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EDITORIALS
Jan 4, 2004

Ten words that mirror a year

It's the time of year when people try to make sense of the past 12 months by coming up with lists -- the best this and the worst that, what was in and what was out and, above all, Top 10 Everything. Some of the latter lists are so familiar and expected that New Year's wouldn't be the same without them:...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 30, 2003

Truth gets trampled by good stories

And why did the cops take 1,772 calls before deciding that someone was pulling their chain? We don't know. And we don't know why, or even if, the following people did these strange things, but heaven forbid we'd let the truth stand in the way of a good story.
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2003

Local governments to lose subsidies worth 1 trillion yen

The national government will cut about 1.030 trillion yen in subsidies to local governments in fiscal 2004, while ceding them around 655.8 billion yen in funds they will be able to use at their discretion, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2003

SDP puts on brave face at national convention

The struggling Social Democratic Party formally approved at a national convention Saturday the appointment of top party officials, including Mizuho Fukushima as party president.
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:
CULTURE / Music
Oct 12, 2003

A symphony of the senses

When Godfrey Reggio's "Koyaanisqatsi" first appeared in 1983, it was instantly hailed as a revolutionary film. Two decades on, it remains so. With the exception of 1994's "Baraka," by "Koyaanisqatsi" cinematographer Ron Fricke, virtually no other filmmaker has tapped the potential it opened up.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Oct 8, 2003

The future's so pink ...

In preparation for the arrival of Junichiro Koizumi, George Bush, Vladamir Putin and 18 other world leaders for the Oct. 20-21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok, Thai authorities have swooped down on the city. They have rounded up and shipped out hundreds of Cambodian beggars, thousands...
EDITORIALS
Oct 7, 2003

The EU studies Pandora's box

The march toward a larger, more integrated Europe took another step forward last weekend with the opening of the intergovernmental conference (IGC) that will approve the new European constitution. The drafting of the document has been an unprecedented exercise in democracy for the European Union. That...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 6, 2003

DPJ adds five pledges to election manifesto

Pledging to take power in the upcoming general election, the Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party celebrated their merger Sunday at a national convention in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2003

Chinese road map needed

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts -- After North Korea accepted six-nation talks, the Bush administration was quick to claim victory for its hardline approach toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's regime. But a close examination of the diplomatic activity in the region over the past few months shows that the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / CLOSE-UP
Aug 3, 2003

Activist draws on his talents to expose U.S. militarism

American sociologist and antiwar activist Joel Andreas, 46, is the author of "Addicted to War: Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism."
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 3, 2003

Becoming down to earth

ISAMU NOGUCHI AND MODERN JAPANESE CERAMICS: A Close Embrace of the Earth, by Louise Allison Cort and Bert Winther-Tamaki, with contributions by Bruce J. Altshuler and Niimi Ryu. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 2003; Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. 240 pp., 81 color photographs, 78...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 4, 2003

Little Myanmar in big Tokyo

The ongoing ethnic food boom in Tokyo has somehow bypassed some of the most interesting, savory and satisfying food in all of Southeast Asia -- the cuisine of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma before the accession of the current military government in 1989).
Japan Times
JAPAN / IN WITH THE NEW
Jun 19, 2003

DPJ security advocate bridges internal, LDP gaps

When the Democratic Party of Japan suffered a serious rift earlier this year over contentious war-contingency bills, the fate of the nation's largest opposition force hinged on Seiji Maehara, the DPJ's security policy chief.
Japan Times
JAPAN / IN WITH THE NEW
Jun 19, 2003

DPJ security advocate bridges internal, LDP gaps

When the Democratic Party of Japan suffered a serious rift earlier this year over contentious war-contingency bills, the fate of the nation's largest opposition force hinged on Seiji Maehara, the DPJ's security policy chief.
Japan Times
JAPAN / IN WITH THE NEW
Jun 19, 2003

