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Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Aug 21, 2005

Cartoon duo leads the way in a version of history that's no joke

The phrase "textbook row" has become a regular sighting in Japanese newspapers of late, as newly authorized history books for schools are accused, both at home and abroad, of "glossing over" the bloodier aspects of this country's warmongering, Imperialist past.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 21, 2005

It's the eccentrics whose appeal endures

KILLING RAIN, by Barry Eisler. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2005, 337 pp., $24.95 (cloth). BANGKOK TATTOO, by John Burdett. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005, 304 pp., $24 (cloth). While perhaps not as well known as Sherlock Holmes or Agent 007, pulp magazines and later paperback books featuring the intrepid...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 21, 2005

All together now, as yesterday's no-no becomes the status quo

When I first arrived in Japan in the 1960s, I was friends with a Western sociologist who was genuinely frustrated. When he went around surveying public opinion, he said that he found Japanese people to be stubbornly reserved and conservative. Apparently, those who responded to his questions about social...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Aug 20, 2005

Sindhura Gadde

When jewelry designer Kazuo Ogawa conceptualized "Wings of Love," he said, "In all cultures and civilizations, birds have always been significant in mythology and philosophy, literature and poetry, dance and music, art and crafts, fashion and jewelry." The third annual "Wings of Love" charity event,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 20, 2005

Lessons learned over the rainbow

Late August marks the anniversary of my arrival in Japan, this time totaling 28 years. So the question would seem to be, "What have you learned, Dorothy, in your long stay over the rainbow?"
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2005

Police wary as Yamaguchi-gumi prepares to fete sixth don

OSAKA -- With the late July emergence of Kenichi Shinoda -- also known as Shinobu Tsukasa -- as Yamaguchi-gumi's sixth don, Japan's largest and most notorious mob syndicate now has a boss with a violent past but a reputation as an organized leader and diplomat with strong connections to rival gangs,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 19, 2005

Tourists are now the big catch for reborn Otaru

To think of a big city in Hokkaido is invariably to think of the place that fondly plants a prominent white, red or black star on the labels of the beers it brews. But back in the early part of the last century, the spot in Hokkaido that was top dog in terms of population and economic clout was not Sapporo,...
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2005

Koizumi turns new residence into exclusive art museum

If the new Prime Minister's Official Residence was opened to the public, unknowing visitors would think they had stumbled into an art museum.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Aug 18, 2005

Jizo

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Aug 18, 2005

What a curious wonder the walrus is

The walrus is a peculiar, even comical, creature -- and not only in Lewis Carroll's 1872 poem, "The Walrus and the Carpenter."
Japan Times
JAPAN / 60 YEARS,AND ONWARD
Aug 14, 2005

Islanders bemoan 60-year wait to return

FUKUI -- Shohei Yamamoto may not be a professional storyteller.
COMMENTARY
Aug 14, 2005

Reform mantra mesmerizes

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to call a Diet Lower House election Sept. 11 solely on the question of post office privatization is curious.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 14, 2005

Author's 'sense of mission' shines on through the flames

At age 13, in total despair after losing her parents and two sisters, Toshiko Takagi tried to kill herself. But now, 60 years later, she stresses she never consciously tried to commit suicide.
Japan Times
Features
Aug 14, 2005

Caught in the middle: an 'enemy' in service of the Emperor

Life in Japan during the war years was not easy for foreign-born persons of Japanese parentage, but relatively speaking it would seem that I had a fairly easy time.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 13, 2005

Cheap old beaches become modern playgrounds for the rich

I hate to admit it, but our small island in the Seto Inland Sea is becoming a playground for the rich. Not long ago, the only people who came to Shiraishi Island were families looking for a cheap day out at the beach. And I mean cheap. They bring their own everything: food, drinks, beach chairs, parasols,...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 12, 2005

Chelsea leads three-horse race in quest for Premiership title

LONDON -- According to Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon the 2005-06 Premiership title will be won by "a small bunch of one" with manager Jose Mourinho predicting the Blues will confirm their second successive English crown in the last fixture on May 7 at Newcastle. So that's this season then. Roll...
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 2005

Brink of starvation in Niger

Life in the West African country of Niger is hard in the best of times. Now the country is facing a food crisis that threatens hundreds of thousands of lives. A combination of factors -- nature, misguided policies, and neglect -- has left Niger teetering on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, and...
JAPAN / 60 YEARS AND ONWARD
Aug 12, 2005

Bank lending key to postwar revival

When Hiroshige Nishizawa got a job at the now-defunct Industrial Bank of Japan more than 40 years ago, the new graduate was full of ambition.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2005

Long-term value of new peace memorial

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine have unduly been compounded as a diplomatic issue in Japan's relations with China and South Korea. It seems that Chinese and Korean leaders consider the visits supportive of moves by some Japanese to "legitimize the wrongs of the past."
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2005

Defeat leaves LDP split as election looms

Monday's rejection by the House of Councilors of the postal privatization bills has left the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party sharply divided as it faces a general election in the coming weeks and a possible fall from power.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 7, 2005

Fuji TV presents docudrama "The August 12 JAL Crash: To My Child in Heaven" and more

I n the NHK drama "Nanako to Nanao-Ane to Ototo ni Nareru Hi (Nanako and Nanao: the Day They Became Sister and Brother)" on NHK-G, Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Yu Aoi plays high-school student Nanako, who is something of a social outcast, mainly because of her attitude. Nanako's philandering father died seven...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2005

Bomb museum's bilingual displays give differing historical spins

HIROSHIMA -- At Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, photographs of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing and display cases of personal items found near ground zero are instantly understandable to people from around the world regardless of language and nationality, and send a clear message about the horrors of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Aug 5, 2005

Weekend trance party picks 08.05

Friday 08.05
MORE SPORTS
Aug 4, 2005

Danjo lives her dream on the NFL stage

When Yoshiko Danjo stands at the sideline of RCA Dome as a member of the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders this fall, one thing she will bring to the sideline will be a photo of a Japanese cheerleader.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2005

Officials' response to asbestos slipshod, critics say

Spurred into action following a surge in reports of asbestos-linked deaths across the country, the government last week unveiled a package of steps designed to better deal with the carcinogenic substance.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2005

Kamei denies he is targeting Koizumi

Shizuka Kamei, the longtime archenemy of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, kicked off speculation Tuesday by denying he intended to topple the Koizumi Cabinet in the ongoing struggle to scrap the postal privatization bills.
EDITORIALS
Aug 2, 2005

Iraqis draft a constitution

Iraq has a "road map" to normalcy. The first step was the withdrawal of the occupation government, which occurred a little over a year ago. The second major step was the national elections that were held in January. Despite protests by some Sunnis, the vote was largely a success. The third big step is...
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2005

Life for Miyake's residents full of challenges

Six months after the evacuation order was lifted for residents of Miyake Island, life remains fraught with challenges ranging from frequent toxic gas warnings to mountains of unprocessed garbage.
COMMENTARY
Aug 1, 2005

Olive branch to Iran overdue

A new Iranian government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be inaugurated Aug. 4. While outgoing President Mohammad Khatami is a moderate, Ahmadinejad is a hardline conservative whose relations with the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush are likely to be tense. As this is undesirable...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan