Search - commentary

 
 
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 1999

Folk painting from roadside to museum

The world of the minga, "folk painting," is one of subtle beauty created by the countless unknown artists who draw on rich crafts traditions for inspiration. The end result of these unknown artists is refreshingly simple, unaffected works of art. Opportunities to view the work of these unheralded artists...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 30, 1999

Two billion light years of poetry

SHUNTARO TANKIAWA SELECTED POEMS, translated by William I. Elliott and Kazuo Kawamura. Manchester: Carcanet, 1998, 115 pp. + preface, 12.95 British pounds In early November 1998, Shuntaro Tanikawa and his translators took part in Britain's Poetry International. Among the bards contributing with Tanikawa...
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 1999

Money talks in U.S. politics

Ms. Elizabeth Dole last week ended her trailblazing bid for the U.S. Republican Party's presidential nomination. Hers was the first serious run for the presidency by a woman in either party. Yet Ms. Dole's withdrawal from the race highlights not only the failure of American voters to take a woman candidate...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 30, 1999

Iron stomachs and chefs give it their all

Japan has produced a fair number of marathon stars. It's an achievement that probably has less to do with genetically bound physical attributes than with culturally bound psychological ones. The "gambaru" mentality that governs so many endeavors in Japan, especially in the world of sports, is central...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 1999

Buddhist riffs that are and aren't poetry

For some time now, the trappings (if not the tenets) of Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy have been making their way into the popular Western consciousness.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 18, 1999

Yes, there was a Nanjing Massacre

Did the 1937 Nanjing Massacre really happen? This might seem like an absurd question, but then the recently elected governor of Tokyo is on record as having denied that the looting, rape and assembly-line murder reported by eyewitnesses ever took place. The Dr. Feelgoods of Japanese history, Yoshinori...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 28, 1999

The little claimer that could

While companies, especially computer makers, have been eager to promote the Internet as a global bazaar and amusement park rolled into one, they are quickly learning that there's a little more to it than that. The tools that are supposed to help the customer are the same ones that can empower the unhappy...
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 1999

Cracks in the wall of silence

Physicians in this country seem so confident of their group strength that they can afford to ignore public opinion. So, at least, say critics of the powerful medical establishment in the wake of this week's failure by a subcommittee of the government's medical reform council to agree on a proposal to...
EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 1999

A new world for Japanese business

The latest earnings reports from Japanese corporations listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange provide a running commentary on their predicament. Reflecting a drawn-out recession, both sales and profits plunged in the year to March 1999 (fiscal 1998). On average, sales in all industries except financial services...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 2, 1999

But are you experienced?

Remember how online art used to be one of ballyhooed features of our new and improved lives on the Internet? We talked of visiting faraway museums, browsing rarely seen masterpieces, hyper-annotated with curatorial notes and historical contexts. Similarly enticing was the promise of new media and art...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 23, 1999

Whoever knows

A few columns ago I wrote about pen pals. A Japanese woman who had spent many years in the United States found readjustment to Japan difficult. She discovered she had little in common with her former Japanese friends; to them, she was a foreigner. Her American friends wanted to communicate by e-mail...
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 1999

Enact new child sex laws now

A rare example of political unity occurred in the Diet last week. Twelve lawmakers from seven political parties and groups put aside their usual differences and together submitted to the Upper House a long-anticipated bill to strengthen the legal protection of minors from sexual exploitation. In doing...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 3, 1999

Home sweet home discovered between public and private

Returning to Tokyo after living and working in Europe for some years, artist Tadashi Kawamata was struck by a unique characteristic of the megalopolitan Tokyo: It appears to be an unusually orderly and clean city, despite its population. Brightly lit vending machines line the streets at almost regular...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 1999

To cure Asia's ills, get the diagnosis right

On a recent whirlwind tour of Asian capitals, peripatetic U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Larry Summers offered some advice on how to cure the region's economic ills. Despite his stature as an economist, he sounded more like a politician spouting protectionist platitudes. Implicit in his commentary was...
JAPAN
Nov 2, 1998

Yomiuri Shimbun on verge of absorbing Chuokoron

The long-established publishing firm Chuokoron-Sha Inc. has signed a tentative agreement with The Yomiuri Shimbun to be absorbed by the publisher of the mass-circulation daily newspaper.
JAPAN / History
Jul 23, 1997

Scholar’s New Testament intro opens eyes

Kenzo Tagawa, 61, a leading New Testament scholar, finds the sales of his latest book ‘‘encouraging’’ and ‘‘surprising.’’
JAPAN
Jul 9, 1997

Japan firms urged to take lead in environment

The World Wide Fund for Nature has called on Japanese businesses to establish a council to fight global climate change and take a leading role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions before a key conference in December in Kyoto.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 22, 2023

Biden’s ‘dictator’ comment undercuts painstaking China diplomacy

The remark was the sort of jibe that may sound like nothing more than a schoolyard taunt but suggests Chinese President Xi Jinping doesn’t have legitimacy or the support of his own people.
Japan Times
SOCCER / Women's World Cup
Jun 20, 2023

Nadeshiko coach says Women's World Cup TV blackout will harm game

FIFA had threatened a blackout in major European markets before reaching an agreement with broadcasters in Britain, Spain, France, Germany and Italy last week.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Jun 17, 2023

Japanese fashion can no longer afford to play hard to get

Is Japan’s air of aloof mystique still enough to convince foreign audiences to invest in Japanese fashion?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 12, 2023

Takashi Murakami loves and fears AI

Speaking at an exhibition opening in France, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami offered his thoughts on the positives and negatives of AI.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2023

Debt debacle confirms what many thought of the U.S.

China is the chief beneficiary of the U.S. debt ceiling nonsense. Doubts about U.S. trustworthiness spur governments to look elsewhere for leadership and stability.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 4, 2023

North Korea warns it may not give notice of satellite launches

North Korea says advance notice of its satellite launches is 'no longer necessary,” hitting out after international criticism of Pyongyang’s recent spy satellite launch.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 3, 2023

U.S. defense chief says China talks 'essential' to curbing chance of conflict

As dangerously close U.S.-China military encounters rise, the U.S. defense secretary slammed China's unwillingness to meet and discuss improving crisis management mechanisms.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2023

China rejects U.S. claims over ‘de-risking’ not ‘decoupling’

Chinese state media, officials and academics have all publicly rejected the distinction in recent weeks, in a seemingly concerted effort to undermine the rhetorical shift.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 21, 2023

No joke: China's backlash against stand-up stirs fear of comedy clampdown

A Beijing-based comedian said a number of their shows had been canceled in the wake of a joke about the military.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 20, 2023

‘Ripples’: A refreshing and hilarious skewering of Japanese society

Mariko Tsutsui masterfully juggles humor and drama in Naoko Ogigami’s dark comedy about the silent pressures women face in modern Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
May 16, 2023

New threat to privacy? Scientists sound alarm about DNA tool

The tool could lead to a range of scientific advances but it also poses a vast range of concerns around consent, privacy and surveillance.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2023

Winners and losers in the artificial intelligence arms race

Technological change always creates winners and losers, but artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT has the potential to create more of the former than the latter.

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