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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 12, 2004

Ozon playing God

Just a few years back director Francois Ozon was one of France's enfants terribles, his films like "Sitcom" (1998) or "Criminal Lovers" (1999) often mentioned in the same breath as those of Gaspar Noe or Catherine Breillat. These days, though, Ozon is better known for his sensitive, subtly perceptive...
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

Pension bills clear Lower House

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved contentious bills to revise the pension system, with the ruling coalition and the main opposition party endorsing a key amendment to the legislation.
JAPAN
May 12, 2004

Pension bills clear Lower House

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved contentious bills to revise the pension system, with the ruling coalition and the main opposition party endorsing a key amendment to the legislation.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 12, 2004

O brothers, what happened?

The Ladykillers Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Joel Coen Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Open May 22 [See Japan Times movie listings] The Coen brothers take a massive Hollywood home-run swing with their latest, "The Ladykillers," and you can almost hear the sound of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 12, 2004

Beastly love story 'beyond good and evil'

He is a 50-year-old world-famous American architect; she is Sylvia, his first lover as a married man. But who is Sylvia and what is unspeakable about his passion for her? Is she a much younger woman? Perhaps foreign, or colored? Or even a man?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 12, 2004

Where everybody can be a jury member

Who are film festivals for, really? The biggest of all, Cannes, is strictly for industry professionals (or rather, anyone with enough connections to wangle accreditation). But many other festivals have turned in a more populist direction, as indicated by the ubiquity of audience awards, which make anyone...
EDITORIALS
May 10, 2004

The power of a picture

The world has once again been reminded how much more powerful images can be than words. The outrage expressed by Arabs and the abhorrence expressed by the Bush administration last week over U.S. military guards' abuse of Iraqi prisoners were certainly justified, but both reactions were oddly belated....
Features
May 9, 2004

Lost in translation on Japanese screens

Unlike the countries that tend to dub foreign movies, Japan has been mainly using subtitles for more than 70 years. No one knows exactly why, but some say the Japanese simply enjoy hearing the original voices of the actors and the sounds in the background. Most now take it for granted that going to the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2004

Steve Kimock: more than a feeling

A friend of mine calls improvisational guitarist Steve Kimock "The Master," constantly marveling at his shimmering harmonics, dynamic swings and musical "feel." What does Kimock have to say to this straightforward sort of hero worship? (Think Wayne's World's "We're not worthy!")
Features
May 9, 2004

Language aide's value went way beyond words

Being an interpreter involves a lot of time and hard work, but the job's many rewards often include a chance to get close to the action.
Features
May 9, 2004

Translators' icon with rhythm writ large in his lexicon

When people decide to read a book by a foreign author, they may be drawn by what they know of the writer, or by an intriguing title. But for many Japanese readers, the attraction is that a book was translated by Motoyuki Shibata -- and will therefore likely be to their taste as well as his.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 7, 2004

Troubled kids find caring for animals good therapy

Problem and abused kids are on the rise and need help from many quarters, not just professional, to turn their lives around, and animals can and do play a therapeutic role to this end, according to an American expert in the field.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 5, 2004

'Kill Bill: Vol. 2': Back into the pit of vipers

True originality is a many-splintered thing. Let us recall that Shakespeare was indebted to Marlowe, Picasso drew inspiration from African totems and Van Gogh dug ukiyoe prints. Then this thing called postmodernism gave artists carte blanche to quote, sample, appropriate, reinterpret -- you name it,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 5, 2004

Hara solo gives Rika Noguchi liftoff

Sometimes, for whatever reason, a "buzz" develops around an art exhibition, and soon everybody is talking about it. I'm still not sure exactly why, but there was a real buzz at the vernissage for "I Dreamt of Flying," a new Rika Noguchi show comprising about 40 photographic prints that is now showing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 5, 2004

Re-presenting the modern by any means

"So what's modern art all about?" is a question I am often asked. It's about as easy to answer as "What is the meaning of life?"
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2004

China can't stop counterfeit DVD sales

LONDON -- Some months ago I was coming out of a classroom at Fudan University in Shanghai when a man sprinted past me with a suitcase under his arm. He was closely followed by a policeman, who suddenly leaped at him in a rugby tackle and brought him down. The suitcase went up in the air and came crashing...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 4, 2004

Past and Present

'Ican forgive, but I won't forget," says Jack Simmonds, an 82-year-old Australian, who was detained as a prisoner of war in Japan during World War II.
SUMO
May 4, 2004

Elder says Tochiazuma doubtful

Chances are high ozeki Tochiazuma will not compete in the upcoming Summer Grand Sumo Tournament as he has yet to recover from a left shoulder injury, the wrestler's father and sumo elder Tamanoi said Monday.
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2004

Limits to good intentions

The government was right to flatly reject the demand from Islamic hostage-takers last month that Japan withdraw its troops immediately from Iraq. That resolute response was supported by most Japanese, boosting Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's popularity ratings. Yet, as security in Iraq continues to...
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2004

Public gradually more accepting of constitutional change

Revising the war-renouncing Constitution, which has not seen a single change since it was introduced in 1947, is increasingly becoming a possibility, although a public consensus is still elusive on the most sensitive issue of what to do with Article 9.
JAPAN
May 3, 2004

Distrust in pension framework growing

The recent revelations that seven Cabinet ministers, as well as the current and former leaders of the largest opposition party, have been delinquent in paying their mandatory pension premiums have further fueled public distrust of the basic public pension framework.
JAPAN
May 3, 2004

Distrust in pension framework growing

The recent revelations that seven Cabinet ministers, as well as the current and former leaders of the largest opposition party, have been delinquent in paying their mandatory pension premiums have further fueled public distrust of the basic public pension framework.
JAPAN
May 2, 2004

U.S. looks to expand Japan's military role

OSAKA -- On Nov. 19, 1953, then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon mounted the podium at a special meeting of the Japan-America Society in Tokyo.
JAPAN / History
May 2, 2004

U.S. looks to expand Japan's military role

OSAKA -- On Nov. 19, 1953, then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon mounted the podium at a special meeting of the Japan-America Society in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2004

Challenging upgrade for the EU

The European Union enters a new era Saturday when it admits 10 new members, eight of them former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The future is fraught with uncertainty, but one thing is clear: The East and West are coming together, putting their Cold War divisions behind them. A greater...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
May 1, 2004

Hall of Famer Yardley engaged in different kind of battle

NEW YORK -- Contrary to conventional conviction, George Yardley's induction into Springfield's Hall of Fame in '96, leading the NBA in scoring (27.8) and becoming the league's first player to amass 2,000 points in a (72-game) season (Wilt doubled that output four years later) did not compare with his...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2004

Kimono makes comeback -- in used form

Every once in a while, 27-year-old Junko Nagumo and five companions visit boutiques in upmarket Tokyo districts such as Omotesando and Ginza -- not to buy trendy fashion items but to find inexpensive used kimono.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Apr 30, 2004

When your kids are cooperating, but the weather isn't

Special to The Japan Times You're ready to spend some quality time with the kids. It's raining cats and dogs. Here are 10 places to drag the little ones to when the weather isn't cooperating:
COMMENTARY
Apr 29, 2004

British fault line with Bush

LONDON -- Commentators on both sides of the Atlantic have been raising the possibility of a split between Britain and America on the handling of Middle Eastern affairs.

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