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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 22, 2002

From the edges of 'reality'

At the most basic level of classification, most paintings can be assigned to one of two broad but fairly clear-cut categories: representational or abstract. This is to say that what appears on the canvas has generally evolved either from people, places or things found in the real world; or from ideas...
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2002

Regrets and resolutions

The Foreign Ministry's latest annual report reads partly like a litany of resolutions. That is only to be expected given the series of incidents and scandals that have hit the foreign service over the past year or so. Naturally, the blue book, as the report is commonly known, calls for a string of steps...
COMMENTARY
May 20, 2002

Musharraf must bring growth, security

ISLAMABAD -- The suicide bomber in Karachi, Pakistan's southern port city, who killed 11 French citizens in broad daylight, could not have found a more opportune moment to strike against the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf. The general has spent the past few months trying to convince skeptics of...
ENVIRONMENT
May 19, 2002

Thar she blew!

TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. -- From the lead boat it was difficult to see the spray rising from the waters off Tomyo Point. The onshore breeze dispersed it before it could rise too high and the choppy waters forced the rowers to concentrate on their task. Nonetheless, the sign was there.
EDITORIALS
May 18, 2002

Making a mockery of the public

Once again a Lower House resolution recommending the resignation of the scandal-tainted lawmaker, Mr. Muneo Suzuki, has been shelved. A motion calling for such a resolution to be brought before a plenary session of the House of Representatives was rejected Tuesday, with the Liberal Democratic Party and...
JAPAN
May 18, 2002

Cows born in spring '96 face inspection

The farm ministry will inspect all cows born between March and April 1996 for symptoms of mad cow disease, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI BEAT
May 17, 2002

Osaka homeless fear evictions

OSAKA -- For Kazutoshi Nishimura, a 61-year-old homeless man who, in his own words, is retired and living on a park bench near Nagai Park, the approach of the World Cup soccer finals in June is a case of deja vu.
SOCCER / World cup / COHOSTING
May 16, 2002

World Cup pie gets bigger

The head of soccer's world governing body FIFA is never likely to be called a shrinking violet. In the world of sport, perhaps only the head of the International Olympic Committee has a more powerful voice. When he talks, everyone listens.
JAPAN
May 16, 2002

Narita passengers lose no-fuss check-in service

Passport-control services at Tokyo City Air Terminal will soon be discontinued for passengers departing from Narita airport because of reduced traffic and more stringent security measures in the wake of Sept. 11, immigration officials have warned.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
May 16, 2002

Lifelines

Hello there! My name's Ken Joseph Jr.
SOCCER / World cup / EXCERPTS FROM PHILIPPE TROUSSIER'S BOOK
May 15, 2002

Japan team has bright future

"Passion" is the story of Japan soccer team coach Philippe Troussier, his struggle to make it as a player and manager and his travels around France, Africa and Japan. In the book, Troussier also details his philosophy and thinking as he prepares for the World Cup in June.In this, the last of 10 exclusive...
COMMENTARY
May 15, 2002

Myanmar moves forward, China takes a step back

LOS ANGELES -- Fleeting images can become perceived realities. For example, images viewed positively by the American public allow U.S. political leaders to unlock foreign-aid funds -- and business leaders to go forward with ambitious foreign-investment schemes. From this perspective, Myanmar, long-spurned...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 15, 2002

The Black Dog

I can feel the beast closing in, feel it out there making its moves. I'm standing in the center of this dingy apartment listening to the intense howl of the pre-attack silence, too scared to turn on the lights. I bolt the door. I screw shut the windows. I nail down the toilet seat. You never know from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 15, 2002

Just a word in your ear

A visitor to "Sesshu -- Master of Ink and Brush" at the Tokyo National Museum, Ueno, stops in front of one of the paintings. She has just been told to do so by the audio guide she's holding in her hand, which then launches into a detailed explanation of the painting's historical background and notable...
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE OKINAWA FACTOR
May 14, 2002

Handover of Okinawa to Japan was prickly issue

Tsuyoshi Sakurai remembers when Japan allocated 1 billion yen to Okinawa in its first financial assistance package in fiscal 1962, when the islands of the Ryukyus were still under U.S. rule.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
May 13, 2002

Training for success -- crash and learn

Car wrecks always draw a crowd, as every driver knows, and that's true for the equivalent in business, too. Rubber-necking at someone else's trouble, many executives thank their stars that they're not caught in the pileup; most take the opportunity to remind themselves to be extra careful to stay out...
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2002

Harry Potter and the no-show sequel

Where is Harry Potter when we need him? For the second year in a row, the nonappearance of Book 5 of the small bespectacled one's magical doings is throwing readers of all ages into a spring tizzy.
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2002

The ICC's war crimes fantasy

WASHINGTON -- Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger recently visited Europe and almost ended up in the dock for alleged war crimes committed three decades ago. This preview of the operation of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, a U.N. body ready to go into effect after receiving the necessary...
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2002

Straight from the trainer's mouth

Japan's racing world is steeped in tradition. Many trainers are former jockeys or come from long-established racing families. Nobuhiro Suzuki, 42, is one of a new breed of trainer: outsiders, usually highly educated. Suzuki gained his training license in 1997 after working as a veterinarian, groom and...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 12, 2002

Poetry that's music to the ears of millions

POEMS OF THE GOAT, by Chuya Nakahara, translated by Ry Beville. American Book Company, Richmond, VA, 2002, 77 pp., $15/2500 yen (paper) Why do some writers get translated and others -- better, more deserving -- remain obscure? This is a question that Ry Beville, a young Virginia native, asked himself...
COMMENTARY
May 11, 2002

A recipe for reconciliation

TAIPEI -- British writer George Bernard Shaw once said that Americans and Brits were two peoples separated by the same language. This is an even more apt description when describing the Chinese and Taiwanese. A week of visits to Taiwan and China leaves me once again to marvel at how poorly two peoples...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 11, 2002

Japan's life cycle of death ceremonies

I recently attended a "kankin" ceremony to mark the 100th day since the death of my neighbor Ueda-san. The usual funeral-goers were there as well as a couple of Sweat Suit Boys. Many of the attendees were people I only see at funerals. I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't a sort of hobby. It's hard...
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2002

Violence begets violence

The cycle of bloodshed between Israelis and Palestinians is becoming ever more difficult to break. On Tuesday, just when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was meeting U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington, a Palestinian suicide bomb attack blew up a billiard hall in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon...
MORE SPORTS
May 10, 2002

Lessons learned

Ryan Kuwabara is a key member of Japan's national ice hockey team currently playing at the Pool A World Championships in Sweden. Kuwabara, a Japanese-Canadian who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens and now stars for Japan Ice Hockey League champion Kokudo, has agreed once again to keep a journal...
JAPAN
May 10, 2002

Officials blast transplant system as burdensome

Officials at all but one of the 18 medical centers where brain-death tests have been conducted for transplants feel that organ donations from brain-dead donors are burdensome, health ministry officials said Thursday, citing a study.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2002

School vacation in fall seen as economic salve

The government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy is drawing up an economic revitalization package featuring the introduction of a fall vacation for schools and a three-year plan to promote outsourcing of public-sector services, according to an interim draft report.
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2002

Ms. Suu Kyi is free, again

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from almost two years of house arrest in Myanmar. The military junta that rules the country has made an important concession to international opinion by deciding to release the democracy activist, but the government's commitment to genuine...

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person