Search - u_times

 
 
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2001

Trauma in a sepia-tinged Kyushu

It's not easy filming the inner lives of human beings. Novelists can go on at length about their protagonist's stream of consciousness (see "Ulysses") while filmmakers cannot show scene after voiced-over scene of that same stream without inducing audience catatonia. See Joseph Strick's misbegotten 1967...
COMMENTARY
Feb 6, 2001

Why can't Russia be more reasonable?

I am fed up with Russia's unreasonable attitude on the reversion to Japan of the four Russian-occupied northern islands and on the conclusion of a Russo-Japanese peace treaty.
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Feb 6, 2001

The boys are smokin', the girls are on fire

All-girl trio Thug Murder have been making pals quicker than most in the underground with their upbeat brand of melodic punk rock. So it was no surprise that they were able to pull together one of the best lineups I've seen for ages for the release party of debut album "13th Round" last week at Shimokitazawa's...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2001

Quake made worse by greed and ineptness

NEW DELHI -- The earthquake that devastated many parts of India's western state of Gujarat opened a Pandora's Box, out of which tumbled a shocking spectacle of ignorance and mismanagement driven by greed and callousness.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2001

Review of U.S. whaling policy in order

Then U.S. President Bill Clinton's decision rejecting import sanctions against Japan for expanding its whale research programs in the Northwest Pacific was conveyed to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate in a letter dated Dec. 29, 2000. It concerned the September...
COMMUNITY
Feb 4, 2001

Heaven to Earth without explanation or apology

Anyone who thinks the art of painting is dead should head for the Towa Building on Tokyo's Meiji-dori and take the lift to Galerie Le Deco on the fifth floor. It is here that German artist David Garde is showing work created since last September: objects, installations and paintings that disturb and...
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2001

Mori wants Japanese out of efforts to clone humans

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori instructed two Cabinet ministers Friday to ensure that Japanese doctors and researchers do not participate in an international project to clone humans, government officials said.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 3, 2001

Choi off to Austria

South Korean midfielder Choi Sung Yong, who played for Vissel Kobe the past two seasons, has been signed by Austrian Division One side Lask Linz FC, Vissel announced Friday.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Feb 3, 2001

A shakuhachi innovator who continues to inspire

Shakuhachi master Hozan Yamamoto is one of the most respected and innovative shakuhachi masters of modern times. He has pioneered new music for the instrument and extended its repertory, while remaining grounded in traditional music.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2001

Year in prison sought for accused MSDF spy

Prosecutors demanded Thursday a one-year prison term for former Maritime Self-Defense Force Lt. Cmdr. Shigehiro Hagisaki, 38, who is charged with passing defense secrets to a Russian military attache in exchange for cash.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2001

JAL jets 10 meters from disaster

The two Japan Airlines jetliners that narrowly avoided a midair collision over Shizuoka Prefecture on Wednesday were just 10 meters away from each other at one point, the captain of one of the aircraft said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2001

JAL jets 10 meters from disaster

The two Japan Airlines jetliners that narrowly avoided a midair collision over Shizuoka Prefecture on Wednesday were just 10 meters away from each other at one point, the captain of one of the aircraft said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2001

Demands for safer railway platforms rise

The public clamor for safer train platforms is growing louder following the Jan. 26 deaths of three men at JR Shin-Okubo Station on Tokyo's Yamanote Line.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2001

Demands for safer railway platforms rise

The public clamor for safer train platforms is growing louder following the Jan. 26 deaths of three men at JR Shin-Okubo Station on Tokyo's Yamanote Line.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 2, 2001

Casting a literary eye on Japan's aging society

The sociologist and feminist Ueno Chizuko has released a collection of past essays that examine Japanese literature as primary source material reflecting the society and era in which it was written.
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Feb 1, 2001

Beauty standard takes a new shape

The big news from the Paris collections is that the hourglass figure is back. Perhaps it was the only direction the silhouette could take -- the fashionable form had become so super-skinny that it couldn't go any further without vanishing. With the preferred dress size in Hollywood recently reported...
SUMO
Jan 31, 2001

Akebono rewarded with 100 million yen

The Japan Sumo Association on Monday rewarded former yokozuna Akebono with 100 million yen for his distinguished contribution to the sport, JSA officials said.
COMMUNITY
Jan 31, 2001

Kinder makes learning kanji fun

Slippery snow is turning to slush. It is midwinter in Kanto, time for bundling up in fleecy sweaters and heavy coats. But at the two Hikari Yochien schools in Kawasaki, boys and girls are playing outdoors wearing nothing more than gym shorts.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 30, 2001

Otaku loose in a noirish world

Dark future movies are, by now, as established an SF subgenre as creature features or space operas. Their world view is usually a cross between an Orwellian nightmare and a Jean Paul Gaultier fashion show: grim, oppressive and dangerous but sexy, radical and cool. In other words, you wouldn't mind visiting,...
MORE SPORTS
Jan 30, 2001

Ravens dominate Giants for title

TAMPA, Fla. -- For a while it looked like it might be a game, but in the end it turned into a blowout.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 30, 2001

The brocaded body beautiful

PEAU DE BROCART: Le Corps Tatoue au Japon, by Philippe Pons. Paris: Seuil, 2000, 142 pp., plates (color, b/w) 60, FFr 230 (cloth). Rene Magritte has spoken of someone clad "only in the robe of her skin," and this concept of surface as substance is observed by the tattooing tradition of Japan, the...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 30, 2001

When does a faith become a cult?

FALUN GONG'S CHALLENGE TO CHINA: Spiritual Practice or "Evil Cult," by Danny Schechter. Akashic Books, 2000, 225 pp., $24 (cloth). Last year about this time, I visited Tiananmen Square, mingling with tourists and day-trippers enjoying the warmth of the midday sun. As I reminisced about this historic...
COMMENTARY
Jan 29, 2001

'Bubble' ethics cripple Japan

Chaos prevailed at some of the coming-of-age ceremonies held across the nation on Jan. 8. Youngsters who had joined the ranks of adults behaved like rogues, swilling sake from king-size bottles, throwing firecrackers at a mayor, or shouting "go home" to a governor. These and other acts of gross incivility,...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2001

Egalitarian values stifle creativity: researcher

The egalitarianism embedded in Japanese society deprives researchers and scholars of the economic incentives to pursue creative and innovative studies, according to 46-year-old Shuji Nakamura.
COMMUNITY
Jan 28, 2001

Rip'em up, tear 'em up

SAN FRANCISCO -- If you've ever had the pleasure of watching a U.S. college or pro football game on television, you'll notice one thing invariably. Just before the commercial they'll pan to a too-cute-to-be-true cheerleader.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2001

Tokyo residents facing grave backyard problem

The view from the living room of Hisako Watanabe's home in central Tokyo is not exactly one to die for.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2001

FSA to tighten insurance industry rules

The Financial Services Agency plans to tighten its supervisory controls over life and nonlife insurance companies in a bid to keep a closer watch over the nation's hard-pressed insurance industry.

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