Search - about-us

 
 
COMMENTARY
Dec 16, 2001

Film focuses again on Japan's war guilt

Japan's war guilt gets yet another airing in the Japanese-made film "Riben Guizi (Japanese Devils)" (reviewed on Dec. 5). The film provides on-camera interviews with 14 former Japanese soldiers who committed atrocities during the 1937-45 war with China. Its two hours of horror have an honesty that, like...
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

From 'shashin' to snapshots

Shashin, the Japanese word that came to mean "photograph," was used quite differently when it first entered everyday language here. Derived from the two characters for "reflect" and "true," it arrived in the early Edo Period from China, where it was used to refer to portraits that were thought to express...
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

Photography provides new angles on art

Maybe the world of painting seemed too old-school, too much turpentine-and-sweat -- or maybe the impatient daughters of the bubble era simply wanted a quick, easy expressive medium. Whatever triggered the phenomenon, there was an unprecedented surge in the number of young women entering the photography...
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

Wright's modern masterpiece comes back to life

All too often in this country, modern buildings of architectural and historical value are bulldozed to make way for new commercial development. The "lucky" ones may be granted a stay of execution, if only to survive as unused and lifeless monuments.
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

From pinholes to pixels, photgraphy keeps evolving

The camera on a tripod outside Edward Levinson's countryside home in Chiba Prefecture is deceptive in its simplicity. It has no lens or viewfinder, no focusing dial, and no shutter-release button.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2001

Nepalese man awaiting murder ruling sees wife for first time in eight years

Many foreign workers head for Japan with the promise of a better life. But for Govinda Prasad Mainali the dream turned to tragedy as he awaits a ruling by the Supreme Court over a murder charge.
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Dec 16, 2001

Tazukuri: an acquired taste worth acquiring

The o-sechi foods of the New Year exemplify traditional Japanese cuisine, utilizing the fruits of the mountains and the bounty of the ocean to celebrate all of the gifts that nature provides. Nowhere is this land-and-sea pairing more evident than in the classic sanshu-zakana triumvirate of black beans...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 16, 2001

The final downfall of a hard-boiled harridan

Just audible under the cheers that greeted the birth of the new princess was the tip-tapping of bored fingers coming from the direction of the "wide shows," where smiling faces and mandatory keigo barely masked acute impatience. Nine months of being forced to keep quiet about the crown princess's pregnancy...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 16, 2001

Japan's maverick monk

LETTING GO: The Story of Zen Master Tosui, translated and with an introduction by Peter Haskel. Honolulu: Hawaii University Press, 2001, 168 pp. with woodcuts, $45 (cloth), $19.95 (paper) Tosui Unkei, the beloved and eccentric 17th-century Zen master, was, like Ikkyu Sojin 200 years before him, a decided...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 16, 2001

Young Japanese struggle to find their way

As another year comes to an end, the Japanese media continue to wonder at the new generation at school and at work. The term "shinjinrui" (new species) seems to have fallen out of use but the prevailing attitude is still one of bemusement and even dismay.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 16, 2001

Bringing young and old together

GENERATIONS IN TOUCH: Linking the Old and Young in a Tokyo Neighborhood, by Leng Leng Thang. Cornell University Press, 2001, 209 pp., paper ($39.95) As Japan's traditional three-generation households go nuclear and fewer young couples have children, the care of the nation's elderly has become an increasingly...
JAPAN / Media / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 16, 2001

Living life to the fullest in fields of dreams

This week's "Sunday Big Special" (TV Tokyo; tonight, 7 p.m.) revisits six families it has featured in the past on its occasional "Back to Nature" specials. These programs explore the burgeoning self-sufficiency movement by profiling families that have given up the rat race and moved to isolated rural...
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

Photo-news loses its focus

Last August's demise of Shinchosha's weekly photo newsmagazine Focus marked a major publishing milestone in Japan.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Dec 15, 2001

A sinister Afghan 'deja vu'

MOSCOW -- The last major stronghold of the Taliban, the city of Kandahar, has fallen, though Osama bin Laden is still hiding in the entrails of Tora Bora mountains. Russians are among the few nations for whom news about the surrender of Kandahar rings a special bell. The city still occupies a prominent,...
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
Dec 15, 2001

Image of reconciliation for Myanmar

With the confidence-building period between Myanmar's military regime and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (Daw Suu) now past the one-year mark, most dissidents have grown more suspicious of the military regime as the country's economy deteriorates and the cost of living rises.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Traps planned to corral pesky Tokyo crows

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to launch a sweeping operation this month against the capital's crows, notorious for attacking piles of garbage and even small animals.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2001

November bankruptcies surge 10% to new high

The number of corporate bankruptcies last month rose 10 percent from a year earlier to 1,683, setting a new record for the month of November in the postwar period, a credit-research agency said Friday.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2001

Tax reform debate had nowhere else to go

Right up to the last minute, two conflicting philosophies dominated the ruling coalition's debate on tax reform for fiscal 2002 -- whether to levy taxes wherever possible to help ease the government's dire financial straits or avoid major hikes in light of the economic slump.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Ishihara criticizes bright lights at air base

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara on Friday criticized the U.S. military's Yokota Air Base for its nightly use of floodlights, which officials claim have damaged the crop of a local farmer.
COMMUNITY
Dec 15, 2001

Interculturalist has jolly Xmas message for Japan

With a name suggestive of seasonal good cheer, EDI's Gordon Jolley is also the perfect gent, with fresh flowers in his buttonhole, choosing salad ahead of steak for lunch, and picking up the bill afterward. There is also much well-practiced humor: "Executive Development International is a virtual company....
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Japan to cohost global conference on child sexual exploitation

Japan will cohost an international conference in Yokohama next week to reconfirm an international commitment to eliminate the sexual exploitation of children, according to the Foreign Ministry.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Financial entities' overhaul may be shelved, Fukuda says

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda hinted Friday that the government could establish a panel to decide on reforms of state-backed financial entities, a decision that would effectively postpone a conclusion on the contentious issue.
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2001

Tax reforms to result in 30 billion yen revenue loss

The ruling coalition announced a package of tax reforms for fiscal 2002 on Friday evening that will result in an estimated revenue loss of about 30 billion yen.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2001

Banks to get cash if crisis hits: Yanagisawa

Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa expressed willingness Friday to protect the financial system by injecting public funds into the depleted capital bases of troubled banks if a financial catastrophe threatens stability.

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