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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 21, 2002

Let's have some quiet, please

SPACES FOR SILENCE, text by Caro Ness, photos by Alen MacWeeney. Foreword by Ruth La Feria. Tokyo/Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 2001, 142 pp., 135 color plates, 4,500 yen (cloth) The late Jiddu Krishnamurti once said that religion is frozen thought, and that out of it one builds temples. The implication...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 9, 2001

Feelings run deep about Yasukuni

Staff writer Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi says he simply wants to pay his respects for those who died for Japan.
COMMENTARY
Jul 23, 2001

A textbook lesson for Japan's leaders

HONOLULU -- The controversy over middle school textbooks continues to damage relations between Japan and South Korea. Last week, the Seoul government announced that it was canceling military exchanges and the introduction of Japanese cultural products in retaliation for Tokyo's failure to meet South...
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2001

Multinational historians address East Asia

A group of historians from Japan, China and South Korea has been seeking a common stance on the region's history in the wake of controversy over recently approved Japanese history textbooks that some say justify Japan's wartime aggression.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 10, 2001

Japan, America and women's place

THE ROAD WINDS UPHILL ALL THE WAY: Gender, Work, and Family in the United States and Japan, by Myra H. Strober and Agnes Miling Kaneko Chan. The MIT Press, 2001, $21.95. The image of Japanese women walking several steps behind their "master" husbands is alive and well in the American popular imagination....
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2001

Tokyo, Seoul strive to revive relations before World Cup

In the leadup to the 2002 World Cup soccer finals, Japan and South Korea are moving behind the scenes to prevent the sizzling political imbroglio over a right-leaning Japanese history textbook from spilling over into the cultural field.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 3, 2001

Housing for human beings

THE JAPANESE HOUSE: Architecture and Interiors. Photographs by Noboru Murata, text by Alexandra Black. Boston/Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, 2000, 216 pp., copiously illustrated, 4,500 yen. Though the architect Le Corbusier learned a lot from Japan, he could not have been thinking of this country when he...
COMMENTARY
Apr 2, 2001

Close the book on censorship

Since the end of World War II, the censorship of history textbooks in Japan has raised political and diplomatic issues. Recently, a social-studies textbook edited by a nationalist group again stirred controversy, offending the Chinese and South Koreans.
CULTURE / Books
Jan 30, 2001

When does a faith become a cult?

FALUN GONG'S CHALLENGE TO CHINA: Spiritual Practice or "Evil Cult," by Danny Schechter. Akashic Books, 2000, 225 pp., $24 (cloth). Last year about this time, I visited Tiananmen Square, mingling with tourists and day-trippers enjoying the warmth of the midday sun. As I reminisced about this historic...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2001

A landmark event in Buddhist studies

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- The 72nd birthday anniversary of the king of Thailand continues to inspire a rich variety of spiritual, artistic and cultural contributions to Thai society.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 6, 2000

Strange thing happened while crossing the bridge

Strange things, collaborations. Much admired by the devout acolytes of grant-dispensing foundations in the interests of "crossing cultures" and "mutual understanding," these unfortunate buzz phrases have thrown together more than a few unwieldy alliances in the fields of dance and theater.
COMMENTARY
Sep 19, 2000

Dispute defies quick solution

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed in their recent Tokyo summit to resolve the bilateral territorial dispute over the Northern Territories, stirring mixed reactions in the two countries. Although they agreed to continue peace-treaty talks toward the yearend deadline,...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 12, 2000

I-mode uber Alles

A small cheer could be heard recently when it was announced that NTT DoCoMo would add English-language content to the menus of its i-mode cell phones. It went official July 3, and, well, the selection wasn't that big of a surprise. In fact, some of it had already been available in previous months (and...
CULTURE / Stage
May 10, 2000

Kee Company explores facets of communication

If we could see language, if language relied on visual instead of aural means, it would become a kind of communication closely resembling telepathy: a fusion of the observer with the observed.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 26, 1999

Enjoy the neglected noh plays

DRAMATIC REPRESENTATIONS OF FILIAL PIETY: Five Noh in Translation, by Mae J. Smethurst. Cornell East Asia Series, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 1998, pp. 172, unpriced. Most Western writings on noh have been concerned with that category known as "mugenno," visional noh -- highly poetic, spiritually...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Recitation contest open to readers

The Japan Times is inviting Japanese readers to participate in the 35th Annual Tape Recitation Contest now being presented by its bilingual weekly, Shukan ST, with the support of the Education Ministry.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 1998

Obuchi to push arms control at U.N. assembly

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi planned to stress the importance of arms control and disarmament in his speech at the United Nations in New York Monday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 13, 2023

Losing and finding my cool in Gwangju

Located in a city imbued with a fighting spirit, art festival Gwangju Biennale 2023 provides a backdrop for contemplation about action, strength and inner calm.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 2, 2023

What exactly are the dangers posed by AI?

A recent letter calling for a moratorium on AI development blends real threats with speculation. But concern is growing among experts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 1, 2023

AI chatbots have been used to create dozens of news content farms

Each of the sites analyzed published at least one article containing an error message commonly found in AI-generated text.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2023

There's no such thing as artificial intelligence

The term artificial intelligence breeds misunderstanding and helps its creators avoid culpability for mistakes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 19, 2023

What happens when your AI chatbot stops loving you back?

Some companies that found an audience seeking romantic and sexual relationships with chatbots are now pulling back.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 15, 2023

ChatGPT creator OpenAI debuts new GPT-4 AI system

The startup said the new version of the technology, which will be available to paid ChatGPT Plus subscribers, is more accurate, creative and collaborative.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 15, 2023

10 ways GPT-4 is impressive but still flawed

Although it’s an awfully good test taker, the system — from San Francisco startup OpenAI — is not on the verge of matching human intelligence.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2023

China’s censors could shape the future of AI-generated content

When the Chinese regime’s information controls intersect with artificial intelligence, they can distort the global information landscape.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 25, 2023

ChatGPT launches boom in AI-written e-books on Amazon

ChatGPT appears ready to upend the staid book industry as would-be novelists and self-help gurus looking to make a quick buck are turning to the software to help create bot-made e-books
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2023

How threatening are threats and what are they doing to our psychological well-being?

News, social media alerts and scares are lighting up not only our smartphones, but also our brains, prompting some to ask how all the “threat talk” might be affecting us psychologically.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2023

Meet the $4 billion AI superstars that Google lost

Eight alumni made one of the biggest discoveries in AI, then left to build their own startups. Why did Google miss the boat?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 6, 2023

Big tech companies want AI regulation — but on their own terms

The rules governing tech vary dramatically on opposing sides of the Atlantic.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 24, 2023

Microsoft invests $10 billion in ChatGPT maker OpenAI

Microsoft is competing with Alphabet, Amazon.com and Meta Platforms to dominate the fast-growing technology that generates text, images and other media.

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