DPJ security advocate bridges internal, LDP gaps

When the Democratic Party of Japan suffered a serious rift earlier this year over contentious war-contingency bills, the fate of the nation's largest opposition force hinged on Seiji Maehara, the DPJ's security policy chief.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 19, 2003

A world rich in avian resources

From time immemorial, wild birds have been important food sources for rural populations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Jun 8, 2003

Synergetic possibilities at the heart

The piano trio is the heart of jazz. This core unit of piano, bass and drums pumps life into the music. All jazz groups, big or small, rely on the piano, bass and drums (called "the rhythm section") for their crucial thrust of energy. Taken out of a larger group, the piano trio contains all the essentials...
COMMENTARY
May 25, 2003

Clouds over Blair's parade

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair is riding high these days. His popularity ratings have never been better, and he is about to receive U.S. government honors unparalleled by any non-American since British statesman Winston Churchill. World leaders flock to see him, and he moves among the people...
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
May 22, 2003

Book Off chief rolls with the blows as status quo publishers complain

The Japanese may love a hardworking and unassuming company man who out of nowhere wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, but they are still wary of the true entrepreneur who is willing to take risks and shake up long-established ways of doing things.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 17, 2003

Defensive perfume: to use, just fling it

It was a bad Japan day. After a full day of teaching into the evening, the train was too crowded to find a seat on the way home, and just as I was taking up the old Japanese horse tradition (sleeping while standing), a drunk "salaryman" sidled up and accosted me with bad English for an entire 30 minutes....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 4, 2003

Getting real on the battlefield

Lord Phillip's ax, singing through the air, crashes into the side of my helm and I am slain. My opponent had swept aside my mistimed spear thrust and come inside my range before I could recover. "Well struck, my lord," I cry, and retire from the field. As I walk off I clap my gauntleted hand on his chainmail-covered...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 30, 2003

Pulling a few strings for teens

Last summer, at his annual Saito Kinen Festival in Nagano Prefecture, maestro Seiji Ozawa chose to perform the opera "Peter Grimes," in which the sea imagery represents the protagonist's emotions. Harpist Naoko Yoshino, one of the invited guest musicians, contributed greatly to the opera's success by...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 30, 2003

Dave Douglas: "Freak In"

Many jazz artists try to force sampling, computer loops and synthesized textures into a relationship with acoustic instruments that just doesn't work. On his new release, "Freak In," Dave Douglas, though, lets both sides work things out on their own terms. The result is a musical friction that produces...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2003

Aum flailing amid vacuum left by Asahara

In early February, a 37-year-old former member of Aum Shinrikyo launched a Web site featuring transcripts of past lectures by the cult's founder, Shoko Asahara.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2003

Age of shifting coalitions

LONDON -- Despite the failure to gain backing from the United Nations, the war on Iraq has brought together a growing "coalition of the willing," as Washington dubs those who support the attack on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. It may have few active military members -- the United States, Britain plus...
COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2003

China's systemic incompetence can sicken world

HONG KONG -- An ugly new strain of atypical pneumonia has medical scientists working overtime in their research laboratories across the world, as they strive to discover why a growing number of patients are now suffering and dying in many nations from this previously unknown virus that is being blamed...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 27, 2003

Black salamander

* Japanese name: Kuro sansho uo * Scientific name: Hynobius nigrescens * Description: Salamanders are considered primitive amphibians in comparison to frogs and toads. Like all amphibians, however, salamanders spend their lives in two entirely different states. The larvae are aquatic, breathing water...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 23, 2003

Comic culture is serious business

Can anyone be in this country a week and not notice manga -- Japan's unique contribution to comics?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 23, 2003

Art on the fast track

OK, so manga are hugely popular -- but so are 500 yen umbrellas on a rainy day. Like those cheap plastic parapluies, though, manga seem little more than a temporary feature of daily commuting. Those young furiita and salarymen who thumb through the pages with barely a pause can't be getting much from...

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