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CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 19, 2001

Great coffee with some art on the side

I took a visiting young German painter to Ben's Cafe in Takadanobaba the other day. We met to have a beer and a chat -- and because Jorn was eager to show me a book of his new work, with an eye to me maybe helping arrange a show for him.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2001

Scholars note '99 find of rare sutra copy

Japanese researchers said they have discovered an ancient copy of a legendary Buddhist sutra, written in Sanskrit, in the city of Lhasa.
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

Photo-news loses its focus

Last August's demise of Shinchosha's weekly photo newsmagazine Focus marked a major publishing milestone in Japan.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

'Spirited Away' shares culture award

Blockbuster animated film "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" ("Spirited Away"), directed by Hayao Miyazaki, will share one of four grand prizes at the Agency for Cultural Affairs' 5th Media Arts Festival in February, according to the executive committee for the annual event.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Dec 7, 2001

Taking centerstage without clamming up

On his first visit to Urato Junior High School a year and a half ago, David Goldberg was awestruck. He was glad that he had followed his predecessor's advice to take a camera along. On the early morning 30-minute ferry ride from Shiogama City in Miyagi Prefecture to the island of Nonoshima, Goldberg...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 6, 2001

'Shrek,' 'Final Fantasy' raise bar for DVDs

When ogres and space monsters battled last summer, the ogres won handsomely. At least they did in box offices across the United States.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2001

Sanyo, Kodak to jointly produce organic electroluminescent panels

OSAKA -- Sanyo Electric Co. and Eastman Kodak Co. of the United States announced Tuesday they will set up a joint venture this month to make a next-generation flat-panel display for use in electronic devices.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 5, 2001

Paper-cutting artists breathe new life into an ancient craft

You can get a glimpse of the beauty of kiri-e (cut-paper pictures) created by members of the Zenkoku Kiri-e Dokokai (National Association of Kiri-e) at an exhibition running till Dec. 8 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space in Ikebukuro.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2001

Jiang unleashes revolutionary change

CAMBRIDGE, England -- There is a long tradition in China of requiring the people to study the words of their political leaders. In the late 17th century, the whole population of China was required to come together in small groups twice a month to study and recite the "16 moral maxims" published by the...
JAPAN / Media / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 2, 2001

They're playing our song . . .

The Japanese penal system is a murky realm since contact between inmates and the outside world is limited. Much of what is reported about prison life is received from indirect sources.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 2, 2001

Making the polluter pay

MINAMATA: Pollution and the Struggle For Democracy in Postwar Japan, by Timothy S. George. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001, 385 pp., $45 (cloth) The story of mercury poisoning suffered by residents near the port of Minamata in Kyushu is a well-known tale of knavery on a grand scale. A telling...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 1, 2001

Uses for the Japanese Proficiency Test

Tomorrow, foreigners from all over the world, from China to Mars, will be sitting for the Japanese Proficiency Test.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2001

Photographer to publish '60s era trade center shots

A Japanese photographer who took photos of the World Trade Center in New York during its construction more than 30 years ago plans to publish his collection in Japan and the United States next month.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 21, 2001

It's bewildering and bewitching

Someone should tell Karen Kilimnik that when she changes the date of birth on her resume, she should also tweak the other dates listed there, lest she end up appearing to have graduated from university at age 14. This is the case with the bio provided by Gallery Side 2, where the enigmatic painter and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 21, 2001

Unconscious beauty crafted by Korea's unknown artists

The founder of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum (Nihon Mingeikan), Soetsu Yanagi (1889-1961), was a collector and philosopher who had been attracted to Korean crafts since his youth. Recognizing the beauty of folk craft, he strove for its recognition both in Japan and abroad.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2001

Pitfalls litter Koizumi reform path

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi needs to place a bit more emphasis on growth-oriented economic policy if he wants to maximize the effect of his structural reform measures, British economic journalists said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Nov 16, 2001

Coming to Japan with his eyes wide shut

Omar Karlin would be blind today if it weren't for that crazy, half-baked business scheme of his.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 14, 2001

Art triumphs over vain landfill protest

It didn't matter much to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government that residents of Ome City in western Tokyo opposed the destruction of a large area of forest in the nearby town of Hinode to create a landfill site.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 14, 2001

Any color just so long as it's yellow

Although yellow often has negative connotations in the West, it is a very positive color here in the East, Goh Shigi is quick to point out at the opening of his latest show, "Heat of Yellow," which presents 15 of his latest oils as well as several drawings at Ginza's Nishimura Gallery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 14, 2001

Scenes of Istanbul life

Glimpse the beautiful city of Istanbul in a display of oil paintings by Turkish artist Acar Baskut, on display Nov. 16-18 at the Turkish Embassy in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
Events
Nov 13, 2001

Kansai adopts antiauteur atmosphere

OSAKA -- Foreign filmmakers shun it for its high cost and lack of cooperation from authorities, while Japanese directors decry its dearth of sophistication and talent.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 11, 2001

You can be an artist if you've half a mind to

Kristin Newton changes lives. Messages of appreciation fill her inbox. "This is a turning point in our lives," reads one. "We are looking at things so differently now."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 11, 2001

Mizoguchi's street of shame

RED-LIGHT DISTRICT, the film by Kenji Mizoguchi, translated and annotated by D.J. Rajakaruna. Colombo: S. Godage & Brothers, 2001. 182 pp., $12.50 (paper) Kenji Mizoguchi's last film, the 1956 "Akasen Chitai" ("Red-Light District," aka "Street of Shame") may not be one of his best pictures but it is...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 7, 2001

Iberian artist's intuition

An exhibition of silk-screen prints by Portuguese artist Jose de Guimaraes is showing till Nov. 22 at the Portuguese Embassy in Kojimachi.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

The gift of Ghibli

When I first heard that Hayao Miyazaki was planning a museum in Mitaka dedicated to the films that his Studio Ghibli animators and he had created over the years, I imagined animation cels framed on beige walls. Save for dedicated fans, it wasn't the most thrilling prospect for a Saturday afternoon, especially...
COMMUNITY
Oct 30, 2001

Hosts with the most, ma'am, at your service

BANGKOK -- Bangkok may be the sex capital of the world for men, but what do Thai women do for kicks? It's Saturday night and I am in an underground parking garage in central Bangkok trying to find out. It is damp and somewhat desolate, but across the ill-lit tarmac I see a promising neon sign that reads...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 27, 2001

Introducing 'nihonga' to the British art scene

I meet Sarah Waite in June, just days before she returns to the U.K. after five years in Japan. We talk about the exhibition she will have in London in October as part of the Japan Festival 2001, agreeing to run the interview then. So now, here we are in autumn, and the time is ripe.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 24, 2001

Sophisticated tastes and surprising connections

Most of the action in the art world takes place out of the public eye in small, discreet galleries like the one run and owned by Noriko Togo, catering to the sophisticated tastes of a well-heeled clientele. Togo shows me around her gallery's latest exhibition, "Beyond the Visible World," which brings...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2001

Food from home, direct to your door in Japan

Chuck Grafft spends much of his life surrounded by the stronger sex. Not that he is complaining. As president and CEO of the Foreign Buyers Club (FBC) in Kobe, most of his staff are women -- women representing nine cultures, including Japanese. Also, wife Kelly, now back to work, with four daughters,...

Longform

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