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JAPAN
Apr 23, 2003

Japan's whale meat exceeds mercury density safety limits

Mercury levels in whales caught in Japan's coastal waters increase the further south the creatures are caught, with one specimen from Okinawa's Nago registering a mercury density more than 57 times the nation's provisional safety limit, according to a group of experts.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 19, 2003

The instant off switch -- it's all in your head

On the train, the guy to my left is telling a friend the following:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2003

Cerberus eyes Aozora for keeps

The Cerberus Group may hold on to a controlling stake in Aozora Bank for keeps in an effort to cement its position in Japan, according to James Danforth Quayle, an adviser for the U.S. investment fund and a member of Aozora Bank's board of directors.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 13, 2003

Black where they belong

Rewind to September 1986. Yasuhiro Nakasone, prime minister of a self-assured, economically powerful Japan, was taking swipes at American minorities -- especially African-Americans.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 13, 2003

Taking people as she finds them

Maki Tsuchie has been a television reporter and documentary film director in Okinawa for the past 10 years. Fully versed in the intricacies of U.S. and Japanese defense policy, she knows where the U.S. military stores depleted uranium and which U.S. troops in Okinawa have been sent to the Middle East....
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Apr 10, 2003

Can our kids get a healthy meal for less?

Would you pay 2,500 yen for a simple lunch on a battered tin tray? Of course not. For that kind of money, you could get a three-course luncheon served on fine china. But believe it or not, 2,500 yen is the cost of the lunch my kid eats at school every day. It's no wonder so many local governments have...
COMMENTARY
Apr 9, 2003

Outsiders neglectful as China hid SARS

HONG KONG -- Chinese officialdom continues to both avoid reality and to invent it. The Chinese people still suffer because of the absence of freedom of information. Ironically, Hong Kong residents are still receiving phone calls from friends and relatives in Guangdong, asking them what is going on in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2003

Taking it all back

Developing a "voice" of one's own is perhaps the ultimate achievement in music. As anyone who's ever touched an instrument or opened their mouth with the intention of expressing a musical idea knows, developing a voice is difficult to the point of being overwhelming. Conservatories, university music...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2003

A legend from Kyoto to Kerouac and way beyond

Gar Snyder is a legendary figure. The real-life original of Japhy Ryder -- traveling companion, friend and spiritual inspiration to the novelist Jack Kerouac -- he appears in that guise in Kerouac's 1959 novel, "The Dharma Bums." There, speaking as Ryder, he announces that, after study in the East, he...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 5, 2003

The hardest adjustment to Japan: a slippery topic

I don't mind putting my foot in my mouth. That's one way to keep it clean.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2003

Victim of prison guards angry at being ignored

After witnessing guards at Nagoya Prison frequently bullying inmates -- particularly the elderly or physically disabled -- a male prisoner sent a written complaint in October 2000 to then Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka.
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2003

Diet turbulence likely in second half

As the Diet moves into the second half of its 150-day regular session, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration appears headed for more difficult times, politically and economically. The first half ended without a major hitch. The fiscal 2003 government budget -- the most important legislative...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Apr 3, 2003

Indy Jones excavates action

"Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb," LucasArts' new game for Xbox, PC and PlayStation2, marks the triumphant return of the world's most famous adventurer/archaeologist.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 2, 2003

Thrilling theatrical polygamy

For American drama fans, the ultimate contemporary theater experience would be to have seen a Tennessee Williams play directed by the author; for Europeans, it would be to have caught a Samuel Beckett drama staged by the playwright. For Japanese theatergoers, the equivalent would be to have seen a Shuji...
COMMENTARY
Mar 31, 2003

U.S. coalition unnerves allies

SAN FRANCISCO -- Although the United States didn't go to the United Nations for explicit authorization of an attack against Iraq, the Bush administration never abandoned attempts to craft a multilateral coalition in support of those efforts. But this government's view of "multilateralism" differs from...
Events
Mar 30, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Foundation to screen women authors' films: The Japan Foundation Kyoto Office is inviting foreign residents to free weekly showings of Japanese films, starting at 2 p.m. each Wednesday in April at its facility in the city's Nakagyo Ward.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 30, 2003

A new 'cutting-edge town' for the world

A sprawling redevelopment complex sporting luxury apartments, movie theaters, art galleries and a museum will soon give Tokyo's seedy Roppongi entertainment district a cleaner, more cultured appearance that the developer hopes will turn it into an "ultimate destination" for travelers worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2003

Bovine absurdity is taking India by storm

MADRAS, India -- The Indian cow is not mad. But it has enough clout to cause insanity among the country's political classes, and even the masses.
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2003

A dirty war in Thailand

Last month the prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, declared war on drugs, vowing to rid his country of the scourge within three months. The goal is ambitious, if not impossible. Human rights groups reportedly express fear that the campaign has become reckless and dangerous; they claim that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 26, 2003

Life: the home movie, Japan: the video game

Two very different female video artists have brought pleasantly complementary exhibitions of their recent work to the Tokyo Opera City Gallery. Elija-Liisa Ahtila, 43, from Finland, and Japanese artist Tabaimo, 27, both opened with impressive solo efforts at the spacious Shinjuku gallery Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2003

Songs of oppressed now serve to inspire

War and oppression leave not only legacies of death and suffering, but throughout the ages the sorrow they have also inspired songs.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2003

Fukui weighs up asset risk options

BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui indicated Monday that he is willing to consider measures such as buying riskier assets from banks to help money flow into the economy, although he added that the central bank must tread lightly.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO
Mar 23, 2003

Some culture with your coffee?

KANAZAWA, Ishikawa Pref. -- As orderly creatures, Japanese generally have a fondness for numbers and happily assimilate the world in neat numerical packages. Of these, the triad has always beguiled. Japan has its Three Most Beautiful Landscapes, its Three Imperial Regalia, its Three Plants of Good Fortune...
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2003

Hayami says Jesus guided him through five-year ordeal

Outgoing Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami on Wednesday credited his faith in God for pulling him through a turbulent and difficult five-year term.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 19, 2003

Double the beauty and pain

The Kabukiza Theater celebrates the advent of spring by offering an attractive selection of kabuki plays and dance numbers with excellent casts, including the two renowned onnagata, Nakamura Shikan and Bando Tamasaburo.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 18, 2003

Kiwi pair hopes to put Kyushu rugby on map

Japan's new professional rugby league, the Top League, may not kick off until Sept. 13 but the 12 clubs involved are all in the process of finalizing their squads and coaching staffs for the inaugural season.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 2003

Politicians fail to fill predecessors' shoes

With tension building over Iraq as the United States steps up military preparations, North Korea's nuclear saber-rattling threatens stability in Northeast Asia. War fears are clouding economic prospects worldwide.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2003

Staring death in the eye

We sat motionless opposite each other. I was suspicious of the man opposite me, but bowed, as protocol required. And then, with lightning quickness, I loosened my sword from its scabbard and in one swift movement cut down my enemy. The blow delivered, I focused my entire attention on the lifeless form...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 16, 2003

Yoji Yamada

A director since 1961, with 77 films to his credit, Yoji Yamada, 71, is a Japanese film industry icon. His "Tora-san" series, about a wandering peddler who is forever falling in love, but never gets the girl, generated 48 hit installments -- and made Yamada the most successful Japanese director of his...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear