Search - 2000

 
 
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 27, 2000

Hague climate change talks getting lost in niggling details

They say "the devil is in the details," and so it was at The Hague recently during negotiations of the sixth Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. Two weeks of stonewalling and hairsplitting, and we are really no closer to dealing with the global warming problem...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 26, 2000

Get ready for the Ichiro onslaught

Hold onto your hats. The contract agreement between the Seattle Mariners and Ichiro (Suzuki) promises to offer an exciting, fun time with a frenzied media circus, possible extra events, increased tourism and brisk souvenir sales, as the former Orix BlueWave outfielder and seven-time Pacific League batting...
JAPAN
Nov 23, 2000

Loophole-riddled graft bill passes

The House of Councilors on Wednesday passed a new antigraft law that expands the scope of illegal deeds by politicians and their state-paid secretaries but nevertheless leaves several loopholes.
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Nov 22, 2000

One more time

www.allgore.com "This day in Gore history: 1978 -- Al and Tipper go roller skating at the Y." OK, so it's not easy to parody someone void of personality.
CULTURE / Books
Nov 21, 2000

Beautiful poetry from the ashes of Hiroshima

BLACK FLOWER IN THE SKY: Poems of a Korean Bridegroom in Hiroshima, by Chong Ki-Sheok. Katydid Books, distributed by the University of Hawai'i, 2000, 79 pp., $20 (paper). As the war generation grows older, casting glances back on life, poetry of witness has become increasingly urgent. Perhaps time...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 21, 2000

Glimpses of long-lost Tokyo

MY ASAKUSA: Coming of Age in Prewar Tokyo. A Memoir, by Sadako Sawamura, translated by Norman E. Stafford and Yasuhiro Kawamura, with an author's note and a foreword by Taichi Yamada. Boston/Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000, 270 pp., $16.95 Sadako Sawamura was one of Japan's leading character actresses....
CULTURE / Books
Nov 21, 2000

From the mouths of babes: a myth

SPITTING IMAGE: Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Vietnam, by Jerry Lembcke. New York University Press, 2000, 280 pp., $18.95 (paper). My most lasting memory of the Vietnam War is the divisiveness it created in the small American town where I grew up. The nation was divided at every level. Even junior...
SUMO
Nov 20, 2000

Akebono king of Kyushu

Akebono, facing a potential playoff with No. 9 maegashira Kotomitsuki, overwhelmed fellow-yokozuna Musashimaru in the final bout of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday at Fukuoka International Center to take his 11th yusho with a 14-1 record.
COMMUNITY
Nov 19, 2000

A woman with universal appeal

Ines Ligron was not pleased with The Japan Times. In particular, she was unhappy with an editorial suggesting that the winners of the Miss Universe contest are "celebrities of the fluffier variety."
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 2000

Chaotic, comedic 'Ariadne' shows lighter side of Strauss

Wiener Staatsoper Oct. 22, Filippo Sanjust directing, Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting in Kanagawa Kenmin Hall -- "Ariadne auf Naxos" (libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 1874-1929; music by Richard Georg Strauss, 1864-1949) featuring Waldemar Kmentt, Peter Weber, Agnes Baltsa, Jon Villars, Geert Smits, Heinz...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2000

A history lesson for the litigants in Florida

HONG KONG -- It was with a sense of sickening dread that one heard, not the result of the U.S. presidential election, but the news that at least 50 high-powered (and highly priced) lawyers were hastening to the state of Florida on behalf of the Democratic Party, quickly followed by a similar squad representing...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2000

Generosity toward China faces tough test

The first sweeping review of Japan's generous official development assistance for China is under way within the government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, amid growing domestic criticism of such aid.
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2000

LDP may sack Mori to stay intact

Koichi Kato's revolt against Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has fueled growing sentiment within the Liberal Democratic Party that the unpopular Mori should step down to avert a crisis that could severely split the ruling party.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 15, 2000

Timeless tales reflect the times

SANSHO DAYU, by Dudley Andrew & Carole Cavanaugh. BFI Film Classic Series. London: British Film Institute, 2000, 80 pp., with b/w illustrations, $20. Kenji Mizoguchi's 1954 film, "Sansho Dayu" (Sansho the Bailiff), is based upon the well-known 1915 Ogai Mori narrative, which was in turn taken from...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 15, 2000

Textbooks in the service of the state

CENSORING HISTORY: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, Germany and the United States, edited by Laura Hein and Mark Selden. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2000, 301 pp., $24.95. History loomed over the recent visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji like a threatening storm cloud. But other than some scattered...
COMMENTARY
Nov 15, 2000

Right move, wrong reason

As U.S. President Bill Clinton was getting ready to head for Asia for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in Brunei, the White House confirmed that he would not be visiting North Korea on this trip after all, since the recent U.S.-North Korean missile talks in Kuala Lumpur, while "detailed,...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 15, 2000

Settle for a least bad worst-case scenario in Korea

AVOIDING THE APOCALYPSE: The Future of the Two Koreas, by Marcus Noland. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 2000, 431 pp., $22 (paper). The thaw on the Korean Peninsula continues. Every week, history is made: a meeting between Korean officials, a diplomatic breakthrough for North...
COMMUNITY
Nov 12, 2000

Welcome to WVE wines in fertile vintage year

Australian Philippa Davern and New Zealander Sarah-Kate Wilson have a lot in common, despite the difference in their ages. For one thing, they both love wine. For another -- not entirely disconnected -- they both have the capacity to fall with assured delicacy on their own two feet.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 11, 2000

Japan invited to play in World Cup

Japanese baseball officials said Friday they have received an offer from major league officials to play in the inaugural baseball World Cup tournament.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2000

Cabinet mixed on plan to slash ODA spending

Members of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Cabinet expressed mixed opinions Friday over a proposal by the ruling coalition's chief policymakers to slash spending on official development assistance.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2000

Women give each other boost at business forum

SASEBO, Nagasaki Pref. -- Female business leaders from 10 countries shared their experiences Friday and encouraged each other with the knowledge that their roles in business and society will be more important in the coming century.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2000

State pushes life science in draft of five-year plan

The government on Thursday compiled a draft of Japan's next five-year science and technology plans through fiscal 2005, emphasizing four fields, including life science and data communications, government officials said.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 9, 2000

MLB stars back on track

OSAKA -- Omar Vizquel's RBI single broke a scoreless deadlock in the seventh inning and Mike Sweeney doubled home two runs in the next frame Wednesday as the visiting major leaguers beat the Japanese All-Stars 5-1 in Game 5 of their eight-game exhibition series.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 9, 2000

Mets' Payton feels right at home in Japan

"Japan's been very, very good to me," New York Mets center fielder Jay Payton says with a laugh, doing his best impression of Chico Esquela of Saturday Night Live fame. "It's nice because I started the season here and I'm finishing up here."
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Nov 9, 2000

Tummy-warming marc and brandy

Today is the 11th anniversary of the big "Berlin Wall Bash," so let's clink and drink to that momentous event with, if you will, a white wine. I propose something German -- a riesling from Nierstein, a bone-dry Wurzberg Muller-Thurgau, or a sekt from Adolf Schmitt near Trier (excellent also with sushi)....
EDITORIALS
Nov 8, 2000

Reform is key to winning IT race

The world is gripped with IT fever. Despite linguistic differences, IT, shorthand for information technology, is a buzzword even here. It is believed to hold the key to the future development of the Japanese economy. That is why Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is leading the drive for an IT revolution. ...
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 8, 2000

Matsui, Ichiro golden

Outfielders Hideki Matsui of the Yomiuri Giants and Ichiro Suzuki of the Orix BlueWave were named to the Central and Pacific League "Golden Glove" teams on Tuesday for their stellar fielding in the 2000 season.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2000

Cyberspace expo to be tough on your mouse, not your feet

The government is preparing to launch a cyberspace exposition on the last day of 2000.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan