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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 22, 2004

Project seeks new sites for sore eyes

I would estimate that for every artist sipping champagne at an opening reception -- clad in Gaultier and coiffed with contrived insouciance -- there are hundreds of other artists sitting alone in cheap apartments eating cold noodles. "Starving artist" may be a cliche, but the truth is that most people...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 15, 2004

You can't beat an old master

Coffee Jiko Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Hou Hsiao- hsien Running time: 103 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Yasujiro Ozu's trademark style -- the low camera angles, the straight cuts, the actors talking at the camera in medium closeup...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 15, 2004

In the company of wolves

The worst (read best) rock 'n' roll animals never grow up. They act like idiots and we let them get away with it because they make great music. In rock 'n' roll it's always better to burn out than fade away into "maturity" -- i.e. making tame and crappy music.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 20, 2004

Chilling out with noodles in summertime

These are days of heat and tribulation. For 40 days and 40 nights we sweltered and sweated through that record heat wave -- and there's plenty more of the summer yet to come. Not surprisingly, given these almost biblical weather conditions, our main source of solace and sustenance has been noodles --...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jul 14, 2004

A diamond in the rough

During the 20th century, Japanese studio pottery made by individuals came to the fore. Up until then, many potters worked for large kilns or were artisans involved in a production-line method; one man molded the pots, while another decorated and so on.
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2004

Applauding a regional forum

It is tempting to dismiss the just-concluded annual meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) as little more than a talk shop. The statement released at the end of each meeting tends to look like the one before it. Tangible accomplishments are hard to identify. Furthermore, it is difficult to take a...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jul 9, 2004

A tale of two Pichons

Our favorite scene in "Tampopo," Juzo Itami's 1985 cult film about gastronomic excess, begins with two bums finding an expensive-looking bottle behind a Shinjuku hotel with a bit of wine left in the bottom. They deliver it to a compatriot, a sommelier who'd apparently seen better days but still has sharp...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 29, 2004

Large clothes, scooters and passport help

Larger fashions Susan has info on where to find larger-sized clothes for women. "You can find Ladies LL size at the Ito Yokado Store in Shinagawa Ward (Oimachi Line, Rinkai Line and Keihin Line). Dress shop 'Miharu' (3F; phone 03-5743-0306) stays open until 11 p.m." Car parking is free to buying customers....
Japan Times
Features
Jun 27, 2004

Baby pictures

She hung up the phone and looked out of the living-room window. The house was on a slight rise and she could see most of Fairview Estates -- the rows of wide, orderly streets, the big houses and neat lawns, children on bicycles, the mail truck making its rounds. It all looked too neat, too much like...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 18, 2004

Enjoy a taste of Boso's byways

When I got off the train at Sanuki-machi on the Uchibo Line in Chiba Prefecture, I realized, in a vague kind of way, that I knew the old little station. Perhaps I'd visited this rural town near the sea on a grade-school summer trip. Certainly, the 89-year-old station at the foot of the hills was exactly...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 3, 2004

Shall we meet at Sutaba, Tsutaya or the dog's tail?

Doing the machiawase (setting up a meeting place) is one of things that define Japanese relationships, especially relationships in Tokyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 27, 2004

Soaring soybean prices hurt tofu makers

A historic rise in soybean prices driven by soaring demand in China is dealing a heavy blow to Japanese makers of traditional staples such as tofu and soy sauce.
Japan Times
Features
Apr 18, 2004

Hanging by a thread

Spurned by many top Japanese designers, patchy in quality and sprawling over a month at a mishmash of venues, the twice-yearly Tokyo Collections -- whose fall/winter 2004/05 shows end this week -- still lay claim to being the highpoints of Asia's fashion year. But are Tokyo's days numbered as the `Paris...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Apr 9, 2004

A glass act that's proved hard to follow

A brief stint as an apprentice glassblower on Sado Island in the late '80s left me with a great appreciation of the aesthetics of a well-made wineglass. The weight, the balance, the cut of the lip, the curve and thinness of the bowl -- and the subtle ring after a toast -- are all factors that, when they...
Events
Mar 28, 2004

KANSAI: Who & What

Major antique fair to be held in Kyoto: A major antique fair will be held April 2 to 4 at Pulse Plaza in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Mar 26, 2004

Meet the Office manager

Everybody knows about Office in Kita-Aoyama -- the funky little fifth-floor, no-elevator hangout with a photocopier next to the DJ booth. But few people have had the pleasure of meeting Sadahiro Nakamura. Then again, you may have met him and just not realized that he was the man behind the scene and...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2004

Changing a regime beats regime change

BRUSSELS -- North Korea is changing, embracing the market. Colorful stalls that sell all manner of mundane goods, from food to flowers, are blossoming along Pyongyang's streets. The local Tong-Il market is thronged with customers haggling and buying a cornucopia of products. Another new market in central...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2004

Railways venture down new income track

In a bid to expand their revenue sources, major railways are rushing to open a diverse range of shops and restaurants inside urban stations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Feb 27, 2004

Hanging heavy in the sumo heartland

For Tokyoites, Ryogoku is synonymous with sumo. And, until a few months ago, that was all it meant to me. Ryogoku is two stops east of Akihabara on the JR Sobu line and is also accessible via Asakusabashi-Ryogoku Station on the Oedo subway line.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 21, 2004

'Gaijin' skier wipes out on group 'wa'

Even after mastering the Japanese language, it's still sometimes hard to understand it. It's like, I hear the words coming out of your mouth, I can even see the "kanji," but I have no idea what you're saying. Indeed, understanding the meaning behind the words is just as important as the words themselves....
Japan Times
Features
Feb 15, 2004

Soaking up Sakura

Pass by the noisy pachinko parlor near BicCamera in Yokohama, turn the corner at the red paper lantern outside the yakitori shop and, tucked away down an alleyway, you'll find a villa-like little storefront labeled "Snack Sakura."
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 10, 2004

Used books, furniture sales and clothes

More readers have been writing to say that they have lost columns cut out for future reference, so could we please relay the same information again. Happy to do so from time to time. Note, however, that that you can find back columns on The Japan Times Web site at www.japantimes.com
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 1, 2004

Speaking out from the streets

Diana was born in Santa Marta, Colombia, in 1973, the third of four children. Her father was an electrician who worked on construction projects that often took him away from the family for months at a time. There wasn't much money in the house, but all the children went to school -- their sharp-tongued...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 25, 2004

Crowds flock to city in search of rich pickings

It is a chilly Sunday morning. And it's pretty early.
COMMUNITY
Jan 24, 2004

Custom-made 'samue' fit tallest, widest, largest

So many foreign customers asked the owner of Good Day Books in central Tokyo where they could buy the traditional clothing she and her brother wore for work that she put on her thinking cap. "Samue" -- originally designed as work clothes for Buddhist monks -- are made in Japanese sizes only; even if...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2003

Prefectures' satellite shops let Tokyoites tour Japan for lunch

Prefectural governments are offering busy Tokyoites a chance to experience their local products and cuisine -- if only for an hour or so -- and hope to encourage tourism in the process.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2003

Video-based drug sales get qualified ministry OK

A health ministry panel has compiled a draft report conditionally removing the ban on overnight videophone-based sales of over-the-counter drugs by retailers.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan