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Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 1, 2005

Major fashion show kicks off with government backing

A top fashion event comprising a fashion show, symposiums and networking for textile and fiber makers opened Monday for a 10-day run with government support, in an attempt to shore up the country's presence on the world fashion scene.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 31, 2005

Is the American dream now a mirage?

NEW YORK -- Is the American dream just a mirage now? Earlier this year the Wall Street Journal ran a series called "Challenges to the American Dream," casting into doubt the "staple of America's self-portrait" that "a child born in poverty isn't trapped there." If that was putting the matter delicately,...
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2005

Students need analytical skills

One characteristic of Japanese universities is that they provide highly specialized education for undergraduate students. This is partly because high-school students receive a high level of science education. In fact, their knowledge level in math and physics is one of the highest in the world. Thus,...
EDITORIALS
Oct 30, 2005

Archimedes' mirror

A pparently the Japanese were not the only people in olden times utilizing exotic weapons to destroy invaders' fleets. Almost 1,500 years before the kamikaze, or divinely opportune typhoon winds, helped Japan rout a force sent by Kubla Khan, the ancient Greeks torched an invading Roman flotilla at Syracuse...
JAPAN
Oct 29, 2005

FSA punishes Meiji Yasuda once again for unpaid claims

The Financial Services Agency on Friday ordered Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. to suspend part of its operations following the insurer's repeated failure to pay legitimate insurance claims.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 29, 2005

New Asian Collection gallery is dream come true

Robert Tobin makes charismatic progress around the back side of Ebisu Station in central Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 28, 2005

Journey to the end of the world

The name in Ainu means "the end of the Earth." And the bleakness and ruggedness of this lonely peninsula jutting out into the Sea of Okhotsk are such that little imagination is required as to how the Ainu -- the indigenous people of Hokkaido -- happened by the name of Shiretoko.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Oct 28, 2005

Psychedelic radar 10.28

Saturday, Oct. 29
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 27, 2005

The man in black

For a man whose entire cinematic career has been devoted to portraying maladjusted types who don't fit in, Tim Burton is certainly comfortable holding a microphone in front of a crowd. Then again, that is the deal with artists: turn your oddities and idiosyncrasies into art and watch your childhood rejection...
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2005

A Koizumi promise not worth keeping

HONOLULU -- Last week, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made his fifth visit to Yasukuni Shrine. There was the predictable response from other Asian nations, but it is clear that those protests fall on deaf ears. If the prime minister's determination is plain, so too are the consequences, and they have...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Oct 25, 2005

Shoichiro Satake

At 46, Shoichiro Satake, owner of Galerie Sho Contemporary Art, is Japan's biggest dealer of works by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat. While more than 3,000 Warhols and 100 Basquiats have passed through his hands, their essence has stayed with him.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 24, 2005

Germany must be determined on reform: expert

Unless the forthcoming German government of conservative leader Angela Merkel bites the bullet and carries out painful reforms in a determined way, there will be no real domestic demand-led growth in the country, and its leadership in Europe will be limited, a German expert told a recent symposium in...
Japan Times
Features
Oct 23, 2005

Sickness unto death, without despair

One summer morning in 2001, a good friend of mine, Bronson Conrad, rang me at my Manhattan home. After we'd chatted for a while, he broke the news that he had incurable, terminal cancer in his hip bone.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 22, 2005

Professional Design Solutions on a steady incline

There is a small graphic on Jeremy D. Thomson's name card that says a lot about him: two light bulbs inspired by Thomas Edison, who in failing hundreds of times chose to see the experience as having learned hundreds of ways not to make a light bulb.
EDITORIALS
Oct 21, 2005

China tackles its growing pains

The title is dry -- the "Communist Party of China Central Committee Proposal Regarding the Formulation of the 11th Five-Year Program for National Economic and Social Development" -- but its contents are very important. The document is an outline of how China can tackle the pressing problems created by...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Oct 21, 2005

Nippon classics

As part of TIFF, Nippon Cinema Classics will screen a selection of Japanese movie classics Oct. 25-28 dealing with maternal themes and shown with English subtitles.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2005

Visiting Yasukuni is constitutional right: Koizumi

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday rebuffed criticism of his recent Yasukuni Shrine trip, saying visiting the shrine is a right guaranteed by the Constitution.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 20, 2005

GM vows to retain alliances with Suzuki, Isuzu

CHIBA -- General Motors Corp. remains committed to working closely with Suzuki Motor Corp. and Isuzu Motor Ltd., despite speculation it may sever capital alliances with the automakers to accelerate realignment in the global auto industry, a senior GM official said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 20, 2005

Tagging in Mito galleries

"Street culture" and graffiti came into Japan around the 1990s, primarily as a fashion trend that accompanied the spread of hip-hop music and skateboarding. Traditionally, of course, it has grittier associations with American slums and ghettoes, where it became, at its most politically conscious, an...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 20, 2005

The aesthetics of the Korean noblewoman

Korean aesthetics can be summed up in one word, mot. Used frequently in casual conversation, the term refers to stylishness, elegance and the state of being chic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 20, 2005

A binational prayer for reconciliation

If any one programming section of the Pusan International Film Festival best represents its dedication to exploring every avenue of filmmaking, it's Wide Angle. This year, the section included more than 80 short subjects, documentaries and animated films. Seven of the feature-length Korean documentaries...
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2005

Envoys overseas get 2.9 million yen for housing; here they get 200,000 yen

Foreign Ministry officials stationed overseas are granted an average of 2.9 million yen in housing benefits a year while ministry officials in Tokyo get only 200,000, yen according to a document endorsed Tuesday by the Cabinet.
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2005

Automakers pin hopes on motor show

The 39th Tokyo Motor Show opens Saturday, and industry officials are hoping the 16-day extravaganza inspires drivers to loosen their purse strings and buy a new vehicle.
COMMUNITY
Oct 19, 2005

Tomorrow's bikes on display today at Makuhari

With 133 motorbikes and scooters on display from Japan's four major manufacturers, and 57 more from eight overseas makers, eye candy abounds at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show. This year's show features 29 world premiers and 37 Japan premiers. Here are just a few of the many highlights.
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2005

50 years of showcasing cars: You've come a long way baby

No one could have imagined the remarkable advances of Japanese automakers 50 years ago, when owning a car was only a dream for most people.
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2005

Building a 21st-century Commonwealth

LONDON -- On the historic Mediterranean island of Malta there will take place in a few weeks time a meeting of nations with colossal potential significance for world peace and development.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Oct 19, 2005

Autumn sees predators in action

The hunters are abroad! Every day, now, the sparrow hawks, goshawks, honey buzzards, ospreys and falcons that summer in Northeast Asia are migrating out of the region. As cooler weather approaches and prey numbers decline, these predators head south for the winter. Soon, almost on their heels, the larger...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 18, 2005

Girls in need of direction get it from the comics

The business of being a wakai musume (young woman) in this country used to have just one subtext: There were no options. If she didn't get married she was less than a whole person; on the other hand, marriage meant abject obedience to her husband's household and an endless round of bone-crunching chores....

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?