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COMMENTARY
Mar 9, 2007

Retreat from responsibility

LOS ANGELES -- Perhaps in an ideal world, people all across Asia would simply ignore the sad Japanese leader who slides embarrassingly and inelegantly into seemingly pointless denial over the "comfort women" issue of World War II. Perhaps in another world, the sight would prompt genuine concern about...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 9, 2007

Eagles of Death Metal

Eagles of Death Metal can be considered a parody band twice removed. Formed by Josh Homme and boyhood pal Jesse "The Devil" Hughes during a brief hiatus in Homme's successful campaign to turn Queens of the Stone Age into one of the world's most admired hard rock bands, EODM pushed QOTSA's 1970s revivalist...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2007

'Aoki Ookami'/'Ryu ga Gotoku'

Selling Japanese movies abroad has never been easy -- the industry makes about 1 percent of its box office overseas, but Haruki Kadokawa and Takashi Miike are both working hard to raise that number, if in radically different ways.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 9, 2007

Meet Asia's next generation of opera stars

Sumi Jo isn't the only Asian star to have taken the Western opera scene by storm in recent years. Below are three other talents fast stamping their presence on the international stage.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 9, 2007

Violinist's 'virtuoso fun'

Promising young Japanese-American violinist Ray Iwazumi makes his Tokyo debut at Opera City Recital Hall on March 17. In an e-mail interview, Iwazumi himself described the evening's program of great Belgian works composed around the turn of the 20th century as an entertaining one, which will combine...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 9, 2007

Snow Groove like Yuzawa's

The inaugural Snow Groove, which takes place March 24-25 at Pine Ridge Resorts Kandatsu, Yuzawa and the main strip of Yuzawa town in Niigata Prefecture, is a weekend for those who wish to ski/snowboard all day and party all night.
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2007

Mr. Abe's trivial pursuit

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent statements on the Japanese military's use of "comfort women" during the war years trivializes the real issue. By focusing on whether Japanese soldiers used physical force to recruit young Asian women into a form of sex slavery, he shifts attention from the government...
CULTURE / Music
Mar 9, 2007

Tommy Heavenly6 "Heavy Starry Heavenly"

Tomoko Kawase is a woman of many identities. After shooting to fame in the 1990s as singer for J-popsters The Brilliant Green, she went on to make two albums of '80s-style pop pastiches as Tommy February6. Now she has completed her second album as that incarnation's "dark side," Tommy Heavenly6.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 9, 2007

A place apart from you

Where are the wildernesses of lore?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2007

'Paradise Now'

Just last week I was complaining about how rare it is to see a film on Africa that has an African, not Western, perspective. You could say the same thing about the Middle East, where even a well-intentioned film like "Syriana" views the region mostly through the avatars of George Clooney and Matt Damon....
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 9, 2007

Richie turns painter again

"Donald Richie: Still Lives and Nudes" will come as a pleasant surprise to those under the impression that Richie's substantial oeuvre begins and ends with his writing.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 9, 2007

'Crying dragons' part of Yamanashi temple tour

Interested in Buddhist temples? Then sign up to a 2-hour tour -- in English -- given by the Yamanashi Interpreter and Guide Society (YIGS) of Zenko-ji Temple in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, on March 11. Kofu is 90 minutes by Limited Express from Shinjuku Station.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Mar 9, 2007

This wine school gets better with age

Japan's oldest and largest wine school, the Academie du Vin, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Something of an institution in Japan's wine world, the academy has turned out more than 30,000 graduates in its two decades of operation. But rather than rest on its laurels, the school continues...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2007

'Two Sons of Francisco'

At times the tried and true formula works best and this is certainly the case in "Two Sons of Francisco," a Brazilian box-office superhit that had the whole nation rushing to the theaters -- over 5.5. million.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2007

From Nazareth to Amsterdam

Director Hany Abu-Assad grew up in Nazareth before moving to Amsterdam to study at college with the goal of becoming an engineer. His route to filmmaking began as a boast. Trying to impress a girl he liked, he told her he was a director. He wasn't, but the seed was planted. With "Paradise Now" he received...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 9, 2007

Ethereal beings

Twenty years ago when he was in his mid-20s, Yukikazu Kano founded the Hanagumi Shibai Theater Company to start what he called "neokabuki." His idea was to bridge the gap between the traditional and contemporary theater fields in Japan.
SOCCER
Mar 8, 2007

Reds' offense mediocre, goalkeeping brilliant in ACL win

SAITAMA -- Urawa Reds suffered a night of frustration in front of goal in their Asian Champions League debut as inspired goalkeeping and wasteful finishing limited the J. League title holders to a 3-0 victory over minnows Persik Kediri.
BASKETBALL
Mar 8, 2007

Sendai's Diouf earns weekly honor

Sendai 89ers forward Mamadou Diouf is the Circle K Sunkus Player of the Week, the bj-league announced.
BASKETBALL
Mar 8, 2007

Assistant coach Boettcher hopes to find more like Nakayama

Editor's note: This is the second of a two-part series on Utah Valley State's connection to Japanese basketball. The Wolverines' season concluded Saturday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2007

Tech project turns streets into virtual tour guides

It makes for a jabber-filled downtown stroll -- getting deluged by chatter over earphones from some 1,200 tiny computer chips embedded in lampposts, subway-station ceilings and road cement, beaming maps, tidbits of history and store guides.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2007

Aussie skiers spark land boom in Niseko

"When I started the business, people told me 'Ben, you're crazy, it's too expensive,' " he said. "But our buyers were saying the opposite: 'Ben, you're crazy. Why is it so cheap?' " suggesting properties in the area are still underpriced compared with overseas ski resorts.

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