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COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2001

John Howard gets but a brief respite

SYDNEY -- Pangs of guilt are creeping into the Australian psyche in this self-indulgent time of year. The annual spending frenzy, known to some as Christmas, is being contrasted with the wretched life of hundreds of refugees detained on Australia's Indian Ocean territory, Christmas Island.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2001

Pediatrics strained to breaking point

It was just after midnight one recent weekend in the emergency room of Showa University Hospital in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. Pediatrician Katsura Sugihara was treating his 12th patient of the night, when the phone rang.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2001

The revolution will be cinematized

Hikari no Ame Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Banmei Takahashi Running time: 130 minutes Language: Japanese Now showing
CULTURE / Art
Dec 19, 2001

A night traveler crossing the border of art and literature

For many Japanese writers and artists of the 1920s and '30s, Surrealism was simply a stylistic novelty. Poet Shuzo Takiguchi, however, produced Surrealist writings whose message was lent conviction by the risks he took -- at the time, artistic and political freedoms were restricted.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 19, 2001

Views on a cityscape in continuous flux

It is more than 70 years since the French architect Le Corbusier confounded New Yorkers by declaring that their skyscrapers were not high enough. His vision was to curb the ugly sprawl of land-gobbling suburbs by creating cities that grew ever skyward. Now, as urban centers get bigger, his "four brutal...
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2001

Security panel sees paradigm shift

An independent global commission dedicated to exploring ways of reducing human suffering and insecurity agreed over two days of meetings in Tokyo that the concept of human security is shifting from the national to the individual level.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2001

Museum weaves tale of Tokyo's role in history of dyed-goods

Even for Tokyoites, it may come as a surprise that the dyeing industry once flourished in the capital -- just as it did in the ancient cities of Kyoto and Kanazawa.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2001

A reason to invest in Japan

What is the true nature of the current recession in Japan? Is it cyclical, a result of asset deflation, or has it been caused by the deteriorating competitiveness of this country as an industrial location? These questions must be answered to formulate an effective economic policy. In my view, the economic...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2001

Ethics panel approves using fertilized eggs for stem cells

An ethics panel of the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology approved a revision to its guidelines to allow the use of fertilized eggs, left unused after fertility treatment, to obtain stem cells, officials of the society said.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2001

Discount chains thrive amid Ginza's chic boutiques

With the end of the year just around the corner, Christmas shoppers visiting Tokyo's posh Ginza commercial district may find a new aspect to the area this winter.
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Dec 16, 2001

Tazukuri: an acquired taste worth acquiring

The o-sechi foods of the New Year exemplify traditional Japanese cuisine, utilizing the fruits of the mountains and the bounty of the ocean to celebrate all of the gifts that nature provides. Nowhere is this land-and-sea pairing more evident than in the classic sanshu-zakana triumvirate of black beans...
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.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 16, 2001

The architect of Burma's freedom

AUNG SAN AND THE STRUGGLE FOR BURMESE INDEPENDENCE, by Angelene Naw. Silkworm Books; Chiang Mai, 2001, 284 pp., 595 baht. (Also available through University of Washington Press, $17.50) Aung San, the pillar of the struggle for Burmese independence and immensely popular during those most turbulent years,...
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2001

Euro launch seen helping Japanese

OSAKA -- The official launch of the euro in 12 European Union nations on Jan. 1 will make life easier for both Japanese corporations and individuals, the EU's top representative in Japan said Friday.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Consumers chasing peace of mind: Dentsu

Japanese sought peace of mind rather than life in the fast lane this year amid the ongoing economic decline, according to a sales trends report released by the nation's top advertising agency.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Financial entities' overhaul may be shelved, Fukuda says

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda hinted Friday that the government could establish a panel to decide on reforms of state-backed financial entities, a decision that would effectively postpone a conclusion on the contentious issue.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2001

Government tax panel calls for overhaul of system

The government's tax panel Friday proposed an overhaul of the taxation system to deal with changes in the economy and called for the abolishment of special tax breaks meted out to individuals and corporations to avoid revenue shortfalls.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 15, 2001

Jigme Goenpo Dorji

BHUTAN -- As it emerges from isolation, the land-locked, central Himalayan country of Bhutan still maintains an annual maximum number of tourists allowed to visit. With arrangements made and paid for in advance, tourists fly in to Paro by Druk Air, the only airline serving Bhutan's only airport. Guide-interpreters...
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2001

Device to scan body shape promises better-fitting goods

It takes just under a second for a head -- and less than two for a whole body -- to produce the data necessary to create a precise 3-D model of your shape.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2001

Asylum seekers' fates hang in balance

Refugees in danger of persecution, or migrants seeking work and wealth?
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Dec 13, 2001

Pounding the mouse pad

www.acupuncturefootwear.com/h_acu2.html You'd be hard pressed to do a day of shopping in Tokyo's Harajuku-Aoyama-Shibuya-Daikenyama hub and not find a particular brand of footwear. All the designers seem to be represented. Except one: this cool little trendsetter from London called Acupuncture. I should've...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2001

Paths to survival in our century of sorrow

The Man Who Cried Rating: * * * * Director: Sally Potter Running time: 97 minutes Language: English Opens Dec. 15 at Shibuya Le Cinema and other theaters
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2001

Marrow bank struggles to meet demand

More bone marrow donors are needed to save the lives of people with deadly blood diseases, according to the Japan Marrow Donor Foundation.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 12, 2001

The tall tale of an unholy trinity

Celebrating the 35th anniversary of its establishment this month, the National Theater of Japan is presenting in its entirety Kawatake Mokuami's 1860 kabuki masterpiece "Sannin Kichisa (Three Men Named Kichisa)."
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2001

Walking a fine line between silly and smart

Monkeybone Rating: * * * Director: Henry Selick Running time: 93 minutes Language: English Now showing
SOCCER / J. League
Dec 11, 2001

Jubilo scoops top two J. League awards

YOKOHAMA -- Jubilo Iwata may have missed out on the J. League Championship but Jubilo's efforts did not go unrewarded when midfielder Toshiya Fujita and manager Masakazu Suzuki were named the J. League's Player of the Year and Manager of the Year, respectively, on Monday.
Japan Times
Events
Dec 11, 2001

New Zealand kendo practitioners publish quarterly journal in English

KYOTO -- Having practiced kendo for over a decade, Alexander Bennett and Hamish Robison have long been aware of the lack of English reading material on the sport, aside from technical manuals. The two New Zealanders thus decided to rectify the situation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2001

Extremism fills intellectual void?

The profiles of the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States remind scholar Hiromi Shimada of senior Aum Shinrikyo members.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2001

Segue to a silly new world

Just about a year ago, you might recall, inhabitants of the rarefied realm known as the high-tech cutting edge were all agog over a secret new invention nicknamed "Ginger," or sometimes just "IT." The brainchild of U.S. gizmo wizard Mr. Dean Kamen, the device was described by those who got a sneak peek...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 9, 2001

Young adventurers laid to rest far away

Four graves in a Victorian cemetery near London mark the final resting place of some of the earliest travelers from Japan to the West. Though they traveled separately, years apart, they shared the same aspirations and were fated to meet similarly sad ends. The four gravestones were joined by a monument...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan