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August 06, 2025
 

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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 28, 2001

Provocative as she wants to be

SHANGHAI BABY, by Wei Hui, translated by Bruce Humes. Simon and Schuster, 2001, 259 pp., $10 (paper) Sometimes context is everything. A sexually frank novel that reeks of thinly disguised autobiography told in a confessional style would hardly cause a ripple in the West these days. In China, however,...
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2001

'Linguistic chameleon' novelist finds a voice in Japanese

Novelist David Zoppetti describes himself as a linguistic chameleon when he changes personality according to the language he speaks.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 28, 2001

Oh, those meddling grandmothers

One of the most common themes in Japanese drama is the battle between yome and shutome -- brides and mothers-in-law. The new Nippon TV comedy series, "Honke no Yome (Bride of the Main House)" (Monday, 10 p.m.), stretches this concept by using a grandmother-in-law and updates the overall theme for an...
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2001

Japan must leave backward ways behind

Japan must drastically revise its attitudes toward women and foreigners to stake a place in the global information technology revolution and survive and prosper as a nation in general, according to experts at a Tokyo conference last week.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2001

Obituary: Joseph R. De Roo

Joseph R. De Roo, missionary and scholar of Japanese language and culture, died of subarachnoid hemorrhage Thursday in Tokyo, his religious associates announced Sunday. He was 69.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 21, 2001

In the realm of crime, torture and depravity

THE DARK SIDE: Infamous Japanese Crimes and Criminals, by Mark Schreiber. Kodansha International, 2001, 251 pp., 2,700 yen (cloth) It's unfortunate but true that the names of notorious criminals usually outlive those of their victims. We remember Jack the Ripper, not the London prostitutes he butchered....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 21, 2001

Like father, like son

My elder son sits across from me during supper and clubs me with the following questions: "Why can't Japanese die, Dad? How come it's so hard for them?" Not your usual dinnertime poser, perhaps, but we dads have to be ready for anything. I pause only briefly before delivering what I consider to be a...
JAPAN
Oct 14, 2001

Sommelier believes there's more to serving up a fine wine

Takashi Atsuta knows precisely what his customers need to round out a delicious meal. Good food and wine are essential, but the 63-year-old sommelier believes that good service -- with sincerity -- also makes a great difference. Being a sommelier is not just a matter of knowing about wines and selecting...
COMMUNITY
Oct 7, 2001

Going with the furo

Sitting in a tub of clear, near-scalding water up to your neck might not instantly appeal to those new to Japan who are used to stretching out in a warm sea of suds and playing with their plastic ducks. However, taking a bath that way is more than a hygienic chore for the people of these islands; it's...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 7, 2001

Soaking up history

In a quiet residential area of Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, half hidden by a large maple tree, stands an impressive, castlelike wooden structure that is like a portal to another time. With old-fashioned kawara tiles on its pagoda-style roof, and its curliculed surrounding stone wall, the building is evocative...
CULTURE / Art
Oct 3, 2001

Can-do creators fill in city 'gaps'

One of the biggest problems with Tokyo's avant-garde art scene is finding it.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 23, 2001

Fact and fiction meet in re-creation of Ainu past

HARUKOR: An Ainu Woman's Tale, by Katsuichi Honda. Translated by Kyoko Selden. University of California Press, 2000, 315 pp., $19.95 (paper). When I was a university student in Kyoto during the 1960s, Katsuichi Honda was the most glamorous adventurer-journalist of the day.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 15, 2001

On flying futons and other mysteries

I've ushered enough tourists through Japan to become expert on answering strange questions about Japanese culture. Here are some of the most common:
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 12, 2001

Shared cultures take center stage

These days in Japan, it's easy to see Broadway musicals, Russian ballet, foreign rock acts or even Pavarotti waxing operatic.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 11, 2001

Escape urban chaos to old Thailand

NONTHABURI, Thailand -- In the eyes of Sulak Sivaraksa, Thailand's most caustic social critic, Bangkok has become "a third-rate Western city." Monster malls, condos, fast-food franchises, discos and billboards for Western clothes and appliances have gradually eroded the city's Asian look and atmosphere....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 2, 2001

They say breaking up in public is hard to do

Pop culture has given us many marriage archetypes. At one extreme, there was "Thin Man" Nick Charles and his wife Nora, who epitomized a partnership based on privileged cynicism: witty, alcoholic, rich and inseparable. At the opposite end are "The Honeymooners," Ralph and Alice Kramden: the short-tempered,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 1, 2001

Keiko Sato and Haruko Miura

LONDON -- Japan 2001, a series of events, is being presented across Britain to show the culture of contemporary Japan to Britons who normally are not familiar with Japanese life. Last May, a full-scale Japanese festival in London's Hyde Park opened the yearlong, nationwide project. As well as concerts...
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2001

AP boss looks back on eight-year stay

For foreigners who have never been to Japan, news wire services and other media often provide their only view of this country.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 29, 2001

Is self-promotion the deep need of his soul?

