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BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2002

Bond issuance cap may be abolished

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi suggested Wednesday he may abolish the 30 trillion yen cap on new government bond issues in the fiscal 2003 budget.
EDITORIALS
Jun 30, 2002

'An honorable man'

There is a professor at New York's Vassar College who clearly knows his Shakespeare, perhaps not as well as he thought he did until a week or so ago, but at least well enough to recall Touchstone's advice in "As You Like It": "Let us make an honorable retreat, though not with bag and baggage, yet with...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 12, 2002

From the hands of masters down the ages

The most impressive of the numerous art exhibitions taking place this summer to celebrate South Korea and Japan's co-hosting of the World Cup soccer finals opened on Tuesday at Ueno's Tokyo National Museum. "The Dynastic Heritage of Korea," running June 11 to July 28, is the largest exhibition ever held...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 29, 2002

Exposing the dark side of human nature

Man Ray was master of an art form for which he nonetheless professed "a certain amount of contempt": photography. His first love was painting, and he persistently denied the artistry of the medium that made him famous. But it is largely thanks to his photographic work -- explored in an impressive new...
BUSINESS
May 28, 2002

Kumagai Gumi reports first profit in nine years

Kumagai Gumi Co. on Monday said it posted a net profit of 2.55 billion yen for the 2001 business year, the first time in nine years that black ink flowed onto its books.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 8, 2002

The intoxication of Maurice Utrillo

Paris is a city of the mind. In addition to its reputation for intellectualism, it is one of the few cities of which almost everyone has some mental picture. And even though these images sometimes prove to be romanticized, Paris is nevertheless indisputably picturesque.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 1, 2002

Marc Chagall: painting the great power of love

In Japan, July 7 is a special day. It is the festival of Tanabata, the one night of the year when two celestial star-crossed lovers -- the Weaver (Vega) and the Cowherd (Altair) -- are said to cross the Milky Way to meet.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 24, 2002

Rage against the machine: anti-tech art

"The First Move," a showcase of finalists for the 2002 Philip Morris Art Award, opens this Saturday at Tokyo International Forum. On display until May 6, the exhibition includes paintings, photographs, 3-D pieces, videos, installations and computer-generated work by 57 young artists selected from more...
EDITORIALS
Apr 21, 2002

Upper House needs reform, too

There appears to be no end to the money scandals involving politicians and their aides. On Friday, Mr. Yutaka Inoue, president of the Upper House, resigned amid allegations that his aide took a huge bribe from a construction company. In this year alone, two other legislators surrendered their Diet seats...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 10, 2002

Gallery grazing perfect for a spring day

After visiting the Ginza galleries Saturday afternoon, I found myself unable to decide which of a number of good shows to feature in my column this week. So, instead of zooming in on a particular exhibition, allow me to present an overview.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2002

Museum rises from ashes of Hanshin quake

KOBE -- The opening of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art here Saturday is a testament to the port city's restoration since the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 14, 2002

You win some and you lose some . . .

Ten years ago, on March 12, 1992, this column began its life on these pages. Though it's still "green," when compared with colleagues who have graced The Japan Times for several decades, Our Planet Earth has now appeared more than 245 times.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 13, 2002

In the nihongo words of the Bard . . .

Kazuko Matsuoka is the Shakespeare translator whose work directors and actors in Japan most like to use. A 59-year-old Tokyo resident, she is the translator appointed for the Saitama Arts Theater's project of staging Shakespeare's complete works. To date, she has translated 11 of the plays, and is now...
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2002

Animated film festival kicks off Friday in Tokyo

An international festival on animated films opens Friday at Tokyo's Big Sight convention center along Tokyo Bay.
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Feb 6, 2002

Color her beautiful

"Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways." So wrote Oscar Wilde in "The Critic as Artist." There are myriad theories on why and how different wavelengths in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum affect us in the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WORKING IT OUT
Feb 5, 2002

Are 'freeters' result of slump, source of next one?

Tomoko Noguchi, 22, got her first bar hostess job about three years ago, while studying to become an aesthetician at a vocational school.
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2002

Yet more political corruption

The issue of political corruption is again coming to a head. This time around, a former secretary to Mr. Koichi Kato, one-time secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, is suspected of tax evasion, while an ex-aide to Mr. Michihiko Kano, deputy chief of the Democratic Party of Japan, is charged...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2002

Encouraging households to spend more

After much hesitation, Junichiro Koizumi's government has finally agreed to work on a second supplementary budget. More than ever, Japan's intrepid prime minister appears to be caught in the crossfire between the necessity to rationalize public spending and the obligation to shore up a flagging economy....
COMMENTARY
Jan 28, 2002

Toughen the antigraft law

"The establishment of political ethics is fundamental to parliamentary politics," states the code of political ethics approved by the Diet in 1985. "We must conduct ourselves with integrity and strive to eradicate political corruption."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 23, 2002

Revamped MOMAT opens with unfinished business

With "The Unfinished Century," its first exhibition since its renovation, the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, offers a comprehensive selection of works spanning the entire 20th century. The museum, and not only its exhibits, has become more comprehensive, too -- its improved facilities including a digital...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 9, 2002

The next best thing

Happy New Year to one and all. I'm just back in Tokyo after spending the holidays in Bangkok, where, you might be interested to know, Project 304, About Art Space and the city's four or five other contemporary-art players got together to celebrate the finale of a successful video and film program that...
CULTURE / Art
Dec 26, 2001

Borderless beauty of ink art

An exhibition of sumi art (ink art), a style combining calligraphy and painting, by Byakko Kashiwagi is running from today to Jan. 14 at Gallery ef in Tokyo's Asakusa.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 13, 2001

Experts offer solutions for Japan's malaise

Is there going to be a simple solution to Japan's prolonged economic problems? Experts from U.S.-based think tanks taking part in a recent symposium in Tokyo discussed a variety of prescriptions for both the long- and short-term illnesses that the country faces.
CULTURE / Music / JAZZNICITY
Dec 9, 2001

A rough guide to buried local treasures

Even though many jazz players in Japan do get a chance to record, it can sometimes be a challenge to find their CDs -- even in the biggest stores. With limited pressings and uneven distribution, last month's release from a popular live performer in Tokyo can be harder to find than an obscure 1950s hard...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2001

Aoki goes under with 522 billion yen in liabilities

The construction industry was dealt another blow on Thursday when general contractor Aoki Corp. effectively went bankrupt, filing for court protection from creditors under a civil rehabilitation law.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2001

Women call on Crown Princess to do it her way

The 37-year-old Crown Princess, who gave birth to a girl Saturday, should be free to raise her child in any manner she sees fit, according to several of her female contemporaries across the country.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 5, 2001

From mimicry to homegrown art

Japanese modern art is often discounted as a mere echo of its Western counterpart. This is not so much because styles and forms have been imported per se, but because in their new environment they have failed to take on a life of their own. In this, the real test, modern Japanese art has often been found...

Longform

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How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan