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EDITORIALS
Oct 9, 2005

Nine numbers and 81 squares

Human beings are a famously diverse lot. We come in different colors and sizes, speak a Babel of tongues, worship a pantheon of gods or no god at all, eat our foods bland or spicy, vote or not, and are sorely divided over the value of poetry. But those distinctions pale compared to the big one: the gulf...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Oct 7, 2005

Psychedelic radar 10.07

Saturday, Oct. 8
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 7, 2005

Beautiful truths woven in lyricism

If poetry is an art then songwriting is a craft. Verbal phrases and musical phrases each have their own modes of logic and the trick is to match them up in a way that sounds natural. All songwriters try to do that to a certain extent, but Joanna Newsom seems more conscious of the actual work involved...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 6, 2005

You cannot force them to sing it in Japan, or to listen in London

"In this 60th anniversary year of the end of the war . . . I thought it was the right time to ask about Japan's current movement toward constitutional revision -- especially the revision of (war-renouncing) Article 9," said 53-year-old Ai Nagai, founder of Nitosha (Two Rabbits) Theater Company, as she...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2005

Give them what they want

When Paul Baron moved to Tokyo three years ago, he was excited to explore the city's vast art world as he had been an avid follower of art events while studying graphic design in London. There was only one problem: Where to find out what was going on. It should have been easy; it should have all been...
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2005

Ease postal startup rules: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed his intention Tuesday to make it easier for companies to start postal services by letting them operate fewer public mailboxes than stipulated by law.
COMMENTARY
Oct 4, 2005

DPJ out to change its ways

The rout of the Democratic Party of Japan in the Sept. 11 Lower House election raises the question: Will it be able to recoup its losses and make itself strong enough to snatch power from the Liberal Democratic Party?
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2005

As society grows more aloof, census takers suffer

Hiroshi Tamura is keenly aware of the great changes that have taken place in his neighborhood in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, where he has lived for more than half a century.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 29, 2005

Communal individuals

World-famous sculptor Antony Gormley has spent the last 25 years "infecting" public spaces with sculptures that transform viewers' imagination and challenge their preconceptions. In "Children's Field," a Gormley-inspired community art project produced by the American School in Japan (ASIJ) and A.R.T....
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 27, 2005

Time well spent

Living in the world's second largest economy, it's often tempting to forget that there are people and organizations in Japan in dire need of help.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 27, 2005

Watches, stains and health food

Keep watching Jim in Kansai notes that it is several weeks now since we ran his request for suggestions on repairing his old Seiko watch, but still no response. "I knew it was a long shot, but I'd like to thank you anyway, for trying."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 25, 2005

Corruption and intrigue in high places

THE ASSASSIN'S TOUCH, by Laura Joh Rowland. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2005, 312 pp., $24.95 (cloth). BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS, by Eliot Pattison. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 360 pp., 2004, $24.95 (cloth). A day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, I fired off an e-mail message...
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2005

Sting units making dent in narcotics trade on Internet

The health ministry set up special units in January to crack down on illegal drug trade on the Internet, with investigators arresting about 60 people in the seven-month period through July, government sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2005

After-lunch nap can perk up kids who get the nods in class: expert

It's an afternoon class and most of the pupils are trying to fight off drowsiness -- an experience most people perhaps can identify with.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2005

LDP OKs postal reform; dissent a notable no-show

The Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday unanimously endorsed the hotly contested postal privatization bills that triggered the Sept. 11 general election.
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Sep 20, 2005

T-shirts, leave and a reminder

T-shirt exchange "Get it Pumping!", "I'm a steel driving man," "Almost famous," and "New Kids on the Block world tour." Random English adverts on the train? An English lesson gone wrong?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Sep 19, 2005

The Gathering 2005 preview -- return to Tsumagoi

Ready or not, here comes the spectacular end of another amazing summer season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 16, 2005

Keeping up with the Norah Joneses

She may only be 16 years old, but Massachusetts native Sonya Kitchell talks with the assurance of a musician twice her age. It's a couple of days after Kitchell played a live showcase to a largely music-industry crowd in a tiny Shibuya jazz bar, following the recent Japan-only release of her debut album,...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2005

Walking tour to take in Show Kinen Park in western Tokyo

A walking tour will be held Oct. 1 in Showa Kinen Park, a large park that opened in Tachikawa, western Tokyo, in 1983 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the enthronement of Emperor Showa.
BUSINESS
Sep 14, 2005

July mobile-phone shipments down

Domestic shipments of mobile phones, including personal handy-phone system devices, fell 11.4 percent in July from a year earlier to 3.66 million units due to a decline in mobile- and car-phone shipments, an industrial body said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 13, 2005

Koizumi's next act to be his toughest yet

By MAYUMI NEGISHI and HIROKO NAKATA Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's landslide victory has given him a broad mandate to privatize the postal services and downsize the bloated public sector.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2005

Man gets suspended prison term in first 'phishing' case

A former computer system engineer was sentenced Monday to 22 months in prison, suspended for four years, in Japan's first established "phishing" case for creating a replica of Yahoo Japan Corp.'s Web site and stealing personal information from users of the nation's largest portal.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2005

Voter loyalties split but all seek better future

Voters turned out in droves for Sunday's Lower House election to cast ballots in favor of reforms, hoping the policy steps taken by the victors will strengthen the economy and make people's lives better.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 11, 2005

CL may hold playoffs sooner than you think

The Central League has decided to consider instituting a playoff system beginning in 2007, but we may be seeing postseason play between two CL teams a lot sooner.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Sep 9, 2005

Hail Vouvray, Aristocrat of the wine world

Just as The Aristocrats is the dirty joke that comedians tell each other after the punters have gone home, Vouvray is the tipple of choice among sommeliers once the ties have come off at the end of the evening.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 4, 2005

How to beat the high price of Japanese pro baseball tickets

Have you ever thought about going to a Japanese baseball game but, upon checking prices, thought the tickets are rather expensive?
Japan Times
Features
Sep 4, 2005

Nagano's champion of change

He is perhaps the most well-known governor in Japan, largely because he has been breaking with tradition ever since he took office in Nagano Prefecture in October 2000.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2005

Zurich Life data loss

Zurich Life Insurance Co. said Friday its Japanese branch has lost some 1,200 pieces of customer data stored in dossiers and on a CD-ROM disc.
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2005

More than postal reform at stake

As the Lower House election campaign goes into full swing, Japanese voters face an important decision: whether to endorse the reform politics of Liberal Democratic Party leader and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, or a different kind of reform politics pushed by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan....

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