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BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 6, 2004

Rakuten rebuts tampering claims

Orix Buffaloes general manager Katsuhiro Nakamura wants to meet with the commissioner of Japanese baseball next week to discuss interest expressed in star pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma by the newly formed Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, local media reported Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2004

Canberra's free trade polka

SYDNEY -- The convening of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations with Australia and New Zealand at ASEAN's meeting in the Laotian capital last week was a landmark for the region's push toward greater security and economic growth. It also started a move toward a free trade area that will...
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2004

Would permanent UNSC seat beget more responsible Japan?

OSAKA -- Becoming a permanent member of an expanded United Nations Security Council could force Japan to become a more responsible international player.
JAPAN
Dec 4, 2004

Revised domestic violence law falls short

Sachiko Nakajima was 20 years old when she began what should have been an ordinary college romance.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 4, 2004

A little knowledge can be a silly thing

One hitch about living long years in Japan is that sooner or later people expect you to know something about it. Not folks from home, mind you, for they mostly practice that ignorance is bliss. A la:
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2004

Knives out for Kofi Annan

One would think that the cheerleaders for waging war on Saddam Hussein's Iraq, on the thoroughly discredited grounds that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, would have retreated into a period of quiet introspection. In fact, it is as difficult to find any trace of embarrassment, humility or...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 3, 2004

Tigers sending wrong message with Tsujimoto signing

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 1, 2004

Wanting a piece of the rebel

Aoi Kuruma Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Hiroshi Okuhara Running time: 90 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Plenty of Japanese directors are making films about the way the young live now, so many that I could probably fill this space...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 1, 2004

The freaks that made good

End of the Century Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Michael Gramaglia Running time: 108 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] My first introduction to The Ramones came, fittingly enough for a film critic, in a cinema . . . but, hey, they were...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 1, 2004

Liberate your mind and art

The conductor walks away. The crowd applauds. Beethoven's 5th? A moving rendition by the orchestra? Eric Satie? Closer, but wrong again. The performer is Ben Patterson and he's just completed George Maciunas' "Solo for Conductor." For this, he bent over to face the audience, placed his baton on the floor...
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2004

SESC accuses Net-based investor of manipulating stock prices

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission filed a complaint with prosecutors Tuesday against an investor in Kushiro, Hokkaido, alleging he manipulated the stock prices of three companies through false bids, one made over the Internet.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 1, 2004

Mixing madness with magic music

De-Lovely Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Japanese title: Gosenfu no Love Letter Director: Irwin Winkler Running time: 126 minutes Language: English Opens Dec. 11 [See Japan Times movie listings] "You have a dazzling talent and a life to go with it. What can you possibly be afraid of?" says...
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2004

Prince Akishino regrets brother's remarks on Masako

Prince Akishino, who turned 39 on Tuesday, expressed regret that his elder brother, Crown Prince Naruhito, commented in public about the health of his wife without consulting Emperor Akihito.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 30, 2004

How will you spend this month's paycheck?

Sarah Chilson Au pair, 22 I live in Fujisawa and I've only been in Japan 6 weeks so I've only had two pays, but both times I've come up to Tokyo to party it up.
JAPAN
Nov 30, 2004

Asahara lawyers seek suspended trial

Lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara said Monday they have asked the Tokyo High Court to suspend his appeal case on the grounds that he is incompetent to stand trial.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2004

Found in translation

I n the field of law, Japan certainly cannot yet be said to be sufficiently open vis-a-vis other countries. In order to improve this situation, a law-and-ordinance translation group set up within the government's Office for Promotion of Justice System Reform has unveiled a project to translate legislation...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 28, 2004

A clotheshorse for all seasons

"What will she be wearing?"
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 28, 2004

A clever yarn crafted from a hoax

MY LIFE AS A FAKE, by Peter Carey. Faber & Faber, 2004, 276 pp., £6.99 (paper). One of the most stunning acts of literary criticism in modern times was perpetrated in an Australian magazine called Angry Penguins during World War II. It consisted of a small body of faux experimental poetry, purporting...
MORE SPORTS
Nov 28, 2004

'Golden Jubilee Day' at the races

R acing fans will be treated to a must-see today at Tokyo Racecourse. In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Japan Racing Association, two of the biggest Grade I events of the year -- the Japan Cup Dirt and the Japan Cup -- both international invitationals, follow each other in a one-two, top-level...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Nov 28, 2004

The power of one note

Power and imagination have been Kazumi Watanabe's mainstays for over 30 years. As a prodigy on electric guitar, his first release was in 1971 at the age of 18 and his ever-evolving guitar technique has served as the central pillar of near-annual releases. In the 1980s, his progressive and very muscular...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2004

Koizumi an official at Yasukuni

The Thursday court ruling on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's 2001 visit to Yasukuni Shrine indicates he may longer be able to continue to be ambiguous about the nature of his contentious visits, many scholars agree.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 2004

A revealing melee in Chile

It seemed like a sideshow at the time, but the incident in Santiago last weekend in which U.S. President George W. Bush intervened to "rescue" one of his Secret Service agents from a scuffle with Chilean police has been mushrooming all week. In retrospect, that melee -- and a dispute last Sunday involving...
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2004

Major life insurers post declines in new contracts

Japan's major life insurers continued to post declines in individual life insurance and annuity contracts for the six months to Sept. 30, reflecting consumer reluctance to increase spending amid persistent deflation, according to their earnings reports released as of Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 27, 2004

ARI teaches leadership skills via organic farming

What is the connection between Hoichi Endo, a former member of Japan's Credit Union (CU), based in Tsujido, Kanagawa Prefecture, and the Asian Rural Institute's group of students from developing countries learning leadership skills and organic farming in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture?
COMMUNITY
Nov 26, 2004

Box of Christmas delights

A Christmas market hits Tokyo's Ginza until Dec. 25. More than 6,000 items will be for sale in the Wainright Hall on the ninth floor of the Kyo Bun Kwan Building, across from Matsuya department store. On Dec. 3, 4, 8 and 12, woodcraft masters will demonstrate the art of making wooden dolls from 1 p.m.-3...
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2004

Kuwaiti minister lauds SDF mission

Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah on Thursday praised Japan for sending the Self-Defense Forces on a humanitarian mission to Iraq.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 25, 2004

Now may be the time to finesse U.S. 'bully'

Beneath the buzz of news last week, it was easy to overlook one important story -- as much of the media did. On Thursday, the Russian Federation submitted to the United Nations its ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, beginning a 90-day countdown to the protocol's entry into force. As a result, on Feb....
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Nov 25, 2004

Commissioner Stern stands firm in bid to restore image

NEW YORK -- Unlike David Stern, who's clever enough to sift through and digest the countless number of confrontations, machinations, nuances and interrogations relevant to the scariest NBA scene he confesses to have ever witnessed and impart a ground-breaking decision within 36 hours, my investigation...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’