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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 21, 2002

Getting on the right track

JAPAN BY RAIL, by Ramsey Zarifeh. Trailblazer Publications, 2002, 416 pp., $18.95/2 yen,900(paper) "Perfect timing," I thought when I picked up this guide book, barely two weeks before a trip I was planning out of Tokyo. I flipped to the index to look for my destination: Mashiko, a pottery town close...
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 21, 2002

Whip me with your best shot

A frequent visitor to Tokyo for the past 20-plus years asked me whether I thought S/M was on the rise in Tokyo. The answer is both yes and no. Hardcore S/M bars have been discreetly operating throughout that period, but as with all specialty bars, they are controlled by a strict members-only door policy,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 20, 2002

Salah Hannachi

From April 19 to 25 the Hilton Hotel Tokyo is hosting a culture and food promotion evocatively themed "Breeze From Tunisia." Chefs from Hilton Tunis are presenting authentic Tunisian cuisine. At a gala luncheon April 22 a raffle will be held for tickets for the Japan-Tunisia World Cup match, and for...
EDITORIALS
Apr 20, 2002

Fighting words in the Mideast

Not much happened this past week as a result of U.S. efforts to douse the flames in the Middle East. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell left the region without having brokered a ceasefire, an outcome he himself had predicted. Israel continued to ignore Washington's stern pleas that it start pulling...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Apr 19, 2002

Drawing on their experiences

Orange flames shoot out from two black-and-white skyscrapers. Airplanes outlined in black head for the buildings from opposing directions. The street below is filled with red cars, sirens on top. Stick figures fall from windows high up; others on the ground wave their arms desperately. A text balloon...
COMMENTARY
Apr 19, 2002

West's terror goes unpunished

Call me old-fashioned, but was not the deliberate use of force by one nation against another nation once labeled as aggression? And was not aggression once seen as a war crime? Certainly a large number of Japanese and German leaders once were hanged for just that kind of behavior. Yet today's U.S. and...
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2002

Mr. Chavez's second chance

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has often courted confusion, but even by his standards this has been a tumultuous week. Days after he was overthrown by a military coup and a successor government sworn in, the firebrand leader was restored to power by loyalists within his government and popular protests....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 17, 2002

Fighters' proposed move to Sapporo makes sense

Quite a controversy brewing over the proposed relocation of the Nippon Ham Fighters from Tokyo to Sapporo for the 2004 season. The Pacific League club wants to shift its franchise base from the Tokyo Dome to the Sapporo Dome, but the Seibu Lions are trying to block the move, because that team wants to...
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2002

Tokyo-Seoul history panel holds first meeting

A Japan-South Korea panel tasked with selecting members for and supporting the activities of a planned joint history research committee held its first meeting Monday afternoon in Tokyo.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 14, 2002

It's spring and renewal is in the air

English teachers will definitely want to check out Sunday's two-hour "SmaStation Spring Berabera Festival" (TV Asahi, 6:56 p.m.). "SmaStation" is the latest SMAP-related hit variety series, normally broadcast Saturday nights at 11 p.m. Taking its name from TV Asahi's influential nightly news program,...
EDITORIALS
Apr 13, 2002

Cutting our thirst for oil

Once again, Arab hardliners are threatening to cut oil supplies to force the world to take action in the Middle East. The price of oil, which is usually volatile at such times, jumped sharply in response. But, unlike 1973 or 1979, there is little prospect of concerted action so a real shortage is unlikely....
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2002

'Secret' funds went to lawmakers in '91-'92: JCP

The early 1990s administration of Kiichi Miyazawa used 143.86 million yen in so-called discretionary funds to distribute to ruling and opposition party lawmakers and to cover personal expenses at the Prime Minister's Official Residence, the Japanese Communist Party revealed Friday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 13, 2002

Yasmina Karem

This year marks the 49th annual Cherry Blossom Charity Ball sponsored by the international Ladies Benevolent Society. A major fundraising event for charitable causes, the ball is also a starred occasion on Tokyo's international social calendar.
COMMUNITY
Apr 13, 2002

Support for foreign wives to make their own lives

Joanne Elbinger Higashi recalls the hardships of being newly married to a Japanese in the wilds of Mie Prefecture 20 years ago with a wry smile. "Returning here after visiting the States to show my 8-month-old son to my parents, it rained for weeks on end. It was a nightmare trying to get the diapers...
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2002

A positive message from Pyongyang

The situation on the Korean Peninsula is showing fresh signs of improving. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, in a recent meeting with South Korea's presidential envoy, Lim Dong Jung, agreed to resume exchanges with the South. Kim also reportedly expressed his willingness to revive dialogue with the United...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Apr 12, 2002

The man who gave the JET program liftoff

The JET program marks its 15th anniversary this year. Today the country's largest teacher-exchange program, it all started from the simple dream of a young British banker called Nicolas Maclean.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Apr 11, 2002

Campaign finance reform passes -- for the moment

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush put the final touches on campaign finance reform for this year by recently signing the McCain-Feingold-Shays-Meehan Bill into law in the Oval Office before flying off for a series of fund raising events for Republican candidates.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 9, 2002

South Korean stuns world No. 1

South Korean Lee Hyun Il, last year's runnerup in the men's singles competition, rallied from behind Sunday to defeat world No. 1 Xia Xuanze of China in the final of the Yonex Open badminton championships.
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Apr 8, 2002

Absence from round table reflects prevalent pattern

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- A number of readers of this column have been writing to me directly, mostly, I have to say, to agree and to complement what I am writing with illustrations of their own. Some readers, however, have told me they are upset. That is good! If revolutionary leaders of the mid-19th...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002

A profitable day at the races

The year was 1948: Japan was still recovering from the ravages of war. Bombed-out bridges needed rebuilding, cratered roads needed repaving and railroads had to be relaid. It would cost a fortune, but who would foot the bill?
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 7, 2002

One love, one heart, one glow

Shinkukan is a DJ bar and lounge that has slipped quietly into a curious niche in Tokyo's nightscape. Operating like a ninja, with stealth and under the cloak of darkness, it stole into a small basement in a quiet semi-residential area on the Jingumae side of Omotesando. It's not the greatest location...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Tokyo-Seoul history panel sets date for talks

A Japan-South Korea panel created to lay the groundwork for a planned joint history research committee will hold its first meeting April 15 in Tokyo, Foreign Ministry officials said Friday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 6, 2002

Nora Marzuki

Of the Asia-Pacific Ladies Friendship Society, Nora Marzuki said, "One of its main objectives is to raise funds for charity, and this is very dear to my heart. . . . In this day and age, when there are so many unfortunate and disastrous events, our efforts in raising funds can go a long way towards alleviating...
SOCCER / World cup
Apr 5, 2002

Don't worry, everything will be OK, says English Football Association

For anyone worried about English soccer hooligans blighting this summer's World Cup, Adrian Bevington, the English Football Association's communications manager, has one message: They won't be there.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 5, 2002

Oh, to die under a cherry-blossom tree in spring

It's over for Tokyo, that brief period in spring known as hanami no kisetsu (the season to sit under a cherry-blossom tree and eat and drink oneself into oblivion).
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2002

GSDF wows potential recruits with games

The Ground Self-Defense Force has established its first public relations center, aiming to offer potential young recruits a positive image of the nation's de facto army.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2002

Group targets family ties via storytelling

As soon as the men would arrive on their big black bikes, children would cheer, set aside their toys and swarm around them even before they began sounding their wooden clappers. A signature large wooden box with openings and drawers was mounted on the back of their bicycles.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2002

U.S. lawmakers see close midterm races

While President George W. Bush continues to enjoy extremely high popular support, the U.S. midterm elections later this year will be hard-fought and could swing the narrow balance of power in Congress, according to a group of U.S. lawmakers who gathered at a March 26 symposium 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