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COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Sep 25, 2004

Senate control up for grabs on election day

WASHINGTON -- The meandering pattern of the presidential race has captured the attention of most Americans. But there are other important stakes that will be decided on Nov. 2, including 33 seats in the U.S. Senate and all 435 members of the House of Representatives.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIGHT SPY NEWS
Sep 24, 2004

Another world

The newly opened Amanis Cafe is indeed another world, compared to its surroundings in Roppongi. It is huge, occupying almost half of the Roi Building's sub-basement level. And it is sumptuous -- with thick carpeting and wood paneling throughout.
OLYMPICS
Sep 23, 2004

Japan Olympians to prepare for tour

Hiroyuki Tomita, Takehiro Kashima and Isao Yoneda, who were all part of the gold medal-winning men's gymnastics team at the Athens Olympics, will compete in the World Cup series in Europe this fall, gymnastics sources said Tuesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 23, 2004

Herring gull

* Japanese name: Segurokamome * Scientific name: Larus argentatus * Description: Herring gulls are large, noisy, boisterous birds. They are white with light gray backs, black wingtips and pink legs that have webbed feet. A key identifying mark is the red spot on the lower tip of their yellow bills....
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Sep 23, 2004

High-octane crash and burn

What's the big complaint about video games these days? Lack of innovation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 22, 2004

It's a thin line between love and hate

Monster Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Patty Jenkins Running time: 109 minutes Language: English Opens Sept. 25 [See Japan Times movie listings] Aileen Wuornos is often tagged the first female serial killer and the first U.S. woman to receive the death penalty neither is true,...
Japan Times
Features
Sep 19, 2004

Cream-puff heaven is open to all

First it was Chinese dumplings that got the theme park treatment at Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium in 2002. Then, last year, up popped Ice Cream City. So, what was to be this year's gastronomic addition to the menu of attractions at Namco Namja Town in Sunshine City?
Japan Times
Features
Sep 19, 2004

A flavor of Lima with Fujimori to the fore

Visit any Latin dance club and you'll hear the salsa music blaring well before you get through the doors. But this month at dance clubs across Japan there'll be another sound as well: the buzz over a new, free-of-charge magazine on Peruvian life in this country that's being distributed not only at clubs...
Japan Times
Features
Sep 19, 2004

Talkin' 'grassroots social reform'

"Anybody got a question? Any question?" hollered a young spiky-haired man in a gray T-shirt and black chinos one evening the other week outside the ticket gates at JR Totsuka Station in Kanagawa Prefecture. The sky was darkening, and shoals of commuters were flowing in and out of the suburban station....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 19, 2004

Chaos theory you can dance to

Things are looking good for Grandadbob. The quirky house music duo of Dave Johnson and Vanessa Robinson released their debut album, "Waltzes for Weirdos," on Fatboy Slim's Southern Fried label to rave reviews in Britain last year and are about to tour Japan with the wild and crazy DJ himself. Now that...
Japan Times
Features
Sep 19, 2004

Just picture that!

The overthrow of the feudal Tokugawa Shogunate in 1867 and the restoration of imperial rule in 1868 was preceded by 15 years of intense change in news reporting.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2004

Inside out and round and round the Yamanote

Johnnie Walker's A.R.T. gallery (Art Residency Tokyo), which opened last October, extends his philanthropic mission to promote cultural exchange between foreign and Japanese artists. Offering a window into Tokyo for many young hopefuls as well as a meeting point for the more established, the gallery...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004

A robot could have scripted this

I, Robot Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Alex Proyas Running time: 115 minutes Language: English Opens Sept. 18 [See Japan Times movie listings] When was the last time you were enthralled by a big-budget sci-fi flick?
Japan Times
Features
Sep 12, 2004

Heights of cleanliness

What must it be like to stand on top of the world's highest mountain? To battle through driving snow and across deadly glaciers, to scale icy rock walls and risk falling thousands of meters while being hit full-on by raging, freezing winds -- aware that an avalanche could, at any moment, swat you into...
Features
Sep 12, 2004

Mount Fuji: Symbol of beauty; mountain of shame

Thinking "green" may seem to be a modern notion, but in Japan it's as old as the hills -- at least those ones climbed by innumerable yamabushi ascetics on grueling mountain pilgrimages in search of enlightenment.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 11, 2004

Japan names Davis Cup team

Takao Suzuki and Goichi Motomura have been named to Japan's Davis Cup team for a World Group playoff against Chile later this month, the Japan Tennis Association said Friday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Sep 9, 2004

Barn swallow Tsubame

* Japanese name: Tsubame * Scientific name: Hirundo rustica * Description: A common and easily recognizable bird, barn swallows have long, pointed wings and deeply forked tails. The feathers on the back and wings are a metallic dark blue; the underside is white or cream. The face is scarlet red....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 3, 2004

Arossa spreads Antipodean goodness

Ever since it opened, the Food File has been a major fan of Arossa, the Aussie-specialist wine bar and restaurant out on the leafy fringes of Shibuya's Shoto district. We like the modern styling, the extensive cellar of Antipodean wines and the sophisticated food menu. But there is one area in which...
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2004

Firm launches antiforgery service

Tokyo-based software developer Mediaseek Inc. said Wednesday it has launched an antiforgery service for Japanese products sold in China.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 29, 2004

Shipwreck was key to Gospel in Japan

The first Japanese translation of the Bible is believed to be an 1837 version of the Gospel According to John. What makes this remarkable, however, is that its writer was a German missionary living in China, taught Japanese by three crew members of a cargo ship, Otokichi, Iwakichi and Kyukichi, who survived...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 29, 2004

Keeping up to speed with a tabla master

New York-based bassist and producer Bill Laswell has always been a man with his ear to the ground, quick to sense any coming seismic shifts in the musical landscape. In the late 1990s, he had been noting the proliferation of Indian tabla-infused drum 'n' bass music from people such as Talvin...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2004

MMC plots comeback; analysts still unconvinced

For the last six months, scandal-tainted Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has been trapped: It has felt compelled to refrain from sales promotions despite its desperate need to boost plunging sales.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Aug 26, 2004

Brown-lined puffer

* Japanese name: Kitamakura * Scientific name: Canthigaster rivulata * Description: Puffer fish have plump bodies and thick, smooth skin interrupted by large bulging eyes. In many parts of Japan, puffer fish are called fugu, which is written using Chinese characters that mean "river pig." In western...
Features
Aug 22, 2004

Keeping it in the club

On Oct. 16 last year, Hans van der Lugt, a correspondent for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, telephoned the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry with a simple inquiry.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 20, 2004

On the path of poets

Utter silence, Piercing the stone walls, The cicada's cry
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 15, 2004

Mad Max and a mango make for a mind-bendingly memorable city tour

After half an hour of clinging to the back of Mr. Tuc's scooter, the question needs to be asked. It really does.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 15, 2004

Boys will be ...

Paint fingernails, then dab on foundation. Lots of foundation. Lipstick and eye shadow go on next. Slip into a comfortable blouse, apply one final blast of VO5 to the hair -- and voila!
Japan Times
Features
Aug 15, 2004

Lanvin cuts a new dash

Only a couple of years ago, no self-respecting fashionista would have been caught dead in Lanvin. A brand stuck in the past, it had plenty of pedigree -- but was about as chic as white socks and sandals.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 15, 2004

A towering test for the tongue

Tall, cool, slim and graceful: Meet Millecre's Tokyo Tower 333, the gorgeous new face on the ice-cream block.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 15, 2004

Barbed organ of delights

"Whereas women were created solely for amusement of men it ill becomes them to emancipate themselves," begins an article in an 1873 edition of Japan Punch. "As our slaves they are the most delightful of animals, but when they attempt to assume airs of superiority, then they become hateful."

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past