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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 10, 2005

The thing itself

In October 1968 Nobuo Sekine dug a hole in the ground, shaped the extracted dirt into a large cylinder and called the work "Phase -- Mother Earth." It was probably an experiment, influenced by discussions of the new Land Art and Minimalist works taking place in the United States.
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2005

Jonan Shinkin to end state agent contracts

Jonan Shinkin Bank has asked six government-backed financial institutions to terminate their agent contracts, bank officials said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2005

The reduction of impunity

Government is about making and implementing public policy choices. These are neither always easy nor always right. Governments, like individuals, do make mistakes. But in democracies, the task of making decisions on behalf of the people is delegated to elected representatives who then answer to the courts...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 9, 2005

Valentine's future remains undecided

Based on job offers, Bobby Valentine has just as good a chance to be with the Chiba Lotte Marines next season as he does with the Los Angeles Dodgers or any other club his name has been linked to in recent weeks.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Nov 9, 2005

Study finds broccoli combats gastritis

As futurists get excited by the prospect of engineering ourselves to have longer lives, it's easy to forget that, as well as the high-tech ways, there are very simple ways to live longer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Nov 8, 2005

Reiko Ito

Reiko Ito, age 46, is one of the 75 certified AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) instructors in Japan, a teacher to other trainers and one of the few qualified to lead SAQ (Speed, Agility, Quickness) classes here. She wants to empower everyone and she knows just how.
EDITORIALS
Nov 6, 2005

Fishing for 'interesting individuals'

Tired of the same old liberal causes? Here's one you might not have heard of: "Fish," according to a spokeswoman for the Fish Empathy Project, "are interesting individuals who deserve our respect and compassion." Not since the British poet Rupert Brooke wrote about "each secret fishy hope or fear" way...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 6, 2005

A modern master of an old tradition

MIREI SHIGEMORI: Modernizing the Japanese Garden, by Christian Tschumi, photographs by Markuz Wernli Saito. Stone Bridge Press, 128 pp., $18.95 (paper). A revival of interest in the dry landscape garden of Japan both domestically and internationally took place during the early Showa Era (1926-1989),...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 6, 2005

The dangerous liaisons of ambassadors to China

AMBASSADORS FROM THE ISLANDS OF IMMORTALS: China-Japan Relations in the Han-Tang Period, by Wang Zhenping. Honolulu: Association for Asian Studies/University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 388 pp., with illustrations, $53.00 (cloth). Relations between Japan and China may be troubled right now, but then they...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Nov 5, 2005

Japan Post's private units will need business leaders

When the gigantic Japan Post takes its first steps toward privatization in October 2007, the reins should be held by people who have had experience heading private businesses, Heizo Takenaka, who doubles as minister in charge of postal privatization and minister of internal affairs and communications,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 5, 2005

Beverly Nakamura

"Although Japan gives the impression of being a rich country, there is still need out there. Everything cannot be covered. The International Ladies Benevolent Society tries to fill the cracks that get overlooked. ILBS still means a great deal to a lot of people and institutions. I am proud to be part...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 5, 2005

Holy cow, Genki-kun -- it's a typhoon!

With all the typhoons and hurricanes around the world, I thought it might be time for an uplifting story of storm survival. As I was looking for stories, a "Planet Japan" listener named Ty Cedars tipped me off to an animal who overcame all odds and survived a devastating typhoon. This animal's story...
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2005

Toward a police-controlled media

There is a strong social trend toward protecting privacy. A milestone will be the enforcement of the Private Information Protection Law beginning in April. But the government is apparently taking advantage of this trend and people's distrust of the media -- due to often sensationalistic crime coverage...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 4, 2005

Portugal and Brazil united in one voice

Fado, the passionate, powerful music of Portugal, was -- and still is -- sung in the local bars and small eateries for working people. The music's spirit is saudade, a word that translates roughly as nostalgia, melancholy or longing, though mixed with happiness and love. Fado's greatest singer was Amalia...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 4, 2005

Charity auction

At Tokyo English Life Line's (TELL) 10th Annual Connoisseurs' Auction, Nov. 18 at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo, guests can enjoy a cocktail buffet, sample wares and empty their wallets in order to fill up their wine racks by bidding for a variety of rare Old and New World wines.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2005

Higher standards planned for cancer drugs

The health ministry has decided to require clinical proof that anticancer drugs prolong human life before they can get government approval, officials said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 3, 2005

Curtain falling on Chirac?

PARIS -- For decades it was widely assumed that Europe needed an engine to go forward, and that France and Germany were best qualified to play that role. For the time being, however, this has ceased to be true. If any member aims to lead the European Union, it's Britain, which holds the EU presidency...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 3, 2005

A chance to dance Cranko's 'Onegin'

The etoile Manuel Legris, one of the top dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet, will fulfill one of the dreams of his career as a guest dancer in the Stuttgart Ballet when it tours Japan: performing the role of "Onegin" in a production of the ballet by the same name.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Nov 3, 2005

The Showa 40 select six

The usual reasons for the formation of artists' groups are similarities in media, style or philosophy. But the only link for the six members of the "Showa 40" group, who rank among Japan's best contemporary artists, is the year of their births, 1965. There is nothing else distinctly in common among the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2005

Koizumi reshuffles his Cabinet

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reshuffled his Cabinet on Monday and gave key posts to three possible contenders to succeed him in the country's top job.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 1, 2005

Sumo, golf and old maps

Sumo memorabilia Mark in Tokyo would like to purchase old sumo "tegata" (wrestlers' handprints) and "banzuke" ranking sheets. "Any ideas?" he asks.
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2005

Jobless rate slides as recovery widens

Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at a preliminary 4.2 percent in September, down 0.1 point from August, as the ongoing economic recovery generated jobs in a wide range of industrial sectors, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2005

Reform of state lenders in works

A Liberal Democratic Party panel studying reforms to eight government-backed financial institutions agreed Friday that Shoko Chukin Bank should be privatized.

Longform

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