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CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 12, 2001

War and remembrance

This Wednesday marks the 56th anniversary of the Japanese surrender, but, as usual, only NHK is commemorating it in any significant way.
COMMENTARY
Aug 12, 2001

Indonesian failure not an option

LOS ANGELES --If Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer had but one wish, it might be for the far-off West, especially the United States, to put itself in Australia's shoes for a second. Imagine, if you will, that north of the U.S. hovers not stolid and sensible Canada, which has a population...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 12, 2001

To know us is to love us

ONE HUNDRED AND FIVE KEY WORDS FOR UNDERSTANDING JAPAN (Nippon o Shiru Hyakugosho). Tokyo: Corona Books/Heibonsha, 2001, bilingual (Japanese/English) edition. 328 pp. 205 plates, color, b/w. 2000 yen. This country has an abiding faith in the power of understanding. If we just understood each other,...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 12, 2001

Til death or demographics do us part: the changing face of family life in Japan

At the end of each year, NHK has a ritual contest of male singers vs. female singers, but signs have been emerging of more serious gender conflict on the horizon in Japan. The diverging interests of men and women are evident in a recent book on changing attitudes toward having children and an article...
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Aug 12, 2001

Kakigori: a close shave doused in sweet syrup

This week my local shrine, Ishikiri Jinja (a destination for pilgrims seeking the healing of various unwanted growths), hosted its annual fireworks-filled summer festival. The pilgrim road was lined for several kilometers with stalls selling the usual summer-fair wares and, of course, the traditional...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 12, 2001

She's got legs . . .

You've probably seen her somewhere -- on product packaging, in fashion catalogs or TV commercials. But no one would recognize her, because she is famous only for her legs.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 12, 2001

Victimhood in the national psyche

THE VICTIM AS HERO: Ideologies of Peace and National Identity in Postwar Japan, by James J. Orr. University of Hawaii Press, 2001, 271 pp., $22.95 (paperback). August 15 approaches, and once again Japan's neighbors are up in arms over the prospect of a prime minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine. In...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 12, 2001

Feet first!

Somewhere in the march of progress, we lost sight of our feet. Though there are cutting-edge running shoes incorporating space technology for maximum performance, many of us gladly choose low-tech gear in the name of style. We are willing fashion victims, but the damage can be more serious than many...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Aug 12, 2001

Some like it hot

There once was a Tokyo night empire called Ink Stick, which spawned a handful of cool jazz slash ambient slash progressive clubs around town. But this review has nothing to do with Ink Stick. It is about Shinichi Watanabe, who took over the space that the Nogizaka Ink Stick occupied. Even more than 10...
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2001

Computer virus hits Coast Guard

The e-mail-borne Sircam computer virus has infected a terminal in a Japan Coast Guard department, coast guard officials said Saturday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Aug 12, 2001

Best-sipped secret in Austria

In an era when wine has become a global industry, wine aficionados must search for handmade quality. Artisan wines are most exciting to find when they are insider tips -- unfamiliar to international consumers and thus still in the realm of good value. Dedicated fans scrutinize wine magazines, newsletters,...
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2001

U.K. family of JAL victim confused at redress delay

The British mother of two girls who lost their father in the world's worst single plane crash in 1985, has expressed both confusion and hope over the family's claim for official and direct compensation from Japan Airlines.
COMMUNITY
Aug 12, 2001

Excuse me but is that your foot in your mouth?

In Japanese, the word ashi (whose kanji can also be read soku) is used to refer to both the legs and feet, and often has a negative meaning when used idiomatically. For some Japanese idioms that employ it, there are identically phrased expressions in English, though their meanings sometimes differ. Here...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 12, 2001

The life of spice in the big city

Our column last month on looking for laksa in Tokyo generated a good number of comments and recommendations. One correspondent felt we had not properly pointed out that these spicy noodles are also hugely popular in Singapore, not just in Malaysia. It was certainly not our intention to ignore or slight...
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2001

Koizumi will not go to Yasukuni Shrine, key LDP ally claims

Tetsuzo Fuyushiba, secretary general of the New Komeito party, a member of the ruling coalition, said Saturday he expects Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to cancel his plan to visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II on Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 2001

Round two for Mr. Khatami

Iranian President Mohammed Khatami began his second term of office this week. Any hopes that his second landslide win might have chastened the country's conservatives were quickly put to rest in a last-minute power play. Mr. Khatami was supposed to have been sworn in last Sunday, but a dispute with hardliners...
COMMENTARY
Aug 11, 2001

Musharraf bravado won't stop the killing

ISLAMABAD -- In most parts of the world, a president's offer to grab a gun and go after the killers of a prominent businessman would raise eyebrows, to say the least. But in Pakistan, awash with illegal weapons, the bold words of President Pervez Musharraf did not surprise many people.
COMMENTARY
Aug 11, 2001

Path to Yasukuni is for the independent

On Aug. 15, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to visit Yasukuni Shrine for the express purpose of paying homage to the souls of those who died during World War II and expressing his determination that Japan will never again seek to solve international disputes by military force.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2001

Cabinet OKs caps on fiscal 2002 general spending

The Cabinet on Friday approved fiscal 2002 budgetary request guidelines that will cut general expenditures by some 900 billion yen to around 47.8 trillion yen, marking the biggest contraction ever.
COMMENTARY
Aug 11, 2001

G8's glaring contradiction

LONDON — The belligerent actions of the Italian state at Genoa last month were a declaration of war against young anticapitalist protesters. That, anyway, is how they were understood.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2001

Foreign teenagers leave following month exchange

Ten teenage students left Japan for their home countries earlier this week following a monthlong fact-finding tour in which they communicated with Japanese youths and among themselves in Japanese.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2001

Reform of state-linked firms encounters stiff resistance

A government proposal to drastically overhaul government-backed corporations is facing resistance from the ministries and agencies that control them, according to a government report released Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 11, 2001

Playing chicken with telecommunication big boys

To some he is a hero. To others an anathema. For this writer, who lives in trepidation of meeting with Japanese CEOs because (sorry guys) they tend to be so predictable, Sachio Semmoto is a breath of fresh air.
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2001

Workers' views on economy worsen

A monthly survey of workers close to the man on the street shows that views on the current and future states of the economy are at their lowest since the survey was launched in January 2000, the Cabinet Office said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2001

War historian cuts past flag-waving gloss

Historian Tadatoshi Fujii has one main worry about today's Japanese: their ignorance of the basic facts about the Imperial armed forces and the nature of the wars they waged.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2001

School absenteeism hits record high

The number of students absent from elementary and junior high schools for a prolonged period during fiscal 2000 increased by about 4,000, or 3.1 percent, from fiscal 1999, to hit a record 134,282, the education ministry said Friday.

Longform

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Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years