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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2001

U.S. isn't isolationist, it's just isolated

LONDON -- There are a few countries that line up with the United States in opposing the creation of an international criminal court -- Cuba, China, Iraq, and Libya -- but no other respectable, democratic countries oppose it.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 8, 2001

The Japanese Constitution gets a provocative look

FIVE DECADES OF CONSTITUTIONALISM IN JAPANESE SOCIETY, edited by Yoshio Higuchi. University of Tokyo Press, 2001, 368 pp., 8,000 yen. A major stumbling block for Japan on its road to becoming a more influential member of the global community has been a profound absence of voice. Japanese politicians,...
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Jul 8, 2001

The buckwheat starts here

Some of the most enjoyable, satisfying and memorable meals I have had in Japan involve soba (buckwheat). I can still smell the broth of a hot bowl of kake soba I had the winter after the Olympics in Nagano.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jul 8, 2001

Where Nas is coming from

One of the most unlikely roots music success stories of recent years has been Olu Dara's 1998 album, "In the World: From Natchez to New York." Even more surprising than the spontaneous ease with which he combined blues, folk, Afro and Caribbean styles, or his vivid, autobiographical, half-spoken words,...
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 2001

Next round of the word wars

There's a lot going on in the world this month. Heads of state are exchanging visits; China is finally getting a foot inside the WTO's door; and Wimbledon is hosting yet another prim-and-proper tennis championship. But for English-speakers who have their priorities straight, the big event of early July...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 8, 2001

Money for nothing, but only if you spend it first

Television is often blamed for conditioning its audience in undesirable ways: We want things faster, easier, in bite-size pieces that don't require a lot of chewing. And everything must have a kicker, a dramatic endpoint that will justify our time in front of the box.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2001

U.S. stays silent on its own 'dirty wars'

Carlos Mauricio and Martin Almada can only marvel at the self-righteousness with which the United States has insisted on punishment for former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jul 7, 2001

The pope as a nation breaker

If one wants to single out a decisive reason for the spectacular collapse of communism in the Soviet Union in 1985-1991, the variety of choices is staggering. The war in Afghanistan, the exhausting arms race, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the food shortages, Voice of...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 7, 2001

Sharing corporate vision of women and money

Whoever said women were the weaker sex has not met Kaori Sasaki. Not only is she president of UNICUL International Inc. and president and CEO of eWoman Inc., a new Web site for women. She is the brains behind the 6th International Conference for Women in Business, to be held at the Daiba Hotel Nikko...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 7, 2001

There's no terminating hungry termites

I'm so hungry, I could eat a house! That is the termite's mantra. My neighbor Kazuko is having her house rebuilt, as it has been consumed by termites, which the Japanese call "shiroari" ("white ants").
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 6, 2001

Japan clinches Kirin Cup

OITA -- Junichi Inamoto's first-half goal gave Japan a 1-0 win over Yugoslavia and the Kirin Cup title Wednesday night at the brand-new Oita Stadium.
COMMENTARY
Jul 6, 2001

Jospin facing an uphill battle

PARIS -- All governments lie. One could even say that the bigger the governments, the bigger their lies. Sometimes, however, it happens that a politician gives off a particular feeling of honesty, even of transparency. It has long been the case for French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, with his look of...
COMMUNITY / THE PARENT TRIP
Jul 6, 2001

Remember always -- graduation day

Dear Son,
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Jul 6, 2001

Russian SEA shoots for new mark

When Russian Iouri Rytchkov stepped off the plane from Moscow he spoke barely a word of Japanese, or English for that matter. That did not stop the 48-year-old ice-hockey veteran from taking a group of high school boys from Aomori Prefecture and making winners out of them.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 6, 2001

Fiji, Samoa to contest rugby final

Fiji and its Pacific rival Samoa will play the final of the Epsom Cup/Pacific Rim rugby championship following victories in their respective semifinals at Tokyo Stadium on Wednesday. Fiji won the first game, overcoming Canada 52-23, while Samoa beat host Japan 47-8, to move both island sides into the...
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2001

The danger of further monetary easing

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board's decision last week to cut interest rates for a sixth time is a sobering reminder that there is a wide gulf in freedom of monetary action between the world's two largest economies. While the Fed can make further cuts if necessary, the Bank of Japan has practically no elbowroom...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2001

Life improving for Russian residents of the disputed Northern Territories

KURILSK, Russia -- After a time of neglect, the federal and local government are investing more in the economy of the Southern Kurils -- a group of disputed islands governed by Russia but also claimed by Japan. As the life of the islanders is gradually improving, they are less likely to agree to transferring...
COMMENTARY
Jul 5, 2001

It's all too lonely at the top

LONDON -- As predicted, the Labour Party won the June general election, giving Tony Blair a second term as prime minister. This is bad news for the media monster which, as we all know, has a voracious appetite but nonetheless a fastidious and restricted diet: sleaze, scandal, violence, betrayal. A large...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2001

Lee remains in the limelight

Cornell University, standing like a fortress atop a verdant hilltop in upstate New York, is isolated and serene, far from war and the worries of the world.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 5, 2001

Tired Tajima to quit competitive swimming

Sydney Olympics 400-meter individual medley silver-medalist Yasuko Tajima will retire, swimming officials said Tuesday. Tajima has reportedly quit the Nippon Sport Science University swimming club and requested to be taken off the registered list in late June, the officials said.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 5, 2001

Humans, evolve you must

Us lot, contemporary humans in a postindustrial society, we've got a welfare system, social security and even, in some countries, free health care. Premature babies survive, the wounded get better, the hungry get fed. We're shielded from the blind hand of natural selection, aren't we?
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jul 5, 2001

Beauty versus the environment

Concerns over the introduction of alien species to environments that have no protective mechanisms against them are beginning to filter through the bureaucratic system in Japan to the point where action is being contemplated -- or even taken.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Jul 5, 2001

A vote of confidence for MLB balloting

Kudos to Ichiro Suzuki. The Seattle Mariners right fielder was recently selected by fans to start the 50th All-Star Game in the Emerald City next week. Not only did he lead the majors with 3,373,035 votes, he becomes only the 13th position player in league history to start the mid-season classic as a...
ENVIRONMENT / IN BLOOM
Jul 5, 2001

Asagao (Morning glory)

"Leading Mother to our old-fashioned well, I told her the legend of the maiden who went to a well to draw water and, finding a morning glory tendril twined about the handle of the bucket, went away rather than break the tender vine. She planted the seeds around the well curb while I softly hummed, over...
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2001

Love: The final frontier

In science fiction, technological progress is often portrayed as bringing humankind ever closer to God in terms of understanding and exploiting the universe. At the beginning of Steven Spielberg's "A.I.," a scientist with the interesting name of Dr. Hobby (William Hurt) expounds before a group of underlings...
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2001

Aronofsky states his objectives

The last time Darren Aronofsky was in Tokyo in 1999, he was promoting his debut flick "Pi," which went on to become quite a cult hit. He also did a bit of shopping, picking up photo books by Araki and Hiromix that ended up influencing the look of his new film, "Requiem for a Dream."
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2001

Mr. Lee makes headlines again

Taiwan's former President Lee Teng-hui has a penchant for controversy. His tenure in office was marked by some of the highest tensions between China, Taiwan and the United States over the past four decades. Some watchers had hoped that he would escape the spotlight after retiring from office. However,...
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2001

Intrigue made to measure

The Tailor of Panama Rating: * * * * Director: John Boorman Running time: 109 minutes Language: English Opens July 7 at Cine Saison in Shibuya "The Tailor of Panama" is a genuine spy movie, but just a shade away from being "Saturday Night Live." One gentle push and it'd be a slapsticky comedy with...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 4, 2001

Baseball & Beer Blast at Sapporo Dome

Japan's sixth all-weather stadium was the setting last week as the Yomiuri Giants and Chunichi Dragons played the first official pro baseball games at the Sapporo Dome. The June 26-28 series was won by the Giants, who took the first and third games. Chunichi won Game 2.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 4, 2001

Brook's 'Hamlet' speaks straight to the soul

In his book "The Shifting Point," Peter Brook writes that when he begins work on a play, he starts with "a deep, formless hunch which is like a smell, a color, a shadow."

Longform

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