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JAPAN
Apr 8, 2004

Land ministry to prod realtors on renting to foreigners

The land ministry will compile guidelines for real estate agents on procedures for leasing property to foreign renters to make it easier for them to obtain housing, ministry officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 7, 2004

Korean love story heats up Japan

As a milestone in Japan's ongoing love affair with Korean entertainment, which has been deepening over the past few years, "The Hotel Venus" is a big one.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 7, 2004

We love a woman in uniform

View From the Top Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Bruno Barreto Running time: 87 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "View From the Top" should really be called "Airport! (Just Kidding)" or "Yikes at JFK" but after 9/11, jokes about flying...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 7, 2004

Life lessons in cross-cultural chaos

L'Auberge Espagnole Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Cedric Klapisch Running time: 122 minutes Language: English with some French, Spanish, etc.; subtitles in Japanese and English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] After two years at a rural New England college...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2004

11th international dinghy race slated

The 11th International Friendship Sailing Festival, an all-day event that includes a dinghy race in Tokyo Bay followed by a party, is slated for May 29 at Hakkeijima Marina in Yokohama.
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2004

NATO expands, Russia worries

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization took another step forward in its post-Cold War evolution last week when it officially inducted seven new members. While there were celebrations in NATO capitals, political leaders in Moscow voiced concern about a move that brings the organization to Russia's borders....
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2004

Kanzaki favors defining SDF in the Constitution

New Komeito leader Takenori Kanzaki suggested Sunday he would support a constitutional amendment that would define the Self-Defense Forces.
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2004

Pipe dreams of warp speed

When an experimental NASA aircraft streaked across the sky last weekend at Mach 7 -- seven times the speed of sound -- those of us watching it on television worldwide probably all had the same response: We did some quick math.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

Crackdown has publishers running scared

Yasunori Okadome last month suspended publication of his profitable monthly gossip magazine Uwasa-no-shinso (The Truth Behind Rumors), due to fears that a lawsuit could put him out of business for good.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 3, 2004

John Berg

This month a respected and well-loved Englishman leaves Japan. Known for his humor, humanity and quick wit, the Rev. John Berg is retiring from Yokohama Christ Church, where he has been rector since 1968. Three years ago, he retired from Yokohama's Mission to Seamen, where he was concurrently chaplain....
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2004

Almost 1 million graduates start work

Around 948,000 new graduates from colleges and other schools entered Japan's workforce Thursday, with companies and government agencies nationwide holding initiation ceremonies.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2004

Temporary magazine sales ban threatens freedom of expression

The Tokyo District Court's temporary injunction banning the sale of the weekly Shukan Bunshun over an article about the private life of a Diet lawmaker's daughter triggered debate over the issue of privacy vs. freedom of expression.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 1, 2004

Ways of weathering winter

I had to attend a college graduation ceremony and an Environment Ministry meeting in Tokyo; otherwise I could easily have made it in a day from Okinawa to northern Nagano Prefecture where I live. As it was, the trip from that balmy Pacific isle to my home amid the snows of Kurohime took me until nearly...
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2004

March yen-selling intervention hits 4.7 trillion yen

Japan's yen-selling intervention in the currency market rose to 4.7 trillion yen in March from the previous month amid speculation that the government has scaled back its aggressive intervention policy.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 1, 2004

Water demon

* Japanese name: Kappa * Scientific name:Suijin kappensis * Description: Some sources claim that kappa are primates, but in fact they are the only known examples of an order of primitive mammals related to the duck-billed platypus. Remarkably for a mammal, kappas are bipedal. They have a curved duck's...
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Apr 1, 2004

Losers, winners in contemporary Japan

Bridget Jones in London, Ally McBeal in Boston, Carrie and her friends in New York City. Now Sakai Junko has published a best-selling volume of essays on singletons in Tokyo over the age of 30, like herself, whom she calls -- in a mix of ruefulness and pride -- makeinu (losers). In "Makeinu no toboe"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2004

It's a wonderful dog's life

Quill Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Yoichi Sai Running time: 100 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Now Yoichi Sai directs a dog movie for kids? This is the guy who made "Tsuki wa Docchi ni Deteiru (All Under the Moon)," a picaresque...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2004

Hey mom! Just grow up

Laurel Canyon Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Lisa Cholodenko Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Open April 3 [See Japan Times movie listings] Used to be, not so long ago, that the sure-fire way to rebel against your parents, teachers and other adult authority was as...
EDITORIALS
Mar 30, 2004

A test for Taiwan's democracy

Ten days after Taiwan's presidential election yielded a contested result, there are signs of progress in resolving the political crisis it created. The winner of the vote, President Chen Shui-bian, last weekend promised a recount to defuse mounting tensions. The recount is a vital step in sorting out...
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 30, 2004

Tigers maul Bronx Bombers

George Arias cracked a three-run homer and drove in five runs as the Hanshin Tigers thumped the New York Yankees 11-7 in Monday afternoon's exhibition game at Tokyo Dome.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Mar 30, 2004

Opposition reconsiders anti-LDP tactics

Majority rule is a basic feature of democracy. This principle, however, has often gone through violent contortions when it comes to voting in the Diet, a phenomenon rarely if ever observed in other advanced democracies.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2004

TV Tokyo hopes kids will visit Japanized 'Sesame Street'

More than three decades after "Sesame Street" was first broadcast in Japan in 1971, the program will for the first time involve Japanese directors and artists in a bid to reach the show's intended audience: children.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2004

Australia awakening to threat

SYDNEY -- A test on how well Australians can cope with an increasingly expected Islamic terrorist attack showed last week how little we have learned from New York, Bali and Madrid.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 29, 2004

Hooked on China's seven percent solution

For Mr. Sherlock Holmes, a seven percent solution provides solace in times of intellectual inactivity, when the game's not afoot, and his brain craves for stimulus. On those occasions, he turns to a seven percent solution of cocaine injected into the forearm to compensate for the lack of vibrant mental...
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2004

The little horse that couldn't

Haruurara, the chestnut mare famous for having now lost 106 races in a row, must be a secret fan of Samuel Beckett, the acerbic Irish playwright who died in 1989. We are thinking in particular of Beckett's late play "Worstward Ho," a line from which is said to have become the mantra of a thousand struggling...
Events
Mar 28, 2004

KANSAI: Who & What

Major antique fair to be held in Kyoto: A major antique fair will be held April 2 to 4 at Pulse Plaza in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto.
Japan Times
Features
Mar 28, 2004

Irene & Matilde

"SO IT STRUCK YOU AS ODD."

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan