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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 30, 2006

Tokugawa shogun saved from going to the dogs

Tsunayoshi (1646-1709) was the fifth in a line of 15 Tokugawa-family rulers. His 29-year rule was marked by an unusual number of natural disasters, including a volcanic eruption of Mount Fuji, and by that equally unusual outbreak of commerce — the arts, extravagance and indulgence now known as the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 30, 2006

Could the fortress have been saved?

SINGAPORE BURNING: Heroism and Surrender in WWII, by Colin Smith. London: Penguin, 2006, 512pp., £9.99 (paper). Winston Churchill called the fall of Singapore, "The worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history." This inglorious surrender to Japan on Feb. 15, 1942, came about largely because...
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Apr 16, 2006

What's really 'Chinese' about fortune cookies?

Try this for fun next time you're in New York City: Walk into any sushi bar, eat your fill and then ask for a fortune cookie.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Textbooks given state makeover

, which it controls.
EDITORIALS
Jan 29, 2006

Much ado about an old Chinese map

A little squall ruffled the staid world of historical scholarship earlier this month after a Beijing lawyer and amateur collector produced a tattered, bamboo-paper map that at first glance appeared to undermine an axiom of Western history. The map, which Mr. Liu Gang said he bought in a Shanghai bookshop...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 29, 2006

Understanding, visiting and living in North Korea

NORTH KOREA IN THE 21ST CENTURY: An interpretative Guide, by J.E. Hoare and Susan Pares. Global Oriental, 2005, 253 pp., including index, references/bibliography, b/w illustrations, £14.95 (paper). Jim Hoare opened the British Embassy in Pyongyang in 2001 and was the first British diplomat and charge...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2006

Concern grows in Japan over Asian ties

SINGAPORE -- From a Southeast Asian perspective, recent developments underscore an internal angst in Japan over the growing "China threat" and how Japan will come to terms with its military aggression of the 1930s and '40s. Meanwhile, debate continues in Japan on revising its "pacifist" Constitution...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 13, 2006

Aichi Prefecture shows the glory of culture, industry -- past and present

Aichi Prefecture, internationally better known as the venue of the 2005 Aichi World Expo, which was successfully held for six months last year, is located near the center of Japan and has prospered as a corridor between the east, west, north and south with a long history.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 18, 2005

What did you read about Asia this year?

Donald Richie THE COLUMBIA ANTHOLOGY OF MODERN JAPANESE LITERATURE, edited by J. Thomas Rimer and Van C. Gessel (Columbia University Press) This new take on Japanese modern classics -- old standbys and lots of recent writing as well -- is big (864 pages and it's only the first volume). It includes examples...
COMMENTARY
Dec 9, 2005

Put a lid on the provocations

LONDON -- U.S. President George W. Bush is reported to have stressed recently to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi the importance of healthy diplomatic relations between Japan and Asian countries and to have suggested that improved relationships in the region could help to strengthen the U.S.-Japan relationship....
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Oct 4, 2005

Hidden wisdom of 'the guv,' Shintaro Ishihara

Adored by large sections of the Japanese public, reviled in equal measure by the foreign community and courted tirelessly by the domestic media: There are few more divisive figures in Japan today than Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 17, 2005

Talking about the modern Japanese woman

Meeting last Monday, Barbara Hamill Sato is not sure how many women won seats in the previous day's general election, but suspects it may be the most ever.
EDITORIALS
Aug 19, 2005

Statements befitting future conduct

On Monday, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi issued a statement apologizing for Japan's past colonialism and aggression. He also decided that day not to visit Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japan's militarism in the 1930s and '40s. Instead, he visited and...
COMMENTARY
Jul 16, 2005

The terrorists won't succeed

LONDON -- The British government's measured and firm response to the attacks in London on July 7 has had the support of all political parties. The resolution of the general public to get on with their life has not wilted.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 26, 2005

New book offers interesting retrospective on Japanese game

Remembering Japanese Baseball, an Oral History of the Game is the title of a new book by Robert K. Fitts, the creator of RobsJapanese Cards.com, the world's largest Web site dedicated to Japanese baseball cards and memorabilia.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2005

Leaders, not geography, decide destiny

During their recent visits to Washington some prominent Japanese lawmakers were promoting an uncomfortable message: China is a long-term threat to Japanese security, and a future conflict between Japan and China is virtually inevitable.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2005

Koizumi, Hu hold talks

JAKARTA -- The leaders of Japan and China met Saturday in an effort to end a dispute over Japan's wartime aggression that has badly damaged relations between the two Asian powers and alarmed their neighbors.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2005

Thousands in Beijing march against Japan

BEIJING -- Thousands of Chinese protesters held a rally here Saturday, chanting "Down with Japan" and pelting the Japanese embassy and businesses with rocks and bottles.
COMMENTARY
Mar 29, 2005

Japan apologetic: Prisoner of the past?

It is really sad. At a time when Asia would profit immensely from as much togetherness and mission-sharing as possible, nationalism and finger-pointing seem more in force than ever.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Mar 28, 2005

A fundamentalism of sorts affected Japan

NEW YORK -- The influence of fundamentalist and evangelical religion on U.S. politics, both domestic and abroad, is growing, but something similar happened during the early part of the Showa Era (1926-89). I thought of this recently when I read Daikichi Terauchi's "Kejo no Showa Shi" (A History of Showa...
Japan Times
Features
Feb 6, 2005

Calls for change as WHS status threatens one of Japan's gems

The breathtaking mountain landscape of the Kii Peninsula, and its ancient temples, monasteries and shrines have captivated the Japanese people for more than 1,000 years.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 29, 2004

Alternative to fading away

In the annals of mankind, various nations that rose and fell over centuries are recognized for what they left for posterity. The Romans laid the foundations of Western civilization with Roman Law and built the infrastructure that enabled the spread of Christianity. The world owes the British for the...
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2004

Education minister slams textbooks as 'self-torturing'

Education minister Nariaki Nakayama said Saturday that history textbooks used in secondary schools contain passages that are extremely "self-torturing" and suggest "Japan has done nothing but bad things."
COMMENTARY
Nov 22, 2004

Liberals should stand proud

LONDON -- U.S. President George W. Bush's favorite accusation in the election campaign is reported to have been that Sen. John Kerry was a "liberal." The president seems to have used the label as a term of abuse meaning a "leftwing" radical and a supporter of the appeasement of terrorists.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 17, 2004

Shiroyama bravely battles on

In matters of war, history is most often recounted from the perspective of the conqueror and rarely, if ever, passed down from the point of view of the defeated. So it's not surprising that the historical significance of the remnants of 16th-century Hachioji Castle on western Tokyo's Mount Fukazawa --...

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic