Search - 2003

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 13, 2012

Bearing witness to brutality in 'Devil's Double'

"Should I ask him whether it's true or not?" That's the question I had for my editor regarding my interview with Latif Yahia, the Iraqi exile whose story about being the lookalike body-double for Saddam Hussein's psychotic son Uday has been parlayed into a best-selling book and a movie. "Probably," said...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 12, 2012

Artists always find ways to represent themselves

For the countless number of budding visual artists in Japan, 3331 Arts Chiyoda's "Independents" exhibitions, which are held in the event space's main gallery, offer the chance to publicly show works and get feedback from some of the most prominent artists, critics and curators in the country.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 12, 2012

Artists always find ways to represent themselves

For the countless number of budding visual artists in Japan, 3331 Arts Chiyoda's "Independents" exhibitions, which are held in the event space's main gallery, offer the chance to publicly show works and get feedback from some of the most prominent artists, critics and curators in the country.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 12, 2012

From picnic cups to vessels of the future

In the immediate decades after World War II, part of what it meant to be a contemporary artist in Japan was to belong to some kind of regular exhibiting institution. These organizations were different from the prewar institutions that continued, such as the government-sponsored Bunten/Nitten or Tokyo-based...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 12, 2012

From picnic cups to vessels of the future

In the immediate decades after World War II, part of what it meant to be a contemporary artist in Japan was to belong to some kind of regular exhibiting institution. These organizations were different from the prewar institutions that continued, such as the government-sponsored Bunten/Nitten or Tokyo-based...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2012

Does promise or peril await in North Korea?

Two days after Kim Jong Il, North Korea's leader, died in a train in his country, South Korean authorities still knew nothing about it. Meanwhile, American officials seemed at a loss, with the State Department at first merely acknowledging that press reports had mentioned his death.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2012

Only aides handled the accounts, Ozawa says

Former Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa on Tuesday once again flatly denied that he conspired with his aides to falsify his political fund management body's reports in 2004 and 2005 over a ¥400 million land deal in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2012

Beijing maintains its iron grip on country's past

With China stumping assertively on the world stage, one might think Beijing would be open, even gracious, about the country's past. To the contrary, history remains an exceedingly sensitive subject here, drawing relentless attention from authorities anxious to keep all skeletons safely in closets.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 1, 2012

Japan's troubled royals put up a brave front

Bungei Shunju ("literary spring and autumn") is arguably Japan's most prestigious monthly magazine. Emblazoned in celebratory red across the cover of its New Year's edition is the rather ominous headline, "The Day the Heisei (Era) Ends."
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2011

What will become of North Korea?

According to North Korean state television, the heart attack that killed Kim Jong Il on Dec. 17 was "due to severe mental and physical stress from overwork."
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2011

And now the real test for Iraq

The longest and most contentious war in U.S. history ended this month with T.S Eliot's proverbial whimper. A dictator was removed, a regime transformed, democracy imposed. While the soldiers celebrated their departure, the response in the United States was muted. A conflict that started with "shock and...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 27, 2011

Many angles to acquiring Japanese citizenship

Nationality has long been a controversial issue in Japan. For most, it is something they are born with; for others, it is something they had to fight for. For some, nationality may be a source of pride, while for others, it may be the cause of discrimination.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 26, 2011

Strange how isolationist stance can ruin a politician's reputation

Perhaps because it's a round number, the 70th anniversary of Japan's assault on Pearl Harbor has given me the impression that more articles on it saw print than in the past, except for, as I recall, the 50th anniversary of the same.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 25, 2011

'Takeshi Art Beat' on tap dancing; New Year's Eve TV roundup; CM of the week: Dorea

Ever wonder where director/star "Beat" Takeshi Kitano got the idea of the big tap-dancing finale for his 2003 remake of the samurai classic "Zatoichi"? It came to him after he saw the American dancer Savion Glover, who the program information says influenced Michael Jackson's Moonwalk.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 17, 2011

Redknapp wants two refs per match

It has been another bad week for referees. Chris Foy (Stoke vs. Tottenham) and Mark Clattenburg (Chelsea vs. Manchester City) became the latest to be blamed for the defeats of Spurs and City by, unsurprisingly, the losing managers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 16, 2011

'Cut'

A director who makes a film that loudly complains about the sad state of current cinema is setting himself up as a critics' punching bag ("You, sir, are part of the problem ..."). Also, if he inserts his list of 100 all-time best films into his climax he is asking for some impolite comments about his...
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Dec 15, 2011

Having a laugh at the witch doctors of art

It's one of the most enigmatic questions of all time: What is art? Any gallery that holds an exhibition using that as its theme is either taking things very seriously indeed, or it's having a laugh.
COMMENTARY / World / 50 years of ASEAN
Dec 13, 2011

Japan should play co-anchor role in helping ASEAN Connectivity Plus realize grand vision

With its intent for a people-oriented as well as a physically and institutionally well-connected ASEAN Community poised for realization in 2015, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations affirms its commitment to fulfill a long-cherished dream.
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2011

The golden curse of the Peruvian Amazon

Madre de Dios, the name of a region in southeastern Peru bordering Brazil and Bolivia, is a common designation for the Virgin Mary, meaning Mother of God in Spanish.
COMMENTARY
Dec 10, 2011

Civil reawakening in Russia?

It came as no surprise to Russian citizens that parliamentary elections held Dec. 4 were neither free nor fair. Elections in Russia have become increasingly managed since Vladimir Putin's first stint as prime minister in 1999.

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