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LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Nov 25, 2001

A hodgepodge that really hits the spot

It's a cold evening and the salarymen are stopping off on their home from a long day of work at open-air stalls to down a cup or two of warm sake and a few pieces of oden — slowly simmered daikon, hard-boiled eggs and tofu, among other things.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 25, 2001

Failed chemistry experiments in the media lab

Two weeks ago, a friend faxed me an article from the weekly news magazine Aera about a new advertising trend called "collaboration CF," which is the selling of two different companies' products in one TV commercial. I had already read about collaborations two days earlier in advertising critic Yukichi...
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Nov 20, 2001

Getting in downtime

An executive returned from a weekend getaway in the Caribbean with a touch of sunburn, a sore shoulder from too much tennis, and a story. As he tells it, he'd been involved in an extremely tense negotiation for the better part of a year. "The principals knew they needed to do this deal, but they were...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2001

Automakers now turning to 'telematics'

Automakers around the world are increasingly turning to information technology to improve the driving experience for commuters facing longer periods of time in their vehicles.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Nov 20, 2001

Getting in downtime

An executive returned from a weekend getaway in the Caribbean with a touch of sunburn, a sore shoulder from too much tennis, and a story. As he tells it, he'd been involved in an extremely tense negotiation for the better part of a year. "The principals knew they needed to do this deal, but they were...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Nov 20, 2001

Mysteries of the Matopos

The Matopos Hills near Bulaweyo have always had the reputation of being a little special, a little uncanny.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2001

Integrated monetary policy can assist borrowers

Everybody knows the complexity of successfully managing the Japanese economy under the present circumstances. The unemployment rate is at a historical high of 5.3 percent. The economy, which grew 1.4 percent in fiscal year 1999 and 1.0 percent in 2000, will certainly decline again this fiscal year --...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2001

Pitfalls litter Koizumi reform path

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi needs to place a bit more emphasis on growth-oriented economic policy if he wants to maximize the effect of his structural reform measures, British economic journalists said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2001

Integrated monetary policy can assist borrowers

Everybody knows the complexity of successfully managing the Japanese economy under the present circumstances. The unemployment rate is at a historical high of 5.3 percent. The economy, which grew 1.4 percent in fiscal year 1999 and 1.0 percent in 2000, will certainly decline again this fiscal year --...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2001

Will New York ever be New York again?

NEW YORK -- I was one of many New Yorkers who had the sad experience of witnessing the destruction of the World Trade Center twin towers. The memories of those moments -- gigantic skyscrapers collapsing like castles made of sand -- have not disappeared from my mind. I wonder if they ever will? After...
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2001

A turning point for Afghan art

Most Afghans have good reason to be celebrating the Taliban's departure from Kabul and Jalalabad last week. Chief among them, of course, are Afghanistan's brutally subjugated women, but there are others, too -- not least those who cherish the country's cultural treasures and have mourned their destruction...
COMMUNITY
Nov 18, 2001

Universal fashion: One design fits all

Everyone knows how hard it is to find clothes that fit, but imagine how much harder it would be if you had special needs. If you were a wheelchair-user looking for pants with gathers at the knees, or a frail senior looking for a blouse with easy-to-detach buttons, chances are you wouldn't find them easily...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 18, 2001

A story that just doesn't translate

DRUNK AS A LORD: Samurai Stories, by Ryotaro Shiba; translated by Eileen Kato. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2001, 253 pp., 3,500 yen (cloth) Ryotaro Shiba (1923-1996), a distinguished historical writer, brought Japan's past alive by examining many of its important historical figures and the personal...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 18, 2001

Too much of a good thing

YAKUZA PERFUME, by Akahige Namban. New York: Blue Moon Books, 2001, 206 pp., $7.95 (paper). This curious book is an American-published pornographic novel that purports to be written by a Japanese. Though its main aim is to excite, its interest lies in the cultural assumptions it makes, these rendered...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 17, 2001

Handmade felt old hat? No, it's back in fashion

Boundary-pushing bags, brooches and necklaces. Wild hats and mufflers. Cosmological carpets and hangings. All-embracing jackets and coats. Every design unique, crafted from hand-felted wool and the most unexpected fibers.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 14, 2001

See how happy we are?

The Anniversary Party Rating: * * * * Director: Jennifer Jason Leigh / Alan Cumming Running time: 115 minutes Language: English Opens Nov.23 at Chanter Cine Theater
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2001

Space station blues -- again

This month marks a milestone for the International Space Station. As of Nov. 2, there had been a continuous human presence on the orbiting lab-in-progress for exactly one year. Besides the three crews that have successively called it home, 14 spacecraft had visited. Eighteen space walks had been carried...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2001

Astronaut's husband more than happy to play waiting game

"In the history of humankind, the first Asian husband of someone who has been into space."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 11, 2001

You can be an artist if you've half a mind to

Kristin Newton changes lives. Messages of appreciation fill her inbox. "This is a turning point in our lives," reads one. "We are looking at things so differently now."
COMMENTARY
Nov 11, 2001

Unified war plan impossible

LONDON -- Giving parties is fun, but it also poses risks -- chiefly that of offending those who are not asked.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 7, 2001

The boy is back in town

'Fantasma," released in 1997, was arguably the most internationally acclaimed Japanese pop record since Yellow Magic Orchestra's "Solid State Survivor." A sonic journey through musical history, from Bach to the Beach Boys, it became a fixture on critics' "best-of" lists that year its creator, Cornelius,...
COMMUNITY
Nov 4, 2001

It's a paradise for bikers in Japan

Maybe I'm losing it. With temperatures dropping and the first frost just around the corner, thoughts of winter sports and steaming cups of hot chocolate are starting to dance through most people's minds. But I've still got motorcycles wheelying through mine.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 3, 2001

Howling Loochie Bros. R&B to benefit Amnesty

It took as long to read Robin (Loochie) Suchy's name card as it took him to lock up his bike outside Ben's Cafe in Tokyo's Takadanobaba. Following "Singer * Song Writer * Vocal Recordings * Narrations * Actor * Vocal Coach * Producer" were two contact addresses, in Naka Ochiai and British Columbia. Not...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 1, 2001

These dreams are made of . . . what?

Ever had a sleepless night before an exam, cramming in the things you didn't learn in time? Even after 40 hours without sleep, it is still possible to disgorge crammed information. But remember those facts a week later? Forget it.
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Oct 31, 2001

Hey, world, meet Hasebe

DJ Hasebe looks set to become the latest Japanese platter-spinner to make a name for himself internationally, following in the footsteps of DJ Krush, DJ Honda, Ken Ishii and Captain Funk.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 24, 2001

Escape to Allen's New York

Small Time Crooks Rating: * * * * Director: Woody Allen Running time: 95 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2001

Uhfmm . . . wham, bam, thank you, ma'am

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Rating: * * 1/2 Director: Simon West Running time: 100 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 / Music
Oct 17, 2001

Return of the sound and the furry

Super Furry Animals have been the most consistently great guitar band of the last 10 years, and I've got a stack of hard evidence to prove it.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 14, 2001

The truth about the 'enemies of the people'

For the past month there's been a lot of talk about how much our sense of the world has changed since the events of Sept. 11. Actually, it's mainly changed for Americans, but as someone once said: When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.

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