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SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jul 4, 2004

Blaming referee for England's loss to Portugal pathetic

LONDON -- When Urs Meier disallowed Sol Campbell's last-minute goal against Portugal last week the Swiss referee had no idea he was to become the latest recipient of the English media's revenge on a Johnny Foreigner who had, in the words of most tabloids, "cheated us" out of victory.
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 16, 2004

If you go into the woods today . . .

Whether "Into the Woods" works as meaningful entertainment for adults rather than just a musical confection of assorted fairy tales for children is the question hovering over this clever and complex Broadway musical scripted by James Lapine, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. First staged and...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 30, 2004

Freedom in a feudal land

FINDING MONJU, by Earle Ernst. Key West: Eaton Street Press, Inc., 186 pp., 2000, $19.95 (paper). The late Earle Ernst was the author of that seminal work, "The Kabuki Theater," first published in 1956 and still in print, and the editor of the 1959 "Three Japanese Plays." While a member of the Allied...
JAPAN / POLITICS IN FOCUS
Apr 27, 2004

Firms now balking at political donations

Kenji Watanabe spent the last year preaching and begging business leaders around Fukui Prefecture to donate to the Liberal Democratic Party. He was always received politely, but company presidents kept their wallets closed.
Features / LIFE OR DEATH
Apr 25, 2004

Debate heats up over legal reform

The maximum legal penalty in Japan is death. Locked alone in their tiny cells, 56 death-row prisoners are now awaiting their fate. Last year, one person was executed. No one knows how many will be this year.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2004

U.S. insurers prod Koizumi on 'kampo'

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) A U.S. life insurance industry group has sent a letter to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urging him to reform the "kampo" postal life insurance services.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Apr 4, 2004

Robert Whiting: Outside the box

Back in 1972, a 30-year-old New Jersey native who had recently graduated from Tokyo's Sophia University was in New York City, trying to talk to anyone who would listen about politics and life in Japan. Nobody was interested.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 3, 2004

F.A. gives Eriksson new deal, but how long will he stay?

LONDON -- "Ladies and gentlemen, we got him."
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2004

Mitsui Mutual becomes stock firm

Mitsui Mutual Life Insurance Co. converted itself into a stock company Thursday, with the aim of strengthening its management base and increasing its creditworthiness by boosting its fundraising capabilities.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2004

Science advances with age

Something's Gotta Give Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Nancy Meyers Running time: 128 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] I used to think that science-fiction meant aliens and giant meteors, but with each passing year I become convinced...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 24, 2004

Room without a view

No Quarto de Vanda Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Pedro Costa Running time: 178 minutes Language: Portuguese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Behold Vanda's face. Presumably, she's still in her early 20s but her skin already has the swarthy lifelessness of a junkie's,...
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2004

Mitsui Mutual, SMBC to tie up

Mitsui Mutual Life Insurance Co. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. said Monday they have agreed on a tieup in mortgage loans.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 24, 2004

McEnglish for the masses

American sociologist George Ritzer coined the term McDonaldization to describe how a method of production that originated in fast food restaurants is sweeping through every aspect of society.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Feb 23, 2004

Critical war questions beg for an answer

NEW YORK -- First, my historian friend George Akita sent me a clipping of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's article that appeared in The Honolulu Advertiser (Aug. 7, 2003). Titled "We need rules for waging war," the piece begins with McNamara remembering the night of March 9, 1945, when...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 22, 2004

A second generation apart

INVISIBLE GARDENS, by Julie Shigekuni. St. Martin's Press, 2003, $23.95 (cloth). Lily Soto Quinn is starting to have an affair. At the first sexual encounter, she ponders the significance of her lover's body: "Part of him so clearly missing. A gap between his kneecap and the ground, filled with nothing...
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2004

Families of brain dead patients getting offered more choices

An increasing number of families of people declared brain dead are playing a greater role in deciding the fate of their loved ones, and some are opting to stop unnecessary life-prolonging treatment.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2004

Whistle-blower law in the pipeline

Three decades after Hiroaki Kushioka exposed a price-fixing cartel involving his employer in the trucking industry, the government is working on what would become Japan's first-ever law to protect whistle-blowers in private-sector firms and government organizations.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 11, 2004

Timeless message of divine 'Angels' rings loud and clear

They've pulled it off again! Almost exactly a year ago the team at tpt (Theatre Project Tokyo), led by the renowned American director Robert Allan Ackerman, got Tokyo theater in 2003 off to a great start with their stunningly moving production of "Bent," cast entirely from the young actors who took part...
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2004

British society's fatal divide

LONDON -- Last week the inquiry by Senior Appeals Judge Lord Hutton into the July 18 death of weapons expert Dr. David Kelly cleared all state politicians and civil servants -- bar one -- of any blame for Kelly's death and indicted the media, in particular the BBC, for Kelly's wretched end. The one state...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2003

Cutting a deal with Hussein makes sense

WASHINGTON -- The capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should, in and of itself, make a major difference in the U.S.-led operation to bring peace and stability to Iraq. But it is also important to seize this opportunity and go even further. As unpalatable as it may sound, we should consider...
COMMUNITY
Dec 6, 2003

Folktales of days gone by fly off the gallery walls

There is so much energy bouncing around Ginza's Gallery Yougen that just to step inside is uplifting. There are the images on the walls -- 17 woodcut prints created to illustrate the book "Tales of Days Gone By," stories selected from 1,000 folktales compiled in the 12th century for the classic literary...
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2003

U.S. raps new insurance product

The United States objected Monday to Japan's approval of the sale of a new postal insurance product by the public corporation that could compete directly with private-sector products.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 15, 2003

Importing sake to U.K., Asahi beer back here

Lynfa Phillips is still feeling overcome by her welcome to the Tokyo headquarters of Asahi Beer. "Crossing Izuma-bashi bridge, I saw flags hanging limp at the approach to the building. One was the company flag, the next the Rising Sun, and then I saw a hint of white, red and green."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 26, 2003

Mixing drinks with 'The Maven of Malt'

Malted barley has no better promoter than the noted English writer Michael Jackson, who has the distinction of being recognized as the world's foremost writer on the subjects of beer and malt whisky. His early writings on ale more than 30 years ago are considered the spark that helped ignite interest...
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2003

Junta critic's 'Burma's Children' photo show portrays Myanmar plight

Munesuke Yamamoto's visa applications to Myanmar have repeatedly been rejected since the freelance photographer conducted an exclusive interview with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon in September 1998.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Oct 2, 2003

"The House of Windjammer," "Boolar's Big Day Out"

"The House of Windjammer," V.A. Richardson, Bloomsbury; 2003; 349 pp. No matter where you grow up, whether it's in 21st-century Japan or in 17th-century Europe, some things never change. People everywhere, at every time, are at the mercy of larger forces -- political upheavals, market fluctuations,...
COMMUNITY
Aug 24, 2003

The curious afterlife of Ada Lovelace

Celebrity is a fickle thing, as Ada Lovelace's famous father, the poet Lord Byron, learned to his cost -- sexual scandals and seesawing public opinion drove him into exile and to his death. For his daughter, however, the ups and downs of fame have mostly been posthumous.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 24, 2003

Slowly does it

Great works of art take time.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 15, 2003

Kobe case sheds bad light on kids in NBA

Sometimes in life it is best to wait before passing judgment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Aug 14, 2003

Working with mentors to change the world

Former JET assistant language teacher Nicole Deutsch has an ideal job. She works with a dynamic team of people from all over the world. And at the end of the day she goes home feeling that she's helped to make the world a better place.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?