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JAPAN
Dec 8, 2001

Newborn princess given name Aiko

The girl born Dec. 1 to the Crown Prince and Crown Princess has been named Princess Aiko, the Imperial Household Agency said Friday.
BUSINESS / ON MANAGEMENT
Nov 6, 2001

In sport, beauty sells

The recent uproar about the nontennis activities of Anna Kournikova shows no signs of abating. Already steamed up by the contrast between her extraordinary endorsement earnings and her actual tournament ranking, self-appointed pundits have lately taken to denouncing her for her exercise video. Since...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 28, 2001

Politics in entertaining TV shocker

Though the Koizumi revolution has yet to yield anything substantial in terms of fiscal policy, the prime minister's enormous popularity has certainly brought politics closer to the average person, which, considering how apathetic most Japanese were about government a year ago, is a notable achievement....
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2001

For Okinawan actress, concept of family key to lasting peace

From its dialect to its cuisine, many may think that Okinawa Prefecture is one of the most distinctive places in Japan. But for elfin Okinawan actress Tomi Taira, the core of human satisfaction is universal -- the desire to be part of a happy family. This desire exists everywhere, be it in her home islands...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 21, 2001

Like father, like son

My elder son sits across from me during supper and clubs me with the following questions: "Why can't Japanese die, Dad? How come it's so hard for them?" Not your usual dinnertime poser, perhaps, but we dads have to be ready for anything. I pause only briefly before delivering what I consider to be a...
CULTURE / Music
Oct 3, 2001

The rebirth of cool

It's 30 minutes until showtime and the dark, cramped nightclub is already way past the fire chief's recommended maximum capacity. College students elbow their way through the wall of bodies toward the front, while gentlemen with salted beards and sports coats settle near the back with scotch and sodas....
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 22, 2001

Minako Suzuki

When she was a little girl, Minako Suzuki used to like "dreaming of being someone else." Many little girls play similar pretend games. In Minako's case, her pretending led her professionally and as a volunteer to the world of entertainment.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 26, 2001

Showing, not telling: the birth of pure film

WRITING IN LIGHT: The Silent Scenario and the Japanese Pure Film Movement, by Joanne Bernardi. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2001, 355 pp., 100 illustrations. $39.95 (cloth); $19.95 (paperback) Film evolved differently in different cultures. In the West the cinema was perceived as a new form...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2001

Just please don't ask 'why?'

The first questions John Williams is always asked about "Ichiban Utsukushii Natsu (Firefly Dreams)" are the "whys": Why are you in Japan? Why did you shoot a film using only Japanese actors? The answers, Williams says, don't come easy, "because I never imagined I would end up making a film here."
CULTURE / Film
Aug 8, 2001

Are the fishing fools running out of line?

Tsuri Baka Nisshi 12 Rating: * * 1/2 Director: Katsuhide Motoki Running time: 111 minutes Language: JapaneseOpens Aug. 18 Some sequels make sense, but a "3" or "4" after the title of a Hollywood movie is generally a good reason to stay away unless you happen to be feeling charitable toward a studio...
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 18, 2001

Soaring spectacle crowns classic kabuki triple bill

He's known as the champion of Super Kabuki, but for his two-part summer program at the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo this month, Ennosuke Ichikawa is staging regular-style productions of a new one-hour play, "Kaka Saiyuki," and "Shunkan," adapted from part of Chikamatsu Monzae- mon's 1719 bunraku play "Heike...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 8, 2001

Overcoming Manic depression

The summer festival season is very much about the adventure of youth, as teenagers escape from parents and home comforts for a few days to develop a little independence. For those of us in our 30s, however, it comes as something of a shock to realize that one of this year's Fuji Rock Festival headliners,...
JAPAN
Jun 28, 2001

Female 'rakugo' narrator packs bags to spread mirth on Korean Peninsula

"Rakugo" comic storyteller Kikuchiyo Kokontei hopes to spend this summer breaking down cultural barriers on both sides of the Korean Peninsula.
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 20, 2001

Weaving a web of destiny wherein ambition's caught

In 1957, Akira Kurosawa made a remarkable movie titled "Kumonosu-jo (Spider's Web Castle)," adapted from William Shakespeare's "Macbeth." The film is still admired today for its spectacular shots and the striking performances of Toshiro Mifune as the principal character Washizu Taketoki and Isuzu Yamada...
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 13, 2001

The black art of the Bard

'For a charm of powerful trouble, like a hell-broth boil and bubble, boil and bubble, boil and bubble," the witches howl as they move in a frenzy across the stage, their green rags alternating as dervish skirts and forest cover. They throw runes as they call upon darkness and conjure up a brew of murder,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 10, 2001

Tanizaki captured in full flow

THE GOURMET CLUB: A Sextet, By Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. Translated by Paul McCarthy and Anthony Chambers. Tokyo/New York: Kodansha International, 2001, 204 pp., 2,800 yen. This is the long-awaited collection of six of Jun'ichiro Tanizaki's shorter works, given us by two of the most eminent of Tanizaki's...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 19, 2001

Satellite radio: a commuter's best friend

Ever wonder how Japanese people can sleep on trains? Ever wonder how they know exactly when to wake up at their stop? I've finally figured it out: They're not really sleeping. They're listening to satellite radio. Satellite-radio stations offer a variety of programs, many of them designed with Japan's...
CULTURE / Film
May 16, 2001

Psycho killer, qu'est-ce que c'est?

Actor Christian Bale probably has more fans in Tokyo than at home in the U.K., given the splash that "Velvet Goldmine" had in this "visual-kei" obsessed town. Fans of the fey beautiful boy Bale played in that film, though, may be surprised to see him pumped up and wielding a mean chain saw in "American...
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 25, 2001

Undying loyalty in ancient China

Ennosuke Ichikawa is presenting his latest "Super Kabuki" production, "Shin Sangokushi II (New Record of the Three Kingdoms, Part II)" at Tokyo's Shinbashi Enbujo Theater through May, leading members of his personal troupe including Danshiro (his younger brother), Ukon, En'ya, Emiya, Emisaburo and Shun'en....
CULTURE / Film
Mar 18, 2001

Donald Richie: being inside and outside Japanese cinema

In his five decades as a writer, Donald Richie has investigated everything from the glories of noh to the mysteries of the Japanese tattoo, while attempting everything from the travel narrative ("The Inland Sea") to the historical novel (the meticulously researched, wittily engaging "Kumagai"). He is...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2001

Hope fades for reconciliation in Kosovo

The West's intervention in Kosovo was a reaction to the Serbs' final solution to the problems of the recalcitrant province. The Serbs attempted to drive out the Albanian majority using soldiers and civilians for mayhem and murder. It was not an arbitrary, irrational act, merely a final inhuman escalation...
LIFE / Travel
Feb 7, 2001

Saved from the 'bitter sea'

XIAN, China -- When "Black Bean" was 4 years old, his mother and her lover stabbed his father to death. The lover was executed for murder and the mother was sentenced to 15 years in prison as an accessory to the crime. Yet the little boy's nightmare had only just begun. Reviled by the whole village,...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 21, 2000

From the mouths of babes: a myth

SPITTING IMAGE: Myth, Memory and the Legacy of Vietnam, by Jerry Lembcke. New York University Press, 2000, 280 pp., $18.95 (paper). My most lasting memory of the Vietnam War is the divisiveness it created in the small American town where I grew up. The nation was divided at every level. Even junior...
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.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 7, 2000

Loose Sock theater company offers creative collaboration

Nestled in the cloudy seaside bluffs of Yamate in Yokohama stands the newly renovated Gaiety Theater. With origins dating back to 1870, the Gaiety has operated from various locations and hosted numerous theatrical organizations of Yokohama's foreign thespian community.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 23, 2000

An old tradition with a modern twist

NEW YORK -- Puppet troupes from around the globe are taking to New York stages this month as part of the Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater. The Japan representative is the extraordinary yet little-known OtomeBunraku Troupe, an all-female puppet troupe which derives from the mainstream male...
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2000

Takadanobaba: A lot of history and a bit of romance

Waseda Dori near JR Takadanobaba Station is dotted with budget restaurants, bars, book shops and travel agencies, all ready to cater to Waseda University students.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2000

Silent films cry out for attention

MASTERPIECES OF JAPANESE SILENT CINEMA. Bilingual (Japanese/English) DVD-ROM (Windows). Tokyo: Urban Connections, Inc. 18,900 yen. The Japanese silent cinema is almost unknown, so little has been available for viewing. Even in a medium where two-thirds of all silent cinema is lost (and perhaps a quarter...

Longform

The sun shines from behind a waving Philippine flag at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
Eighty years after the Battle of Manila, old foes forge new ties