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CULTURE / Art
Dec 5, 2001

Attack of the coneheads

Picture, if you will, a typical Saturday afternoon in Shinjuku. Throngs of people scurry to and fro, delivery trucks troll by belching fumes, while scooters dart in and out of traffic. This time, though, something's up.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2001

Services decaying in Britain

LONDON -- You could take Britain's decaying public services -- despite four years of frantic New Labour ministrations -- as an advanced sign of the new world disorder, a sign of what will befall the homelands of global capitalism; or as a sign of what happens when a nation state signally fails to keep...
COMMUNITY
Dec 2, 2001

'Float on Earth' at Japan's snow resorts

You draw in a sharp, crisp breath of clean air, point your board straight ahead and blast off full speed down a short, steep drop, then up a narrow slope that launches you high in the air. Landing in a meter-deep pillow of fluffy, white snow that swallows your board, your bindings and your knees brings...
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 2, 2001

Brazil is no pushover says Pele

PUSAN, South Korea -- Legendary Brazilian player Pele is optimistic about Brazil's performance in the World Cup in six months time despite the South American powerhouse's recent struggle in the qualifiers.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 2, 2001

Making the polluter pay

MINAMATA: Pollution and the Struggle For Democracy in Postwar Japan, by Timothy S. George. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001, 385 pp., $45 (cloth) The story of mercury poisoning suffered by residents near the port of Minamata in Kyushu is a well-known tale of knavery on a grand scale. A telling...
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2001

S&P ranks Japan with Italy in cellar of G7 credit league

Standard & Poor's Corp. said Wednesday it has lowered its long-term local and foreign currency sovereign credit ratings on Japan to AA from AA-plus.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 29, 2001

Deafness givin' them good vibrations

The Italians got it right about some of the important things in life, like olive oil and coffee. But they got it right about something else, too, something that brain researchers have only just realized. The Italian for "to hear," sentire, is the same (in its reflexive form) as the verb "to touch," (sentirse)....
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2001

A long-term budget helps reform

Six months into his economic reform campaign, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is doing a fairly good job. Determined to reduce public debt, he has kept his promise to limit new bond sales for the fiscal year 2001 to no more than 30 trillion yen. At the same time, in an urgent move to help the growing...
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2001

Yo, what's with this Dostoevski?

Crime + Punishment in Suburbia Rating: * * * Director: Rob Schmidt Running time: 128 minutes Language: English Now showing
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2001

Some like it chemical

Original Sin Rating: * * * Japanese title: Poison Director: Michael Cristofer Running time: 116 minutes Language: English Now showing
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 28, 2001

Indispensable designs

When you pull a foil bag of potato chips down from the shelf in the supermarket, you're usually thinking only about its contents. But when that same colorful bag is used as a cover for an art catalog, the disposable wrapping has suddenly turned into an ambiguous, sophisticated artifact.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 28, 2001

Distinctive and delicate art

China painting is a popular hobby in the United States and Europe, and is gradually gaining followers over here as well. A characteristic of porcelain art is the paints used -- made by mixing powdered minerals such as iron, copper, uranium and so on.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

Hazama loses 1.83 billion yen in first half

Civil engineering firm Hazama Corp. on Monday reported group net losses of 1.83 billion yen for the first half to Sept. 30.
Japan Times
Events
Nov 27, 2001

Kyoto locals slam fall traffic jams

KYOTO -- The Arashiyama area, situated in the northwestern part of this ancient city, is famous for its colored leaves at this time of the year and the many temples that serve as sightseeing spots for enjoying the natural beauty.
BUSINESS
Nov 27, 2001

Hazama loses 1.83 billion yen in first half

Civil engineering firm Hazama Corp. on Monday reported group net losses of 1.83 billion yen for the first half to Sept. 30.
COMMUNITY
Nov 25, 2001

Keeping up appearances -- not prices

"Recession." "Nikkei Average plunges below 10,000." "Unemployment tops 5%." Depressing economic trends of the past few years, reflected in headlines like these, have had a profound impact on consumer spending. But now, with less cash to splash out on extravagances, do we have to forego being fashionable?...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 25, 2001

High style for high rollers

Over the last few years, most mainstream fashion -- in London, Paris, New York or wherever -- has tended toward a softer, more casual look, and taking inspiration from various genres like streetwear has become the norm.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 25, 2001

'Prince of Knitting' spins a good yarn

KYOTO -- Being male and knitting for a living has earned Mitsuharu Hirose the reputation of being somewhat "strange." Parading about on television in women's knit tops and makeup probably played a part as well. But that doesn't needle Hirose one little bit.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2001

Is safety net failing kids in legal trouble?

A 19-year-old who fled the Kurihama Juvenile Training School last year was literally running out of options.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2001

Ministers defend budget-finance plan

Several Cabinet ministers on Thursday defended a plan to use funds from the sale of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. shares to finance a 2.5 trillion yen second supplementary budget for fiscal 2001.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2001

Beef-shy consumers grow more anxious

The confirmation Wednesday of a second case of mad cow disease has made consumers -- already suspicious of the government's declaration that domestic beef that goes to market is completely safe -- even more anxious.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 22, 2001

When cartoons go wacky

The brains at Microsoft could have fixed it so that you had to purchase an Xbox game console to play "Cel Damage," but they didn't.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 21, 2001

Unconscious beauty crafted by Korea's unknown artists

The founder of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum (Nihon Mingeikan), Soetsu Yanagi (1889-1961), was a collector and philosopher who had been attracted to Korean crafts since his youth. Recognizing the beauty of folk craft, he strove for its recognition both in Japan and abroad.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 18, 2001

Competition winners featured in free screening

There will be a free screening of the winners of the 45th Competition for Films and Videos on Japan at Tokuma Hall in Higashi-Shinbashi, Tokyo, on Dec. 5, starting at 10:30 a.m.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Nov 18, 2001

The rich legacy of the biwa

The pear-shaped biwa lute has enchanted listeners in Japan for centuries. Played with a large wooden plectrum, the instrument has four or five strings of twisted silk stretched over four or more deep frets positioned on the neck. Along with the rich, percussive sounds of the wood striking these silk...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 18, 2001

A story that just doesn't translate

DRUNK AS A LORD: Samurai Stories, by Ryotaro Shiba; translated by Eileen Kato. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2001, 253 pp., 3,500 yen (cloth) Ryotaro Shiba (1923-1996), a distinguished historical writer, brought Japan's past alive by examining many of its important historical figures and the personal...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 18, 2001

Too much of a good thing

YAKUZA PERFUME, by Akahige Namban. New York: Blue Moon Books, 2001, 206 pp., $7.95 (paper). This curious book is an American-published pornographic novel that purports to be written by a Japanese. Though its main aim is to excite, its interest lies in the cultural assumptions it makes, these rendered...
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2001

Okinawa's distress call

Okinawa, which has often suffered the fate of being associated with U.S. military bases, is being buffeted again. This time it is the Okinawan economy that has been hit by cancellations of reservations for group tours to the prefecture following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2001

Upper House passes 2.99 trillion yen budget

The Diet on Friday enacted a 2.99 trillion yen supplementary budget for the current fiscal year that earmarks 1 trillion yen to ease the burden of structural reforms on workers and small firms.

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