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CULTURE / Books
Jul 15, 2001

Controversial textbooks are big sellers for Fusosha

The latest best seller, oddly enough, is a junior high school history textbook. After going on sale on June 1, "Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho" has been at or near the top of the best-seller list and the related social studies text "Atarashii Komin Kyokasho" in the top 10. Already 500,000 copies of the history...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2001

Heading off the MD disaster

BRUSSELS -- The argument for missile defense is based on a series of misunderstandings and exaggerations. The claimed threat is neither real nor credible. Yet U.S. President George W. Bush is using it to underpin the United States' deployment of MD in the interests of the arms industry and to the detriment...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 12, 2001

Jaws was born a rambling shark

A dark dorsal fin breaks the surface of a gleaming seascape. A ghost-faced killer glides silently through the water . . . the theme tune to "Jaws" automatically plays in the brain.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2001

The family that bathes together . . .

Shower Japanese title: Kokoro no Yu Rating: * * * * Director: Zhang Yang Running time: 92 minutes Language: MandarinNow showing When you're born Japanese, certain notions are drummed into you at a very early age. Among them is the deep-seated conviction that a long soak in a hot bath is pretty much...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Jul 8, 2001

When your number's up . . .

Although all that you will ever need to know about a sake is contained in one, intention-laden sip, sometimes the technical mumbo jumbo can be fun to study as well. The industry always seems to offer one more piece of information every few years, be it the amino acid level, the number of days the tank...
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.
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...
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Jul 4, 2001

Ajico gets it all together

The supergroup. What a horribly dated concept that is. It smacks of corporate rock and overinflated, believe-your-own-hype egos, as in, "Hey man, you're the coolest guy in your group, and he's the main man in his band, and without me, my band is nothing, so like, if the three of us get together, man,...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jul 4, 2001

'High Seas': Trailer Bride

Album Review by PHILIP BRASOR At first listen, Melissa Swingle's voice sounds like a joke: a fragile, sing-songy bleat that conjures up visions of anorexic country girls who write bad poetry between shifts at the local Krispy Kreme. She encourages this image on stage by wearing bright-colored shifts...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 1, 2001

The gospel according to Beyonce

A little-discussed truism of R&B is that female vocalists benefited more from Michael Jackson than male vocalists did, and none more than Karyn White. Only gays and black teenage girls seemed to appreciate White's potential as a revolutionary force in black dance music, someone whose natural gift for...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jul 1, 2001

Another shade of white

During the red wine boom of the '90s, one shade of white prevailed: Chardonnay. Most often produced in a big, rich, oaky international style, it was the heaviest, "reddest" white wine on the scene.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 1, 2001

In praise of traditional values

Rustic, welcoming, friendly, relaxed -- these are not the adjectives you associate most readily with Daikanyama these days. Long since gutted as a neighborhood, there's precious little sense of community left among all the brand-name boutiques and slick, designer restaurants that have taken over the...
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 2001

Bush's Korea policy: old wine, new bottle

SEOUL -- "Things have begun moving slowly," South Korea's President Kim Dae Jung recently said in reaction to the Bush administration's announcement it will open negotiations with Pyongyang. No doubt, the government in Seoul is trying hard to sound upbeat. Foreign Minister Han Seung Soo added, "Bush's...
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2001

Report sees 33 public firms needing trillions

The state will need to inject 11.26 trillion yen into 33 government affiliates over the next 80 years to keep them in operation, an advisory panel to the finance minister estimated Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2001

KSD cash was no bribe, ex-LDP lawmaker says

Takao Koyama, a former LDP Upper House lawmaker, admitted Wednesday in his first trial hearing that he received money from the mutual aid provider KSD but denied any of it amounted to bribes for specific favors.
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

Unleashing the power of color

The keynote of the ongoing exhibition at the Yasuda Kasai Museum in Shinjuku is the brilliance and vividness of color.
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.
COMMENTARY
Jun 25, 2001

How to best honor Clinton? Forget him

WASHINGTON -- "Since Bill Clinton left office, we've been through a lot together," writes political consultant James Carville in his letter to me. But Clinton supporters "have much to be proud of." So please give to the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 24, 2001

That's declassified innovation

There are several reasons to admire the Kronos Quartet, and, unquestionably, the primary reason is their extraordinary talent. But I'd like to add two more: their musical and professional integrity, and their belief in music as a spiritual quest.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 24, 2001

A simmering passion for oden

If MSG is the Viagra for flaccid taste buds, then katsuo dashi is the complex natural chemistry of full-force pheromones at the raging height of the rutting season. It awakens, stimulates and arouses those parts of your palate that the other flavors just don't reach.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2001

Hiranuma says China broke rules

Beijing's decision to impose 100 percent special duties on three products imported from Japan is against bilateral and multilateral trade rules, trade chief Takeo Hiranuma said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2001

Public firms approach day of reckoning

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi may be on the verge of opening a Pandora's box in his drive to pursue government reforms.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Jun 21, 2001

S. Korea must buck up before World Cup

If you read Kumi Kinohara's "On The Ball" column on Tuesday you'll know that Japan still has a bit of work to do before next year's World Cup.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2001

Diet enacts expanded diesel pollution law

The Diet enacted legislation Tuesday that expands the scope of an air pollution law to cover particulate matter from diesel-burning automobiles and increases the responsibility of vehicle owners.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2001

Nasdaq Japan chief confident about 80-firm goal

OSAKA -- The president of the Osaka Securities Exchange said Tuesday he is confident that Nasdaq Japan, a market operating under the auspices of the OSE, will reach its target of seeing 80 firms listed in calendar 2001.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2001

Combat rock

At the Tokyo office of Bad Music Co., Ltd. the walls are covered in skulls and crossbones of various designs and a man in black is sitting at a table smoking strong cigarettes.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 19, 2001

Where the trade routes cross

Fifty years ago, travelers on American roads used to watch for trucks parked by roadside diners. Most people believed that truckers knew the best places to eat, and that any restaurant with trucks parked in front of it would serve good food.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami