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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 25, 2006

Jun'ichiro Tanizaki: new realities from screen fiction

SHADOWS ON THE SCREEN: Tanizaki Jun'ichiro on Cinema and "Oriental" Aesthetics, translated and edited by Thomas LaMarre. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2005. 410 pp., photos XIX, $25 (paper). The eminent novelist Jun'ichiro Tanizaki was celebrated for his ambivalence...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2006

Ah, no kids afoot: Empty trains, work till you die

There has been a great deal of hand-wringing in the media and government about Japan's population implosion. A breakdown in the pension system, soaring health-care costs, slower economic growth and a looming labor shortage are just a few of the dark clouds on the horizon.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 20, 2006

Family of POW makes appeal to Aso 'honor'

Japan's foreign minister, Taro Aso, will this week receive an appeal to his "honor and decency" in the repayment of a small family debt more than 60 years old.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 11, 2006

It's a mechanical kind of love

LOVING THE MACHINE: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots, by Timothy N. Hornyak. Tokyo/New York: Kodansha International, 2006, 160 pp., profusely illustrated, 2,800 yen (cloth). One of the most popular mysteries of 18th-century Europe was the Chess-playing Turk, a robot-like automaton that won all...
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2006

Explore the beauty of stoneware

JAPANESE WOOD-FIRED CERAMICS by Masakazu Kusakabe & Marc Lancet. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause publications, 2005, 320 pp., $44.99 (paper) The art of making ceramics originated in Japan during prehistoric times, and over recent centuries has evolved to rank higher even than painting in the eyes of this country's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 6, 2006

From the sole, a new soul

There's nothing quite like a foot rub, especially after a hard day's work and a long commute home. It's sure to be even more pleasurable if the person working on your feet is a trained practitioner of reflexology, a holistic therapy currently enjoying a boom throughout Japan. Reflexology is an easy way...
JAPAN
May 30, 2006

Foes give 'Kimigayo' sarcastic spin

A citizens' group opposed to the government's adoption of the Hinomaru as the national flag and "Kimigayo" as the anthem has posted two sarcastic alternatives in awkward English of the song on its Web site, ruffling the feathers of officials and conservative lawmakers.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2006

Australia's dirty little secret

SYDNEY -- A dirty little secret in Australian society has been exposed, and federal and state governments are maneuvering to clean up the mess or face international condemnation for allegedly allowing the violation of human rights.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 28, 2006

Manga by any other name is . . .

With the video-game business now outgrossing Hollywood's box office, and anime being distributed to destinations as diverse as Patagonia and Phuket, the influence of Japan's entertainment industry on young people worldwide has never been as powerful.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
May 24, 2006

A road to ancient history's ruin

Irish politician Dick Roche is in the business of government, and his two-decades-long career has touched on public administration, finance, transportation and economic planning and development.
CULTURE / Books
May 21, 2006

The search for a legendary sword

MISHIMA'S SWORD: Travels in Search of a Samurai Legend, by Christopher Ross. London: Fourth Estate-HarperCollins, 262 pp., £14.99 (cloth). On Nov. 25, 1970, Yukio Mishima committed seppuku or, to employ the term he preferred, hara-kiri. He did so with a great deal of fanfare (he had hoped to have the...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 21, 2006

Super-natural wine is flying off the shelves

Despite being everywhere -- in every part of our bodies and our daily lives -- chemicals have got a bad rep. Pollution, allergies, additives, colorings, flavorings, you name it, if it's bad for you, then "chemicals" are blamed.
CULTURE / Books
May 14, 2006

Asia needs to fill its brand deficit

ASIAN BRAND STRATEGY by Martin Roll, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, 272 pp., $42.50 (cloth). Shizuka Arakawa's graceful spins and spirals enthralled a nation as she won Japan the gold medal in women's figure skating at the Winter Olympics. But few would have cheered more loudly than Tokyo rice producer Toyorice...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
May 14, 2006

