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ENVIRONMENT
Apr 12, 2000

Genkyu-en Garden and the House of Ii

The Tokugawa Period has long ended, but dotted around the country there are remains in the form of castles (originals or replicas), yashiki (the residences of the daimyo ruling class) and of course the magnificent gardens with which the yashiki were adorned. Indeed, in most cases only the garden remains;...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 12, 2000

Taking it to the skies of Bangkok

On the anniversary of the King's 72nd birthday in December 1999, the revolutionary concept of electricallypowered mass transit finally hit Bangkok, a city long dependent on the noisy, noxious, internal combustion engine. Two short elevated lines, totaling 23.7 km of track, were built at a cost of 54.9...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 12, 2000

The wellspring of pacifism in Japan

PROPHETS OF PEACE: Pacifism and Cultural Identity in Japan's New Religions, by Robert Kisala. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1999, 242 pp., $24.95 (paper). The so-called Peace Constitution is a defining feature of modern Japan. In the aftermath of World War II, Japan has perceived itself, and...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 12, 2000

Residue of America's dirty fingerprints

PARALLAX VISIONS: Making Sense of American-East Asian Relations at the End of the Century, by Bruce Cumings. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1999, 280 pp., $27.95 (cloth). The field of Asian studies has attracted some brilliant scholars, many of whom have controversial views. Chalmers Johnson...
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2000

No sympathy for politicians

I have sometimes said to my wife about a prominent politician, "Poor old so and so! He must be exhausted keeping to such a hard schedule. It's a tough life being a peripatetic politician." My wife's invariable response has been, "Don't waste your sympathy on politicians. They didn't have to accept their...
COMMENTARY
Apr 12, 2000

Western media err on China and Taiwan

So Taiwan has elected an allegedly pro-independence candidate as president. But China has still not invaded.
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2000

Mr. Sharif is spared

Pakistan's former prime minister, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, has been found guilty of attempted murder, kidnapping, terrorism and hijacking. Mr. Sharif was spared the death penalty; instead, he was given two life sentences, his property was confiscated and he was fined 2 million rupees. His brother, a codefendant,...
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2000

The stain that is Rwanda

April 7 marked the sixth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, one of the most shameful acts of political cowardice in recent history. Many uncertainties still linger over the events that began that day, but what we know is enough to judge the behavior of the participants as evil, and the reaction of...
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 11, 2000

Decision on Troussier expected May 25

Whether or not Japan manager Philippe Troussier's contract will be extended is to be decided at a Japan Football Association executive committee meeting slated for May 25, Kunishige Kamamoto, JFA vice president and chief of the JFA's technical development department for the 2002 World Cup, said Monday...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Apr 11, 2000

Femi, from Fuji to Tokyo

In Nigeria there is a music called Fuji. In the early 1990s, Fuji was the most popular music in Nigeria. The music's originator, Sikiru Barrister, named it after seeing a postcard of Mount Fuji. He said it was the most beautiful mountain he had ever seen, and dreamed of playing or recording in view of...
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 11, 2000

Celebratory dance of 'women's noh'

Jiutamai dancer Yoh Izumo will present her 35th anniversary performance April 19, 7 p.m. at the National Theater. A classical form of Japanese traditional dance, jiutamai is considered a very intimate form of dance emphasizing a woman's innermost emotions, expressed through slow minimalist movements....
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2000

Hot air about the carbon tax

The debate on the carbon tax is heating up again after a lapse of two and a half years. Before the 1997 Kyoto conference on climate change, I proposed that Japan introduce this environmental tax, following Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. However, the Ministry of International Trade...
CULTURE / Film
Apr 11, 2000

Lessons learned from the master

"What I really want to do is direct." This phrase, heard everywhere in Hollywood from interviews with A-list stars to conversations between waiters at Hamburger Inn, has become a joke -- to everyone but the legions of gottabe directors themselves. Among this crowd, scriptwriters have traditionally been...
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 2000

Stop to listen -- and to help

Those words of advice are intended for every member of the nation's police forces. The case of the three Saitama prefectural police officers just dismissed and expected to be indicted for falsifying documents is only the latest in a series of incidents suggesting that many police have forgotten, or never...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2000

Flawed Korean peace talks stumble on

SEOUL -- Four years ago this month, then South Korean President Kim Young Sam and U.S. President Bill Clinton invited North Korea and China to join the United States and South Korea in talks designed to establish a new peace mechanism based on a peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula as well as to seek...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2000

EU knocking down the Tower of Babel

BRUSSELS — The European Union brings together 15 states with a total population of 380 million people. Thirteen other countries have applied to join. Europeans speak some 45 different languages, of which 11 are recognized as official languages for the purposes of EU business. But millions of European...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2000

Peace's high price in Kosovo

I previously argued that to supporters, NATO cured Europe of the Milosevic-borne disease of ethnic cleansing. To critics, however, the NATO cure worsened the disease ("NATO in the Balkans: Between disaster and failure," April 1).
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 9, 2000

Giants clip Swallows in ninth

Shortstop Tomohiro Nioka drove in the winning run with a two-out, bases-loaded bloop single to center Saturday to lift the Yomiuri Giants to a 2-1 "sayonara" victory over the Yakult Swallows at the Tokyo Dome.
COMMUNITY
Apr 9, 2000

Financial services fly at Banner

Some loudmouth once said that anyone who was in Japan during the bubble years of the late 1980s and had not made money -- a lot of money -- was a fool. Well, that makes me a dunce of the first order.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 9, 2000

Gallery speaks for flip side of reality

Gallery Speak For, located in Tokyo's Daikanyama district, is decidedly not like other galleries.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 9, 2000

BayStars' Rose picks right up where he left off with hot bat

How about that start by Yokohama BayStars cleanup hitter Bobby Rose? In the 'Stars first six games of the season, five of which they won, Rose went 14-for-21, belted four home runs, including a grand slam, drove in 12, scored nine, hit four doubles and compiled a .667 batting average, .750 on-base percentage...
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2000

Seizo Azuma piano recital

Pianist Seizo Azuma will hold a recital April 22, 7 p.m. at Kioi Hall, and three pairs of complementary tickets are available for Japan Times readers.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Apr 9, 2000

At the top

There is little need to write what a wonderful city San Francisco is, how much there is to do. On the day I arrived, I could have joined a ghost hunt, had a tour of a teddy bear factory, heard a lecture explaining how California once was an island, seen an exhibition of Japanese "shibori" fabrics at...
SOCCER / J. League
Apr 9, 2000

Kashiwa tops Kyoto but fails to take league lead

KASHIWA, Chiba Pref. -- Kashiwa's substitute forward Park Kun Ha struck the winning goal less than two minutes from the end of extra time to give Reysol a 2-1 victory over Kyoto Purple Sanga on Saturday night at Kashiwa's Hitachi Soccer Stadium.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 9, 2000

Jane Marwick

In the late 1980s the Tokyo International Learning Community began in a very small way as a support group for parents of children with special needs. TILC opened a school in a church room, where children suffering from a wide range of disabilities were brought together in a learning environment.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 2000

Conductors introduce some new stars

It is fair to assume that anyone reading this column is a music lover of some degree. Take a moment to reflect, though, that there was a time in your life when you had never heard a note of music. What was it that inveigled your innocent ear? When was it? Where were you? Who introduced you?
EDITORIALS
Apr 8, 2000

The game of the name

There are hints in the spring air of a diplomatic thaw: The Clinton administration is poised, they say, to let Libya out of the doghouse. Sanctions may be lifted, and Americans may once again vacation in Tripoli. Modest celebrations are in order, but there is one caveat. Washington should not let the...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 8, 2000

Giants complete clean sweep of Dragons

Yomiuri rookie left-hander Hisanori Takahashi earned his first career win in his first start after giving up four hits and one run over eight innings as the Giants downed the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons 2-1 on Thursday night at the Nagoya Dome.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Apr 8, 2000

Amber glow from the fires of Ohi

There are few glazes in Japan as captivating as Ohi-yaki's ame-yu. Its rich caramel color is most often seen on chawan (tea bowls) and mizusashi (water jars), and the depth and elegance of the hues draw the viewer into a very serene world.
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 8, 2000

Shall we hula dance?

MATSUSHIGE, Tokushima Pref. -- "It began with a cold," Lance Kita, 24, replied when asked how he came to teach hula in Japan. Kita, raised in Hawaii, had never taught or even performed the dance native to his home state before coming to Shikoku, Japan's least visited major island.

Longform

The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports