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BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2005

Matsushita, Hitachi join on plasma panels

Electronics giants Matsushita and Hitachi said Monday they have agreed to tie up in the plasma display panel business amid diving prices and intensifying competition.
COMMENTARY
Feb 7, 2005

Bet on the sustainable option

In the 20th century, science and technology was aimed at contributing to economic development and growth. In the 21st century, though, it must seek to promote sustainable development.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2005

Beijing's military buildup races ahead

HONOLULU -- China is modernizing its military forces faster than anyone expected only a few years ago, escalating the potential danger to the island of Taiwan, to American forces and bases in Asia, and to the overall balance of power in the region.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 6, 2005

Death From Above 1979

An elephant in your living room. Ask rhythm and metal duo Death From Above 1979 to describe their music, and that's a common response. Indeed, the massive sound of their debut LP, "You're a Woman, I'm a Machine" is sure to scrape the walls and shatter furniture -- that is, if you can fit it through the...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2005

Tokyo's volunteer-guided tours invite tourists to meet the locals

and Noboru Suzuki.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2005

High court refuses to acknowledge police negligence led to fatal stalking

The parents of a woman who was murdered in 1999 by a group of men linked to her ex-boyfriend failed Wednesday to win recognition that the negligence by Saitama police who failed to act on her complaint of stalking and harassment led to her slaying.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2005

Foggy North Korean shuffle

BRUSSELS -- Recent events in North Korea have been interpreted in various ways and, generally, the wish has been father to the thought. The truth is difficult to discern, but indications are that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has placed himself firmly behind a reform program that may finally bring...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 26, 2005

Concert of 1,000 cellists looks set to raise the roof in Kobe

World-famous cellist Mstislav Rostropovich will conduct a concert for 1,000 cellos during a weeklong international cello convention in May in Kobe, which is currently commemorating the 10th anniversary of the devastating Great Hanshin Earthquake.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2005

Tsunami parley delegates seek specifics -- not vague pledges

KOBE -- As the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction headed into its final two days Friday, NGOs and some member states warned that the five-day parley would be a failure unless it culminated in specific action on disaster reduction measures, especially in the Indian Ocean region.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2005

Sake breweries near Tokyo offer foreigners tastings, tours in English

Many of the well-known brands of sake are made in the rural, now snow-deep regions of Japan, including Niigata Prefecture, but what may not be widely known is that there are about a dozen breweries in Tokyo alone.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2005

Response upgrade in works against intruding subs

In response to an intrusion by a Chinese submarine in November, Tokyo has drawn up guidelines to immediately launch a special maritime operation if a foreign sub is detected intruding in Japan's territorial waters, the government said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 20, 2005

Displaced long to return home, get back on track

store, but (once it's spring), we'll be able to start plowing our fields." The strong earthquakes that hit the Chuetsu region of the prefecture on Oct. 23 displaced thousands of residents.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2005

Quake hit foreign community at its roots

Korea," said George Gibbons, a Kobe resident from Britain who recently retired as an official at Marist Brothers International School. While exact figures were not available, a Kobe official said the number of ethnic Korean residents has seen a slight increase over the past four years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jan 19, 2005

Female potter smashes tradition

In Japan it is quite rare to find women woodfire potters, who make their work in a traditional anagama (tunnel kiln) or noborigama (chambered climbing kiln).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 19, 2005

Castle of the truly absurd

One night in deep midwinter, K. arrives at an inn in a snow-covered village beneath a mighty castle which may or may not exist. K., played by Tetsushi Tanaka, claims he has been hired by the castle as a land surveyor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 19, 2005

Goblins and deities in folk art

In celebration of the Japanese New Year, the Mingeikan (Japan Folk Art Museum) has organized a special exhibition titled "Otsu-e: Edo Period Popular Paintings," showcasing this traditional Japanese genre of painting from the Edo Period (1615-1868).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 19, 2005

Not a whodunit but a whydunit

Coming last in a daylong round of media interviews, I was expecting my 40 minutes with Shinji Aoyama to be strained, as in "I'm so tired I can hardly stand." Instead, he came into the meeting room at Toho with a smile and a brisk manner, as in "I'm just getting warmed up." While he was obviously there...
Japan Times
JAPAN / 10 YEARS AFTER
Jan 18, 2005

City's new face conceals unhealed wounds, a sense of communities lost

KOBE -- A decade after the massive Kobe earthquake, there remains little visible trace of the damage to this port city.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2005

New beginning for Malaysia, Singapore

SINGAPORE -- This year promises to usher in a new entente between Malaysia and Singapore, leading to better Asian regional cooperation and development. Singapore-Malaysian bilateral relations hit a new high after Singapore Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong made a one-day working visit to Kuala Lumpur on...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 15, 2005

Jamie Mclnnes

Many a young international resident of Tokyo sooner or later finds his way to Tokyo International Players. Jamie McInnes' way was through going to see a performance. He followed on by auditioning for the next production. "Then I became involved," he said. He brought to TIP a professional edge of his...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jan 14, 2005

Siphoning the cant out of decanting

Guidebooks recommend it. Nose-in-the-air sommeliers love it. Friends swear by it. But does decanting a wine really do anything to improve its taste?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 14, 2005

Kobe: picturesque city by the sea

As last month's terrible tsunami off Sumatra and the subsequent tidal waves showed only too well, the shiftings of the earth's crust can lead to horrific natural calamities. Sitting atop one of the world's geological hot spots, Japan is of course no stranger to these phenomena. And the ever-present threat...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2005

Flesh traders targeting Western women

A 23-year-old Russian woman became intrigued with the idea of working as a hostess in Japan a few years ago after a friend returned home flush with cash from hostessing and opened a boutique.
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Jan 13, 2005

"The Time Wreccas," "Winnie's Magic Wand"

"The Time Wreccas," Val Tyler, Puffin Books; 2005; 338 pp. Children's fiction these days is so all-knowing, so cynical, even, that possibly only a first-time writer can bring back to it the naivete that it has all but lost. Perhaps Val Tyler, author of "The Time Wreccas" has not noticed how popular...
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2005

North Korea boycott sees some impact

. "I think our campaign has put pressure on North Korea." Has the boycott worked?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 12, 2005

Balancing act

Singer-songwriters are the half-breeds of pop music. Evolved from Bob Dylan's navel-gazing spawn, they lead hyphenated existences because each half of their calling is considered insupportable without the other. Though many are accomplished vocalists, what distinguishes them as singers doesn't always...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2005

Betrayal of Dr. Schweitzer's message

LAMBARENE, Gabon -- I first learned of Dr. Albert Schweitzer's work when I was a medical student in the 1960s. During those years, the story of Schweitzer's efforts to improve the health of Africans in his hospital in Lambarene ignited my colleagues' and my imaginations. It was thus with a sense of privilege...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 9, 2005

The occupied days of the ultimate observer

THE JAPAN JOURNALS: 1947-2004, by Donald Richie. Stone Bridge Press, 2004, 494 pp., $29.95 (cloth). In "The Japan Journals," American writer Donald Richie has acted to the letter on Rimbaud's conviction that the first study for the man who wants to be a poet "is to know himself, completely. He must search...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 7, 2005

Batista set for Hawks

The Fukuoka Softbank Hawks have reached an agreement to sign veteran slugger Tony Batista, baseball sources said on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2005

Nara man held over bogus notes

Nara Prefectural Police said Thursday they have arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of using a counterfeit 10,000 yen note at a coffee shop in the city of Nara on Dec. 20.

Longform

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