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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2002

Y.E.S.: An English teaching system that works

In 1994, Northern-Ireland born Douglas Young was running two small branches of his English conversation school Formula 1 in the pottery town of Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture. He and his English wife then moved to Hitachi Naka, where Douglas opened a main office and Alison had her first child. The family...
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2002

Secure food safety

Never before, perhaps, has a government advisory panel made such a scathing attack on public policy. The final report on bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, popularly known as mad cow disease, submitted Tuesday by a 10-member investigative committee, points out that the government made a "grave...
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 13, 2002

Forsooth, 'tis surely no great Shakes

"Shakespeare shakes you. The spear of his imagination shakes you, and the story shakes you," said Mark Rylance, artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, in an interview for The Japan Times last October.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 24, 2002

Images of a common brutality

HELL IN THE PACIFIC: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima and Beyond, by Jonathan Lewis and Ben Steele. London: Channel 4 Books, 2001, 288 pp. $30 (cloth) TALES BY JAPANESE SOLDIERS OF THE BURMA CAMPAIGN. Edited by Kazuo Tamayama and John Nunneley. London: Cassell, 2000, 252 pp., $24 (paper) If you've ever...
COMMENTARY / JAPAN IN THE GLOBAL ERA
Feb 4, 2002

English-language deficit handicaps Japan

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- In 1984 I was invited to give a public lecture at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. I began by apologizing for the fact that I would not be able to deliver my lecture in Dutch. I went on to remark that had I been alive at the time of Erasmus, I would have given my lecture in Latin....
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2002

Indo-Pakistani crisis: a catalyst for peace

In a way, the Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament was a blessing. It may have pushed two nuclear powers to the edge of a disaster. But the threat of war often helps feuding nations pause and re-examine their priorities and how they affect bilateral relations.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 27, 2002

Can't start a fire without a match

A popular format for variety specials is the omiai, bringing together single men and women for the purpose of making couples. Often the stated goal is nothing more than dating, but of course the ultimate goal is matrimony.
MULTIMEDIA / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 10, 2002

Forget agents, get a comedian

Yakult Swallows pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii obviously didn't know what to do.
COMMUNITY
Dec 23, 2001

Everlasting allure of gems shines on

Gems are among the most gorgeous examples of nature at work, even though the jewels we admire get a helping hand not afforded to phenomena like sunsets and snow-capped peaks.
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Dec 12, 2001

The Silver Jews: 'Bright Flight'

David Berman's band suffers from an image problem. People are confused by the name, The Silver Jews (a reference to The Silver Apples and slang for Jewish people with blonde hair). Moreover, the music press seems convinced that they're a side project of influential indie-rockers, Pavement. True, Berman...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2001

Not fade away

Ka-chan Rating: * * * Director: Kon Ichikawa Running time: 96 minutes Language: Japaneese
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2001

Blow away Big Tobacco's smoke screen

In an interconnected world, we're seeing ways that globalization may help or hinder our lives. Take the tobacco industry: It is using innovative means to bypass fledgling government tobacco control policies, particularly in developing countries. It is riding a wave to open regional trade in East Asia...
COMMUNITY
Dec 2, 2001

Need a powder fix in Japan? Go boarding out of bounds

Anyone who has skied or boarded on a weekend in Japan knows the story: the well-groomed slopes, blanketed with skiers and boarders making their way up and down as loudspeakers blare pop music and shrill announcements. And then there are the cattle-corral cafeterias, the chaotic souvenir stands, the apres-ski...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Nov 4, 2001

Straight from the monkey's mouth

The Stone Roses are the most influential British rock band of the last 15 years, but since their long-drawn-out and frankly ludicrous demise five years ago, vocalist Ian Brown has taken a lot of playground flak.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 31, 2001

The gift of Ghibli

When I first heard that Hayao Miyazaki was planning a museum in Mitaka dedicated to the films that his Studio Ghibli animators and he had created over the years, I imagined animation cels framed on beige walls. Save for dedicated fans, it wasn't the most thrilling prospect for a Saturday afternoon, especially...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 21, 2001

In the realm of crime, torture and depravity

THE DARK SIDE: Infamous Japanese Crimes and Criminals, by Mark Schreiber. Kodansha International, 2001, 251 pp., 2,700 yen (cloth) It's unfortunate but true that the names of notorious criminals usually outlive those of their victims. We remember Jack the Ripper, not the London prostitutes he butchered....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 21, 2001

