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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 22, 2006

Accolades for Afrobeat originator

Producer Brian Eno has been variously quoted as saying Nigerian drummer and songwriter Tony Allen is "the most important musician," or "the best drummer" of the last 50 years. Whatever Eno actually said there is no doubt of the high regard Allen is held in, not only for his rhythms, so tight and complex...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 21, 2006

Qi Baishi updated literati painting with new subjects

'Too much likeness flatters the vulgar taste," said Qi Baishi, "too much unlikeness deceives the world." In the Chinese literati tradition, whose many intellectual ideals were developed by Su Shi, a satirical 11th-century Northern Song Dynasty poet, calligrapher and statesman, realism was considered...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 14, 2006

The last weekend of summer to rave about

For Japan's trance music fans, this weekend is the last big outdoor romp of summer.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2006

New book by Ozawa advocates U.N. force, reform of farm sector

should form a special organ for the United Nations, which comes under direct control of the U.N. secretary general," Ozawa writes. As for the SDF, it "should remain dedicated to defending the nation." Ozawa has long called for the creation of such a U.N. standby force, but this time he clarifies that...
EDITORIALS
Jul 31, 2006

Sympathy for a racehorse

The world's compassion is notoriously quirky. Just consider where it has been directed over the past couple of months, a period as replete with tragedy and disaster as any in recent memory. Another lethal tsunami struck Indonesia. The sectarian slaughter in Iraq worsened, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jul 28, 2006

Endorphin II gets the juices flowing

As any decent dictionary published after 1980 will tell you, an endorphin is "any of a group of peptide hormones that bind to opiate receptors and are found mainly in the brain. Endorphins reduce the sensation of pain and affect emotions." In other words, they make you feel good.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 27, 2006

The revenge of the Red Demon

Playwright, actor and director Hideki Noda has been the undisputed leader of the Japanese contemporary theater world for 30 years. In that time he has written, directed and often acted in more than 60 plays in Japan -- all of them hits or superhits among his mushrooming fanbase. In fact, Noda has been...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 23, 2006

Dark chronicler of a dubious Jewish uniqueness

Who are the Jews? What do Jewish writers have in common with each other? What, strictly speaking, is a "Jewish" writer . . . and, for that matter, what is meant by "strictly speaking"?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2006

Double trouble for Poles used to benefits

WARSAW -- Much of the world seems fascinated by the fact that Poland is now governed by identical twins who first became famous as child movie actors: President Lech Kaczynski, and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whom Lech appointed to the post of prime minister earlier this month. They are indeed intriguing, but...
COMMENTARY
Jul 19, 2006

Cultural diplomacy in the Middle East

Political and economic stability in the Middle East is vital to ensure Japan's energy security and to reduce risks in the global economic system. In the interests of this region's mid- and long-term political stability, it is clearly desirable for "democratization" in the region to take root deeply and...
LIFE
Jul 2, 2006

Showdown at Budokan

The rightwing reactionaries were arriving in their menacing black-and-white trucks, blasting military music. The politicians were shaking their fists and telling people to go to a garbage dump. The police had locked down all entrances to the Imperial Palace grounds. Riot police lined the road leading...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 27, 2006

Righting a wrong

In July 2005, Doudou Diene, a special representative of the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights, came to Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 26, 2006

Laws, morals and the delay of the financial products trade law

A mid the public uproar over insider trading prompted by the arrest of investment fund manager Yoshiaki Murakami, the Diet quickly enacted a new law to regulate transactions involving financial products on June 7. The legislation combines the previous Securities and Exchange and other laws in an attempt...
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2006

Fitch keeps Hankyu ratings intact

Fitch Ratings said Wednesday it has decided to keep the credit ratings of Hankyu Holdings Inc. unchanged because the burden stemming from the tender offer for Hanshin Electric Railway Co. shares has stayed within the anticipated level.
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2006

