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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 23, 2002

The nature of the Zen mind

Zen gardens, those wonderful treasures of Japan, can be enjoyed in several ways: as pure abstract works of art; as representations of Zen principles; or as tools to transport one's mind from the cares of everyday life to a higher state of consciousness.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 23, 2002

The courage to endure

BAD ELEMENTS: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing, by Ian Buruma. Random House: New York, 2001. 367 pp. $27.95 (cloth) Are the Chinese hard-wired for authoritarian government? Is there a cultural barrier to democracy? Ian Buruma spends more space than warranted in answering these questions with...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2002

S. Korea makes semifinals

KWANGJU, South Korea — South Korea's World Cup dream continues in incredible fashion.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jun 23, 2002

Stand me for a cup of sake?

Almost everyone interested in sake wants to know where to drink great sake at cheap prices. Perhaps you don't always want to settle down for the evening in a nice traditional pub. Perhaps you just want to sample a few decent sake on the cheap or have a quick drink on the way home. Well, assuming you...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jun 23, 2002

You too can take the natto challenge

Several years ago NHK broadcast an exhaustive special on natto, containing more than you ever cared to know about that much-maligned sticky, stinky dish of fermented soybeans. One of the exciting pieces of information that NHK's crack investigative journalism revealed was the number of times required...
EDITORIALS
Jun 22, 2002

Diet apathetic on political ethics

The regular Diet session, which was extended on Wednesday for 42 days through July 31, appears headed for further turmoil. The arrest of Lower House member Muneo Suzuki on the same day, immediately following a unanimous vote accepting a court request for an arrest warrant, has removed a big thorn in...
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 22, 2002

South Korea's composure impresses Pele

YOKOHAMA -- Brazilian soccer legend Pele said that the ability of the South Korean players to handle the pressure from their home fans was one of the reasons that South Korea progressed further than Japan in the World Cup.
COMMENTARY
Jun 22, 2002

Media: bulwark of democracy

LONDON -- The British prime minister's chief of communications has publicly accepted that the overuse of "spin" in government has led to cynicism and that the emphasis should now be on policy and delivery. Most British observers would agree. But government ministers, who have spent much of their life...
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

Book offers anecdotal glimpse at those on the bench

Few Japanese outside the legal community may be able to name even a single Supreme Court justice. Lower court judges are equally anonymous.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 22, 2002

Ronaldinho goal sinks England

SHIZUOKA -- It was billed as the three R's (Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho) of Brazil against the defense and organization of the England side. Fortunately for Brazil, two of the famed R's showed up to send England packing after an absorbing 2-1 come from behind win at the Shizuoka Stadium on Friday....
Japan Times
JAPAN / MUSEUM MUSINGS
Jun 22, 2002

Sumida venue showcases accessories made from hawksbill turtle shells

Along the Sumida River in Tokyo's old "shitamachi" district, a small, no-frills museum with three generations of tradition behind it is waiting to be discovered.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 22, 2002

Germany edges past valiant U.S.

ULSAN, South Korea -- A single goal by Michael Ballack was enough to see Germany squeeze past a spirited United States team here Friday evening, although not without several nasty scares from a U.S. side who refused to be over-awed by its opponents' reputation.
COMMUNITY
Jun 22, 2002

Don Carmine: a great team for food and attitude

Welcome to Don Carmine in Tokyo's Nishi-Azabu, opened April 10 and described by its founders as an Italian restaurant with attitude.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2002

'Spy ship' salvage to begin next week

The government said Friday it will start a monthlong effort early next week to salvage a suspected North Korean spy ship that sank in the East China Sea in December after a gunbattle with the Japan Coast Guard.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 22, 2002

Shilpa Gandhi

A country of many different regions, India displays a panorama of diversity in many ways. Even the sari, the national dress for women, presents myriad differences in materials and styles. India has a long history of love for brilliant fabrics and the dazzling uses to which they are put. Old paintings,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 22, 2002

Meet Mama, in the name of art

Tatsumi Orimoto has a theory about his recent popularity. "After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, so many people wanted art that was warm and funny," he says as he shows me around an exhibition of his graphic art and objects at his hometown art venue, the Kawasaki City Museum.
EDITORIALS
Jun 21, 2002

Mr. Chirac gets a second chance

The resurgence of the French right is complete. Conservatives won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections held last weekend; coming on the heels of President Jacques Chirac's re-election in early May, the right now has a chance to rule unconstrained. The victory is tainted, however, by massive...
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Yamarin escaped illegal logging penalties

Yamarin, the Hokkaido logging firm that allegedly bribed arrested lawmaker Muneo Suzuki in 1998, escaped punishment for unauthorized logging in national forests in 1997 and paid some 6 million yen in political donations to him that same year, sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Accidents involving electric wheelchairs on the rise

The number of traffic accidents involving users of electric wheelchairs more than doubled to 207 in 2001 from 89 in 1996, the year in which the National Police Agency started collecting such data, the NPA said Thursday.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 21, 2002

Japanese players looking to the future

MORI, Shizuoka Pref. -- When Japan was knocked out of the World Cup in a 1-0 loss to Turkey on Tuesday, Japan coach Philippe Troussier said his team didn't have enough international experience. What were his players' opinions on their performance in the tournament?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Big companies demanding better English

Takuya Suzuki has been taking the Test of English for International Communication exams twice a year since he joined electronic parts maker Sumida Corp. two years ago.
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jun 21, 2002

Natural yen fall against frail dollar unlikely

The dollar may remain under downward pressure against all other major currencies for some time.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Most national universities find reform plan confusing

Administrators at 81 out of 90 public universities in Japan are confused by a government plan to turn national universities into independent administrative entities in fiscal 2004, according to a recent survey by the Japan Association of National Universities.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2002

Improved PR urged for Foreign Ministry

The Foreign Ministry could improve its handling of public relations matters by reinforcing the role of senior officials in charge of dealing with the media, an advisory panel said Thursday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Jun 21, 2002

Bringing the classrooms to the children

Several hundred Japanese children sit enchanted as Justin Somi mimics a fluttering butterfly. Somi, a celebrated mime artist and musician, belongs to the Zia tribe that live along the Waria River Valley in Papua New Guinea. For two weeks this spring, he and five other Zia tribesmen visited schools in...
BUSINESS
Jun 21, 2002

Forecasters upgrade projections for 2002 GDP

Japan's gross domestic product for the current fiscal year has been revised upward by several economic forecasters due to growing signs of an export-led recovery, according to reports released as of Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 21, 2002

Change at banks starts in personnel departments

Bankers once rode high as the elite of Japan. Along with top-notch bureaucrats in the Finance Ministry, they represented the best the Japanese education system had to offer.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo