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CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2001

Lang enters the sophomore class

It comes as no surprise to hear that the most inspiring film in Samantha Lang's life was "Hiroshima, Mon Amour." "I saw it when I was 16 and must have watched it at least 10 times," says Lang. "I know that film shot by shot, line by line." Echoes of that film's free-spirited and independent heroine,...
BUSINESS / ON THE FRONT LINE
Jun 27, 2001

Foreign investors doubting 'Koizumi effect?'

The catalyst for this month's fall in Tokyo share prices was selloffs by foreign investors, notably U.S.-based players.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

Ikeda kids reunited with classmates

OSAKA — About 200 schoolchildren from an Osaka elementary school where eight pupils were stabbed to death June 8 were reunited with their classmates Tuesday for the first time in 18 days.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2001

A blueprint for total disaster

Minna no Ie Rating: * * * 1/2 Director: Koki Mitani Running time: 115 minutes Language: JapaneseShowing at Shibutoh Cine Tower and other theaters A fatal hard-drive crash (signaled by the sound of the computer going whack-whack-whack instead of the usual varoom) is one of those complacency-shattering...
CULTURE / Art
Jun 27, 2001

The chrysanthemum and the rose

LONDON -- Anybody turning up at London's Hyde Park to walk their dog on the morning of Saturday, May 19, could have been forgiven for thinking they'd wandered into some kind of space and time warp. Instead of a few squirrels and strollers enjoying the pale, watery sunshine, they would have found a full-blown...
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jun 27, 2001

Love on the dance floor

Talk about good timing. Just as the enervating ennui of tsuyu set in, reggae singer Mikidozan released "Lifetime Respect," whose mellow vibe and infectious melody have taken it to the top of the charts. (It's No. 1 on the July 2 Oricon singles chart). With its loping, steady groove and positive message...
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 27, 2001

Noda weaves another fantastical web

Hideki Noda, head of the cutting-edge theater company Noda Map, wrote and directs its latest production, "Nisesaku: Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita (A Fake: Under the Cherry Trees in Full Bloom)." He also acts, as the King of Hida, often running with all his considerable force along the sakura-draped...
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2001

TV celebrity Ohashi to run for Upper House

TV personality Kyosen Ohashi announced on Tuesday his intention to run in next month's Upper House election on the Democratic Party of Japan ticket.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 27, 2001

Right here, right now: a London-Tokyo jam

If the bulk of London's Japan 2001 Festival revisits traditions past and present, "JAM: London Tokyo" at the Barbican Gallery was designed to predict the future.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2001

Panel approves prepaid car recycling fees

A government advisory panel approved a plan Monday to introduce a prepaid system for car recycling fees, a move intended to reduce the illegal dumping of used cars.
Events
Jun 26, 2001

Recession hits Osaka-based yakuza

OSAKA — The number of Osaka-based gangsters formally affiliated with Yamaguchi-gumi has fallen to almost half what it was a decade ago. But this may not necessarily be good news for law enforcement officials.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2001

Will LDP groundswell extend beyond Tokyo?

Despite the Liberal Democratic Party's resounding victory in Sunday's Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, experts said it remains unclear whether the groundswell will mean very much in the Upper House election next month.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2001

Exported fishing boat in North Korea spy port

A used Japanese fishing boat allegedly exported last August to North Korea without government approval is believed to have entered a port in the northeast of the country where two apparent spy ships fled after being chased out of Japanese waters in 1999, Tokyo police said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2001

Is Japan moving to the right?

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in a discussion with U.S. experts on Asian problems. Several of the U.S. participants stated that the new junior high-school history textbook issued by Fuso Publishing Co. was a "swing to the right." Since Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka has said publicly...
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2001

B'z management hid income to the tune of 840 million yen

The production company behind the pop music duo B'z failed to declare about 840 million yen in taxable income in the two business years through September 1999, industry sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2001

Japan to cohost tourism summit as industry lags

Japan will cohost the 14th World Tourism Organization general assembly with South Korea this fall, at which it will look for ways to revive its own sluggish tourism industry.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2001

Japan wants to talk over trade rift with China

Japan plans to send a government mission to China to urge Beijing to retract its decision to impose special 100 percent tariffs on imports of Japanese automobiles, mobile phones and air conditioners, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2001

Justice takes a step backward in Texas

NEW YORK -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry's decision to veto legislation that would have banned the execution of mentally retarded criminals is a setback to the elimination of a barbaric policy that has almost universal repudiation. This decision comes at the same time as the release from prison -- where he...
Events
Jun 26, 2001

Kyoto ceilings bear footprints of 1600 samurai mass suicide

KYOTO — Stepping onto the outer corridor of Shodenji Temple in Kyoto on a recent afternoon, I marveled at the view from the neatly laid out garden. Perfectly framed between the surrounding trees stood a spectacular view of Mount Hiei.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2001

Osaka bar to send Takuma lawyers

OSAKA — The Osaka Bar Association said Monday it will dispatch two new lawyers to see Mamoru Takuma, the suspected killer of eight Osaka schoolchildren who dismissed his lawyers last week.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 26, 2001

The temples of the Nile

To float down the Nile, stopping at the temples, sleeping on my ship -- this was my desire and now I am in a stateroom on the Cheops I, a floating hotel rather than a mere boat, looking at the wharf at Aswan and reading Flaubert's journal of a similar voyage he made in 1849. I notice many of the same...
LIFE / Travel
Jun 26, 2001

Down the Devil's Washboard

When evening falls on Miyazaki, a scarlet and indigo sky drops behind the phoenix palms that line many of the city's roads. You might think you were strolling through a middle-class quarter of Cairo or Marbella.
SOCCER / THE BALD TRUTH
Jun 26, 2001

Japan's soccer prima donnas need a slice of wa

My girlfriend snores very loudly and dribbles on her pillow when she sleeps. By day, she transmogrifies from monster to model and is professional enough to keep both the dribbling and the chainsaw impersonation away from the catwalk.
SPORTS / TALK OF THE TIMES
Jun 26, 2001

Horan gives Japanese rugby a lift

His mates call him "trucky" because when he first hit the international scene he used to eat a truckers breakfast when everyone else would be eating a healthy pre-match breakfast of fruit and yogurt. Others call him "helmet" because of his immovable hair style, a 25-knot south-westerly blowing off Moreton...

Longform

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