It's hard not to be impressed with all the things Takashi Murakami has done. Still shy of 40, he enjoys a level of international recognition shared by perhaps no more than a dozen of the world's leading contemporary artists.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2001

Tuvalu: first casualty of climate change

HONOLULU -- It's too late for Tuvalu, a small island nation in the Pacific. Ten thousand people, Tuvalu's entire population, are packing their bags as their homes among nine low-level atolls are being swallowed by the rising sea. These are the facts of life: The Earth is warming, sea levels are rising,...
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2001

Japan's public schools grow more violent

A record 40,374 cases of violence were reported at public schools across Japan in the school year ending in March, the education ministry said Friday.
COMMUNITY
Aug 19, 2001

Tradition in transition

Art went private at the beginning of the 20th century. Back then Cubism's quest for a new visual language, abstract art's pursuit of purity of form, and Surrealism's sense of inwardness had little appeal to a public who viewed Modern Art as self-serving and difficult.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 19, 2001

Uniformly stylish Japanese

WEARING IDEOLOGY: State, Schooling and Self-Preservation in Japan, by Brian J. McVeigh. Berg, Oxford, 2000, 231 pages, $19.50 The Japanese are some of the most fashion-conscious dressers in the world. They spend large amounts of their discretionary income on clothes, have a strong preference for designer-made...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Aug 12, 2001

Take time to stop and hear the music

As your Music Nomad is wandering back to the U.K., this will be my last column. Thanks for taking the trouble to read it over the years; hopefully some of you have enjoyed seeing the concerts recommended.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2001

Smokers sue as Japan Tobacco denies causal links

Matao Yamamoto, a 67-year-old former Kyoto cab driver, is one of a large number of smokers in Japan who deeply regrets acquiring the hard-to-quit habit.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 5, 2001

Terrors, real and imagined

August means hot weather and ghost stories to add a little chill to the muggy air. Tonight, on TV Tokyo's "Sunday Big Special" (7 p.m.), host Tsurutaro Kataoka will explore various occultish phenomena for either your terrified delectation or your nonbelieving derision.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 4, 2001

Reflections on a most unexpected career abroad

So often you hear of people who come to Japan for a few months and wake one day to find that many years have flown by. How comforting then to find that it also works in reverse.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2001

Fight the good fight for press freedom

What strange set of circumstances could connect the issue of tax probes of South Korean media outlets with China's bid for the Olympics and the advertising policy of a Hong Kong bank? While it may not seem obvious at first glance, the linkage relates to freedom of expression.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 30, 2001

Is yellow journalism in vogue again?

Why do so many foreign commentators feel they can get away with anything they say about Japan?
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 29, 2001

Shochu appeal goes supersonic

FUKUOKA -- Kyushu folk are feeling quite tickled about something at the moment: a shochu boom in bars around Japan. The surging popularity of this once-lowbrow spirit, which originated in Kyushu, suggests that its old-fogy image may be disappearing for good and that lucrative times lie ahead for the...
China’s unbeatable new production model export
China is not merely moving more goods; it is exporting a new, ruthlessly efficient production model powered by automation, AI and state-guided industrial optimization.
Extreme heat in Japan set to peak this week
People shield their eyes from the sun as they walk through a street on a hot day in Tokyo on July 26.
How Pakistan shot down India's cutting-edge fighter using Chinese gear
An Indian Air Force pilot gets out of a Rafale fighter jet during its induction ceremony at an air force station in Ambala, India, September 2020.
Australia announces new warships will come from Japan
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate Niyodo sails at an undisclosed location in this image released Tuesday.
Italy's fast fashion hub becomes Chinese mafia battlefield
Signs for fast-fashion factories in Prato, Italy, on Friday. Chinese crime groups in the district thrive on the "Prato system" rife with corruption in the fast-fashion sector.
Fuji Rock's weekend of surprises was one of its best yet
Radwimps lead singer Yojiro Noda threw himself into the rock band’s Green Stage performance ahead of headliner Vampire Weekend.
How Trump is gaslighting on climate change — with Japan’s help
The Bishu Maru LNG tanker, owned by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, next to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas
With a new distillery, Suntory makes a spirited move on gin market
A staff inspects a distillation pot still at Suntory's new Osaka Spirits & Liqueurs Craft Distillery, which will focus on gin production and help Suntory capture a bigger slice of the fast-growing gin market.
Junglia brought dinos back to Okinawa. But will it bring tourists?
At Panorama Dining, one of Junglia’s two proper restaurants that also doubles as the rooftop Inifinity Terrace overlook, guests can pay extra to sit in balcony tables made to look like birds’ nests overlooking the park grounds.
From Osaka to the NHL: Jordan Spence hopes to inspire young Japanese hockey players
Ottawa Senators defenseman Jordan Spence helps lead the Dreamskate Japan hockey camp in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, on July 5.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear
By Jason Coskrey

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