Home and away

AUSTRALIA Respect brings harmony without being workaholic
CULTURE / Books
May 14, 2006

A force yet to be reckoned with

CHINA'S NEW NATIONALISM: Pride, Politics, and Diplomacy, by Peter Hays Gries. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005, 224 pp., $19.95 (paper). In East Asia, nationalism never acquired quite as bad a name as it did in Europe, and it is not uncommon to hear politicians go on record with nationalistic...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 14, 2006

Beware the muted enemy within remilitarizing Japan

On April 30, the Asahi Shimbun reported on the results of a Cabinet Office survey of public opinion regarding the Self-Defense Forces (SDF). The telephone survey was conducted between Feb. 16 and 26, with 1,657 of the 3,000 people contacted replying. Overall, 84.9 percent of respondents indicated they...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 9, 2006

Local fury at Hardy perennial

Last month, as they have every year for decades, a small crowd of people gathered under fat cherry blossoms in Tokyo's Aoyama Park, carrying red lanterns, placards and peace symbols.
CULTURE / Books
May 7, 2006

Following the great haiku poet on the road

BASHO'S JOURNEY: The Literary Prose of Matsuo Basho, translated with an introduction by David Landis Barnhill. State University of New York Press, 2005, 191 pp., $19.95 (paper). The great haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was first represented to the West just over a century ago. This was in W.G. Aston's...
BUSINESS
May 3, 2006

New Corporate Law to foster additional M&As

In the weeks before the Corporate Law took effect Monday, Izumiya Co. announced measures to prevent hostile takeovers, expecting the law's provisions to encourage mergers and acquisitions.
LIFE / Language
May 2, 2006

Manga fans take their Japanese to another level

Manga are the engine of Japan's new multibillion dollar export success, its pop-culture sofuto sangyo -- software industry -- which includes anime, video games, and music. Not surprisingly, perhaps, more and more foreigners are also using manga to learn Japanese.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 1, 2006

Global inflation changing economic fundamentals

Ajoint statement released April 21 by finance minis- ters and central bankers of the Group of Seven major economies in Washington noted that the global trend in economic expansion has entered its fourth year, with inflationary pressures relatively contained despite the surge in crude oil prices.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 30, 2006

Recalling lady umpire Perry Barber and Cooperstown cookies

Reader Dennis McCormick from Hyogo Prefecture recently wrote to ask, "Do you remember about 15 years ago an American woman umpire came to Japan and worked a few Japanese games in the Kansai area? I don't recall her name, but I was surprised when I found out she was not a regular umpire in one of the...
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 30, 2006

On the road to . . .

"Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, . . . Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages . . . ''
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 25, 2006

Aso family's 'slave' link under scrutiny

While Taro Aso's public statements as foreign minister have done little to help ease tensions between Tokyo and the rest of Asia, a family connection to wartime forced labor has raised further questions over his ability to oversee good relations with Japan's neighbors.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 11, 2006

Science crisis in the making

Last November I delivered a lecture on complex-system economics at a world-famous institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I also attended a conference on science education in the same city, along with a physicist from Turkey who was visiting there at the time.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 4, 2006

"Regarding the Sink," "Magyk: Septimus Heap Book One"

"Regarding the Sink," Kate Klise, Harcourt; 2005; 127pp.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 2, 2006

Engaging with China beats other option

LOS ANGELES -- Is China only playing nice with the United States now in order to buy time and consolidate its power so that it has the capacity to hurt it later? You'd be surprised how many Americans think this -- or maybe you wouldn't!
Japan Times
Features
Apr 2, 2006

Taking tanka to a new and timeless plane

Machi Tawara made a spectacular debut as a tanka poet at the age of 25 in 1987, and since then the Osaka-born artist has devoted her life to condensing her world into those neat, rhythmic but not rhyming, 31-syllable compositions.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2006

Moody's bullish on gadget makers

Japanese consumer electronics makers enjoy relatively high credit ratings in keeping with their edge in the global marketplace, according to a report released Thursday by Moody's Investors Service.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami