Search - people

 
 
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2001

Monitors to attend East Timor poll

Japan will dispatch 14 monitors to East Timor between late August and early September to assist international monitoring of the election late this month for the territory's constituent assembly, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2001

. . . And then there's angst

Ghost World Rating: * * * * 1/4 Director: Terry Zwigoff Running time: 111 minutes Language: EnglishNow showing If you're lucky, you made it all the way through high school as one of the in-group, one of the "normal" kids. The next least-bad fate was to not fit in, but remain convinced that somehow...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 1, 2001

Lords of the underground

Asian Underground -- as spurious a genre as there's ever been -- has been hot for a while now, but most people would be hard-pressed to name any pioneers of this sound other than Talvin Singh. For those looking to dig deeper, though, August provides a good opportunity to catch two of the more interesting...
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2001

Insurance covers fireworks

Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co. recently announced that it has begun marketing an insurance policy to cover accidents at fireworks displays.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2001

Tokyo education board leans toward contentious text for disabled children

The Tokyo metropolitan education board has tentatively decided to adopt a contentious history textbook penned by nationalist historians for use in public schools for disabled children beginning next April, sources close to the board said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2001

Tourism abroad expected to grow 3.3% this year

The number of Japanese tourists going overseas in 2001 will increase 3.3 percent from last year to hit a record 18.4 million, the nation's largest travel agency predicted in an annual report released Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 30, 2001

Mr. Kim goes to Moscow

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is on his way for two-day talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. A special train carrying him and his entourage arrived in the Russian Far East Thursday en route to Moscow. This is the first Moscow trip by a North Korean head of state since Mr. Kim's father, the...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Jul 30, 2001

Is yellow journalism in vogue again?

Why do so many foreign commentators feel they can get away with anything they say about Japan?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 29, 2001

The added cost of convenience

If you've got a rumbling in your tummy but little time or money, what could be better than a bento (boxed lunch) from the nearest convenience store?
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jul 29, 2001

Realpolitik outlook unites Putin and Bush

Why the honeymoon? This is a question an inquisitive person might ask when informed by the media that the second meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin had been a smashing success — like the first one a month ago. After a cold spring full of spy scandals,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 29, 2001

Talking about the weather is no longer so boring

We tend to take weather forecasts with a grain of salt. Some people leave their umbrellas at home unless the probability of precipitation is over, say, 40 percent, while others keep a collapsible in their bag at all times because they don't know what to believe. We know it's raining because we are getting...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jul 29, 2001

Crossover ups and downs

Experiments in combining Western and Japanese instruments have been made since the Meiji Period, from the tentative early attempts to mix Japanese instruments in Western-style compositions to the recent bold, anything-goes usage of electronic, jazz and popular musical styles with hogaku. Some of the...
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jul 29, 2001

Hit the sweet spot with eel on the grill

Hunting up and down side-street stalls during the annual Gion Festival, I was looking for one thing. Okonomiyaki pancakes, griddle-fried yakisoba noodles and even little charred yakitori chicken skewers are fine for your average summer festival, but wasting your time on such trivialities at this Kyoto...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jul 29, 2001

A hot tip for you cool cats

Like many of the proprietors of Tokyo's mini-live houses, Mashimo Mitsuo's first passion was music. Though these days he will deny any skill with a soprano sax, his regular customers wink and tell me otherwise. Of course, Mashi (as everyone calls him) doesn't deny having been the sound engineer at the...
COMMENTARY
Jul 28, 2001

Policy priorities need balance

The nation goes to the polls Sunday for the Upper House election, which in essence is a battle between the coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party on the one hand and the opposition group of the Democrats, Liberals, Communists and Social Democrats on the...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 28, 2001

David Dinen

ST HELENA -- The RMS St. Helena stayed tied up dockside in Cardiff, South Wales, for four days beyond her scheduled departure date. When eventually she sailed, she was hit by a Force 9 gale and unexpectedly high swells in the Bristol Channel. Most passengers, many of the crew and even the ship's doctor...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2001

Jihad-inspired bloodletting in Kashmir stifles all peace moves

NEW DELHI -- Recent massacres in Kashmir share one feature: they are massacres of innocents, of men, women and children who have no political affiliations or aspirations. Their only crime was that they chose to live in Kashmir or happen to be passing through the state.
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2001

No more compromises on Kyoto

The Kyoto Protocol, which was once pushed to the edge of collapse, has barely survived. On Monday delegates to the U.N. climate talks in Bonn — the sixth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP6) to the Framework Convention on Climate Change — reached a last-minute agreement on rules for implementing...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2001

U.K. politics interferes with euro issue

LONDON -- It is a subject that most pragmatic politicians in Britain, including the prime minister and the front-runner for the leadership of the Conservative opposition, would prefer to ignore. Since the Tories were led toward electoral defeat in June by their obsession about Europe, the political establishment...
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2001

Missing the target on small arms

A United Nations conference last weekend approved a historic agreement to fight global trafficking in small arms. Despite years of preparation, agreement hinged on last-minute negotiations, largely to meet U.S. objections. Fortunately, delegates understood the magnitude of the problem and put progress...
CULTURE / Art
Jul 25, 2001

The misanthropic genius of Ensor

Living in densely populated cities, we survive by ignoring the crowd, by refusing to acknowledge those forced into physical proximity with us. The artist, however, is excluded from this luxury. He is expected to be aware of everything around him, including the seething mass of humanity. The etchings...
CULTURE / Art
Jul 25, 2001

Labyrinth of Bombay

An exhibition of paintings and installations by Indian artist Atul Dodiya, depicting the kaleidoscopic changes to the city of Mumbai (Bombay), is being held at The Japan Foundation Forum in Akasaka, Tokyo.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 24, 2001

Signs of the cross in China

LOU GUAN TAI, China There is only one way into the pagoda, through a small window 10 meters above ground. Climbing the walls would likely land me behind bars: The building is around 1,300 years old and leans as prominently as the Tower of Pisa -- no doubt a result of an earthquake 500 years ago.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 24, 2001

Religious sites, relics indicate Christ beat Buddha to Japan

In 1949, former Kyoto University professor Sakae Ikeda wrote a letter in a Japanese newspaper requesting help. "Whoever may want to help reintroduce Nestorianism . . . to Japan . . . is requested to write me," the letter pleads.
COMMENTARY
Jul 23, 2001

'Fair' easier said than done

LONDON -- The term "fair competition" is a word like "motherhood." We all regard it as desirable and a good thing. But it is an economic proposition that is not easily attainable, and if it is achieved can only be maintained by constant vigilance. Some of those who pay lip service to the concept show...
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jul 22, 2001

Gently add mom's miso, while stirring in humility

Last week while the kami-san was ringing up a customer's bill, I happened to glance down at the scrawled notepad where she keeps track of a table's order — a list of all the food and drink consumed.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 22, 2001

Fighting the good fight for all

In the pantheon of Japan's fictional action heroes, it would be hard to find one better known or loved than Ultraman.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 22, 2001

The song remains . . .

One of the biggest smash hit songs of the year, bellowed in karaoke rooms across the nation, is "Ashita ga Arusa."
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 22, 2001

A many-splendored world of tofu

Tofu is cooling, tofu is healthy and, best of all, tofu is cheap. And suddenly this sultry summer season, tofu is also totally trendy. Just like Shigezo Syoutou, in fact. Such is its popularity, it took us three attempts to snare a reservation at this laid-back basement dining-bar, despite the location...
COMMUNITY
Jul 20, 2001

Anpanman, the gentle hero

We had been warned in advance. It usually comes at around the age of 11/2, we heard, so at 20 months Alena was, if anything, a little late, but when it came it was with the force of religious conversion.

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