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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2004

Child abuse breeds excuses, finger-pointing

School officials only reported the "possibility of abuse" and failed to take further action, the local child consultation center did not take the alert seriously and believed the case was one of truancy, while neighbors tuned out what they suspected was happening.
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2004

Come clean on Iraq

Recent admissions by top U.S. officials that Iraq might not have had weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, demand an explanation. Questions must be answered and the damage done to both U.N. and U.S. credibility must be repaired.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 28, 2004

Nothing lost in Johnnys R+J translation

Since Shakespeare got through the notoriously long wait for foreigners at Japanese immigration and started to settle down and assimilate the local culture, what sort of changes have been wrought on him by his extended sojourn on these shores?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2004

Play democracy for me

Kono yo no Soto E Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Junji Sakamoto Running time: 123 minutes Language: Japanese Opens Feb. 7 [See Japan Times movie listings] Movies, producer Naoya Narita once told me, are news. The problem is, real world news moves fast -- and films often have a hard...
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2004

Defuse the debt bomb

Japan's public debt continues to swell ominously, yet there is no reassuring long-term scenario for deficit reduction. The government's latest medium-term outlook for economic and fiscal reform amounts to a tacit admission that the balanced budget is, at best, a distant goal.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2004

Boys allegedly forced man to drown

Two 16-year-old youths were arrested Monday on suspicion of murdering a homeless man in June by forcing him to jump into a Tokyo river and drown, police said.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 27, 2004

Saving on bills and lookingfor work

Saving energy K.K. writes: "I seem to recall Jean Pearce saying she put plastic sheets on her windows to keep rooms warm, but once they're there I guess you can't open the windows easily. Do you know anything about this subject? Also, where could I buy such sheets?"
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2004

Protesters rally in Tokyo against dispatch of troops to Iraq

Thousands of protesters gathered Sunday in Tokyo to demonstrate against the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to Iraq on the eve of the government's expected announcement that the go order would be given to send a core ground unit.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2004

Fog of politics obscures war

For most Americans, World War II began Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor. Europeans date the beginning of the war to the 1939 invasion of Poland. Few Westerners appreciate the length and savagery of the Sino-Japanese war that was already in full force even by then.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jan 26, 2004

Foreseeing the future -- and ignoring it

NEW YORK -- U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy has recently reminded us why the U.S. forces decided not to go all the way to Baghdad during the Persian Gulf War. Addressing the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, he pointed out that it was none other than the first President Bush and...
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2004

Dealing with the new South Korea

The resignation of Foreign Minister Yoon Young Kwan has raised concerns about South Korea's foreign policy. His replacement by veteran diplomat Ban Ki Moon should help allay some of those fears. There will be no abrupt shifts in Seoul. Nevertheless, the shuffle is an indication of the changes at work...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 25, 2004

Embracing the beauty and the beast

The Chicago band Califone and Tucson-based singer-songwriter Howe Gelb will be coming to Japan next month to do a club tour together. Both artists record for the same Chicago indie, Thrill Jockey, which has a licensing deal with the Japanese company Headz, and they both happen to have time to kill in...
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2004

Ruling bloc, DPJ to push sanctions bill

The ruling coalition and the main opposition party agreed Friday to push legislation through the Diet early next month that will enable Japan to impose economic sanctions on North Korea on its own.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2004

Mercury plunges across archipelago, paralyzing traffic, trains, airplanes

Cold air over Japan brought subzero temperatures to many parts of the archipelago Friday morning, as blizzards paralyzed traffic in northern regions and areas on the Sea of Japan coast.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Jan 24, 2004

2003 -- Year of the Compilation

It began in Japan with a nasty flu spawned in an overflowing crowd at the countdown party. Right off the bat, 2003 had all the makings of a year that would never get off the ground.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2004

Samawah area safe for troops, GSDF pair back from Iraq say

Two members of a Ground Self-Defense Force advance team to Iraq arrived back in Tokyo on Friday and reported to the government that the southern part of the country is safe enough for deployment of the main GSDF troop body.
COMMUNITY
Jan 24, 2004

Custom-made 'samue' fit tallest, widest, largest

So many foreign customers asked the owner of Good Day Books in central Tokyo where they could buy the traditional clothing she and her brother wore for work that she put on her thinking cap. "Samue" -- originally designed as work clothes for Buddhist monks -- are made in Japanese sizes only; even if...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 23, 2004

Saha saga just goes to show what a funny old game soccer is

LONDON -- "Read my lips -- Louis Saha is not for sale" -- Fulham owner and chairman Mohamed Fayed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2004

Risky North Korea rescue left unfinished

Desperate to save his sons and other relatives, a 56-year-old escapee from North Korea hatched a bold plan to free them by smuggling himself back into the country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 23, 2004

Izu reveals its 'silver lining'

For most Japanese, mention of the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture conjures up an image of a coast lined with onsen (hot-spring) resorts and blessed with good seafood, drawing hordes of visitors from the Tokyo area.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2004

Group urges landlords to accept foreign tenants

Finding a place to live is one of the biggest difficulties foreign residents of Japan face, and one of the main reasons is that landlords are reluctant to accept them as tenants.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2004

199 drunk-driving verdicts linked to faulty breathalyzer

The National Police Agency said Thursday it will re-examine 199 drunken driving cases due to concerns that faulty breathalyzers may have been used as a basis for convictions.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2004

Book to immortalize slain envoy

A series of reports on Iraq written by a Japanese diplomat killed in an ambush there last year will go on sale in book form Friday, a Tokyo-based publisher said Wednesday.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 22, 2004

The 'shitagidorobo': from criminal to fashion critic

It's not something that's widely advertised, but Japan is home to a massive shitagi-bunka (underwear culture). The most demure and modest of women will often be the owners of a collection that would put Frederick's of Hollywood to abject shame. And it's no secret that lan-pabu ("lingerie pubs," in which...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2004

Hong Kong action ends up on the wrong flight

Bulletproof Monk Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Paul Hunter Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Hollywood takes a shot at B-grade Hong Kong action in "Bulletproof Monk." The difference between this picture and the hundreds...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2004

Fiction made real

I met with Kazuo Kuroki following the premiere of "Utsukushii Natsu Kirishima (Kirishima 1945)" at the Fukuoka International Film Festival in 2002. A native of Ebino, Miyazaki Prefecture, where the film was shot, Kuroki looked content with the warm response he had received from the Kyushu audience. Smartly...

Longform

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