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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 28, 2008

Human reeds swaying in a museum maze

It's dangerous to talk to an artist. Whatever you think of their art, after a conversation with them, you are bound to walk away intrigued, enchanted — maybe even disgusted (which isn't necessarily bad) — but mostly, hopefully, enlightened by a new understanding of their work.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 27, 2008

Leach: Hoosiers must keep faith despite troubles

They say bad news travels fast. Just ask George Leach.
Reader Mail
Feb 26, 2008

Larger questions about Ishihara

In his Feb. 21 letter, "The root of national identity" (a response to the Feb. 16 Japan Times article "Ishihara laments loss of national identity"), Timothy Khaki makes a number of valid points. But, actually, rebutting quotes by Shintaro Ishihara is like shooting fish in a barrel. Most of what the...
Japan Times
LIFE / THE SKY'S THE LIMIT
Feb 24, 2008

Mother of 2 leads the way

Izumi Washitani is not only a professor of conservation ecology at the top-flight University of Tokyo, she's also a committed activist who applies her studies to restoring threatened biodiversity.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Feb 24, 2008

New rules for cyclists go round in circles

Putting the brakes on the country's bicycle chaos requires more than just imposing bans on headphones, cell phones and umbrellas.
LIFE / Lifestyle / THE SKY'S THE LIMIT
Feb 24, 2008

Japan's gender inequality puts it to shame in world rankings

When it comes to gender equality, Japan has no shortage of distressing figures.
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 2008

Vision of ROK-U.S. alliance

HONOLULU — The inauguration Monday of Lee Myung Bak as the Republic of Korea's new president will open the door for a revitalization of the ROK-U.S. alliance, a relationship that has been severely tested and strained in recent years as a result of policy differences and more fundamental "vision" differences...
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2008

Offbeat exploits attract foreign visitors

Dressed entirely in black with his head wrapped in cloth, Michael Studte throws darts, turns somersaults and twirls lassos in a ninja class for foreign tourists in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2008

Breaking the northern ice jam

The Japanese government appears to have renewed an attempt to move stalled negotiations with Russia over the Northern Territories. At a recent Tokyo rally, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said that in order to raise Japan-Russia relations to a higher stage, it is indispensable that both countries sign a...
COMMENTARY
Feb 22, 2008

'Asian Arc' doomed without Australia

HONG KONG — Kevin Rudd, the non-Chinese world's first Chinese-speaking prime minister, has dealt a lethal blow to a budding "Asian Arc of Democracy" that was actively pushed by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a notion that appeared designed to isolate Beijing.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2008

He's a family (and ladies') man

Lajos Koltai has worked as a cinematographer with some of cinema's foremost directors, including Istvan Szabo ("Being Julia") and Luis Mandoki ("White Palace"). He was behind the camera when Jodie Foster directed "Home For the Holidays," but it wasn't until 2005 when Koltai debuted as director with "Fateless,"...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 22, 2008

'Evening'

Lest we forget what it is to be a woman, there's always the chick flick to remind us exactly what this may imply. In the case of "Evening," the implying rather has the effect of a tidal wave. There they are, all the usual suspects: love (unrequited and otherwise), weddings, marriages, careers, motherhood,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 22, 2008

Takagi taps the color of sound

Is Masakatsu Takagi a musician that makes video art or a video artist that makes music?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Feb 22, 2008

Tofu maker finds success through innovation, determination

Many of Japan's small and medium-size companies are feeling the pinch as they struggle to pass rising costs on to their larger corporate customers. One, however, Saitama-based tofu maker Shinozakiya Inc., succeeded in getting supermarkets to swallow a 30 percent increase in wholesale prices in November....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / LIQUID CULTURE
Feb 22, 2008

Finding Tokyo's top theme bars

Sure, "best theme bar" is faint praise, but here are four Tokyo joints that are more fun than the Hard Rock Cafe. They were selected through the following criteria:
CULTURE / Art
Feb 21, 2008

"Kiyoshi Nakagami"

Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 21, 2008

A living play appears from the past

"I have absolutely no idea beforehand what exactly I am going to do. Everything comes together really at the last minute," says 50-year-old English dramatist Simon McBurney when asked how he's approaching his latest collaboration. Working with Japanese actors, McBurney is producing "Shunkin," a play...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 20, 2008

Japan the latest stop on Neumann's basketball odyssey

Johnny Neumann's trip through the world of basketball has been nothing short of an incredible journey.
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2008

Obstacles to overcome in the development of a concert of Asia-Pacific democracies

NEW DELHI — The new Australian government is signaling a wish to turn its back on an initiative bringing four major democracies of the Asia-Pacific together, even as U.S. Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has vowed to institutionalize that venture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 19, 2008

Should Japan's teachers stand up for the national anthem?

COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2008

The afterlife for bureaucrats

For years the phrase "from the public sector to the private sector" has been used in the context of politics and the economy. In April 1985, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corp. and Japan Monopoly Corp. were privatized, becoming NTT and Japan Tobacco respectively. In April 1987, Japanese National...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 17, 2008

Trailblazer Matsui continues to hone game at Columbia

K.J. Matsui is a perfectionist.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 17, 2008

In Japan, there's a 'quiet revolution' afoot

First of two parts
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Feb 15, 2008

Evessa retain title as kings of the road

It takes all of two seconds to understand the biggest reason why the current bj-league leaders are, well, the league leaders.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 15, 2008

'Fast Food Nation'

Once upon a time, the spread of freedom and democracy was measured in the spread of hamburger franchises. Beaming network correspondents would report from places like Moscow or Beijing on how formerly gray and monolithic communist societies had opened their doors to the Golden Arches. This, truly, was...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 15, 2008

Chuck Brown is good to go-go

Chuck Brown doesn't know when to quit. That's not a character flaw — it's a trait that gave the world the musical equivalent of a marathon.
COMMENTARY
Feb 14, 2008

Why is the Pentagon begging for billions?

LONDON — Last week the Pentagon asked Congress for the biggest defense budget since World War II: $515 billion, plus an additional $70 billion to cover the costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for part of the coming year. The United States is proposing to spend more on the armed forces, quite...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 14, 2008

Sculpting the sacred and the profane

Given the boom in all things Edo in recent years — perhaps best exemplified by the explosion of interest in last year's The Price Collection's tour of Japan, featuring the artists Ito Jakuchu, Maruyama Okyo and Nagasawa Rosetsu — it is surprising that there hasn't been equal attention paid to the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 14, 2008

France's own proto-Andy Warhol

There are interesting parallels between Andy Warhol and the French fin-de-siecle artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Each was an instantly recognizable figure who moved in a Bohemian crowd, was obsessed with celebrity, and produced print works that embodied the relationship between art and commerce.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?