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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2007

Soundtrack of the summer: Audion

The latest in a long line of influential techno producers to emerge from Detroit, Matthew Dear has wasted little time becoming one of the club world's hottest commodities. In the past few years, he's scored widespread acclaim for records released both under his own name and the aliases Audion, False...
CULTURE / Art
Jun 21, 2007

"Corpi Altri"

Various locations in Tokyo June 23-28
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 17, 2007

Playing the 'hooligan'

An explosive, shrill cry flies out of nowhere, filling the entire auditorium: "Matte imashita (I've been waiting for that)!"
CULTURE / Books
Jun 17, 2007

The passion, excesses and fun of Edo — in color

JAPANESE POPULAR PRINTS by Rebecca Salter. London: A & C Black, 2006, 208 pp., 221 illustrations, £30 (paper) "Japanese Popular Prints" is an entertaining, surprising and unique journey through the popular culture of the most colorful period in Japanese history. Some may already be familiar with...
SOCCER
Jun 14, 2007

Reds face uphill climb in quarters

Urawa Reds have been handed a tough quarterfinal draw in the AFC Champions League against defending champions Chonbuk Motors of South Korea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 14, 2007

More international by the year

The title of the 52nd Venice Biennale, "Think with the senses, feel with the mind," has an almost paradoxical twist. But in the context of the international art scene it is a strong statement — some would even call it controversial.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jun 12, 2007

Sumo at the Olympics or a dohyo too far?

Sumo in Japan is on the up and up. We now have two yokozuna with a good half decade of rivalry in the tanks, one young enough to still be around in 10 years time. Irrespective of reports in the Japanese-language media, the sport is not sinking into the abyss with the continued success of its foreign...
Reader Mail
Jun 10, 2007

Japan had an ugly side, too

Regarding Paula Bame's June 3 letter, "Western values have made a mess": As a Canadian who lived in Japan, I was shocked and saddened as well to read about the recent tragedies in Japan concerning the decapitation of a mother, parents abandoning their babies, and so on.
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2007

Vanity in spinning a legacy

LONDON — Leaders of the summit countries have been changing. Gerhard Schroeder, the German Social Democratic chancellor of Germany, was the first to go. His replacement, Angela Merkel, is a Christian Democrat but leading a coalition with the Social Democrats.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 8, 2007

Nile Rodgers & Chic: 1970s disco freak out!

Looking back over a long and varied career, Nile Rodgers could pick any number of occasions as his finest hour. But instead of focusing on his chart-topping records with the band Chic or landmark albums he produced for Madonna and David Bowie, he highlights what would seem like a low point.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 7, 2007

A midsummer bonanza

Many of the hottest tickets theatergoers are after this summer come courtesy of one person — English director John Caird.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Jun 5, 2007

'Takoyaki' czar looks to spread tentacles to U.S.

In Los Angeles last December, Morio Sase had a bout of nerves. What had made him think he could persuade Americans to cast off their culinary prejudices and warm to something with as great an "ick factor" as octopus?
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2007

Education reform proposals draw praise, criticism

Recommendations by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's advisory panel on education reform has drawn praise from some quarters, but other experts are questioning whether the proposals will be effective in improving the quality of public education.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 3, 2007

The 'common sense' of a centrist

THE POLITICS OF NANJING: An Impartial Investigation, by Minoru Kitamura. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2007, 173 pp., $28 (paper) Professor Minoru Kitamura of Ritsumeikan University raises important questions about Japan's rampage in Nanjing in 1937-38, but sadly comes up with misleading,...
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2007

Hold classes on Saturday: panel

Public schools should be allowed to hold classes on Saturdays to help students improve their academic performances, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on education reform said in its second report released Friday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 1, 2007

'300'

The long-simmering cold war between Hollywood and the critics has again flared hot with the release of "300," an effects-driven popcorn movie about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., when 300 Spartan soldiers went down fighting against a Persian horde.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
May 30, 2007

Japan refutes 'marine Darth Vader' charges

ANCHORAGE, Alaska Transformed by oil money from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and boasting probably more gas-guzzling SUVs per person than any other American city, on a bad day Anchorage can resemble a giant foggy parking lot.
SUMO
May 29, 2007

Hakuho wrestles his way into the history books

The 2007 Natsu Basho is over, and it will only ever be remembered for one thing: the 15-0 unbeaten zensho yusho winning record of Mongolian ozeki Hakuho that etched his name forever in the annals of Japanese sporting and cultural history.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 29, 2007

Aso Mining's POW labor: the evidence

One year after media reports that Aso Mining used 300 Allied prisoners of war for forced labor in 1945, Foreign Minister Taro Aso is refusing to confirm that POWs dug coal for his family's firm — and even challenging reporters to produce evidence.
LIFE / QUEUING
May 27, 2007

Patience pays off for firms on standby to queue for you

With queuing playing such an important role in Japanese life — just watch any breathlessly excitable TV magazine program fearlessly reporting any day of the week on long lines outside noodle shops or dog groomers — there are even those who cash in on the phenomenon directly.
COMMENTARY
May 25, 2007

Fears of new 'Nixon shock'

HONOLULU — The U.S.-Japan relationship is on solid ground and growing stronger by the day. As a result of their recent Camp David summit, U.S. President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo have become each other's new best friend — perhaps not as close (yet) as Bush's ties with...
CULTURE / Stage
May 24, 2007

Defining the nation

When Chikamatsu Yanagi and his collaborators were writing "Ehon Taikoki" in 1799, Japan was arguably enjoying the height of Edo Period culture (1603-1867). In retrospect it was a transitional time — perhaps the last moments of peace before the pressures of the outside world started to affect the island,...
CULTURE / Books
May 20, 2007

Listening to history's creaking bones

ORACLE BONES: A Journey Between China's Past and Present, by Peter Hessler. HarperCollins, 2006, 491 pp., $26.95 (cloth) Beside their obvious antiquity, why should heaps of cattle shoulder-blades and turtle shells dating from the 13th and 14th centuries B.C. be of such immense importance to today's...

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