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COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 2005

The meaning behind Koizumi's moves

On the surface, most elections are about personalities, false promises and special interests. But Japan's general election Sept. 11 is about a deeper historical reconciliation -- the effort to resolve differences between the country's cultural and behavioral preferences, and the organizational practices...
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLL SHOWDOWN
Aug 30, 2005

Okada hopes to shift election focus

Democratic Party of Japan leader Katsuya Okada is calling for voters' support in the Sept. 11 general election to bring about regime change and rebuild Japan in the face of ballooning government deficits and a rapidly aging population.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 30, 2005

Spoiled pooches live the good life

Whether it's "wan-wan," "bow-wow" or "ruff-ruff," dogs in Japan are all speaking the same language: life here ain't too dog-gone bad.
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2005

Watershed election for Japan

LONDON -- The results of the Japanese general election on Sept. 11 will be important not only for the future of Japanese parliamentary democracy but also for the Japanese economy and Japan's foreign relations.
EDITORIALS
Aug 29, 2005

Quenching China's thirst for oil

The prospect of China buying up international petroleum supplies to quench its growing thirst for energy is the newest geopolitical nightmare. Like most bogeymen, though, the fear disappears when exposed to harsh light. China is eager to secure resources to feed its developing economy, but those efforts...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2005

The Bad Plus

T he acoustic jazz trio The Bad Plus have cultivated a bad-boy image. And guess what, attitude works. They have garnered critical attention and loads of rock and alternative music fans. Past the hype, though, The Bad Plus' inspired jazz shakes up the expectations of what an acoustic jazz trio can sound...
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2005

Lawsuit over Tokyo air raids in works

Survivors and relatives of victims of the Tokyo air raids toward the end of World War II have decided to sue the government for compensation and an apology, they said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLL SHOWDOWN
Aug 25, 2005

JCP hits Koizumi reforms as good for big business, bad for the people

Japanese Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii hopes his party will make a vigorous case against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform drive, prospective tax hikes and moves to amend the pacifist Constitution as it braces for the Sept. 11 Lower House election.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 24, 2005

The best from a bygone era

I was recently tempted to term the handsome old Bridgestone Museum as "the last of a dying breed." But that hardly seems appropriate any more, considering the Nihonbashi art space's ongoing evolution. Instead, the Bridgestone might be better described as "a survivor" -- and one of the best -- from a...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 21, 2005

'Pacifist' Japan always ready to back a bit of conflict

"I don't care to belong to any club that will accept me as a member." -- Groucho Marx
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 21, 2005

It's the eccentrics whose appeal endures

KILLING RAIN, by Barry Eisler. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2005, 337 pp., $24.95 (cloth). BANGKOK TATTOO, by John Burdett. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005, 304 pp., $24 (cloth). While perhaps not as well known as Sherlock Holmes or Agent 007, pulp magazines and later paperback books featuring the intrepid...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 21, 2005

A new kind of film history

A NEW HISTORY OF JAPANESE FILM: A Century of Narrative Film, by Isolde Standish. New York/London: Continuum, 2005, 414 pp., 18 illustrations, $39.95 (cloth). Early in this account of Japanese film, the author says that prior histories have tended to follow one of two trajectories. One, which she calls...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2005

Lost Mishima film foretelling suicide found

The negative of a film Yukio Mishima wrote, directed and starred in has been discovered at the late writer's house in Tokyo's Ota Ward, it was learned Friday.
BUSINESS
Aug 17, 2005

Investor funds flourish, but caveat emptor

Ranging from hip-hop music to premium wines and a ramen court, funds are emerging in myriad fields to whet the appetites of investors tired of the minuscule interest on regular bank deposits and eager for a taste of adventure.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 17, 2005

The Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Quartet

The New Sound Quartet, also known as the Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Quartet, is a powerhouse of a group. Since both musicians had independent, well-established careers before teaming up, their names vie for top billing. But this quartet, by any name, is still one of the finest exponents of hard- and post-bop...
JAPAN
Aug 16, 2005

Japan Highway exec indicted over bids

Prosecutors filed charges Monday against Michio Uchida, vice president of the Japan Highway Public Corp., for his involvement in rigging bids for bridge projects, resulting in inflated costs.
COMMENTARY
Aug 14, 2005

Reform mantra mesmerizes

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to call a Diet Lower House election Sept. 11 solely on the question of post office privatization is curious.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Aug 13, 2005

Wanted: 'crazy creepy mixologists' for 42 Below

With the chance to promote New Zealand's prizewinning 42 Below vodka at a beach bar on the Shonan coast last Saturday, Tom Huskinson was there at 5 p.m. to find a long line for beer but no one queuing for the long sensuous mixers he calls cocktails.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Aug 10, 2005

Market dreams of glory

Tokyo art collectors were out in force as the first-annual Tokyo Art Fair (TAF) debuted this past weekend (Aug. 6-8) at the Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho. The fair saw participation from 81 galleries and art-related companies.
BUSINESS
Aug 9, 2005

2006 budget gets nudge forward

Work on the government's stalled fiscal 2006 budget got a push Monday when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki to set the budget guidelines for Cabinet approval by the end of the week.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2005

Thousands mark Hiroshima A-bomb

HIROSHIMA -- Hiroshima marked the 60th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing Saturday with calls for more international grassroots activism to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and harsh criticism of the nuclear powers for blocking such efforts.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 7, 2005

Mao was closer to seventy percent bad

An elegant Georgian terrace house in London's Notting Hill Gate, perhaps the most upmarket area for Britain's chattering classes now that Prime Minister Tony Blair and his friends have deserted Islington, may seem an unlikely venue for a counter-revolution against Mao Zedong's revolutionary claims. Yet...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 7, 2005

Learning a foreign language is a cultural journey, too

English students of Japan, unite! You have nothing to lose but your (conversation school) chains!
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2005

Noguchi tells Koizumi of space walk rush

Astronaut Soichi Noguchi says that during his first space walk last Saturday, he felt he would start plummeting toward Earth 400 km away.
BUSINESS
Aug 5, 2005

McDonald's to pay millions in unpaid overtime

The decision earlier this week by McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) to make up for inadequate overtime wages and nonscheduled cash earnings owed to nearly 130,000 part-time and regular-payroll workers has sent a shock wave through industries heavily dependent on employees paid by the hour.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Aug 5, 2005

Ready for a party?

The city of Edo -- first designed by Shogun Ieyasu -- was limited to the east by the Sumida River. No bridge was allowed to span the river except Senju Ohashi at the river's head in the far north. (See this column, June 3, 2005)
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 3, 2005

New dimensions in dance

Noism is a veritable supernova in the rapidly expanding universe of Japanese contemporary dance. It burst on the scene in 2004 as the residential company of the Niigata Ryutopia Theater, two years after its founder, 30-year-old Jo Kanamori, returned from Europe.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?