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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 17, 2003

A family unit to value in tech's brave new world

The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Shinagawa used to be a family home, and it must have been a very nice one because it is a beautiful place, designed and built in the late 1930s in the Bauhaus style. The hardwood floors and comfortably high ceilings create a relaxing atmosphere in the one-time dining,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Dec 4, 2003

"Lionboy," "The English Roses"

"Lionboy," Zizou Corder, Puffin Books; 2003; 352 pp. How old do you have to be to write your first book? Thirty years old? Twenty? How about 10? If you're Isabel Adomakoh Young, 10 is as good an age as any.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 1, 2003

The visionless world of postelection Japan

"Now when you go to look for your left -- when you need them most -- they are nowhere to be found," says Michael Moore in the introduction to the U.K. version of his new book, "Dude, Where's My Country."
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2003

'Mini-nukes' a big problem

The United States' decision to pursue the development of a new generation of nuclear weapons is wrong. At a time when Washington is trying to convince other nations that nuclear-weapons programs should be abandoned, the U.S. move suggests that such weapons are useful after all. It is one more blow to...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 21, 2003

Glacial pace of F.A. on discipline a joke

LONDON -- As you read this representatives of all the leading bodies in English football will be emerging from what was described as "a two-day lock-in" as they attempt to update the Football Association's disciplinary system, which is so out of date it is a wonder the fines are not paid in cattle.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Nov 20, 2003

What's the point in learning how to write kanji?

Joe Lauer, a long-term American resident of Hiroshima, sent the following feedback on a workshop I conducted to promote the Kanji Proficiency Examination (Kanken), a standardized test that measures both kanji reading and writing ability:
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2003

WTO says no to U.S. tariffs

The World Trade Organization has ruled that U.S. tariffs on imported steel are illegal, setting the stage for a showdown with the international body and U.S. trade partners. The ruling, which was widely anticipated, provides U.S. President George W. Bush with an opportunity to signal his commitment to...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2003

U.S. should restore corporate governance market: Niskanen

The collapses of Enron and other major U.S. companies in recent years are highlighting the need to amend corporate governance rules that overemphasize management protection so that an effective market for corporate control can be restored, said William Niskanen, head of the Cato Institute, a U.S. think...
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2003

Mr. Chen's travel schedule

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian made a brief visit to New York City last weekend. Ostensibly, Mr. Chen was traveling via the United States, on his way to Panama. It was not the sort of transit most international passengers enjoy. His took a couple of days, during which he received an award, made a speech,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 2, 2003

Sharp-dressed Electric Six turn on the juice

In June of last year, the British radio remix duo that calls itself 2 Many DJs released its long-awaited debut mash-up album, which consisted of several dozen fairly famous songs by people as diverse as Lou Reed, Salt'n'Pepa and Dolly Parton laid end-to-end and on top of each other for a full hour of...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 1, 2003

Following the bouncing ball, pachinko-style

After almost a quarter of a century in this land, I generally find the cliche "inscrutable Japanese" to be undeserved. For I can "scrute" them OK.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2003

Australia basks in afterglow of two high-powered visits

SYDNEY -- The world's two most powerful leaders stopped by in Canberra the other day. It was a neighborly visit, all smiles and trade deals. They're home in Washington and Beijing now, leaving behind the biggest bonanza for Australia since Japan came calling a generation or so ago.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2003

The reality of pension reform

With a general election around the corner, major political parties in Japan are playing up pension reform as a top campaign promise. That is only to be expected as the average age of the Japanese population rises at an accelerated pace. The question is what should and can be done to build a sustainable...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2003

Kin of suspected abductees fight uphill war

OSAKA -- On the morning of July 7, 1973, 18-year-old Noriko Furukawa of Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, left home for a beauty parlor appointment without telling her mother, with whom she had promised to go shopping that afternoon.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 19, 2003

The gangsters that just keep coming back

THE YAKUZA MOVIE BOOK: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films, by Mark Schilling. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2003, 336 pp., $19.95 (paper). When Mark Schilling was interviewing veteran filmmaker Seijun Suzuki for this book, the director suddenly asked the author: "Why are you interested in yakuza movies?"...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 19, 2003

Maverick broadcaster Kume shook 'em up

Since Oct. 10, when the House of Representatives was dissolved, bigwigs from Japan's political parties have been making the rounds of the nightly news shows, spelling out their differences and promoting their spiffy new "manifestos" in preparation for the election on Nov. 9. Though they've contained...
COMMUNITY
Oct 11, 2003

Find your writer's voice via the Amherst method

As a break from academia in 2001, American-born Ella Rutledge decided to try her hand at creative writing.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2003

American dream, or nightmare?

Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilder and movie star, is the new governor of California. Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, replaced Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, after 54.9 percent of voters Tuesday said "yes" to recalling the incumbent and 48.2 percent picked the Terminator to lead the historically...
EDITORIALS
Oct 8, 2003

Israel's dangerous escalation

Israel's attack Sunday on an alleged terrorist training camp inside Syria marks a dangerous turn in the Middle East conflict. Sadly, the strike is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of "preemption" that has been endorsed by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. The attack makes plain...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 7, 2003

Time to come clean on foreign crime wave

For those who read and watch the Japanese press, these are scary times. Foreign crime is allegedly on the rise, members of the new Koizumi Cabinet are making clear policy statements against it, and the National Police Agency is ready for a new push.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2003

World holds vested interest in a successful South Africa

PRETORIA -- The last 10 to 15 years have not been the best advertisement for the human species. Our brutality toward fellow human beings, including children and women, seems to plumb ever-lower depths. The positive side of identifying with fellow members of a particular religion, race, tribe or ethnic...
COMMENTARY
Sep 17, 2003

Add eco-terrorism to list of threats faced by Americans

WASHINGTON -- In August, radical environmentalists apparently burned down an apartment complex under construction in San Diego, California.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Sep 17, 2003

Hand-made objects have a soul of their own

I've often been asked about my beginnings with Japanese pottery and how I got so deeply interested in the subject. Mostly, it was a philosophical and intuitive introduction that just struck a chord within me, as well as topics associated with Zen and the present. As with most inspiring art, words often...
EDITORIALS
Sep 9, 2003

Can do in Cancun?

Trade ministers from 146 states gather in Cancun, Mexico this week to jump-start international trade negotiations. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this week's meeting. The Doha round, launched nearly two years ago, has stalled, the victim of a global economic slowdown and growing ill...
EDITORIALS
Sep 6, 2003

Indonesia punishes a cleric

An Indonesian court this week sentenced Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to four years in jail on charges of treason. The relatively lenient sentence has been widely interpreted as a blow to Southeast Asian efforts to combat terrorism. In fact, Indonesia was in a lose-lose position: It risked creating...
EDITORIALS
Sep 1, 2003

WTO's tantalizing drug deal

The Doha Round of trade talks, launched in November 2001, has been a slow and bitter slog, with little cause for optimism. That is why news last week of a deal on inexpensive medicines raised such high hopes. The prospect of an agreement could restore momentum as World Trade Organization members head...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Aug 27, 2003

Broadcast: "Ha Ha Sound"

Rarely does a gem shine out from the dull ground of contemporary electronica, but when one does it should be treasured. Such is "Ha Ha Sound," Broadcast's second album.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Aug 21, 2003

"Toad Heaven," "Ada Lovelace"

"Toad Heaven," Morris Gleitzman, Puffin Books; 2002; 192 pp. Humans are always complaining about how unfair life is. Limpy is a cane toad, but he thinks it's unfair, too. For starters, no one likes him (except his family). Female cane toads don't think he's much of a looker. (Cane toads are ugly enough,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 20, 2003

Noda gives Kabukiza a 'Mouse' that roars

A modern legend is back at the 114-year-old Kabukiza this summer in the diminutive form of Hideki Noda, one of the titans of Japanese contemporary theater.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2003

The identity of the Arab world

DAMASCUS -- Fadil Shururu, chief political officer of Ahmad Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, has come a long way since I first met him 35 years ago in Jordan's Ghor Valley, seedbed of the newborn guerrilla movement that was to liberate the whole of the Palestinian...

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’