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COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 28, 2002

Waiting for the ultimate exchange gift

Perhaps the first disappointment most kids experience while growing up is discovering the truth regarding Santa Claus. For me, it was the same.
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2002

Resuscitate local economies

Japan's economy for 2003 poses inevitable questions. Will deflation get worse or better? How far will banks go to shed their dud loans? If the United States goes to war with Iraq, how will it affect the economy? In these increasingly uncertain times, forecasting is a tricky business. Offering stock answers...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 27, 2002

Roberto Carlos was best player of 2002

LONDON -- As the year winds down we are seeing a plethora of honors being handed out to different soccer players around the globe. Here are my picks for some alternative awards for 2002:
COMMENTARY
Dec 26, 2002

A rising China lifts Asian economies

HONG KONG -- For many years now, a debate has raged over the political and economic implications of a rising China, both for the region and for the world. That China is rising is not a matter of debate.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 26, 2002

Thirty years of environmental progress, but . . .

Yet another year is tugging impatiently at the sleeve of closure and within days will be history.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 26, 2002

Arcade gem returns to glory

This is the time for bringing games back from retirement. Sega came out with new a new "Shinobi." Konami has a new "Contra." And Tecmo has brought back two great blasts from the past: "Ninja Gaiden" and "Rygar."
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 25, 2002

Ennosuke masters Mishima's extravagant vision

The Kabukiza Theater in Ginza concludes the year in style, with outstanding performances by the versatile Ichikawa Ennosuke, 63, and members of his troupe.
EDITORIALS
Dec 24, 2002

Afghan revival depends on security

Sunday marked the first anniversary of the establishment of an interim government in Afghanistan following the collapse of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime. Earlier this month, Mr. Hamid Karzai, head of the transitional government that took over from an interim administration in June, noted...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2002

A healthy contrast to politics in Beijing

HONG KONG -- The openness, mutual personal criticism and freedom displayed during the latest Taiwanese election were a refreshing contrast to the secrecy, sycophancy and control displayed before, during and after the Chinese Communist Party's 16th Congress.
COMMENTARY
Dec 23, 2002

Fundamentalism twists ethics of religions

LONDON -- Because of the events of 9/11 and al-Qaeda terrorism, we have all become deeply concerned about the malevolent aspects of Islamic fundamentalism. It is not always easy to remember that most followers of Islam are moderate and tolerant.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 22, 2002

Trial judge completes the vicious circle in curry-poisoning case

Exactly four years ago in this column, I wrote that, egged on by the media, which had already tried and convicted Masumi Hayashi for murder in the Wakayama Curry Poisoning Incident even before she was arrested, "the police . . . proudly announced that they have enough circumstantial evidence to convince...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Dec 22, 2002

Exploring musical compositions' demarcation lines

What is the difference between a track and a song? To the average listener, nothing -- the terms are often used interchangeably.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 22, 2002

Kazuko Shiraishi does it her way

KAZUKO SHIRAISHI: Let Those Who Appear. Translated by Samuel Grolmes and Yumiko Tsumura. New Directions, 2002, 49 pp., $12.95 (paper). I've met the poet Kazuko Shiraishi three times, on each of her visits to New York. Shiraishi made her latest trip to this city in the spring of 2002, to mark the publication...
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2002

Continuity and strain in South Korea

The election of Mr. Roh Moo Hyun as South Korea's next president promises continuity in Seoul. His victory is a triumph for departing President Kim Dae Jung, who launched Mr. Roh's Grand Millennium Party and inaugurated many of the policies that Mr. Roh inherits. Mr. Roh's pledge to continue Mr. Kim's...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 20, 2002

Vin Picoeur: Le BBQ Franco-Japonais

'Tis the season to be merry, but too many office parties, bonenkai drink fests and lavish yearend dining can quickly take their toll. In the face of hectic schedules and chronic overindulgence, the only remedy is to slow down and concentrate on the fundamentals -- good, satisfying food; fine wine; and...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 19, 2002

Grant cut after bad scene on team plane

NEW YORK -- Horace Grant always speaks his mind, though, at times, it becomes muffled by mystery. As a principal beam of four NBA championships, he is notorious for confronting teammates and chopping on coaches, not always for attribution.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Dec 19, 2002

An oasis on a trail of luck

Winter sees Shinobazu Pond in Ueno come alive with winged visitors from the North. Pintail and wigeons arrive early in September, followed by shovelers, mallards, pochard and tufted ducks arriving by November. Along with the resident gallinules, spot-billed ducks and cormorants -- and the perennial sea...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Dec 19, 2002

Ride a dream wave

Kelly Slater is a real surfer -- the high-profile world champion credited with helping reform the sport's image. But "Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer," a new game for PlayStation2, Xbox, and GameCube from Activision, is not about real surfing.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 18, 2002

Hot stove ponders fate of Rose, Matsui, Nakamura

This is the final "Baseball Bullet-In" for 2002, so let's take a look at, and make some comments about, topics on the hot stove of baseball news on both sides of the Pacific.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 18, 2002

Under the skin of strangers

Goldsmith's College is generally associated with the wave of Young British Artists (or YBA, as they are famously known) that rocked the contemporary art scene during the 1990s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 18, 2002

Asia, in a nutshell

In Douglas Adams' future dystopia novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a giant computer finally determines the answer to the meaning of life: 42. The joke was that nobody knew the question.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 17, 2002

Getting cash reimbursed for medical costs

We lost one of the anchors of the international community with the sudden and unexpected death of Corky Alexander, longtime Tokyo resident, editor of The Tokyo Weekender and a dear friend.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2002

Check the spread of missiles

The seizure and release of a North Korean ship carrying Scud missiles bound for Yemen highlights two serious international issues: Pyongyang's readiness to export destabilizing weapons and the proliferation of ballistic missiles. The ship and its cargo were released because there was no apparent violation...
MORE SPORTS
Dec 17, 2002

Ooft outlines plans for development of improving Reds

Former Japan manager Hans Ooft completed his first regular season with the Urawa Reds at the end of last month.
COMMUNITY
Dec 17, 2002

TELL counseling program 2003

Tokyo English Life Line (TELL) is offering a 60-hour counseling training program for volunteer telephone counselors. TELL is a 365 days-a-year free counseling line for English speakers and has been serving the international community in Japan since 1973.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Dec 16, 2002

Sicily's sobering message for grandparents

SYRACUSE, Sicily -- Sicily is an ideal place to ponder the fate of civilizations and to reflect on the future. This island off the boot of Italy, with a population of 5 million, has been a crossroads of civilizations for almost three millennia. The Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Normans, Catalans, French,...
COMMUNITY
Dec 15, 2002

Covering their tracks on the way to war

To obfuscate the waging of war on several fronts simultaneously may seem an unlikely and incredible ambition. However, as more and more information surrounding Japan's attacks on Pearl Harbor and elsewhere in the Pacific on Dec. 7, 1941, comes to light, it becomes ever more clear that its military rulers...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 15, 2002

Chushingura Chushingura

Snow has been the backdrop to some of Tokyo's most colorful and epoch-making events.
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Dec 15, 2002

Ann Lewis in driver's seat with new single

What happens to idols after their popularity has waned?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Dec 15, 2002

Close encounter with a UFO navigator

By the time you read this, Raphael Sebbag will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of his arrival in Japan. He will not only be able to reflect on how much he's seen change in that time, but he will also be able to take responsibility for having engineered some of those changes as a DJ in Tokyo's club...

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