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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 30, 2003

all systems GO!

In the game of go, there are no cards, no dice, no tricky moves like chess or complicated formulas to remember as there are in poker or mah jongg. And though in principle the game is simplicity itself, go is in a mathematical stratosphere all of its own.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 30, 2003

Power and glory of temple ruins

ANGKOR: Celestial Temples of the Khmer Empire, text by Ian Mabbett, Eleanor Mannikka, Jon Ortner, John Sanday and James Goodman; photos by Jon Ortner. New York: Abbeville Press, 2003, 289 pages, $95 (cloth).
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2003

Saitama governor's daughter admits funds donation scam

The eldest daughter of former Saitama Gov. Yoshihiko Tsuchiya pleaded guilty Friday to misappropriating 116 million yen in political funds donated to her father between 1998 and 2002.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 28, 2003

Peacefulness that's action-packed

Airplanes are the worst. I hate flying and avoid doing so as much as possible. But to compound my suffering, the day I flew down from Tokyo to Shikoku was also the day a typhoon was heading there, too. So, as the plane was being buffeted in midair, and I sat clutching the arms of my seat for dear life,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Nov 26, 2003

Pottery to get on a plane for

Two unprecedented Japanese ceramic exhibitions now taking place far from Japan's shores show just how influential are the artistic ripples from this grand potting paradise. Distanced by centuries, but just a dozen New York City blocks, are two of the greatest Japanese definers of clay: eclectic Furuta...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Nov 24, 2003

Navigating the deep Internet

MOSCOW -- There could hardly be a tougher opponent for a struggling college professor than the Internet. You ask your students to write an essay about Moscow, and you end up with the papers based on sources like www.moscow-taxi.ripoff.com and www.moscow-hotels.dump.ru. When, fuming with rage, you inform...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 23, 2003

Listening post: Recorded

Dino Saluzzi "Responsorium" (ECM)
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2003

Exposing the roots of Islam

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The former dynamic leader of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, again made big waves, this time at his departing salvo. Most of the world's reactions focused on his remarks about Jews, but there were other interesting aspects in his comments regarding Islam that were perhaps overlooked....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 19, 2003

Shiatsu to soothe the nervous Chihuahua?

Dog owners will readily say that just being around their pets helps ease their stress. But beyond petting and feeding, how can owners return the compliment and relieve their animals' tension? Or else just pamper them to the max?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 2003

Old man, take a look at yourself

If you thought that Neil Young was turning into a cranky old coot, his new album, "Greendale," is proof that he already is one. There are many who think he was cranky as far back as 1969, when he shot his baby down by the river. And in one of his two (count 'em!) hit singles, he identifies fully with...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 14, 2003

On the road to wine-country romance

There has always been a friendly rivalry between Napa and Sonoma, California's two premier wine-growing regions. We think of Napa as Kyoto -- containing stunning vistas, but marred by a tour-bus mentality. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, we sometimes feel "there's no there there." Sonoma, on the other...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 13, 2003

Come to Disney, go to Mars

Mission: Space, a new ride/space flight simulator at Epcot Center, part of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, takes Disney guests in a whole new direction -- straight up into space.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 9, 2003

Down Under at its fun-filled best

Australia has never really needed any ploys to lure travelers to this vast country. The natural beauty of the rain forests in the north, deserts in the dry interior and mountains in the south, all surrounded by some of the greatest beaches in the world, are more than enough reasons to take a trip Down...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Nov 6, 2003

"The Goose Girl," "The Tiger Bone Thief"

"The Goose Girl," Shannon Hale, Bloomsbury; 2003; 383 pp. Once upon a time, two German brothers published a collection of children's stories inspired by popular European folk tales. The stories of the Brothers Grimm became fairytale classics, and many of them -- Cinderella, Snow White, Little Red Riding...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 27, 2003

War perspective of poets oceans apart

NEW YORK -- A gentleman named Paul Preusser, describing himself as "a composer and fresh graduate from the New England Conservatory," has recently written to ask if I could help him with poems of Kotaro Takamura (1883-1956). He has been commissioned to compose "a song cycle using poetry which is influenced...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 26, 2003

Revealing more to life and death

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF YUKIO MISHIMA, by Henry Scott Stokes. Tuttle Publishing, 2003, 271 pp., $16.95, (cloth). One afternoon in the late 1960s, Henry Scott Stokes received a visit at the Tokyo office of the London Times from the writer Yukio Mishima, who declared to the startled young journalist, "You...
COMMENTARY
Oct 20, 2003

Danger welcomes Americans abroad

JAKARTA -- "It's dangerous here for Americans," said my cab driver when I visited a few weeks ago. No question. A few blocks away sat the J.W. Marriott, its facade broken and blackened from the bombing in August. Scores of windows were blown out; mutilated blinds swayed in the wind. Wrecked autos sat...
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2003

Erotic art, cartoon flowers await visitors to Mori museum

A painting of a Chinese baby holding an Oreo cookie and giant figures of a bear talking with a police officer are among the works being shown at a new museum devoted to modern art, which is opening Saturday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 15, 2003

The razzle-dazzle of Edo life, art

The allure of the Japanese folding screens of the Edo Period (1603-1867) lies in their elegance, their dazzling schemes of silver and gold, and the painstaking detail of their form and decoration. A wonderful opportunity to appreciate such pieces is the exhibition "Paintings of the Edo Period," now showing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 12, 2003

His finger on the pulse of life on Earth

The Philip Glass Ensemble has been performing the music to the film "Koyaanisqatsi," live with screenings of the film, since the year after the film's release in 1982. This was later complemented by the performance of music from the film's 1987 followup "Powaqqatsi." So far, these cinema concerts have...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 10, 2003

English football's problems make mockery of 'beautiful game'

LONDON -- Had the Turkish Football Federation hatched a plan to severely disrupt England's preparations for Saturday's decisive Euro 2004 qualifying tie they could not have done a better -- or worse, depending on your viewpoint -- job than the visitors have done themselves.
LIFE / Language / KANJI CLINIC
Oct 9, 2003

Kanji tattoos are primarily for Western eyes

Tattoo culture in Japan, especially among Japan's gangster element, has a rich history. While some young Japanese are breaking the traditional taboo and obtaining discreet tattoos, they almost never opt to have Chinese characters etched permanently on their bodies. Kanji tattoos are a Western phenomenon....
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Oct 3, 2003

Drenched in history: scenic Senzoku Pond

The 1830s woodblock print shown here depicts Senzoku Pond in a southwestern suburb of Edo that is now part of Ota Ward, Tokyo.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Sep 26, 2003

A seductive spin on 'Swan Lake'

Five pairs of Japan Times readers are invited to attend the dance drama "Rottobaruto -- Yuwaku no Dokusaisha (Rothbart -- A Dictator of Seduction)" to be performed Oct. 10 in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 3, 2003

POLA star shines bright in Hakone

The POLA Museum of Art is celebrating its first anniversary, and its excellent exhibition -- "Paris, City of Artists" -- capitalizes on the museum's fine standing collection, proving just what an asset the POLA is to the the hot-spring resort area of Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 3, 2003

World domination: Let's do it again

Many a country has enjoyed its time in the sun -- a period of dominance when the world (often quite literally) seemed to be at its rulers' feet. It's a difficult trick to repeat, though. Italy's Renaissance, glorious though it was, never recaptured the heyday of the Roman Empire, and Mussolini's attempts...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDEN PATHS
Aug 28, 2003

All manor of delights

Gentle hills dotted with sheep and ancient villages set beside flowing streams: Scenes such as these attracted William Morris and other members of the Arts and Crafts movement to the Cotswolds in the late 19th century.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 26, 2003

Life imitates art for gaijin charmers

We had a fantastic response to our "Charisma Man" competition in last week's Community Page.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 24, 2003

There's more to noh than meets the eye

FIGURES OF DESIRE: Wordplay, Spirit Possession, Fantasy, Madness and Mourning in Japanese Noh Plays, by Etsuko Terasaki. Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 2002, 329 pp., with monochrome plates, $60 (cloth). Noh texts are usually seen as mere aids for performance. They are routinely...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 13, 2003

Hotshot terrorist comedy just misses target

Though only in his early 30s, Martin McDonagh already has a 1998 Tony Award under his belt for his worldwide hit, "The Beauty Queen of Leenane." What's more, his works have been staged in 38 countries -- Japan among them.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes