Search - about-us

 
 
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2002

It's not what Bush says but how he says it

HONOLULU -- The controversy swirling around President George W. Bush's foreign policy is remarkable for two things. The first is the consensus regarding its content. Observers generally agree that the Bush foreign policy is muscular, unilateralist and dominated by political realists who practice power...
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2002

Confessions from North Korea

SEOUL/PUSAN -- They say that a little bit of confession is good for the soul, but North Korea's sudden burst of religion is creating a moral dilemma for Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul. First, Pyongyang decides to come clean on the kidnapping of Japanese citizens, admitting to Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi...
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2002

All the news, period

Ever since news first met the Internet, informed observers have been predicting the death of print newspapers. When it didn't happen after people began retrieving their daily news with the help of Internet search engines, the sages said it would happen after the major newspapers launched their own online...
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Oct 20, 2002

Time will tell if Zico's approach will pay off

When a new coach comes in, a team changes in various parts accordingly. That applies in the case of the Japan national soccer team, with the arrival of Zico who took over from Philippe Troussier after the World Cup.
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
Oct 20, 2002

Scarcity not to blame for pain of hunger

In 1945, the year the vicious war ended, there was famine in Italy, Russia, Bengal, Burma and much of China; and yet there were unsellable surpluses of food in the United States, Canada and some Latin American countries. Products could have been shipped, stored and sold in quantities large enough to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2002

Thwarted prodigy scales the heights

In the world of popular classical music, few stars shine brighter than that of pianist Fujiko Hemming, whose debut CD, "La Campanella," has sold more than 900,000 copies worldwide and collected a Japan Gold Disc Award and numerous classical album of the year awards since its release in 1999.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2002

A bistro of his own

Tatsushi Shiokawa, 39, enrolled in 1991 at Le Cordon Bleu, Tokyo, where he was the only male student in his class. The following year he completed the three-part Classic Cycle -- then opened Bistro Campagne in Tokyo's Asakusabashi district.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 20, 2002

Personality professional tells young women to break mold

For Akiko Shimizu, director of the John Robert Powers School, getting the best out of her young students is not just her job, but a way to make herself more attractive.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 20, 2002

Turning into Japan's Everyman in a Nobel way

People who get selected to compete on Japanese trivia-based TV quiz shows are always getting asked questions about Japan's Nobel prizewinners. It's not as difficult as it sounds. Until two weeks ago, there were only 10 of them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2002

Bon Appetit!

Le Cordon Bleu. The name conjures up images of starched linen laid three-ply across a table, heavy silverware and plain white plates bearing artfully arranged food. "Cordon Bleu" was once synonymous with all that is best in cooking. And if, in these days of fusion cuisine, its image seems a little stuffy...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2002

Keeping tradition afloat

Outside, the air reeks of traffic fumes and it's the usual hurly-burly of inner-city Tokyo. But inside, in a small workshop abutting the Koto Ward Office in Toyo, the sweet scent of cedar fills the room. Two men work together, planing, sawing and chiseling golden-brown timbers into the elegant lines...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 20, 2002

Lessons from the kitchen

Keiko Sato, 34, studied at Le Cordon Bleu 2000-01, completing the three-part Classic Cycle. She now runs her own cooking studio in Shirokanedai, Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 20, 2002

A reality check for the relationship

U.S.-JAPAN RELATIONS IN A CHANGING WORLD, edited by Steven K. Vogel. Brookings Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 2002, 286 pp., $18.95 (cloth) The Japan-U.S. alliance is a remarkable achievement. The two countries are virtual mirror images of each other, and have, until recently, had relatively little...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 20, 2002

Apartment woes, life-or-death crises demystified

As proved by the Japanese government's successful lobbying efforts to retain the "Sea of Japan" on international maps to signify the body of water that separates the archipelago from the Korean Peninsula (South Korea wanted to change it to the "East Sea"), the Sea of Japan has an important value to all...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 20, 2002

When romancing medieval Japan, why stop at one?

ACROSS THE NIGHTINGALE FLOOR: Tales of the Otori (Book One), by Lian Hearn. Riverhead Books, 2002, 304 pp., $24.95 (cloth) For over a century, Asia has been a rich and enduring source of inspiration for fantasy and science fiction writers. Since James Hilton created the fantastic Himalayan utopia of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 20, 2002

Okinawan music's healing embrace

"I've always felt that my role in life is to heal people through my music," says Yuriko Ganeko, a 54-year-old Okinawan singer and sanshin player. Ganeko, who favors purple eye shadow, heavy perfume and hoop earrings, was recently in Tokyo to promote her newest album, "Uta Asobi (Song Play)."
EDITORIALS
Oct 19, 2002

Stunning news from North Korea

The world has puzzled over the significance of the almost complete news blackout that followed the visit of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly to North Korea earlier this month. Now we know the reason: North Korea admitted that it had a nuclear weapons development program, a violation of the...
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 19, 2002

Future uncertain for Petagine, Ramirez,

After almost all of his home runs, Roberto Petagine praises his Lord for giving him faith.
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2002

Japan's tail-chasing economy

With the economy still moribund after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's initial round of "structural reforms," we are now told that cleaning up the banking system will save the day.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2002

Bali blast brings war home to Australians

SYDNEY -- In the wake of the Bali bombing, Australia's relations with Indonesia, never much better than guardedly cordial at the best of times, have sunk to a new low.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 19, 2002

Kenka Matsuri: death and hairy butts

Butts! Hairy butts! That's all I could think of among the chaos of men in loincloths rushing around Shirahama in Himeji last weekend. I was there for the Kenka Matsuri, or Fighting Festival, at Matsubara Hachiman Shrine. The official name is the Nada Fighting Festival, perhaps because that is what the...
COMMENTARY
Oct 19, 2002

More restrictions on Hong Kong rights?

HONG KONG -- For five years, people in Hong Kong have been worrying about restrictions on their rights and freedoms that could result from laws on treason, secession, sedition and subversion, mandated by the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 19, 2002

T.W. Sudhakar

"Namaste" is the Indian greeting, traditionally used with a prayerful undercurrent. "Namaste India 2002" is a daylong Tokyo program that, for the last 20 years, has been offering Indian greetings to the people of Japan. Sponsored and supported by several influential organizations of both countries, the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 19, 2002

Crime writer racily exposes seamy side of Japan

It's a bit confusing when an author is called Guy Stanley but his card reads Stan Guy in English and Gai Stanri in katakana on the back.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 18, 2002

Soap maker gets healthy dose of mayo market

Some consumers unwittingly used mayonnaise to style their hair when, in the 1920s, this exotic condiment was first introduced in Japan.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 18, 2002

Eriksson latest victim of kiss-and-tell fast sell

LONDON -- After two months it is about time this column came up with a world exclusive. Apologies for the delay but I hope it was worth waiting for.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 18, 2002

Let's hear it for the big wa in a small country

Although we seem to have built an entire culture based on loathing of all things Japanese and admiration of all things foreign, scratch the surface of our inferiority complex and you'll find a streak of patriotism somewhere.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Oct 18, 2002

Stag beetle

* Japanese name: Miyamakuwagata * Scientific name: Lucanus maculifemoratus * Description: This is a large, reddish-black, heavily armed (and armored) beetle. Males have a fearsome but elegant pair of antlerlike jaws, about 15 mm long, with sharp teeth. Body length ranges from 43-72 mm. Females do not...
SUMO
Oct 17, 2002

Ozeki Asashoryu a quick study

One of the most gut-wrenching experiences Asashoryu has had to bear in his 22-year life didn't happen anywhere close to the sumo ring. It had nothing to do with adjusting to the hierarchical life of a sumo beya either.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person