Search - 2004

 
 
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 29, 2004

Tenuous but important movie links

THE CINEMA OF JAPAN AND KOREA, edited by Justin Bowyer, preface by Jinhee Choi. London: Wallflower Press, 2004, 258 pp., 24 b/w photos, £45.00 (cloth), £16.99 (paper). The linking of two national cinemas is, as the editor of this interesting collection of essays points out, problematic. Geographical...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2004

Golden efforts belie risk-averse image

WASHINGTON -- A stereotype exists in the United States and elsewhere: Japanese are risk-avoiders while Americans are risk-takers.
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2004

Refighting the Medicare budget battle

WASHINGTON -- Medicare, which offers health-care coverage for America's elderly, faces trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities. Unfortunately, legislators are constantly tempted to increase benefits and thus spending. They should resist their inner darkness as the Bush administration attempts to...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 29, 2004

Media nets gold in ensuring Olympic success

Anyone who has a TV could see that the attendance at the Athens Olympics has been spotty at best. Scalpers have been practically giving tickets away.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2004

Board OKs nationalist-bent history text

The Tokyo metropolitan board of education adopted a controversial, nationalist-inspired junior high school history textbook Thursday that critics say glosses over Japan's wartime atrocities.
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2004

Debt-servicing costs poised to creep back above 20 trillion yen

Japan's debt-servicing costs are expected to total 20.24 trillion yen in fiscal 2005, up 2.67 trillion yen from the current fiscal year's initial budget, Finance Ministry officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2004

Board OKs nationalist-bent history text

The Tokyo metropolitan board of education adopted a controversial, nationalist-inspired junior high school history textbook Thursday that critics say glosses over Japan's wartime atrocities.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2004

Apathy sustains hunger toll

ROME -- Imagine for a moment the thousands of proud athletes from around the world that paraded through the Olympic Stadium in Athens during the spectacular opening ceremony last week. Now, imagine this: In the next 12 hours, hunger and malnutrition will take the lives of more men, women and children...
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2004

Dentsu profit up in first quarter

Dentsu Inc. said Monday that its group operating profit in the April-June quarter jumped 90.3 percent from a year earlier to 10.18 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2004

Wholesale gas prices to rise as much as 4 yen next month

Oil distributors plan to raise wholesale gasoline prices by 3 yen to 4 yen, effective in September, in line with recent surges in crude oil prices, according to industry sources.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 22, 2004

Sexual, textual and visual boundaries

IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (BFI Film Classics), by Joan Mellen. London: British Film Institute, 2004, 88 pp., with photographs. £8.99 (paper).
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2004

Trade wrangle lifts Latham

SYDNEY -- Sick, sick, sick. That's the only way to describe Australia's belated acceptance of a free-trade agreement with the United States. And if Canberra later gets indigestion from biting off more than it can chew in the deal, don't expect American drug companies to come to the rescue.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 18, 2004

Questions of balance

Fahrenheit 9/11 Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Michael Moore Running time: 122 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The Fog of War Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Errol Morris Running time: 107 minutes Language: English Opens...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2004

Pullout of U.S. forces could skip Japan

Despite the U.S. announcement Monday that it will withdraw up to 70,000 service members from Asia and Europe over the next decade, America's military presence in Japan might not be part of that scenario, according to government officials.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2004

Pullout of U.S. forces could skip Japan

Despite the U.S. announcement Monday that it will withdraw up to 70,000 service members from Asia and Europe over the next decade, America's military presence in Japan might not be part of that scenario, according to government officials.
EDITORIALS
Aug 17, 2004

No need for gloom over economy

Japan's current economy can be likened to a patient nearly recovering from illness: He is allowed to go outside the hospital when weather permits, but he is confined to bed again to rest if he is exposed to cold air and feels poorly.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 15, 2004

Butoh dance with and of death

KAZUO OHNO'S WORLD: From Without and Within, by Kazuo Ohno and Yoshito Ohno, translated by John Barrett, introduction by Toshio Mizohata. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2004, 344 pp., 154 b/w photos, $34.95 (paper). The spotlight focuses on an old woman, presumably a member of the audience, as...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 15, 2004

A pair of terrifying glances back in time

THE TOKYO ZODIAC MURDERS, by Soji Shimada, translated by Ross and Shika Mackenzie. Tokyo: IBC Publishing, 2004, 252 pp., 2,400 yen (cloth). THE SPECIAL PRISONER, by Jim Lehrer. New York: Random House, 2000, 230 pp., $23.95 (cloth).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 14, 2004

Optimists head out to sea, next Olympics in view

You must forgive the fact I am not straying far from the ocean side this summer, but interesting people just keeping falling into my lap within kilometers of my home. Take this week, for example. . . .
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2004

Robot suit a culmination of sci-fi dreams

TSUKUBA, Ibaraki Pref. -- Scientist Yoshiyuki Sankai was fascinated in his childhood by robots depicted in the U.S. literary classic "I, Robot" as well as Japanese comic books such as "Cyborg 009" and "Tetsujin No. 28."
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2004

Robot suit a culmination of sci-fi dreams

TSUKUBA, Ibaraki Pref. -- Scientist Yoshiyuki Sankai was fascinated in his childhood by robots depicted in the U.S. literary classic "I, Robot" as well as Japanese comic books such as "Cyborg 009" and "Tetsujin No. 28."
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 13, 2004

Time to put distractions aside and get season under way

LONDON -- The buildup to what promises to be the closest, most exciting Premiership ever has been overshadowed by the Football Association soap opera, the Patrick Vieira saga and more recently Michael Owen's propoesed move to Real Madrid.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 12, 2004

Environment groups who do it in the streets

Hester Van Hooven Ward is pretty hard to miss when she greets you on the street with a wave and a big smile, then launches into her "rap": "Hi! How are you? Do you have a minute for the environment today?" she calls out to strangers.
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2004

Kanebo incurs sales fall after cosmetics spinoff

Struggling Kanebo Ltd. said Wednesday its group sales in the April-June first quarter of fiscal 2004 fell 26.8 percent to 76.56 billion yen, mainly because it sold its cosmetics division to a new entity formed with governmental aid.
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2004

Most breweries report strong first half

Three of Japan's four largest breweries have reported strong earnings for the first six months of 2004 despite a continued fall in beer sales.
SOCCER / J. League
Aug 11, 2004

Verdy inks midfielder Hiroyama

Tokyo Verdy has acquired former Japan midfielder Nozomi Hiroyama on a contract running through the end of the season, the J. League first division side said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Aug 11, 2004

U.S. changes challenge Japan

The transformation of U.S. forces overseas, which is now under way, will have a profound effect on Japan's security policies.

Longform

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