu Shimizu and 12 other Japanese skaters will enter the season's final leg of the World Cup speedskating competition to be held March 7-9 in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, the Japan Skating Federation said Wednesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Feb 20, 2003

How to label all life, and lichen?

I am an inveterate binocular user, rarely going anywhere without a pair. They are useful not merely for enjoying scenery, and birds and mammals in their natural settings, but also for the odd peregrine falcon perched incongruously atop an urban high-rise, or for admiring architectural detail in close-up...
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2003

Heed the voice of the people

Last weekend, more than 6 million people demonstrated worldwide, pleading for peace and protesting U.S. plans to wage war against Iraq. The demonstrations, the largest since the Vietnam War, are proof that U.S. President George W. Bush has not convinced the world that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein poses...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2003

U.S. forces should go home

CAMBRIDGE, England -- In the recent presidential election in South Korea, candidate Roh Moo Hyun played to the populist tune when he called for U.S. troops to leave the country. This was a response to the highly emotional popular reaction to the deaths of two South Korean girls who were accidentally...

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past