Swallowed up by a passion for baseball

"Spurred on by energetic cheerleaders and the pounding rhythm of taiko drums, horns, whistles and other noisemakers, (the typical Japanese fan) becomes a veritable wildman, yelling and screaming nonstop for nine solid innings." -- Robert Whiting, "You Gotta Have Wa"
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 14, 2001

Shaking a spear for the Bard

Mark Rylance, the 41-year-old artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, has been in Tokyo with his company's triumphant production of "King Lear," which closes today at the Tokyo Globe.
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Sep 30, 2001

Holy mackerel! That's quite a fish!

Above the counter of the small kappo-style restaurant where I apprenticed hung a small scroll inscribed with a seasonal poem that was changed at the beginning of every month. In October, the simple verse read, "Aki no saba, Wakasa umare, Kyo sodachi. (The autumn mackerel, born in Wakasa, raised in Kyoto)."...
Events
Sep 18, 2001

Shikoku has 1,400-km path to spirituality

OSAKA -- People often go to great lengths for spiritual enlightenment, and a 1,400-km pilgrimage to 88 key temples on the island of Shikoku is certainly no exception.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 8, 2001

Misako Fedorowicz

SHREWSBURY, England -- This country town of Shropshire in the British Midlands is characterized by its crowding, crooked, black-and-white 16th century houses, clustered within a horseshoe loop of the River Severn. Narrow passages known as shuts link winding streets that keep distinctive names acquired...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2001

Kim's final destination remains a mystery

SEOUL -- For Korean watchers, the overriding question regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's visit to Moscow is whether it has brought him any closer to Seoul. Beyond receiving accolades for a summit in Moscow last weekend, the exact purpose behind the trip or, more precisely, Kim's final destination,...
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jul 1, 2001

Underneath the sidewalk, it's anarchy

Tokyo's underground live houses are crawling with bands who refuse to play by the rules, who are willing to take musical experimentation to such extremes that they've given up all hope -- that's if they gave a toss in the first place -- of making money out of what they love most: making sounds.
COMMUNITY
Jun 15, 2001

You're not leaving the table till you finish those vegetables

Some nights, I drift off to sleep feeling as smug as if I'd just outwitted the devil. My husband has clued in to my little G spot of contentment, so when he wants to get on my good side, he knows to whisper: "Rio ate lots of vegetables today."
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 7, 2001

Whose theory was it, anyway?

In 1835, Charles Darwin became the first of a long line of scientists to make a study of the Galapagos Islands. Now, on entering the research station there that bears his name, visitors come face to face with a bronze of the Englishman as a very much older and far more famous man than he was when he...
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2001

Solitude, the big killer

Animals Rating: * * * Japanese Title: Yume no Tabiji Director: Michael Di Jiacomo Running time: 103 minutes Language: EnglishShowing at Theater Image Forum You'll probably need a long, stiff drink after "Animals" -- that's provided that you can last until the sad, sad ending. I foresee a lot of people...
COMMENTARY
May 22, 2001

Politics slides as style prevails

LONDON -- The British general-election campaign has started. The "spin doctors" are working overtime to show the party leaders and party policies in the best possible light and to provide good photo opportunities to illustrate their leaders' popular appeal. At the same time, the party leaders themselves...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 21, 2001

Speaking in tongues for a national day of prayer

At 82, and a spirited minister to world leaders, Harald Bredesen may be forgiven his excesses. Not only does he have a gift of the gab, but an enthusiasm for quoting so loudly from Scripture in public places that it turns heads. (In our hotel coffee shop, he has to be thrice shushed.)
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Apr 19, 2001

Calling all Internauts...

www.zingasia.com An Asia travel site that for some reason wants to be a portal. The only other shopping experience on the Net that offers so much to contemplate is Amazon. But looking for vacation possibilities just isn't the same as browsing through books, and the reams information and suggestions can...
COMMUNITY / THE PARENT TRIP
Apr 13, 2001

English as a father tongue

You are living in Japan in a bicultural, bilingual relationship (meaning that you can deal with the dry-cleaning guy in Japanese). Little Tomu or Tommy, your first, has gone from goos and gurgles to words and even sentences. How cute! Kawaii! You, who have struggled so hard to master Nihongo (or at least...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’