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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 28, 2004

Something for your head

Animators have always had a thing for Surrealism, going back to Disney's "Silly Symphonies" in 1934 and beyond. (Disney, in fact, collaborated with the most notorious Surrealist of all, Salvador Dali, on 1946's fabled "Destino" project.) Japanese animators, however, are the arch Surrealists of the movie...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 24, 2004

Morio Matsui

In times of difficulty and pain, Morio Matsui says he has always been saved by his painting.
EDITORIALS
Jul 23, 2004

The Philippines' choice

The government of Philippine President Gloria Magapagal-Arroyo has withdrawn its forces from Iraq to save the life of a kidnapped Filipino. The gamble worked. The hostage, Mr. Angelo de la Cruz, was released unharmed this week and the nation -- like much of the world -- has rejoiced in his freedom. Unfortunately,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 18, 2004

If Japan does get Jenkins, will he really want to stay?

Ever on the lookout for sneaky connections, the media had characterized the July 9 reunion of Hitomi Soga and her family in Indonesia as being rushed through by the Liberal Democratic Party in time to help its election chances July 11. Some people even thought North Korea was in on it.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 17, 2004

As good -- and as bad -- as it gets

For foreign residents, life in Japan can be a roller coaster of ups and downs -- quite often at the exact same time.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 16, 2004

A year of flower power

Looking for places to go this summer? Well, if you want something unique then head for Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2004

SDF striving to become global partner

Among the 550 Ground Self-Defense Force troops in the first deployment to the southern Iraqi city of Samawah were five men in green fatigues armed with musical instruments.
EDITORIALS
Jun 11, 2004

Saying goodbye to Mr. Reagan

Friday, at a solemn state funeral in Washington, D.C., the United States formally bids farewell to Mr. Ronald Reagan, one of the most eminent, influential and widely liked U.S. presidents of the postwar era. Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone will be there to convey this nation's sincere condolences...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2004

Educator hopes to revive sister school in Scotland

"The function of a child is to live his own life — not the life that his anxious parents think he should live, nor life according to the purpose of the educator who thinks he knows best," wrote British educator A.S. Neill.
EDITORIALS
Jun 6, 2004

When slow is beautiful

A new book on an old theme, published last month, is slowly beginning to garner attention in the American and British media, although it has not yet made the best-seller lists. But that is probably just fine with the author, Carl Honore, a Canadian journalist based in London, because taking time is precisely...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 5, 2004

Glitzy city jars journeyer to 'real' Japan

"We are having a gale all night and a beauty too. The waves are lashing about us at a desperate rate, even against my window at times away up on the upper deck, but they can't drive us off our course. I go to bed at night, I fully expect to find myself on the floor in the morning. Please have a cradle...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 5, 2004

Roger McDonald

A man of many parts, Roger McDonald wove the different threads of his life together when he became a freelance curator. He said: "One of the triggers for me was helping organize an exhibition as part of UK98 at Kiyosato. I brought over some fiery young artists from England, and that experience showed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 30, 2004

Prayer in the house of music

It is common for Japanese classical musicians to study in Europe, but Hisayoshi Inoue is a rarity. With only a diploma from a public junior high school, Inoue journeyed to Vienna in 1979, at age 16, to pursue his piano studies, and ended up staying there 24 years.
JAPAN
May 29, 2004

Aum cultist to hang for role in sarin gas attack

The Tokyo High Court sentenced former senior Aum Shinrikyo member Yoshihiro Inoue to death on Friday, overturning a lower court ruling of life in prison.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 29, 2004

Shu Hikosaka

Shu Hikosaka was born in Toyohashi in a Zen Buddhist temple where his father was the temple priest. Hikosaka's three brothers were also born in the temple. His eldest brother succeeded their father as priest. This strong background in religion naturally shaped Hikosaka's character and philosophy. He...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 26, 2004

Rob Reiner recycles himself

Alex and Emma Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Rob Reiner Running time: 95 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] When Alex met Emma he was a destitute writer. His words had left him, he was being hounded by loan sharks and the plaster on his ceiling...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 26, 2004

A hard man-woman is good to find

Casting is all in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," but here all's very well indeed.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 22, 2004

Queen of Orlane turns 70 (but who'd know it)

In 1960, Reiko B. Lyster answered a "help wanted" classified ad placed in this paper by Max Factor. She had no particular interest in working for a cosmetics company, but (having helped Marlon Brando on a film set just the year previously) the job as a translator appealed.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 9, 2004

If only divorces were scripted by TV writers

It's easier to get a divorce in Japan than anywhere else in the world. If both parties agree, all they have to do is affix their seals to a document and their union is instantly dissolved -- no trial separation period, no grounds, no mess.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 8, 2004

Learning hard lessons in inferiority

The man towers over my life like Atlas holding up an entire Earth's worth of responsibility.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 1, 2004

Hall of Famer Yardley engaged in different kind of battle

NEW YORK -- Contrary to conventional conviction, George Yardley's induction into Springfield's Hall of Fame in '96, leading the NBA in scoring (27.8) and becoming the league's first player to amass 2,000 points in a (72-game) season (Wilt doubled that output four years later) did not compare with his...
Japan Times
Features / LIFE OR DEATH
Apr 25, 2004

Back from the brink after living 28 years on death row

He heard the footsteps approaching down the hall outside. He sat still, barely breathing. The other cells lay equally silent. None of the other condemned prisoners moved. No one spoke. Those footsteps meant only one thing: there was going to be a hanging.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 21, 2004

Le Odd Couple, going through the motions

L'homme du train Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Patrice Leconte Running time: 90 minutes Language: French Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] A lot of filmmakers like to work in a way that could best be called "cast first." That is, they decide who they want to work...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 15, 2004

Fungal alchemists snatch bodies to live

Step back in time a mere 1,000 million years and the three great domains of the Plantae, Animalia and Fungi shared a common ancestor.
Japan Times
Features
Apr 11, 2004

Zen for all to see

A few years ago, I went to see "Izutsu (The Well Curb)" at the old Kongo Theatre in Kyoto. A key scene in this noh classic comes when the shite (principal character), a beautiful woman played by a man, offers prayers at the little grave mound beside a well in a dilapidated temple. In answer to the waki...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 11, 2004

Keeping ghosts in the family

STRANGERS, by Taichi Yamada, translated by Wayne Lammers. New York: Vertical, Inc., 2003, 204 pp., $19.95 (cloth). Orphaned as a child, a middle-aged TV script writer wanders back to Asakusa where he was born. "A forlorn air hung about the area . . . streets empty even at midday . . . the atmosphere...
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2004

Rehatched Tamagotchi pets can play dating game

Every parent knows how exhausting it can be answering newborn babies' every beck and call: the constant feedings, diaper changes and rocking them to sleep while they wail.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2004

Iranian family faces deportation as justice minister wins court reversal

The Tokyo High Court on Tuesday overturned a lower court ruling that nullified a deportation order for a visaless Iranian family, effectively putting the family back on the deportation track.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb