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COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2000

Ethnic Chinese see school plan as ploy to erode their identity

SINGAPORE -- Chinese education authorities in multiracial Malaysia have rejected a government pilot project to merge the country's three different kinds of vernacular schools -- Malay, Chinese and Tamil -- into a single national institution, dubbed "Vision Schools," that would embody Malaysian identity....
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 23, 2000

Six reasons to give thanks

A great deal of space in columns like these -- and I'm one of the culprits -- is devoted to all that's wrong with the sports world and the people who make their livings in it.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Nov 23, 2000

Floating island a relic of a long-gone geologic age

SHINGU, Wakayama Pref. -- Inosawa Ukishima, a bog woodland in the center of Shingu City at the mouth of the Kumano River, isn't an ordinary park.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2000

Awakening the spirit of voluntarism in Japanese youth

Seventeen students gathered in their clubhouse at Kansai University of International Studies finish reviewing enlarged photos for an exhibition at their autumn campus festival. Then they move on to the next important task -- who should draft the text to accompany the photos and how it should be worded....
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 23, 2000

The man who never forgets a sake

Haruo Matsuzaki raises the small glass to his nose, sniffs for but a couple of seconds, and takes in a small sip. Slurping in a bit of air, he scribbles for a few seconds into his ever-present tiny notebook, finally expelling the sake into the spittoon next to the table. On to the next.
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2000

Mori survives, for the moment

The administration of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori managed to survive its greatest crisis Monday night when the governing parties barely voted down a no-confidence motion sponsored by the opposition parties. Tension was mounting toward a final showdown over the motion late Monday night because two LDP...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2000

Japan needs to abandon the 'image game'

Domestic politics is not my specialty, but I am so disturbed by recent developments that I am prompted to write down some of my thoughts. First, newspaper comments and articles suggest that the opposition parties and the media have succeeded in establishing a public image of Yoshiro Mori as an incompetent...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2000

Transparency crucial to corporate survival

Most companies will face a crisis at one point, but it's not necessarily the crisis itself that will dictate that company's future, but rather how it is handled.
COMMUNITY
Nov 19, 2000

A woman with universal appeal

Ines Ligron was not pleased with The Japan Times. In particular, she was unhappy with an editorial suggesting that the winners of the Miss Universe contest are "celebrities of the fluffier variety."
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 2000

Chaotic, comedic 'Ariadne' shows lighter side of Strauss

Wiener Staatsoper Oct. 22, Filippo Sanjust directing, Giuseppe Sinopoli conducting in Kanagawa Kenmin Hall -- "Ariadne auf Naxos" (libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, 1874-1929; music by Richard Georg Strauss, 1864-1949) featuring Waldemar Kmentt, Peter Weber, Agnes Baltsa, Jon Villars, Geert Smits, Heinz...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2000

Awards lift expectations of Kim Dae Jung

SEOUL -- South Korean President Kim Dae Jung is more popular abroad than he is within his own country. This is the impression I have gathered after discussing South Korean politics with many people both in South Korea and beyond the shores of the peninsula.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 19, 2000

Chris Ishikawa

A new cookbook has recently been published by the Yokohama International Women's Club. Titled "Food for Furoshiki," it has been compiled from an unusual and interesting angle.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2000

No-confidence motion to be voted on Monday

A showdown that may oust Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and split the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will come Monday, when the House of Representatives votes on a no-confidence motion against his Cabinet.
EDITORIALS
Nov 16, 2000

The Middle East loses a lioness

The Middle East has lost a passionate advocate of peace. Ms. Leah Rabin, the widow of assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, died of cancer this week at the age of 72. For some, Ms. Rabin was a meddlesome, divisive figure. For many more, she was a tireless campaigner for peace and friendship...
COMMENTARY
Nov 16, 2000

In all but economics, Kato makes sense

Koichi Kato, head of a large faction in the Liberal Democratic Party, now aims openly to be Japan's next prime minister. He has credentials. A former diplomat with good English skills and wide international contacts, he would do much to improve Japan's bland global image. He is also one of the few LDP...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 15, 2000

Timeless tales reflect the times

SANSHO DAYU, by Dudley Andrew & Carole Cavanaugh. BFI Film Classic Series. London: British Film Institute, 2000, 80 pp., with b/w illustrations, $20. Kenji Mizoguchi's 1954 film, "Sansho Dayu" (Sansho the Bailiff), is based upon the well-known 1915 Ogai Mori narrative, which was in turn taken from...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 15, 2000

Developing a finer sense of pace: the evolution of a party animal

When I was younger, I used to be a party animal.
SOCCER / World cup / SPORTS SCOPE
Nov 15, 2000

Reasons to be fearful: Part 1

For Calvin in the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes there are always monsters under the bed. You can't see them, but you know they're there.
LIFE / Travel
Nov 15, 2000

Hidden fiefdom of Obi in Kyushu

NICHINAN, Miyazaki Pref. -- There can be very few places of historical or cultural interest in Japan that remain positively underexploited for their tourist potential.
EDITORIALS
Nov 14, 2000

JRA arrest seals the end of an era

Last week's arrest of the top leader of the Japanese Red Army marked the virtual end of decades of terrorism by Japanese leftist extremists. Ms. Fusako Shigenobu, who had been on the international wanted list for a series of terrorist acts, is charged with, among other things, masterminding the occupation...
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 14, 2000

MLB stars leave Japan on winning note

Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants cranked out a solo home run in the sixth inning Sunday afternoon as a touring team of Major League Baseball All-Stars scored a 5-4 win in the eighth and final game of a goodwill series against their Japanese counterparts.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 12, 2000

Robert Whiting

For the last 50 years Japan has come under intense Western scrutiny from many quarters. Scholars, writers, professional men and women in different pursuits have contributed observations and analyses of Japanese thoughts and lifestyles and behavior. Bob Whiting crafted a way of his own to add to the body...
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 12, 2000

Evening of Marlovian erotica celebrates English literary great

English literature flowered magnificently during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The various writers of the time represent a phase in the development and flexibility of poetry, prose and drama that achieved a beauty and exuberance unmatched in invention and style.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 12, 2000

On taking the eightfold path to environmental awareness

Environmentalists are a hard breed to pin down, much less to classify. They come in all shapes and sizes, and some even reject the name.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2000

Science and politics expected to clash at COP6

Scientists agree that the Earth's atmosphere is getting warmer. There is consensus too that this warming will be the paramount environmental threat in the next century, as predictions see oceans swallowing beaches, tropical diseases spreading north and more species facing extinction.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 11, 2000

Art transcends time in 'Julius Caesar' production

A talented theater director can breathe new life into an old play, and David Lan, the new artistic director of the Young Vic Theater in southeast London, has done just that.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Nov 11, 2000

And the confusion begins

I said that this was going to be a historically close election, that it was quite possible that one presidential candidate would carry the popular vote while the other won the presidency by capturing the Electoral College vote, and that the counting would not be conclusive on election night.
COMMENTARY
Nov 10, 2000

Mori's nine lives are almost used up

The coalition government of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is clearly in a delicate situation. Should he make another serious mistake, Mori will be forced to resign. I had some hopes for Mori as prime minister, since the late Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe, a friend of mine, had praised his political acumen....
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2000

Jiang's troubling ambitions

CAMBRIDGE, England -- So the U.S. presidential-election campaign is over and we will soon know who is the next "leader of the free world." This time no one has alleged that any Chinese organization or individual has tried to affect the outcome. But why shouldn't they? Analysts say that Texas Gov. George...

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Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat