Search - works

 
 
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2002

Doctors import banned drug thalidomide through loophole

Some doctors in Japan are using the banned drug thalidomide to treat cancer and other illnesses, according to a survey conducted by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
COMMENTARY
Sep 28, 2002

U.S. report surprises few, worries many

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- I spent a week earlier this month in Vladivostok, Russia, lecturing to university students. Focusing on U.S. foreign policy, I was trying -- honestly, I can say -- to convince them that American foreign policy was less unilateralist than it seemed, and that the U.S. didn't deserve...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Sep 27, 2002

It really is sink or swim in Japanese schools

Life is never dull when your children attend local school in a foreign country. My kids have been in Japanese school for two years, but things still catch me by surprise. My daily thrill, if you can call it that, is reviewing the stacks of purinto (handouts) from the school. I never know quite what I'm...
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2002

Abductees' kin, supporters call for results

The families of Japanese nationals abducted to North Korea and Diet members working to help them reaffirmed Thursday their demand that the government take a firm stance on the issue.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2002

'Nursing taxis' popular but status shaky

As taxi driver Hirohisa Mitsuda washes his vehicle prior to a day's work, he tries to make sure the windows are spotless because his passengers hardly ever get to enjoy the outdoors.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2002

It's not the economy, stupid!

Gerhard Schroeder will remain the German Chancellor after Germany's recent elections, but his majority in Parliament has become extremely narrow. His Social Democrats (SPD) got 38.5 percent of the vote, and so did the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) of his rival, Edmund Stoiber. The main reason Schroeder...
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2002

A harmful exception to the rule

Banking reform in Japan continues to disappoint. The general perception is that both authorities and banks are mostly taking stopgap measures, such as the Bank of Japan's plan to buy bank shares. Another notable example of expediency is the de facto reversal of the government decision to abolish full...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 25, 2002

Supreme Court upholds ban on book

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court decision to halt the publication of a novella, marking the first time in postwar Japan that the top court has endorsed such an action in a libel suit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 25, 2002

Tumultuous art made in tumultuous times

It is always a pleasure to spotlight an exhibition that seems to have slipped in under the art radar, as is the case with the group show "Quobo -- Art in Berlin 1989-1999" now at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 25, 2002

Riches of the sea

Few Japanese ceramic artists have stamped their visions into clay as eloquently as Yoshiro Kimura.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2002

Cloud of population decline may have silver lining

"Rabbit hutch" is a stereotypical term coined years ago by outsiders referring the cramped dwellings of crowded, urban Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Sep 24, 2002

A cape designed by God with wine in mind

Rule No. 1 for a Cape Wine Route tour is: Find someone else to do the driving.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2002

Reform delays discouraging

Junichiro Koizumi was Japan's first prime minister to receive a mandate to push structural reforms by convincing the public that there would be no economic growth without painful reforms. It remains to be seen, however, whether Koizumi will succeed in his reforms. More than a year after launching his...
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2002

Japan seeks Internet translation of tongues

Japan will ask China and South Korea to join it in developing Internet technology to automatically translate Japanese, Chinese and Korean into one another.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 22, 2002

Veteran builder lives his art

Toshio Konuma, 43, is a Japanese bodybuilding legend. He started training at 17 and entered his first competition two years later. He won that, and he's been winning ever since. In 1985, he scaled the pinnacle of Japanese competition, capturing the Mr. Nihon title. Then he won it again in 1987, and held...
COMMUNITY
Sep 22, 2002

William Tyndale: A martyr's memory heals old wounds

ANTWERP, Belgium -- William Tyndale, the first translator of the Bible into English from its original Greek and Hebrew texts, is making a comeback that -- if not miraculous -- is considered by many to be at least long overdue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Sep 22, 2002

Recession? What recession?

For many, the mere thought of Champagne is enough to make the pulse race and the tongue tingle. Josephine de Beauharnais, the wife of Napoleon and Empress of France 1796-99, once remarked that "making love without a bottle of Champagne alongside my bed is merely silly." For those looking to indulge in...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 22, 2002

Soseki's later years

INSIDE MY GLASS DOORS (156 pp.); THE 210TH DAY (96 pp.); SPRING MISCELLANY (184 pp.), by Soseki Natsume, translated by Sammy Tsunematsu, with introductions by Marvin Marcus. Tuttle Publishing (Boston, Rutland, Tokyo), 2002, all volumes 2,300 yen (paper) with black-and-white photos In 1915, having just...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2002

Museum, design firm will form joint research unit

The University Museum of the University of Tokyo and leading design firm Tanseisha Co. will join forces to to provide research into running museums, museum and company officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN / BABY BUST
Sep 20, 2002

Education costs seen adding fuel to fall in birthrate

At age 4, Mari takes swimming, gymnastics, drawing and English-conversation classes. And that's after kindergarten.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 20, 2002

Life is good in Serena's world

Closing in on her 21st birthday, Serena Williams seems to have it all: No. 1 in the world in women's tennis, four Grand Slam singles titles to her credit, 17 victories on the WTA Tour, an Olympic gold medal (in doubles with sister Venus), over $9 million in prize money (plus who knows how much in lucrative...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Sep 19, 2002

Reproduction is no laughing matter for hyenas

In some ancient African cultures, the skulking hyena was considered to have special powers. Some of those powers, it was thought, could be attained by consuming a specific part of the hyena's body. The nose, for example, was believed to be a source of wisdom and intelligence. While attributing "special...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Sep 19, 2002

Shine on you crazy plumber

Mario, Nintendo's world-famous plumber/mascot, may be the oldest active character in video games, but he's certainly not washed up. Neither is "Super Mario Sunshine," Mario's latest adventure.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 18, 2002

JAA's Praemium Imperiale recognizes the world's best

The 14th Praemium Imperiale prizes will this year go to movie director Jean-Luc Godard, baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, architect Sir Norman Foster, painter Sigmar Polke and sculptor Giuliano Vangi, it was announced Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 18, 2002

Two dimensions good, three dimensions better

I got some positive feedback on my review last week of the Doug Aitken show at the Tokyo Opera City Gallery. My remark, "I just don't like visiting galleries to sit on the floor and watch videos," struck a chord with a number of readers. Not that I don't like video and new media art, but most galleries...
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2002

Depressive points the way out of the gloom

For 10 years, Rei Ueno, 40, worked hard as a freelance writer. He took on almost every job that came to him. It was not unusual for him to make it home after midnight -- he also played hard.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 17, 2002

Breaking down the barriers

SEOUL -- A merican presidents, soccer stars, paying tourists and the occasional squad of Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders airlifted in to boost U.S. troop morale regularly bus through select checkpoints in the Korean demilitarized zone, but otherwise this 246-km-long, 4 km-wide strip of land is one desolate...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 15, 2002

A river of ill repute

THE MEKONG: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future, by Milton Osborn. Allen & Unwin, 2001, 295 pp., b/w & color photos, $25 (cloth) The waters of the Mekong, the world's 12th-longest and Southeast Asia's foremost river, do not, like the Thames, run sweetly. Nor have they inspired poets to dream on the river's...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan