Search - world

 
 
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Nov 8, 2002

Fishing for parental help on field trips

For me, a major benefit of moving to Japan was not having to chaperone school field trips anymore.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 7, 2002

A venerable flash in the pan

Among Japan's amazing diversity of plants that can overwhelm a visitor from overseas, there are (thankfully) some familiar forms. Astonishingly, given the literally hundreds of thousands of plant species on Earth, some here will be familiar whether you hail from North or South America, from Europe, Africa,...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 3, 2002

Meet a pianist and 'genius' chimpanzee on a poll-to-Pole journey

On Oct. 27, by-elections were held in seven districts throughout Japan for Diet seats that had been vacated by politicians forced to resign over scandals. If you weren't aware of this, don't feel bad. Not many people were. Average voter turnout was only about 33 percent. The media didn't pay much attention...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 3, 2002

How a winery's rep can become tainted

One of the hottest stories sweeping the California wine industry focuses on "sick cellar syndrome," a subject of dread to all winemakers. Wine Spectator magazine recently revealed that Napa Valley stalwart Beaulieu Vineyard suffers from a systemic taint problem, which could lead to musty, moldy flavors...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 3, 2002

A pier without peer

The Yokohama International Passenger Terminal on Osanbashi Pier is slotted into a line of redevelopments along the waterfront -- a smorgasbord of ambitious architecture ranging from renovated century-old warehouses to the Blade Runner-esque towers of the Minato Mirai 21 complex.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2002

Back to the future via broken promises

BRUSSELS -- Next year's crisis on the Korean Peninsula has come early. The year 2003 was to see an explosive conjuncture of events: a change of regime in South Korea, markedly less sympathetic to engagement with the North than that of current President Kim Dae Jung; the final failure of the United States...
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2002

Keep the EU elites in check

LONDON -- Presidents and constitutions are the subjects that excite enthusiasts for European integration at the moment, while ordinary citizens of Europe look on a little uneasily. The enthusiasts are making no secret of their earnest desire to "take Europe forward," as they put it, by creating the post...
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2002

Texas hospitality for Mr. Jiang

Chinese President Jiang Zemin is visiting the United States. The high point of the trip is a stop at President George W. Bush's Crawford, Texas, ranch, where the two men will indulge in summit rituals. The presidents will probably spend more time eating barbecue and posing for photographs than they will...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Oct 25, 2002

"The Thief Lord," "The Witch Trade"

"The Thief Lord," Cornelia Funke, The Chicken House; 2002; 345 pp. "Who does this child belong to?"
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 23, 2002

Series brings back memories

Episode 5 in the series of Japan Series between the Yomiuri Giants and Seibu Lions gets under way on Saturday at the Tokyo Dome, and it should be a dandy. My feeling is it will go the full seven games, and I'll predict Seibu will win that seventh game at the Big Egg on Sunday, Nov. 3.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 23, 2002

A musical that rewrites history

"Pacific Overtures" isn't one of Stephen Sondheim's most famous musicals, but the story it tells -- of the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry's Black Ships in July 1853 and the opening of Japan to the West -- has been updated and given a new twist by a Japanese director and cast.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2002

Sommeliers ride high on Japan's wine wave

The last five years have seen an explosion in the number of certified sommeliers in Japan. Certain high-profile Japanese sommeliers have even achieved an almost rock star-like status, an unexpected development in a country where the title of sommelier did not even exist 30 years ago. Despite its lack...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 20, 2002

Turning into Japan's Everyman in a Nobel way

People who get selected to compete on Japanese trivia-based TV quiz shows are always getting asked questions about Japan's Nobel prizewinners. It's not as difficult as it sounds. Until two weeks ago, there were only 10 of them.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Oct 20, 2002

Put on your party hat and escape to Oz

At the mini five-ways down the hill behind Almond in Roppongi, one will find a pleasant second-floor bar in a building on one corner. Though small, it takes full advantage of the building's glass exterior walls, with every seat at the bar offering a view of the street. It feels spacious and safe from...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2002

Bali blast brings war home to Australians

SYDNEY -- In the wake of the Bali bombing, Australia's relations with Indonesia, never much better than guardedly cordial at the best of times, have sunk to a new low.
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2002

Most crucial lesson from Bali

The Indonesian island of Bali, known as the Island of the Gods, has long projected a peaceful image as an idyllic resort for international tourists. That image was shattered by Saturday's bomb explosion that devastated a popular nightclub frequented by Westerners, killing at least 180 people and wounding...
EDITORIALS
Oct 16, 2002

A most fitting Nobel laureate

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has been awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. It is a fitting selection. Mr. Carter has worked tirelessly for peace and to help the poor and the powerless throughout his career; his efforts deserve the recognition afforded by the Nobel selection committee. Just as important,...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Oct 7, 2002

Brainstorming to bring positive change

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In an article on the IMF/World Bank meeting in Washington last month entitled "A Washington gathering of incompetents," Gerald Baker, while lambasting policyma- kers in the United States and the European Union, handed the first prize for incompetence to Japan. "Every time it...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 6, 2002

Srichaphan bows out of AIG Japan Open

One day, Paradon Srichaphan was being hailed as a future star. The next, he came crashing down to mother earth with a bump.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Oct 6, 2002

Take time for a journey of the senses

Imagine a break in the day where the hustle and bustle of life is put aside, and your total attention is given over to the senses and the discovery of new wines and unexpected, heartening bargains. Tasting and evaluating wine is a challenge, one that requires endurance, focus and discipline, but it can...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 4, 2002

Classy Chang leaves Japan smiling

As Michael Chang vividly recalls each memory of Japan, he sounds more like a grandfather telling family tales than the former No. 2 tennis player in the world. The good old days of the past flashed back to him, piece by piece, as Chang began talking as if this were his curtain call on this Asian island....
COMMENTARY
Oct 3, 2002

Iraq, yes -- but why now?

LONDON -- Everyone seems agreed that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is a very nasty piece of work, a brutal tyrant with homicidal tendencies who cannot be trusted one inch.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 2, 2002

Suzuki storms past No. 10 seed Gambill

With a typhoon swirling around Tokyo, Takao Suzuki served up a storm of his own in the first round of the AIG Japan Open at Ariake Colosseum on Tuesday, blowing out 10th-seeded American Jan-Michael Gambill 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2002

Exactly when does old age really begin?

"Put simply, we are having fewer children and living longer," says Michelle Gunn, an Australian journalist and social-affairs writer. Our time is undeniably the age of longevity.
COMMENTARY
Sep 29, 2002

Signs the EU is coming of age

PARIS -- The most striking fact to emerge from the recent Germany elections is that for the first time a majority of voters in a EU member-state has been motivated by foreign-policy concerns. In the past, the country's worsening economic situation and high unemployment rate would have cost Chancellor...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 29, 2002

How to gain flavors and influence yeasts

When looking at what makes sake special, one thing that comes up often is koji mold. It is the heart of the sake-making process -- no beverage in the world uses koji in its production the way that sake does. Of all factors involved in sake brewing, the addition of koji exerts the most influence on the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 29, 2002

When mourning makes straight talk taboo

The shock that accompanied the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, quickly turned into a mood of national mourning that continues to hang over the United States a year later. As a form of social behavior, mourning comes with its own protocol, and in this particular case attempts to place the attacks...

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