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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 14, 2005

In the face of Samurai spirit

BLOSSOMS IN THE WIND: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze, by M.G. Sheftall. NAL Caliber, 2005, 480 pp., $24.95 (cloth). For American sailors who served in the Pacific theater during the final two years of World War II, nothing was more terrifying than a kamikaze attack. Grainy black-and-white footage of...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 6, 2005

What not to do in Japan: die

As a veteran resident approaching his 28th year in Japan, I would like to offer some simple advice to tourists, newbies and fellow graybeards as well. Which is:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 3, 2005

New dimensions in dance

Noism is a veritable supernova in the rapidly expanding universe of Japanese contemporary dance. It burst on the scene in 2004 as the residential company of the Niigata Ryutopia Theater, two years after its founder, 30-year-old Jo Kanamori, returned from Europe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 13, 2005

Interesting times in China

Chinese contemporary art made a splash in the late 1990s with the so-called Mao Goes Pop movement, which broke big among Western gallerygoers and collectors.
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2005

Terrorism in London

The purpose of terrorism is to terrorize: to scare or intimidate a society. The perpetrators of the bombings in London on Thursday may claim to have some lofty purpose, but attacks on ordinary citizens are barbaric, pure and simple. And, once again, the murderers have failed: They have not broken or...
COMMENTARY
May 30, 2005

Japan's paradox of wealth

On his first visit to Japan in 1995, French sociologist Jean Baudrillard came up with a paradoxical hypothesis that Japan was affluent because Japanese were poor. Acknowledging that he was not an expert on Japanese affairs, Baudrillard made the suggestion in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun after...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 22, 2005

Clifton Karhu's years in print

KARHU @ 77: A Personal Tribute, by Mary and Norman Tolman, bilingual text: English & Japanese. Tokyo: Abe Publishing, Ltd., 2004, 124 pp., 77 full-page color prints, 6,500 yen (cloth). Last November Clifton Karhu, Japan's most famous foreign resident artist, turned 77 years of age, and his dealer, Norman...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 18, 2005

A woman scorned

The continuing shock appeal of "Medea" by Euripides (480-406 B.C.), is not simply due to its dramatization of infanticide and the rage of a woman who has been scorned by her lover, but also because it touches on other universal themes such as the perennial position of underdogs in society, and how they...
MORE SPORTS
Mar 5, 2005

Marinos face major threat from rejuvenated Jubilo

Here is a team-by-team preview of the 18 clubs in the J. League's first division this season:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 26, 2005

Time to reflect on transition

Japan is in the midst of a "Korea boom." It seems that the smiling face of Bae Yong Joon is everywhere, and almost 10,000 (mostly) female fans greeted the superstar Korean actor when he arrived at Narita airport last November. Perhaps sparked by 2002's jointly hosted soccer World Cup, films, fashion,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 15, 2004

It's a mad, mad, triple-mad world

Les Triplettes de Belleville Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Japanese title: Belleville Rendex-vous Director: Sylvain Chomet Running time: 80 minutes Language: French Opens Dec. 18 [See Japan Times movie listings] It's in sepia and scarred with soft, silvery needles, like interference on...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 12, 2004

Nihon TV's "Sekai wo Kakeru Hiro-tachi" and more

The aura surrounding people who become successful abroad is perhaps more pronounced in Japan than in other countries. There's a sense that the cultural gulf separating Japan from the rest of the world is deeper and more difficult to cross, so when someone does it successfully it seems more impressive....
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Dec 11, 2004

Controversial Hoddle given one more chance by Wolves

LONDON -- "You and I have been physically been given two hands and two legs and a half-decent brain. Some people have not been born like that for a reason.
Features
Dec 5, 2004

Revealing 'The Japanese Sensibility': Intimacy

To punish men for their sins The smoothest skin The longest black hair All that Is me
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 14, 2004

Onscreen breakthroughs

Picture Pikachu on a noir trip, popped loose of the 2-D plane.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 4, 2004

Nintendo DS: A wacky winner

Let's discuss the hard facts first.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 22, 2004

Following the way of the samurai in Akita's Kakunodate

For the Hollywood view of what life was like for the old warriors of Japan, go down to the video shop and take out "The Last Samurai." But for a more accurate glimpse of how the samurai lived and the kind of world they inhabited, take a trip to Kakunodate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 20, 2004

Koshiro IX does this family's tradition proud

The Kabukiza is currently presenting two plays from its October program as tsuizen (memorial) performances for Matsumoto Koshiro VIII, who died in 1982. Koshiro VIII, also known by the stage name of Matsumoto Hakuo, considered these plays very important to the repertoire he performed, so it is significant...
COMMENTARY
Oct 2, 2004

Muddled American dreams

LONDON -- There is a long tradition of learned American commentators interpreting Europe seriously -- and sometimes comically -- wrong.
COMMUNITY
Sep 4, 2004

Unhappy? Confused? Traumatized? Try IMHPJ

As the only native German-speaking accredited clinical psychologist in all Japan, Uta Sonnenberg-Watanabe is in transition.
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2004

Creating a more caring China

HONG KONG -- China under President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji astounded the world with its economic growth, reflected by a substantial increase in gross domestic product year after year. Yet the current leadership of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are making it clear that they have...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Aug 5, 2004

Naughty Sven prepares to meet his fate

LONDON -- A nun took up residence outside the Football Association's headquarters in Soho as the remains of English football's governing body prepared for Thursday's meeting of the board, which will decide the future of head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and maybe one or two high-ranking executives.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 18, 2004

The literary perfect crime

SAYONARA, GANGSTERS, by Genichiro Takahashi, translated by Michael Emmerich. New York: Vertical, Inc., 2004, 311 pp., $19.95 (cloth). A poet is talking to a refrigerator. The refrigerator with whom he is conversing is Virgil -- yes, that Virgil, author of "The Aeneid" and later Dante's guide through...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 11, 2004

Believe it ... or not

Japan's vast hoard of war booty known as Yamashita's Gold was long thought to be buried in caves in the Philippines. But in their book 'Gold Warriors,' Sterling and Peggy Seagrave sensationally claim that the treasure trove was secretly recovered -- and continues to oil the wheels of politics in Japan...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 17, 2004

Some pictures worth 1,000 words

I take my hat off to those folk who can draw and paint. What a wonderfully inspiring skill. And when they can illustrate living creatures in lifelike form then I am in awe. What has prompted this outpouring is the fact that I am currently at work on a new field guide, so I am heavily involved in both...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jun 17, 2004

When the summer vacation is just too long

Just try to find something for foreign kids to do in Japan in the summer. There aren't many options, even if your children speak Japanese, as mine do. The most difficult period of all is the five or six weeks after international schools close down but Japanese schools are still in session.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
May 23, 2004

Should be handled with extreme caution

Violence is in, pop-pickers. You've seen those pictures of those troops whooping it up in Iraqi jails. Violence is clearly fun. It's cool. It basically rocks! Just ask Bush and Rumsfeld. They kicked the whole thing off.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 23, 2004

Foreign markets fail to grasp soul of anime

If, as many people claim, Japanese pop culture is sweeping the globe, then anime is the hand that wields the broom. A number of recent big-budget Japanese animated features, including Mamoru Oishii's "Innocence," currently in competition at Cannes, have attracted funding from Hollywood without the usual...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 8, 2004

Porto's Mourinho in line to be new manager of Chelsea

LONDON -- According to various back-page "exclusives" over the past week, Chelsea is buying Walter Samuel (Roma -- £15 million), David Beckham and Ronaldo (Real Madrid -- combined fee of £100,000 million), Ronaldinho (Barcelona -- £60 million), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool -- £30 million) and any other...
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?"

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan