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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 15, 2003

You've got to give a little

Tamao Kubota, the founder and lead singer of Apple Beat, has a powerful, slightly husky voice and carries herself with an attractive air of unself-conscious defiance. She sounds as good belting it out like an impassioned R & B singer as she does slow, quiet and personal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 15, 2003

On with the old and in with the new

The kabuki year has kicked off with three striking programs at the Kokaido (Public Hall) in Asakusa, the Kabukiza in Ginza and the Tokyo National Theater in Hanzomon.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 15, 2003

Talent-laden 'festival' to bring back a pinch of that old magic

Once upon a time, rock shows were long, drawn-out affairs, with two or three opening acts who could be counted on to play as if they were headliners. Magic Rock Out, an event that will be held in Kobe and Tokyo in early February, is too limited in scope to be called a "festival" (only one stage), and...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 12, 2003

Living on the edge and acting the part

There's an article in the current issue of Shukan Bunshun lambasting the "foolishness of no-talent celebrities" on all those overblown New Year's TV specials. But what's more annoying than the specials themselves is that they pre-empted the few shows that were worth watching, like "The Tetsuwan Dash!"...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 12, 2003

A price on their heads

Help wanted: Able-bodied, handsome men required to wine and dine as many women as their schedules permit; some extracurricular cosseting may be called for. Educational requirements: None. Salary: Enough to make a salaryman gag.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 11, 2003

The 'risutora' blues: Music that won't go away

I have been "restored."
BUSINESS
Jan 11, 2003

Takeda Chemical forges U.S. link

OSAKA -- Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. said Friday it has reached a three-year agreement, involving an investment of $13.7 million, with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School of the United States, to cooperate in research and drug development for metabolic diseases....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 11, 2003

Prepared to stand by his principles, pay the price

Francis Higashiki is on the move, passing through Tokyo's Hamamatsucho on his way to Haneda Airport. He works near Oita in Kyushu, in a home for 35 abused children. "After the war, orphanages were full of orphans. Now most children have parents, but sadly there is so much domestic violence."
MORE SPORTS
Jan 10, 2003

Takahashi setting sights on another Olympic gold in 2004

This is the second and final installment of an exclusive interview with Naoko Takahashi, the gold medalist in the 2000 Sydney Olympic women's marathon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jan 9, 2003

Not your grandma's ninja

Sega first introduced "Shinobi" as a harder-than-average arcade game, and the name became synonymous with ninja -- the stealth, star-throwing warriors.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2003

Debate suffers as ruling parties dominate

LONDON -- The shape of politics is changing in the world's main democracies in a manner that Japan may find familiar. But the implications are only starting to seep through.
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2003

Businessman to head state body for small firms

Businessman Koichi Minaguchi will head the Japan Finance Corp. for Small Business, the government said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2003

Japanese escape woes in 'Boogie Wonderland'

Middle-aged disco lovers in Japan boogie to the sounds of a past era, when flares, platform shoes and gold medallions were cool and the economy was on the upswing.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2003

Toyama softens position on school deregulation proposal

Education minister Atsuko Toyama said Tuesday that her ministry may support moves to allow stock companies to run schools, marking a shift from its previous opposition toward the proposal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jan 8, 2003

Redeemers with feet of clay

Of the 14 ceramic objects designated as national treasures in Japan, the fact that no fewer than eight are chawan (tea bowls) is a clear sign of their importance in the culture.
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2003

DoCoMo hit by Moody's downgrade

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Tuesday it has changed the outlook for the Aa1 senior long-term debt ratings on NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's dominant mobile phone operator, to negative from stable.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 8, 2003

Calling to the gods with a true, independent female voice

The career of composer, vocalist and dancer Makiko Sakurai has followed a unique path. She is the only woman who has been trained in shomyo -- the Buddhist liturgical chanting that dates back to the ninth century and is traditionally practiced only by males.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 8, 2003

Music of the saints

Someone once said that the best way to start building a jazz collection would be to buy a couple albums from each decade that Miles Davis was recording and, after that, choose a sideman from each of these selections and buy one of his solo albums. The same could be said of John Zorn and his collaborators,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2003

U.S. options in South Korea

HONOLULU -- A drive to compel the United States to withdraw its military forces from South Korea is picking up steam with a curious alignment of advocates from the left and the right.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 7, 2003

Maker of stylus-free record player has got his groove back

SAITAMA -- His friends backed him up 15 years ago when he left his lofty position at one of the world's largest electronics makers and ended up at a small audio manufacturer. But when he decided to pursue a piece of analog equipment seemingly destined to die in an increasingly digital world, they wrote...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2003

Bacteria spreads across nation to create slimy, healthy treat

Across the country, from Hokkaido to Okinawa, bacteria brought back by a Japanese scholar from a remote village in the former Soviet Union have been multiplying like crazy.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2003

Non-bureaucrat lands public post

Koichi Minaguchi, a former vice chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Ex- ecutives, will be the new governor of the Japan Finance Corporation for Small Business, government sources said Sunday.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 5, 2003

Milner the hottest new kid on the block

LONDON -- James Milner will celebrate his 17th birthday on Saturday by signing a new contract with Leeds United that will earn the forward £800 a week -- 10 times his current apprentice salary of £80.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 5, 2003

All aboard: a nation in motion

Monday is the first business day of the new year, so on Sunday the nation's airports, highways and rail lines will be crammed to overcapacity by a mass migration known as the "U-turn."
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 5, 2003

Staging stellar shows at bargain prices

As the commercial networks wind up their holiday offerings of low-budget blooper specials and celebrity-heavy quiz shows, regular programming slowly returns. However, things don't really get back to "normal" until next week.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 5, 2003

Essay collection by master haiku poet wins high praise

THE NICK OF TIME: Essays on Haiku Aesthetics, by Paul O. Williams. Edited by Lee Gurga and Michael Dylan Welch. Foster City, CA: Press Here Books, 2001, 112 pp., paper ($12) What is a haiku, really? How do we know one when we see it? Are English-language haiku less authentic than Japanese haiku? And...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jan 5, 2003

From prison to grave -- via voodoo

There's more to Zanzibar than Zanzibar Island. There are the other Zanzibar islands!

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