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Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Aug 12, 2004

Sensitive science in the race for glory in athletic pursuits

With the 28th Olympic Games about to start, who would put a bet on a white athlete winning the 100 meters? Certainly not the American writer Jon Entine. "The complete domination of the 100 meters by people of West African origin means no white man will ever again win the event. It simply won't happen,"...
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 2004

Time for diplomacy to step in

The recent Asian Cup soccer tournament, which Japan's national team won, witnessed an eruption of anti-Japanese sentiment among Chinese fans, including booing during the playing of the Japanese national anthem. The Chinese government tightened security for Saturday's final in Beijing, but anti-Japanese...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 11, 2004

In love with a beautiful woman

L'Histoire de Marie et Julien Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Jacques Rivette Running time: 150 minutes Language: French Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Among French directors, Jacques Rivette seems to have an enduring fascination for la femme -- and that's saying...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 11, 2004

UA: Fluid beauty

UA is not your average pop star. She arrives at an interview in the western Tokyo suburb that is her home on her bike. In a cut-off T-shirt and long, billowing peasant skirt, she looks like a hipster mama, and after the interview in this ordinary cafe, she's off to pick up her son from elementary school....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2004

Nuclear fuel plant not biz as usual

ROKKASHO, Aomori Pref. -- Despite safety concerns and local anger over allegations raised in July that the government hid a report showing that reprocessing spent atomic fuel costs more than burying it, officials at Rokkasho say they hope to begin uranium testing soon in preparation for the opening of...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2004

Yasukuni no closer to being out of harsh spotlight

In Japan, August is a time to remember World War II. Huge gatherings were held Friday in Hiroshima and Monday in Nagasaki to mark the atomic bombings. Then, on the anniversary of Japan's surrender, the late Emperor Hirohito's son will offer his annual prayer for peace.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2004

Nation's forestry workers cashing in their chips

A tree falling in a forest may not make a sound in Japan, at least not in the cash register.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2004

Nuclear fuel plant not biz as usual

ROKKASHO, Aomori Pref. -- Despite safety concerns and local anger over allegations raised in July that the government hid a report showing that reprocessing spent atomic fuel costs more than burying it, officials at Rokkasho say they hope to begin uranium testing soon in preparation for the opening of...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2004

'Cats' due for a return to Tokyo

Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats," which became a sensation across Japan when performed by the Shiki (Four Seasons) Theater Company, will be restaged in Tokyo in November for the first time in eight years and the fourth time in the capital since its first Japanese performance in 1983.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 8, 2004

The art of seeing

Photographer Jun Akiyama is taking ostrich strides down a Tokyo sidewalk, snapping pictures on a flimsy-looking tourist camera. Click! A child's curious glance is frozen in grainy black-and-white. Click! Akiyama catches a moment of anxiety on an old woman's face.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 8, 2004

Happy Democrats suffer some nostalgia

WASHINGTON -- A lot of Democrats arrived home from the 44th national convention of their party happy that the performance of their new nominee exceeded their expectations and that the entire presentation was positive and error-free.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 8, 2004

Three glorious days in musical heaven

The Fuji Rock Festival went off without a hitch or a typhoon this year. Philip Brasor, Simon Bartz, Jason Jenkins and Mark Thompson were there to bear witness.
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2004

Creating a more caring China

HONG KONG -- China under President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji astounded the world with its economic growth, reflected by a substantial increase in gross domestic product year after year. Yet the current leadership of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are making it clear that they have...
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 6, 2004

Toda to stay

Shimizu S-Pulse said Thursday that former Japan midfielder Kazuyuki Toda will remain with the J. League first-division club at least until the end of this season.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 5, 2004

Kudo wins 199th game as Giants top Swallows

Veteran left-hander Kimiyasu Kudo picked up his 199th-career victory Wednesday night as the Yomiuri Giants edged the Yakult Swallows 3-1 at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 5, 2004

Japanese in need of a break from summer break

Here's the real reason why the Japanese summer vacation is so short (for many, it's a matter of four or five days): the natsuyasumi (summer break) is essentially full of stress and if it were any longer, people up and down Japan would likely pop veins en masse.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Aug 5, 2004

Woodland beauty there for all to sense

Just about the time when the wild wood irises burst into glorious purple around early July up here in Nagano Prefecture, high in the treetops there is a dancing, fluttering ballet of countless white-winged creatures.
COMMENTARY
Aug 5, 2004

Sincerity is not good enough

LONDON -- A London weekly headed a recent issue with photos of U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair and with the caption "Sincere Deceivers?" Perhaps they were sincere in their belief that Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq was a threat to U.S. and British national interests,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 4, 2004

Telling some truth in black & white

Dirty Pretty Things Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Stephen Frears Running time: 97 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] I'm not one of those cranky post-Marxist social critics who believe that the movies, particularly the American brand, subtly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 4, 2004

Parental advisory: hormonal overdose highly probable

La Bande du Drugstore Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Francois Armanet Running time: 94 minutes Language: French Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Love is never having to say I love you, goes the tone of "La Bande du Drugstore," a love story in which the couple meet...
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2004

Libyan envoy says Tripoli seeks deeper ties with Tokyo

Libyan Ambassador to Japan Muftah Faitouri said Tuesday that his country has opened itself to the international community by abandoning its weapons of mass destruction.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2004

Libyan envoy says Tripoli seeks deeper ties with Tokyo

Libyan Ambassador to Japan Muftah Faitouri said Tuesday that his country has opened itself to the international community by abandoning its weapons of mass destruction.
COMMENTARY
Aug 4, 2004

Despite errors, Iraqis are now better off

LONDON -- Is Iraq getting better or worse? One side thinks things are settling down under the new Iraqi government and that, while security is still very bad, the prospect is opening for a democratic Iraq that is prosperous and benign, and exerts a positive and stabilizing influence on the whole of a...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 4, 2004

No winners or losers in 'The Face of Jizo'

In the early 1960s, Hisashi Inoue, the author of the original play "The Face of Jizo," was working under contract as a writer at NHK. The idea for the play came when he was sent to Hiroshima in the summer to do a program about the anti-nuclear movement.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 4, 2004

Guggenheim's show harks back to modern times

Several years ago, Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, approached Mori Building Co, Tokyo, about setting up a Guggenheim branch in Tokyo. The Guggenheim has recently opened centers in Bilbao, Berlin and Las Vegas. The idea was, in the end, rejected, but it did inspire...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Aug 3, 2004

Is your diet healthy in Japan?

Alexander Mande Student, 25 I think it's very, very good. Even eating day-old sushi is fresher than what I can get at home in Germany, except I don't like natto.
COMMENTARY
Aug 2, 2004

Global warming remains the deadliest foe

LONDON -- Perhaps philosophers have a name for it -- this modern phenomenon of continuing to enjoy life in a way that we know is leading to destruction because we feel that there is nothing we can do about it anyway.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 1, 2004

Violin maestro with many strings toher bow

Violinist Midori Goto was only 14 when, in 1986, she played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the late maestro Leonard Bernstein at the annual Summer Festival at Tanglewood in rural Massachusetts. That was remarkable enough, but what made Goto world-famous was not simply that she...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji