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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 25, 2004

Frank Gibney's league of Japanese gentlemen

FIVE GENTLEMEN OF JAPAN: The Portrait of a Nation's Character, by Frank Gibney. D'Asia Vu Reprint Library, Eastbridge, 2002, 356 pp., $24.95 (paper). Fifty years ago, a young American writer named Frank Gibney, fresh out of the U.S. Navy where he had been a Japanese-speaking intelligence officer, published...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 25, 2004

Japan-U.S. team to work on BSE-test pact

Japan and the United States remained far apart on measures to test for mad cow disease but the two sides managed to agree Saturday to set up a working team of experts to work toward lifting Japan's import ban on U.S. beef as early as this summer.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 25, 2004

New Fuji TV series, "At-home Dad" and more

The new Fuji TV series, "At-home Dad" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), takes the usual housewife drama and reverses the genders to comic effect. Kazuyuki (Hiroshi Abe), a 37-year-old account executive at a leading advertising firm, is a victim of downsizing, thus forcing his wife to go out and work full-time.
Events
Apr 25, 2004

KANSAI: Who & What

30 travelers a day can win Seto bridge pass: Every tourist who crosses the Seto Ohashi Bridge will have a chance to win, via a drawing, a prepaid expressway card between April 29 and May 5.
Japan Times
Features / LIFE OR DEATH
Apr 25, 2004

Only the noose can ease victims' pain

More than four years have passed since his 2-year-old granddaughter was murdered, yet never a day goes by without Tsuneo Matsumura mournfully remembering little Haruna, or having images of her flash through his mind whenever he sees a girl about the same age as she would be.
COMMENTARY
Apr 25, 2004

Denying terror a moral gain

LONDON -- The terrorist attacks on trains in Madrid in March, which killed more than 200 people and maimed or wounded hundreds more, were planned and executed by Islamic extremists from Morocco, probably with connections to al-Qaeda. It has been claimed that the attacks were inspired by opposition to...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Apr 25, 2004

Bush ads make little dent against Kerry

WASHINGTON -- The continuing reports of tumult and casualties from Iraq and contentious hearings by the Presidential Commission to Investigate September 11th have sucked the oxygen out of the media pipes this month.
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.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 25, 2004

The Abyssinians and Friends: "Tree of Satta"

Only in the world of reggae could you get away with a whole album of different versions of a song formed from a single backing track, yet how each version voices the track -- with new vocalists, lyrics or different lead instruments -- is exactly what excites the reggae audience.
EDITORIALS
Apr 24, 2004

Observing the Earth as it is

As the human world is embroiled in seemingly endless conflict, the global environment that supports our continued existence -- the Earth system -- apparently continues to deteriorate. To sustain the system, we must first understand it better. And understanding is promoted through observation.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2004

Japan still playing catchup on kids' measles vaccinations

Japan launched a campaign to get more children vaccinated against the measles in 2001, looking to catch up with other advanced nations that combat the disease in a much more aggressive fashion.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2004

Repercussions for MMC could be terminal: analysts

The sudden decision by DaimlerChrysler AG to halt further financial support to ailing Mitsubishi Motors Corp. has forced the Japanese automaker to drastically reconsider its restructuring program, analysts said.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2004

Japan, U.S. plot fresh round of talks over ongoing dispute on beef imports

Japan and the United States will hold working-level talks Saturday aimed at settling a bilateral beef trade dispute, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2004

Mid-May energy talks with U.S. set

Japan and the United States are arranging bilateral talks on energy for mid-May, Japanese government officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 23, 2004

Overlooked -- and undervalued

If there is one major spot in Japan that visitors somehow tend not to make a beeline for, it is Nagoya.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2004

English classes all the rage at elementary schools

Teacher Hideo Iida holds up cards featuring simple images for his 17 second-graders to identify, getting them to name the animals, fruit and other items pictured.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 21, 2004

The director's stand-in

In many ways, Remy in "Les Invasions barbares" is director Denys Arcand's alter ego. Says the 63-year-old director, "I suppose he was a way of facing my life and my crimes, you know."
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2004

Waseda gives doctorate to Stiglitz

Waseda University on Tuesday conferred its honorary doctorate of laws on Joseph Stiglitz, a Columbia University professor who won the 2001 Nobel economics prize.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2004

Hostages released into storm of criticism

Two days before her daughter was freed Thursday night by her captors in Iraq, 65-year-old Kyoko Takato was apologizing to the public, using words more befitting of the parent of a criminal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 21, 2004

The best gift a son could give

Les Invasions barbares Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Denys Arcand Running time: 99 minutes Language: French Open April 24 [See Japan Times movie listings] In "Les Invasions barbares (Barbarian Invasions)," a dying father pulls his grown-up son to his chest and says, "When you...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 21, 2004

Artist and model, framed

The girl with a pearl earring, whoever she may be, is safely at home in the Netherlands. There, she's the centerpiece of the Mauritshuis collection in The Hague, although her identity is as much of a mystery as ever -- art history favored one of Vermeer's daughters, until Tracey Chevalier wrote her best-selling...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2004

Tama-chan battles flab, sassy new rival

A year has passed since the bearded seal nicknamed Tama-chan moved to the Ara River in Saitama Prefecture from Tama River in Yokohama.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2004

Cost, language barrier still keeping tourists away

Independent tourists pride themselves on being able to plot out and partake in adventures of their own design -- rising to challenges known and unknown.
BUSINESS
Apr 20, 2004

Groups agree on e-commerce standardization

A nonprofit body hoping to create a standardized base for electronic commerce transactions in East Asia said Monday it has signed an agreement with a state-run Chinese organization for joint research and development activities.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji