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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 21, 2006

Yukio Mishima's prequel to the end

YUKOKU (Patriotism), 1966, produced, written and interpreted by Yukio Mishima, associate producer Hiroaki Fujii, associate director Masaki Domoto, photographed by Kimio Watanabe. Tokyo: Toho DVD, 2006, Disc One: 28 minutes, Disc Two: 175 minutes, 6,300 yen. In 1961 Yukio Mishima published a short story,...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 14, 2006

Home and away

AUSTRALIA Respect brings harmony without being workaholic
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
May 3, 2006

Yearning for Canada's high north

I spent most of the latter part of March in Vancouver, British Columbia. I have friends and family there, and when the cherry and magnolia trees blossom and the mountains still gleam with snow, Vancouver is a very special place to be.
LIFE / Language
May 2, 2006

Manga fans take their Japanese to another level

Manga are the engine of Japan's new multibillion dollar export success, its pop-culture sofuto sangyo -- software industry -- which includes anime, video games, and music. Not surprisingly, perhaps, more and more foreigners are also using manga to learn Japanese.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 27, 2006

Putting art into fashion

"I'm just fed up with all the recycled cliches and the sensationalism," says Samuel Bourdin, son of the celebrated French fashion photographer Guy Bourdin, over the phone from Paris. "The press tries to make my father out to be some kind of depraved monster, but that's just not accurate."
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 23, 2006

Imelda Marcos: Still angry after all these years

The beautiful half of one of the 20th century's most notorious dictatorships, Imelda Marcos has spent two decades fighting attempts to jail her and trace a reputed fortune of billions. On the 20th anniversary of the revolution that ousted her and Ferdinand Marcos from power in the Philippines, she talks...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 21, 2006

Pretty Girls Make Graves "Elan Vital"

Overflowing with fast-paced, addictive post-hardcore anthems, Pretty Girls Make Graves' debut, 2002's "Good Health," had indie rock hipsters frothing at the mouth. The Seattle act followed with 2003's equally impressive "The New Romance." A line-up change saw the band losing a guitarist and adding a...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 20, 2006

Rei Torii Exhibition

Baijuan Teahouse in Setagaya Closes in 8 days
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2006

New moneyed class spends big at luxury retailers

Evidence that the economic recovery is creating a "new wealthy class" while leaving others to struggle is showing up in department stores and other luxury retailers that are outperforming their convenience store cousins.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 18, 2006

What is your favorite Japanese show?

Yoko Miyazaki Clothing sales, 22 "Ai Nori" (basically a "gokon" traveling from country to country on a pink bus) If someone loves another person, they have to try their best to win their love. It shows how Japanese have friendly and romantic relationships.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 13, 2006

Goths, terra and tears

The Complex Building in Roppongi opened with five major contemporary art galleries a couple of years back, around the same time as the nearby Mori Art Museum. It has, however, been somewhat overlooked as new and larger spaces have debuted out east in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 9, 2006

Looking at the big picture of Kyoto

CAPITALSCAPES: Folding Screens and Political Imagination in Late Medieval Kyoto, by Matthew Philip McKelway. Honolulu, University of Hawai'i Press, 2006, 282 pp., 24 color plates, numerous b/w illustrations, $56.00 (cloth). One of the major formats in the history of Japanese painting are the byobu-e,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 9, 2006

Who out there cares about 'Cool Japan'?

These days the government is jumping on the bandwagon. The Foreign Ministry is singing in tune. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has hopped on, with a conductor's baton in his hand and a spring in his step that you don't even see when he's ascending the stairs to pay his public-private respects at Yasukuni...
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2006

TV programs go mobile as One Seg services begin

Starting Saturday, many cell phone users may find their beloved handsets even more indispensable. In addition to tapping out messages to their friends and surfing the Net, people will be able to see digital broadcasts of their favorite TV shows wherever they go, on their mobiles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 31, 2006

Here's one castle to crow about

They may be unloved and unwanted, but even their detractors would have to admit that Japan's crows are tough, resilient critters. It is, then, entirely appropriate that the oldest castle in Japan should be named after these intimidating birds. The Japanese of yore had quite a fondness for naming their...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2006

23,800 rights abuses tallied in Japan

The number of human rights violations reported to the Justice Ministry's regional legal affairs bureaus across Japan reached a record-high 23,800 in 2005, up 4 percent from the previous year, a ministry tally showed Thursday.
LIFE / Language
Mar 28, 2006

Modern teaching tools capitalize on 'Japan cool'

Enter a British school and Japanese is likely to have been left outside the classroom. According to statistics from the United Kingdom's National Centre for Languages (CILT), last year 978 students took Japanese at GCSE level, the public exams taken at 16 after which students can leave school or continue...
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

Unit 731 exhibit to grow into peace, protest park

BEIJING (Kyodo) A germ warfare exhibition in Harbin in northern China that showcases deadly medical experiments carried out by Japanese forces on live prisoners during the war will expand its area by three times and reopen as a peace park, the curator said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 21, 2006

What will you take with you when you leave Japan?

Marc Bell Teacher, 32 I would bring my address book so I could keep in contact with people, which means there is never a final farewell. Also, I would bring back my keitai. It's a symbol of Japan's power -- how they can use Western technology and make it better than we do.
BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2006

Softbank may prove worthy rival

Softbank Corp.'s announcement last Friday it was buying Vodafone K.K., a Japanese unit of Vodafone Group PLC, may give the Internet company a competitive edge in the mobile phone industry.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 17, 2006

Curtain rises on Tokyo International Anime Fair

From popular TV series and unreleased work to cutting-edge production technology, everything the domestic animation industry has to offer will be at the 5th Tokyo International Anime Fair 2006, from March 23 to 26 at the Tokyo Big Sight.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 17, 2006

You can't really go wrong with the army on your side

Talking with Yevgeni Lavrentyev is like walking into a Tolstoy novel: The characters will launch into monologues that can take up an entire page, but ultimately they have their own agenda on what to say, or not.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 16, 2006

Yoshihiko Ueda "Standing Full Nude Series"

Galerie Sho Contemporary Art Closes in 31 days
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Mar 14, 2006

Minori Kitahara

Minori Kitahara, 35, is the owner of Love Piece Club, Japan's first sex-toy shop owned by a woman and catering exclusively to women. She believes that women deserve their sexual fun and games and she has just the right toys for them.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 12, 2006

Chao Phya, the brown god

THAILAND REFLECTED IN A RIVER by Steve Van Beek, designed by Barry Owen and Thongchai Nawawat. Hong Kong: Wind & Water Ltd., 264 pp., profusely illustrated, 2004, $39 (cloth). T.S. Eliot has written: "I think that the river / Is a strong brown god -- sullen, untamed and intractable." In addition to this,...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 10, 2006

English fans shed no tears over Chelsea's ouster by Barca

LONDON -- Rarely if ever have English football fans cheered a victory by a foreign side over one of their own as Barcelona's Champions League knockout of Chelsea was greeted on Tuesday night.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Mar 10, 2006

Romancing, not stoned

I've got four High Teens in my apartment, one of them is unconscious on my futon, and "romance" will ultimately be on the agenda. But please hesitate from rushing to the nearest koban and filing a report because, I promise you, this story does not involve drugs and underage sex. (I'm saving that for...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji