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JAPAN
Dec 2, 2004

Crime victims may get key role in trials

The Justice Ministry is considering introducing legislation that would allow victims of crime to play a greater role in the trials of their accused offenders, ministry sources said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 2, 2004

Risks to secular government

MANILA -- In the Cold War era, the global confrontation was basically ideological. Two radically different socio-political blueprints were pitted against each other: democracy and capitalism on one side, one-party-rule and communism on the other. The opponents, then, were two superpowers and their allies...
EDITORIALS
Dec 2, 2004

First step to an 'open door'

In another milestone move aimed at expanding economic ties with fast-growing East Asian nations, Japan and the Philippines agreed this week to sign a free-trade agreement (FTA). Increased trade and investment in this region is especially welcome at a time when multilateral trade talks under the auspices...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 1, 2004

The freaks that made good

End of the Century Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Michael Gramaglia Running time: 108 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] My first introduction to The Ramones came, fittingly enough for a film critic, in a cinema . . . but, hey, they were...
EDITORIALS
Dec 1, 2004

Manufacturing still our lifeblood

Fifteen years after the collapse of the economic bubble, Japan's longer-term economic prospects look fairly promising. One reason for this is that Japanese banks, particularly big ones, are making good progress in their efforts to clear up their nonperforming loans. Another reason is that manufacturers...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 1, 2004

Liberate your mind and art

The conductor walks away. The crowd applauds. Beethoven's 5th? A moving rendition by the orchestra? Eric Satie? Closer, but wrong again. The performer is Ben Patterson and he's just completed George Maciunas' "Solo for Conductor." For this, he bent over to face the audience, placed his baton on the floor...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 1, 2004

Instruments of invention

It has been 91 years since Luigi Russolo published his manifesto "The Art of Noises," in which the Italian Futurist implored, "We must break out of this narrow circle of pure musical sounds and conquer the infinite variety of noise sounds."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 1, 2004

Mixing madness with magic music

De-Lovely Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Japanese title: Gosenfu no Love Letter Director: Irwin Winkler Running time: 126 minutes Language: English Opens Dec. 11 [See Japan Times movie listings] "You have a dazzling talent and a life to go with it. What can you possibly be afraid of?" says...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2004

Taking public pulse on Iraq mission turns up disturbing information gap

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has said he will take into account public opinion, along with various other factors, when he decides whether to extend the one-year Self-Defense Forces mission in Iraq, which expires Dec. 14.
EDITORIALS
Nov 30, 2004

Ms. Rice's nomination raises concern

Observers both here and abroad are worried that the second administration of U.S. President George W. Bush may assume a more unilateralist stance in foreign policy. Such concern stems mainly from the imminent resignation of Secretary of State Colin Powell, a firm believer in international coordination...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 28, 2004

A clotheshorse for all seasons

"What will she be wearing?"
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2004

Koizumi an official at Yasukuni

The Thursday court ruling on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's 2001 visit to Yasukuni Shrine indicates he may longer be able to continue to be ambiguous about the nature of his contentious visits, many scholars agree.
EDITORIALS
Nov 27, 2004

A revealing melee in Chile

It seemed like a sideshow at the time, but the incident in Santiago last weekend in which U.S. President George W. Bush intervened to "rescue" one of his Secret Service agents from a scuffle with Chilean police has been mushrooming all week. In retrospect, that melee -- and a dispute last Sunday involving...
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2004

NHK can skip correction, but not redress

Although it upheld a redress award against NHK for defamation, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a 58-year-old woman's claim against the broadcaster, reversing a lower court ruling that had ordered it to air a correction to a 1996 program that referred to her divorce.
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2004

Rebuilding a safe society

This year's white paper on crime opens, on the first page, with the proclaimed aim of restoring Japan as "the safest country in the world" and closes, on the final page, with the expressed determination to achieve this goal. The report seems to convey the Ministry of Justice's concern and sense of tension...
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2004

Latest EU expansion poses more economic problems than benefits

Despite the political significance of completing the reunification of Cold War-divided Europe, this year's enlargement of the European Union creates few near-term economic benefits and poses major challenges for the region, an expert with a British institute told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 21, 2004

Daring to break the rules: Japan's first modern novelists

TWO JAPANESE NOVELISTS: SOSEKI & TOSON, by Edwin McClellan. Tuttle, 2004, 166 pp., 1,500 yen (paper). Even if they do recognize the man, Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) for many non-Japanese is no more than the prim blue gent in the mustache that once peered out from the 1,000 yen bill. Yet Soseki is the...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 20, 2004

Shiraishi, island of mists and trances

Shiraishi is an island of trances, a place where one is lured into long contemplative pauses. I can sit on top of the mountain and look out over the sea for hours, awed by the beauty of the Inland Sea. Like getting lost in your favorite song, or an entire CD, these are the moments when our mind is so...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 19, 2004

Portsmouth's Redknapp, Mandaric reach uneasy truce in ongoing turf war

LONDON -- Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp and chairman Milan Mandaric are like a married couple constantly quarreling but who find it difficult to live together, though, equally can't live without each other.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Nov 19, 2004

Sonics making loud noise; Gasol on empty

NEW YORK -- With one quarter left in Sunday's game I was all set to diss Danny (The Flagrant Vagrant) Fortson, Seattle's solo paint presence, for drawing a one-game suspension and sullying the Sonic boom.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2004

Japan to continue supplying food aid to North

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Wednesday that North Korea will receive from the government the remainder of the food aid it was promised.
EDITORIALS
Nov 18, 2004

Iran strikes another nuclear deal

I ran has agreed to suspend its nuclear programs while it continues negotiations with European nations on the future of those efforts. While the government in Tehran is pleased with the results of the discussions, other nations, worried about the possible proliferation of nuclear weapons, should be more...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Nov 18, 2004

The right way to teach values in school

How do you teach a child right from wrong? I certainly don't have all the answers. In our home, we're still working on why you can't hit your brother, even when he's being deliberately annoying -- as he has been all this week, answering any direct question with nonsense ("What do you want for dinner?"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 17, 2004

Power of hope

Toshiko Akiyoshi's Jazz Orchestra is one of the most innovative big bands in jazz -- not just in Japanese jazz, but worldwide. Her work has received both critical praise and consistent popularity over the course of 50 years of live performances and some 40 recordings.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2004

Lower House panel debates foreign suffrage bill

A House of Representatives committee on Tuesday began deliberating a bill to enable permanent foreign residents of Japan to vote in local elections.
COMMENTARY
Nov 17, 2004

Bush's win doesn't mean Musharraf can rest easy

ISLAMABAD -- The re-election of U.S. President George W. Bush for another four years comes as a welcome development for the pro-American government of Pakistan's military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Relations between the two countries have been close since Pakistan became an ally in the U.S.-led war...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 16, 2004

How old is too old to teach?

Too old? G. is a a 60-year-old native English speaking female who has earned a BS in Elementary Education and an Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education.
COMMENTARY
Nov 16, 2004

Locals foot bill in sports stadium scam

WASHINGTON -- Not long ago Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and the city's political elite held a triumphant press conference announcing the return of baseball. League officials began counting nearly a half billion dollars in public subsidies.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2004

Work cut out for Australia and Indonesia

SINGAPORE -- John Howard ensured his control over Australian politics for the next four years on Oct. 9 when he swept to an impressive fourth term as prime minister and his Liberal Party-led coalition increased its lead over Labour in both Houses. Howard's victory was attributed to the recent good performance...

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight