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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 18, 2007

'The Banquet'

In the Chinese epic "The Banquet," released in Japan as "Jyotei," scarlet is Empress Wan's favorite color, and it seems the entire film takes its cue from her color preference. There are no gray zones or monotone subtleties. Throughout, the story splashes and spatters red — blood, passion, sex, envy...
COMMENTARY / World
May 17, 2007

A private affair, or not?

PRAGUE — Can a public figure have a private life? Recent events in three countries have highlighted the importance of this question.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 16, 2007

Emperor craves long walks; Empress invisibility

What would the Emperor do if he could shed his weighty crown for a day and roam freely among the common people?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 12, 2007

Art activist works toward helping spirits flourish

Several years ago, I was privileged to hear the Nubian musician Hamza El Din play at Enkaku-ji temple in Kita Kamakura. The space in which he played was open to the elements, and the sound of rain falling provided an accompaniment to the notes of his instrument, the oud, in a way that still resonates....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 12, 2007

Kylie Schuyler

"My interest in the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation stems from the vision of humanist and scientist Professor Swaminathan himself. His ideas and projects appeal to me greatly because by empowering people they are all aimed at the elimination of poverty. Swaminathan's focus has the potential to bring about...
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2007

Qualified sense of fair play

The high-school baseball spring and summer tournaments at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture are national events. People love the games because of the young players' clean image and spirit of fair play. But findings by the Japan High School Baseball Federation show that most participating high schools...
JAPAN
May 9, 2007

Abe made offering to Yasukuni Shrine instead of visiting

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chose not to visit Yasukuni Shrine last month during its spring festival but did make a 50,000 yen private offering, a Yasukuni spokeswoman said Tuesday.
JAPAN
May 8, 2007

Ishibashi's brief reign in '57 a key crossroads

is congratulated by Nobusuke Kishi after winning a runoff election for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidency on Dec. 14, 1956. KYODO PHOTO
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
May 8, 2007

Bomb bra put Peach John on path to popularity

Two decades ago, the ideal career path was to join a blue chip company and steadily climb the corporate ladder until retirement — a system that helped sustain Japan's economic growth.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 8, 2007

Confessions of a hostess

Teaching English in Taiwan wasn't always as easy as ABC, so days would often unwind drinking with the betel-nut-chewing, red-gob-hawking locals.
CULTURE / Books
May 6, 2007

In Japan, dogs 'wan,' cats 'nya' and cows 'mo'

HIRA HIRA KIRARI: Michey's Word Play, Onomatopoeia 1, 2, 3, by Mitsuko Hasse, illustrated by Haruko Nakaune, translated by Darrel Frentz. Fuzambo International, 2006, 155 pp., 2,000 yen (paper) Those familiar with The Japan Times' bilingual page will know Michey, the star of Word Play, a cartoon column...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
May 5, 2007

Modify Constitution for modern world, scholar urges

Born in 1949, baby boomer Setsu Kobayashi thanks the postwar Constitution for the freedom, peace and democracy Japan has enjoyed since its debut.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2007

Initial terror turns into picture-book fascination

The color, excitement and vibrancy of Japanese matsuri festivals leap off the pages of Betty Reynolds' latest book, a welcome commission by Tuttle to fill a niche in children's publishing.
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2007

Honoring the Constitution

Sixty years ago, the government and the people celebrated May 3 as the day the current Constitution went into force. In a departure from the Meiji Constitution, which stipulated that the nation "shall be reigned over and governed" by the emperor, the postwar Constitution "proclaims that sovereign power...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 1, 2007

Blasting off for Golden Week

Tired of sitting in front of computers all day long? Sick of sucking up exhaust as you walk down the street? Have you been pondering life's meaning and, above all, our meager existence in this world?
Reader Mail
Apr 29, 2007

Whitewashing is the problem

I agree with Setsuko Tokita ("America has its own atrocities," April 18) that the United States has no reason to be proud of certain chapters of its history, including slavery, as well as the forced relocation and extermination of most of the Native American population. However, to my knowledge, no American...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2007

Yeltsin: a hero of his time

NEW YORK -- Boris Yeltsin was utterly unique. Russia's first democratically elected leader, he was also the first Russian leader to give up power voluntarily, and constitutionally, to a successor. But he was also profoundly characteristic of Russian leaders. Using various mixtures of charisma, statecraft...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 28, 2007

Eating more than your heart out

If the old saw is correct and, "You are what you eat," then Takeru Kobayashi is a hot dog. In more ways than one.
COMMENTARY
Apr 27, 2007

America the not so beautiful

LONDON -- It is becoming harder and harder to stay friends with the United States. Hands and hearts stretch out to the American people at this moment as they reel under the truly frightful trauma of the berserk Korean immigrant gunning down droves of students and teachers on a Virginian university campus....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 27, 2007

'Spider-Man 3'

It's been three years since our favorite geeky superhero left us with a promise for a climactic battle with his best friend and a final obstacle for his relationship with the love of his life.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 27, 2007

Five years of so solid grooves

Tucked away on the corner of the trendy Spain-zaka street in Shibuya, Tokyo, La Fabrique is set for what it hopes will be its biggest bash since it opened its doors five years ago.
COMMENTARY
Apr 26, 2007

North Korean nuclear deal

HONOLULU -- (More than) a day later, but not a dollar short. That pretty much sums up what to Pyongyang is a perfectly reasonable negotiating position. It will honor its end of the Feb. 13, 2007, "action for action" denuclearization deal, once the money is in the bank. In short, "checkbook diplomacy"...
Reader Mail
Apr 22, 2007

Peril in denying China's past

I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but Japan shouldn't be so readily taken in by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's recent speech in the Diet. This is because China, despite the flowery good language forwarded by Wen, is still a totalitarian regime willing to interfere in another country's domestic politics. ...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 22, 2007

Who dares take the 'Q' out of Japan's 5-star kyushoku?

Is one of the great institutions of Japanese cul- ture succumbing to a slow, gnawing attack? It may be. I tell you, if this icon is lost, all we'll have left of the culture will be a few cartoons and some rusting karaoke machines.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 22, 2007

Tokyo's Indians in 'home from home'

Hari Hara Krishnan knew no one when he arrived in Tokyo in 1997. But thanks to him, fellow Indians have brought a flourishing flavor of home to the government housing project where he lives in the city's Edogawa Ward.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 22, 2007

Mutual benefits as East meets East

Prior to the 1990s, most people in Japan probably knew little more about India than it was the home of curry, snake-charmers and the Taj Mahal.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 21, 2007

Accidental president has a history with change

Toyoki Kozai is surprised to find himself president of Chiba University. He would rather have been a farmer, he insists, growing things.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 15, 2007

Women flock to join 'college of change'

Saturday, March 31, was the final day of school for 47 graduates of the interestingly named I'M Personal College in Tokyo.

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