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Japan Times
JAPAN
May 5, 2004

Language schools fight image war

Students at the Japanese-language school Tokyo Nichigo Gakuin are encouraged to speak their minds, and to do so as fluently as possible.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 4, 2004

Past and Present

'Ican forgive, but I won't forget," says Jack Simmonds, an 82-year-old Australian, who was detained as a prisoner of war in Japan during World War II.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2004

Blair's hard sell of a new EU

LONDON -- "It's ghastly," Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, said with a shudder. He was speaking of the referendum -- that Prime Minister Tony Blair has declared, after no consultation with his Cabinet, will now be held -- on the draft EU constitution. Why is a referendum ghastly? Because,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 2, 2004

Scripting Yazujiro Ozu: Avoiding sentimentality to reveal pathos

TOKYO STORY: The Ozu/Noda Screenplay, by Yazujiro Ozu & Kogo Noda, translated by Donald Richie & Eric Klestadt, introduction by Richie. Stone Bridge Press, 2003, 144 pp., $12.95 (paper). The opening scene in Yazujiro Ozu's 1953 film "Tokyo Story" takes place not in the nation's capital but at the Inland...
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2004

China lacks sincerity in seeking apologies

GUATEMALA CITY -- It is a constant refrain of officials in Beijing that no other country should interfere with its internal affairs or even pass comment on events that occur inside China. However, this insistence on "noninterference" only works one way since Chinese officials often venture opinions on...
Japan Times
Features / LIFE OR DEATH
Apr 25, 2004

Only the noose can ease victims' pain

More than four years have passed since his 2-year-old granddaughter was murdered, yet never a day goes by without Tsuneo Matsumura mournfully remembering little Haruna, or having images of her flash through his mind whenever he sees a girl about the same age as she would be.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2004

Gradual, orderly progress works for H.K.

HONG KONG -- No one doubts that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in Beijing has the "power of interpretation" for Hong Kong -- it is expressly set out in the Basic Law itself. But there has, nevertheless, been criticism on various grounds.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 24, 2004

Man who watched tide come in goes out

I held the "fude" calligraphy pen and watched the paper absorb the first dab of ink as the tip of the pen touched the envelope. In my best possible "gaijin kanji," I wrote "gokoryou" along with my name in "katakana" at the bottom. Into this envelope I put a 5,000 yen bill.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2004

SDF troops balance duty, safety

Self-Defense Forces troops deployed to Samawah, southern Iraq, are in a quandary: They want to meet local demand for more aid, but deteriorating security conditions are hindering their efforts to work harder.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 23, 2004

Jazz retreat for night and day

Volontaire is a soothing retreat for jazz lovers that has stood its ground for the last three decades in Harajuku -- a neighborhood where bars change like the season's fashions. In Yuri Sakanoue's 27 years behind the counter, she has seen them all come and go. Unmoved, she has steadfastly maintained...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 21, 2004

A look on the dark side of life

Sir Antony Sher was born near Cape Town, South Africa, in 1949. He moved to Britain in 1968 to attend drama school. His breakthrough performance was as Richard III for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984-5. Since then he has received many acting honors and was knighted in 2000.
COMMENTARY
Apr 20, 2004

Clash of ideas behind violence

LONDON -- Behind all the horrors and bloodshed of Iraq lies a clash of ideas. In the words of one mujahedin leader when asked to explain his hatred of America: "We do not want their capitalism. We do not want communism. We have our own ideas about how we want our country to be run in a Muslim way."
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2004

Hostage release no peace gesture

The three Japanese taken hostage in Iraq have been set free. The joy felt at their release has been tempered by news that two other Japanese have been seized, the savage murder of an Italian security guard by his kidnappers and the knowledge that nearly 20 other foreigners are still being held in Iraq....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 17, 2004

Yati Irsan/Nasrin Fowzia

Since its foundation in 1968, the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society has steadily taken up deserving causes in the Asia-Pacific area. With the aim of bringing together the women of Asia-Pacific countries and Japan, it helps the sick, the poor and orphans in its 24 member countries. It assists with...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 17, 2004

Old folks at the steering wheel of fortune

On a recent trip home to the U.S., I realized that Japan lacks something central to highway driving: old folks behind the wheel. Although Japan's population is aging fast, it seems like most of the old people here do not drive. I rarely see the sticker on cars that old folks must display to drive in...
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2004

Hostage drama highlights SDF's tough role in Iraq

The hostage crisis involving three Japanese civilians highlighted the worsening security situation in Iraq.
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2004

Families rejoice over hostages' release

A room in the Hokkaido Prefectural Government office in Tokyo erupted in cheers at 9:03 p.m. Thursday as relatives of the three hostages watched a TV news report detailing the release of their loved ones.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 11, 2004

Keeping ghosts in the family

STRANGERS, by Taichi Yamada, translated by Wayne Lammers. New York: Vertical, Inc., 2003, 204 pp., $19.95 (cloth). Orphaned as a child, a middle-aged TV script writer wanders back to Asakusa where he was born. "A forlorn air hung about the area . . . streets empty even at midday . . . the atmosphere...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 11, 2004

New Japan Philharmonic pops the cork

One thing is for sure: Composer Joe Hisaishi is bursting with confidence about his latest project. Best known for composing music for Hayao Miyazaki's Academy Award-winning "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)" (2001), Hisaishi was recently appointed musical director of a new popular music...
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2004

Abductions put Japan's resolve on line

News that three Japanese civilians had been taken hostage by apparent terrorists in Iraq demanding that the Self-Defense Forces troops be withdrawn from the country drew a mixed response Friday on the streets of Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2004

Abductees' kin want SDF out immediately

Relatives of the three Japanese civilians held captive in Iraq by apparent terrorists asked the government Friday to withdraw the Ground Self-Defense Force troops from Iraq in line with the kidnappers' demand.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 9, 2004

Savor a city's soul

A rusted observation platform on the eastern edge of Nogeyama Hill commands views across central Yokohama -- from the Western houses on the Bluff to the Landmark Tower in the Minato Mirai district. At the hill's foot, behind the up-slope march of buildings, lies Noge, its inconspicuousness emblematic....
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Apr 8, 2004

What's love gotta do with it?

This column is often concerned with the evolution of sexual behavior and sexual anatomy, but instead of attributing everything to sex, for once let's accept a view like that of Bertrand Russell.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 7, 2004

Mario A -- a 'Japanese artist' who provokes admiration

"This is Not a Pipe," the title of Rene Magritte's 1926 painting of a pipe, succinctly illustrates a paradox in perception. On Magritte's canvas is a representation of a pipe, not an actual pipe, and so the title is perfectly valid. But how tempting to scoff at this, to regard Magritte as mischievous,...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2004

'One China' principle is all but dead

HONOLULU -- No matter how the dispute over Taiwan's presidential election is resolved, it has become ever more clear that the "One China" principle is unraveling.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’