Medical reforms need work

The laws passed last week by the Diet to curb the growth in the nation's medical spending testify to the government's determination to solve the problem. While the laws include positive elements, they are not problem-free. The government needs to continuously review the nation's medical system. Rationalizing...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2006

Bando POW camp: chivalry's last bastion

NARUTO, Tokushima Pref. — At 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 23, 1914, despite opposition among many pro-German military officers and politicians, Japan honored a 1902 treaty with Britain and declared war on Imperial Germany.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 13, 2006

Fuss over fingerprinting

No consistency The new law requiring foreigners to be fingerprinted and photographed at Japan's airports is unfair.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jun 4, 2006

How shall we dance?

This summer, the movie that shot Johnny Depp to Hollywood stardom, Tim Burton's 1990 fantasy "Edward Scissorhands," comes to Japan as a live dance stage created and directed by Matthew Bourne.
EDITORIALS
May 29, 2006

Banks are halfway back

The nation's six major banking groups have posted record consolidated net profits of 3.12 trillion yen for the business year ended March 31 -- 4.3 times more than for the previous year and the highest in 17 years. This nearly doubles the previous record of 1.7 trillion yen logged by major banks in fiscal...
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2006

Australia's dirty little secret

SYDNEY -- A dirty little secret in Australian society has been exposed, and federal and state governments are maneuvering to clean up the mess or face international condemnation for allegedly allowing the violation of human rights.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 7, 2006

TV Tokyo's "Shujii ga Mitsukaru Shinryojo," TBS's "Zubari Iu Wa Yo!" and more

Prevention is said to be as important to medical care as treatment, but often it's difficult to know how effective certain preventive measures are. This week on TV Tokyo's medical variety show, "Shujii ga Mitsukaru Shinryojo (The Clinic Where You'll Find a Family Doctor)" on Monday at 8 p.m., the guest...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 28, 2006

Here be the land of the gods

You get them in research institutes, tucked away in small caves, perched atop spanking-new urban developments. Clamber up Mount Fuji and one is waiting there at the summit. Aside from desperately keen Shintoi aficionados, few people would complain that Japan suffers any dearth of shrines. While Shinto...
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2006

Learning from Chernobyl

At 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear-power accident in history occurred at Chernobyl, Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Twenty years after the accident, the name "Chernobyl" and a view of the 90-meter-high concrete and steel sarcophagus covering Reactor Four at the power...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2006

The oil party is finally over

LONDON -- Welcome to the world of $70-per-barrel oil. That's if there is no crisis in the Persian Gulf over Iran's nuclear ambitions. If there is, then get ready for $140 a barrel. Oil briefly breached the $70 barrier eight months ago, but this time it is going up for good.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Apr 8, 2006

In America, a smile gets you everywhere

A couple of weeks ago in this column, I gave some tips for foreigners visiting Japan. One reader suggested that in my next column, I give some tips for Japanese visiting the United States. So here goes: Amy's rigorous guide to what NOT to do when visiting the U.S.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2006

Canberra-Jakarta ties sink

SYDNEY -- Fragile relations between Indonesia and Australia have taken a nosedive, again, and Canberra is concerned that any sudden venting of anger in Jakarta may wreck years of painstaking efforts at building up mutual good will. The Indonesian ambassador has been recalled from Canberra "for consultations."...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 26, 2006

One nation's icon carries a torch of conscience for all

On March 6, the Polish film and theater director Andrzej Wajda celebrated his 80th birthday. In fact, all of Poland celebrated it with him. I was in the country that week, and I have never before seen such total media interest in a cultural figure. Wajda is certainly Poland's "living national treasure."...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 9, 2006

Young, fresh and traditional Japanese artists

Some people complain that poetry has never been the same since poets were absolved of their obligations to rhyme and rhythm. The same people also think that since the 1968 scrapping of the Hollywood Production Code that regulated sexual content, movies have lost a lot of their sexual sizzle.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami