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CULTURE / Art
May 9, 2001

The shock of the Nouveau

Like a femme fatale, Art Nouveau has long guarded her secrets well. Were her sinuous lines symbolic or erotic? Did she bring fresh beauty into the modern world, or exploit a fin de siecle taste for the decadent? And why did she suddenly disappear, after a rapid rise to fame?
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2001

Talent aside, some people were born to dance

Center Stage Rating: * * * Director: Nicholas Hytner Running time: 115 minutes Language: English, with Japanese subtitlesOpens May 12 Ballet lessons (along with violin and piano) are often forced upon us at a certain age and continue until we or our parents throw a major tantrum and we call it quits....
JAPAN
May 9, 2001

Mystery man's passport used three times in Japan

The forged passport used in a recent illegal entry attempt by a man believed to be the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had been used three times before to successfully enter Japan, Justice Minister Mayumi Moriyama said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 9, 2001

'Free All Angels': Ash

Rock music right now seems to be concentrated into two factions. On one side, you have the shouty angry Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, At The Drive In types and on the other there's Mogwai, Radiohead and a million other slow-fi bands drooling onto their fretboards. What's common to both camps is that neither...
CULTURE / Art
May 9, 2001

Lines that trace a restless life

There is a French maxim that says "Style is the man." If there was ever an embodiment of that phrase, it was the French poet, novelist, playwright, filmmaker and artist Jean Cocteau. Considered one of the most creative talents of the 20th century, Cocteau's prodigious creativity is being currently showcased...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
May 9, 2001

'Movimento': Madredeus

The musical form fado takes off from the Portuguese concept of saudade, or "yearning," which dwells on things that are lost: a mother, a sweetheart, home. However, the music of Madredeus, Portugal's most popular group, has always contained an element of hopefulness, a yearning for things still possible....
COMMENTARY
May 8, 2001

Bush could kill Kyoto treaty

U.S. President George W. Bush announced in late March that his administration did not support the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement that requires industrialized countries to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as a way to prevent global warming.
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

New Cabinet a breath of fresh air

The newly formed and enormously popular Koizumi Cabinet picked up another accolade Monday when a group of antismoking advocates noticed it contains only one smoker, the least number of any recent Cabinet.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2001

Nagasakiya gets breathing room

Supermarket chain operator Nagasakiya Co., which is currently protected from creditors under the corporate rehabilitation law, said Monday it has been granted six more months to compile a business rehabilitation plan, due partly to the large number of its creditors.
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Prime minister's policy speech

The following is a provisional translation of the policy speech given Monday by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the 151st session of the Diet:
JAPAN
May 8, 2001

Authorities concerned over legal but risky drugs

The recent spread of so-called legal drugs among youngsters in the Tokyo metropolitan area has alarmed drug officials.
JAPAN
May 7, 2001

Wakayama nursing-care employee confesses to killing woman

The body of a 75-year-old woman was found Sunday in a vacant lot in Wakayama Prefecture based on a confession by a heavily indebted man that he killed her, burned her body with kerosene and later buried it, police said.
JAPAN
May 6, 2001

Transsexuals set to file civil lawsuits

A group of six people who have undergone sex-change operations will file civil suits May 24 seeking to have their new genders recorded on their family registrations, an activist supporting transsexuals said Saturday.
EDITORIALS
May 6, 2001

Pressing for freedom

Last Thursday was World Press Freedom Day. Most people probably missed it here in Japan, where Thursday was also Constitution Day, part of the mass timeout we call Golden Week. (They probably didn't spend much time thinking about the Constitution, either, or the coincidence that freedom of the press...
JAPAN
May 6, 2001

USJ limits entrance for third day

OSAKA -- Universal Studios Japan in Osaka temporarily restricted entry Saturday for the third day in a row after the number of visitors reached the daily maximum capacity of 39,000.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2001

The politics of land and race

The Western consensus about Zimbabwe holds that having inherited a country that was as beautiful as it was prosperous, and with the goodwill of the world behind him, President Robert Mugabe has outstayed his welcome at home, outlived his usefulness to his country and exhausted the patience and goodwill...
JAPAN
May 6, 2001

Teens surrender after victim dies in Tokyo hospital

Four male teenagers surrendered to police late Friday night after a banker they allegedly attacked in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward on April 28 succumbed to his injuries earlier Friday and died in a Tokyo hospital, police said.
JAPAN
May 6, 2001

All is not lost with youth, beautician, 90, reminds women

The trouble with Japanese women in their understanding of beauty, according to one veteran beautician, is their obsession with youthfulness -- true beauty shines through regardless of age.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2001

Thailand's model of religious harmony

CHIANG RAI, Thailand -- To all students of Buddhism, the terms "Mahayana" and "Theravada" -- the greater and lesser vehicle, respectively -- reflect the dichotomy of this great teaching into northern and southern schools.
MORE SPORTS
May 6, 2001

Japan notches first point in spite of referee's efforts

Ryan Kuwabara is the captain of Japan's national ice hockey team currently playing at the Pool A World Championships in Germany. Kuwabara, a Japanese-Canadian who was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens and now stars for Japan Ice Hockey League champion Kokudo, has agreed to keep a journal chronicling...
COMMENTARY
May 6, 2001

Koizumi: a balanced blend of silk and steel

Toward the end of last year I had an occasion to attend a gathering with Junichiro Koizumi. It was at a Japanese restaurant in Ginza. The master of the restaurant brought a couple of bottles of warmed sake to our table. One person in our group took a bottle and filled the cups of Koizumi and others....
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2001

Better safe than sorry

With many people worried about becoming the country's next crime statistic, the demand for advanced home- and personal-security products is on the rise.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 6, 2001

Drumming up some PR for the old neighborhood

Most of the current travel-information programs you see on TV are stylistic offshoots of TBS's long-running "Soko ga Shiritai," which has been off the air for several years now. One of the few variety shows that has done something different with the format is TV Tokyo's "Shutsubotsu! Ad-Machikku Tengoku"...
COMMUNITY
May 6, 2001

Think you're safe? Think again

Japan has long enjoyed a reputation for being one of the safest countries in the world. It's said that you can trust your neighbors here. That there's little need to be constantly worried about your belongings. That you can walk the streets safely at night.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’