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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2005

Give them what they want

When Paul Baron moved to Tokyo three years ago, he was excited to explore the city's vast art world as he had been an avid follower of art events while studying graphic design in London. There was only one problem: Where to find out what was going on. It should have been easy; it should have all been...
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2005

Disneyland attendance fell during expo

The Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea amusement parks had a total of 11.66 million visits in the six months through September, down 3.1 percent from a year earlier, amid the just-ended Aichi World Expo, according to operator Oriental Land Co.
EDITORIALS
Oct 5, 2005

When numbers don't add up

of a Japanese unit of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Group were arrested last month on suspicion of falsifying accounting reports of Kanebo Ltd., a maker of sundries, food products and pharmaceuticals. If these CPAs are found guilty of violating the Securities and Exchange Law, the credibility of the nation's...
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2005

That new car smell -- a standard, harmful feature

Anyone who's pulled away from the dealer's lot in a shiny, new sedan knows the seductive scent of fresh plastic, paint and upholstery that evokes a rush of pride and consumer satisfaction.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 2, 2005

Sheets a key player for Tigers in pennant-winning season

Congratulations to the Hanshin Tigers on winning their second Central League pennant in three years. The victory was a true team effort highlighted by a potent offensive attack, a balanced pitching staff and clever use of an adequate pool of talent by manager Akinobu Okada.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 2, 2005

Timeless complement of form and function

INSPIRED SHAPES: Contemporary Designs for Japan's Ancient Crafts, by Ori Koyama, translated by Charles Whipple, photographs by Mizuho Kuwata. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2005, 112 pp., 3,900 yen (cloth). Life in urban Japan is so suffused with artificial, factory-produced materials that the soul can...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 2, 2005

The looking glass of Chinese history

MIRRORING THE PAST: The Writing and Use of History in Imperial China, by On-cho Ng and Q. Edward Wang. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 307 pp., $50 (cloth). It was the 19th-century English historian E.A. Freeman who observed that "history is past politics, and politics is present history."...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 1, 2005

Ando, Suguri set for NHK Cup

Figure skaters Miki Ando, Fumie Suguri and Yukina Ota will appear at the NHK Cup International meet in December, the Japan Skating Federation said Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2005

U.S. eight years behind on rent for embassy

The United States hasn't paid the rent for its embassy in Tokyo since 1998, according to a government document released by the Cabinet on Friday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2005

Can a watchdog watch itself?

The Tokyo Stock Exchange's plan to go public in fiscal 2005 (ending next March 31) seems unlikely to go smoothly as the Financial Services Agency opposes the plan. At issue is a debate over whether the bourse can continue to properly execute its public role as a watchdog over the stock market after going...
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2005

Government shaves civil servants' salaries 0.1%

The government decided Wednesday to cut the annual salary of civil servants by an average of 4,000 yen, or 0.1 percent, in the current fiscal year through next March, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 29, 2005

Communal individuals

World-famous sculptor Antony Gormley has spent the last 25 years "infecting" public spaces with sculptures that transform viewers' imagination and challenge their preconceptions. In "Children's Field," a Gormley-inspired community art project produced by the American School in Japan (ASIJ) and A.R.T....
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2005

Efforts at 'Aichi Expo diplomacy' reap meager results

Japan's hopes that the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture would help resolve its diplomatic issues with other countries, especially China, failed to achieve significant results as the fair ended its six-month run Sunday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2005

Chubu economy's future seen bright with boost from expo

NAGOYA -- As Nagoya's big coming-out party winds down, thoughts turn inevitably to what's next. The issue of how the prefecture can capitalize on the Aichi Expo is on everyone's mind.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 27, 2005

Plusminuszero cordless phone, Nendo's Skiima, Toshi Iwai's Tenori-On, Monacca's Bag-Kaku

In the world of product design, we've finally come to a point where features have seemingly attained a certain level of parity. Gone are the days when detailed specs ruled, and bigger (brighter, louder, faster) was better. The focus has now shifted toward the promotion of an object's outward design --...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2005

Aichi World Expo comes to a close on a sunny note

NAGAKUTE, Aichi Pref. -- The Aichi World Expo ended Sunday with gorgeous weather, record crowds and a sense of a job well done among organizers and participants.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 25, 2005

Carp may bring in ex-player Brown to try and revive club

Hiroshima Carp manager Koji Yamamoto has announced he will be stepping down at the end of this season, and press reports have indicated the leading candidate to replace him is former Carp infielder-outfielder Marty Brown.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 25, 2005

Corruption and intrigue in high places

THE ASSASSIN'S TOUCH, by Laura Joh Rowland. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 2005, 312 pp., $24.95 (cloth). BEAUTIFUL GHOSTS, by Eliot Pattison. New York: St. Martin's Minotaur, 360 pp., 2004, $24.95 (cloth). A day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast, I fired off an e-mail message...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 25, 2005

Women of poetic substance

PATHWAYS, by Edith Shiffert, New York: White Pine Press, 2005, 115 pp., $14 (paper). A WOMAN'S LIFE, by Harue Aoki, Tokyo: Shichigatsudo, 2004, 120 pp., 1,200 yen (paper).
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 25, 2005

What could have been from what was seen

KANNANI AND DOCUMENT OF FLAMES: Two Japanese Colonial Novels, by Katsuei Yuasa, translated and with an introduction and critical afterword by Mark Driscoll. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2005, 193 pp., $19.95 (paper). The odd rightwing extremist excepted, it is difficult to find anyone...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 24, 2005

Despite popularity of Premier League, fans have complaints

LONDON -- Appropriately enough for the country that pioneered football hooliganism during the 1970s and 1980s, English supporters are revolting, though, this time in a more positive way.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2005

Visa violations dropping but fingerprint revival eyed

Visa violators in Japan are on the wane, but the fingerprinting of foreigners may soon be revived, according to the 2005 Immigration Control report released Tuesday by the Immigration Bureau.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2005

NHK fee boycott to tune of 50 billion yen

NHK anticipates up to around 50 billion yen in revenue loss for the fiscal year ending next March because many viewers are refusing to pay fees to the public broadcaster, NHK President Genichi Hashimoto said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2005

20% of Japanese aged 65 or older

Twenty percent of the population, or 25.56 million people, were aged 65 or older as of Thursday, up 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier, government statistics showed Sunday.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past