Search - japan

 
 
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Sep 12, 2000

Intercultural influences

East-West fusions are nothing new. Nearly 100 years ago, some Western classical music was influenced by Indian classical or Javanese gamelan music. In the 1950s, violinist Yehudi Menuhin performed with Indian sarod player Ali Akbar Khan and sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. By the 1960s, John Coltrane was...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 10, 2000

Chris McDonald

To commemorate his having lived for 50 years in Japan, Chris McDonald produced an engaging book of memories. In it he wrote: "If I were asked to single out one aspect of Japan that I have found more rewarding and enjoyable than any other, I would not hesitate to answer quite simply: 'Its people.' From...
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2000

Moody's cuts rating on state's yen bonds

Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Friday it has lowered its rating on yen-denominated domestic securities issued or guaranteed by the Japanese government to Aa2 from Aa1, given Japan's massive public-sector debt.
JAPAN
Sep 6, 2000

Mori, Putin make little progress

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin concluded their two-day summit in Tokyo on Tuesday, agreeing to continue peace treaty negotiations toward the yearend deadline but with a territorial dispute stuck at an impasse.
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2000

A haphazard path to recovery

LONDON -- Reports from Tokyo suggest that Japanese government and business leaders have not properly thought through economic policies designed to ensure recovery. Each problem seems to be treated in isolation, and decisions appear to be taken on the basis of what is most likely to satisfy the various...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2000

A sea of troubles for Russia

While many questions remain unanswered about the recent sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, the disaster has exposed some of the grave problems that afflict Russia today. It attracted much attention worldwide because it caused many people to ponder the life-or-death situation that the Kursk...
MORE SPORTS
Sep 1, 2000

Japanese rugby player Iwabuchi hopes to make mark at Saracens

The 2000-01 season will be a significant landmark for Kensuke Iwabuchi. The former Japan international rugby player joined English club Saracens, the team he has dreamed of playing for.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2000

Jumbo vessel unveiled to clean ocean oil spills

The government on Tuesday unveiled Japan's largest oil-recovery vessel, ordered by the Transport Ministry in the wake of a huge oil spill on the Sea of Japan coast three years ago.
COMMUNITY
Aug 27, 2000

SHARE and help the world

SHARE is Japan's version of Medecins Sans Frontieres, a small nongovernment aid organization that sends volunteer doctors, nurses and health workers to assist in stricken areas abroad. It also helps those in need on the domestic front -- women involved in the sex industry and people who have overstayed...
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 24, 2000

Shooting the breeze with affable Eddie

Sanfrecce Hiroshima manager Eddie Thomson HIROSHIMA -- Former Australian national team coach Eddie Thomson is the longest-serving manager in the J. League, but two weeks ago he announced that he would be leaving Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the end of the current season. However, the affable, 53-year-old...
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2000

Immigration in need of repair

Topmost in the mind of pro soccer player Alex is the 2002 World Cup.
COMMENTARY
Aug 22, 2000

Still coping with the Gulf War

Ten years ago, the world was in turmoil over the Persian Gulf crisis that started with the Iraq invasion of Kuwait. Now a new crisis appears to be brewing between Arabs and Israelis.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2000

Tokyo, Pyongyang discussions face same obstacles

While the 10th round of normalization talks between Japan and North Korea will be held in Japan this week, it remains to be seen whether breakthroughs can be made on a series of pending issues that have stalled previous negotiations.
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2000

WTO asked to mediate in auto trade row

In response to a request from Japan, the 15-nation European Union and Canada, the World Trade Organization will mediate in their dispute over how Ottawa should specifically correct its controversial auto-trade policy, government sources said Sunday.
COMMUNITY
Aug 20, 2000

A decade of anecdotes to order

There are books about spending time in Japan, written in the main by Alice-in-Wonderlands who believe a short stretch makes them authoritative on all things Japanese. And there are books about Japan. Bruce McCormack's "Tokyo Notes and Anecdotes: Natsukashi" falls into this second, far more recommendable,...
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2000

Mori to embark on diplomatic tour in Asia

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori leaves today for an eight-day trip to four Southwest Asian countries, during which he is expected to call on India and Pakistan to sign an international treaty banning tests of nuclear weapons.
COMMENTARY
Aug 18, 2000

World War II lessons go unlearned

On Aug. 15, 1945, Japan unconditionally surrendered to the U.S.-led Allied Powers, ending World War II. An estimated 3 million Japanese military personnel and civilians died in the war.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Aug 18, 2000

Incubators nurture the American dream

Since the Beatles crossed the Atlantic in 1964, success in the United States has been the Holy Grail of foreign artists, no matter how popular they are in their home countries.
COMMUNITY
Aug 17, 2000

Paper wings that bear dreams aloft

It is a bright, sunshiny day in Musashino Central Park in Tokyo's Musashino City, but the wind is a little strong for the participants in the Japan Paper Airplane Association semifinal flyoffs.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2000

Sex-slave fund facing uphill battle

Kyodo News Fifty-five years after the end of World War II, a Japanese foundation is facing an uphill battle in its sixth year of efforts to compensate Asian women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2000

Motorcycle makers gear up to tackle domestic slump

Despite brisk business in the global market, Japanese motorcycle makers have for years watched their domestic sales slide.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 16, 2000

Meiji era portraits put a human face on history

ANGLO-JAPANESE CONNECTIONS: Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits III, edited by J.E. Hoare. Richmond, Surrey, England: Japan Library, Curzon Press Ltd., 1999, 397 pp., 45 British pounds. Most of the 27 portraits in this volume are of 19th-century characters. They are interesting, nonetheless;...
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2000

Fish agency allows catching of entire bluefin tuna quota

The Fisheries Agency will allow catches of southern bluefin tuna up to Japan's original quota of 6,065 tons this year following an international tribunal decision nullifying an interim ruling that cut the quota by about 1,500 tons, agency officials said Saturday.
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 13, 2000

A Dance of hope: Rediscovering the artistry and power of Choi Seung-Hee

On March 20, 1926, a 14-year-old Korean girl was in Seoul, watching a performance of the internationally renowned dancer Baku Ishii and his troupe.
EDITORIALS
Aug 10, 2000

Keep the nonnuclear faith

The anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki always evokes frustrations among the Japanese people. This was especially true of the latest anniversary -- the 55th and the last of this century. The reason is simple: The goal of a nuclear arms-free world seems distant even as the new...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2000

U.S. forces remain critical to Northeast Asian security

WASHINGTON -- There has been a sea change in the political landscape in Northeast Asia, particularly on the Korean Peninsula. In South Korea, the success of multiparty democracy is changing how the United States interacts with its ally. President Kim Dae Jung must deal with voters who increasingly question...

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