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CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2001

And, now, a return to the classics

O Brother, Where Art Thou? Rating: * * * * 1/2 Director: Joel Coen Running time: 107 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Oct 17, 2001

Where dreams come true

Those who can, do; those who can't, teach. Right? That was certainly true of the various losers and sociopaths who "taught" me when I was in school. But this hoary old adage doesn't apply to a showbiz school recently launched by leading Japanese record label Avex.
CULTURE / Books
Oct 14, 2001

Kenzaburo Oe: Bridging the generation gap

In the wake of the terrorist attacks in America, large bookstores have put together special displays on Islam and terrorism, while the cult idolization of the prime minister continues with the publication of a coffee-table book of Koizumi photos (Jun-chan lounging in a robe!). However, as always in recent...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 14, 2001

Country roads take them to new homes

Get away. Away from squeezing yourself into a packed train, making your way in a slow-moving human tide up stairs and through ticket gates. From walking in a crowd like a soldier ant, trotting ahead to avoid cigarette smoke from a man in front, only to breathe in foul diesel fumes at intersections on...
BUSINESS
Oct 13, 2001

Tokyo Game Show opens doors in Chiba

An electronic-game show featuring around 400 new products from 53 domestic and international game software makers kicked off Friday at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2001

Sony to take 19% stake in Square

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said Tuesday it will purchase an 18.6 percent stake in Square Co. for about 14.9 billion yen in a third-party share allotment by the game software maker.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 7, 2001

Schools of hard knocks and TV docs

Several of the new fall drama series begin this week, and one of the season's topics is education. Trendy drama mainstay Masakazu Tamura steps out of character as the title character in "Sayonara Ozu Sensei" (Fuji, Tuesday, 9 p.m.), playing the former manager of the New York branch of a major Japanese...
BUSINESS
Oct 6, 2001

GM, Toyota to study telematic services

General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday they have agreed to conduct a joint feasibility study of telematics -- vehicle onboard information -- in the Japanese car market.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2001

Firms flock to voice-command future

Building on the dramatic improvements in voice-recognition technology, software development companies are competing to create voice-activated products and services.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Oct 2, 2001

Troussier calls out all Japan's stars for 'friendlies'

Like the Radiohead song, there were "no alarms and no surprises" when Philippe Troussier named his 25-man Japan squad for this week's friendly matches against Senegal and Nigeria, two teams the cohosts could meet at next year's World Cup.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 30, 2001

Love, love them do

Ask Kyoshi Matsushita about "Beatlemania" and he's far more likely to wax lyrical about Lucanidae, Silphidae, Scarabaedae and Dorcus titanus than John, Paul, George and Ringo.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 30, 2001

Going off the beaten track

Relaxed is not a term one would usually associate with Ken Ishii. As Japan's premier techno producer and DJ, he has created a sleek, cutting-edge repertoire that is bristling with tension.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2001

Parents of fire victim seek redress

The parents of one of the 44 people who died in the Sept. 1 fire in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, have filed a request to classify their son's death as a work-related disaster, sources close to the case said Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 28, 2001

Sesame Street for better English learning

The creators of "Sesame Street" are developing new content and materials to make the highly successful children's television program more useful for Japanese children learning English.
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2001

Living on songs and a prayer

Duets Rating: * * * Director: Bruce Paltrow Running time: 112 minutes Language: English Now showing
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 23, 2001

The city within

There are three things that stir the heart of every true Tokyoite: sento (public baths), mazelike roji (alleys) and matsuri (festivals). Over the last couple of decades, all three have been gradually fading from the city scene, though there are still pockets in the megalopolis where they can be found...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 23, 2001

Living in the past, with pleasure

A short walk along a twisting, narrow stone path branching off a busy road through Tokyo's Yanaka district brings you to the warm glow of a small andon lamp, its paper shade mounted on a wooden frame.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 23, 2001

Dream weavers of a bygone era

When made up for work, Norie is perhaps as close to the classic image of Japan as you could wish. Clad in a colorful yet demure kimono, wooden sandals and a jet-black wig that provides a striking contrast to the white makeup lavished on her fine features, she looks like a doll.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2001

Vivre's demise will leave a gap in Osaka

OSAKA -- The bankruptcy of the Osaka-based Mycal group earlier this month sent shock waves through the business and financial worlds.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 22, 2001

Minako Suzuki

When she was a little girl, Minako Suzuki used to like "dreaming of being someone else." Many little girls play similar pretend games. In Minako's case, her pretending led her professionally and as a volunteer to the world of entertainment.
JAPAN
Sep 20, 2001

Obituary: Mami Yonemori

Mami Yonemori, a former TV anchorwoman who later formed the trio known as Dora, died of an undisclosed cause earlier this month, acquaintances said Wednesday. She was 34.
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Sep 19, 2001

Prepared for blastoff

The title of British pub-rocker Nick Lowe's 1978 album "Pure Pop for Now People" aptly describes the sound of Tokyo-based band The Cymbals. The trio's music is bright, intelligent, catchy and easy on the ears -- but with enough of a rock punch to avoid saccharine overkill.
COMMUNITY
Sep 16, 2001

Divination business thriving, for the foreseeable future

Head bowed, eyes closed, silently intoning my birth date and a prayer-like plea for good fortune; I feel a little silly, but I'm doing as I've been told.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2001

GameCube console released, takes on rival PlayStation2

Nintendo Co. released its GameCube video game console on the Japanese market Friday, mounting a challenge to the PlayStation2 console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
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 / WEEKEND WISDOM
Sep 9, 2001

Takarazuka chief pins group's success on Japan's decline

The success of the extravagant, all-woman Takarazuka theatrical troupe over the past decade owes a great deal to Japan's economic decline since the bubble economy of the late 1980s burst, according to Shinji Ueda, president of the Takarazuka Revue Co.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 9, 2001

This is the season of our national discontent

Last week's edition of Aera (Sept. 3) looked at the current "Age of Discontent," while Bungei Shunju published a special issue in August on ways to find happiness. Both themes currently feature on the shelves of Japanese bookstores as well.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 9, 2001

For your regular viewing pleasure

Those who believe young people don't have proper peer models should check out TBS's "Sekai Ururun Taizai (World Sojourn)," which, every Sunday at 10 p.m., features a young celebrity traveling to a distant corner of the globe and living with a local family while learning a local skill or craft.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2001

Trash outside game parlor rendered fire door useless

A mountain of garbage on the landing outside a mah-jongg game parlor destroyed in a fatal fire early Saturday was blocking a fire door, stopping it from automatically closing when fire alarms went off, police investigating the blaze said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Sep 5, 2001

Lethal gases blamed for Shinjuku inferno deaths

Most of the 44 people who died from a fire in a building in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward at the weekend are believed to have died less than two minutes after inhaling carbon monoxide or hydrocyanic acid gas, investigators said Tuesday.

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