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JAPAN
Jul 22, 2004

Anger builds over EEZ violations

The government is planning to lodge a stronger protest with Beijing over the repeated presence of Chinese survey ships in Japan's exclusive economic zone, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 21, 2004

Arthurian legend lacks a little magic

King Arthur Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Antoine Fuqua Running time: 130 minutes Language: English Opens July 24 [See Japan Times movie listings] Just as Homer's "Illiad" wasn't good enough for the makers of "Troy," director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day") has made his blockbuster...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 21, 2004

It's a wonderful (and weird) life

Cha no Aji Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Katsuhito Ishii Running time: 143 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Brimming with whacky invention and seemingly inspired by the stranger manga, Katsuhito Ishii's "Samahada Otoko to Momojiri...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 21, 2004

Too deep for tears

Greece has been buzzing with excitement following the Euro 2004 victory and before the countdown to this summer's Olympics. When I arrived in Athens on July 1, it looked like the whole city was being given a long overdue clean-up. After strolling around the Acropolis gardens where people were chatting...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 21, 2004

Dancing as hard as they can

The Company Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Robert Altman Running time: 112 minutes Language: English Opens July 24 [See Japan Times movie listings] What does it mean to be a ballet dancer who lives, breathes and looks to be ready to die for his or her art?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 21, 2004

Staying ahead of the name game

More than 250 artists will be playing at the Fuji Rock Festival and Summer Sonic this year. You've probably never heard of most of them, and since so many bands have similar-sounding names you might wonder at times if what you're hearing is what you thought you came to hear. No one will mistake The Whyte...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 18, 2004

If Japan does get Jenkins, will he really want to stay?

Ever on the lookout for sneaky connections, the media had characterized the July 9 reunion of Hitomi Soga and her family in Indonesia as being rushed through by the Liberal Democratic Party in time to help its election chances July 11. Some people even thought North Korea was in on it.
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...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 17, 2004

Sea Day -- For good or bad, a holiday

Happy Sea Day! Monday, July 19, is Sea Day, a national holiday when we are supposed to go out and enjoy the sea. But for me, this has not been a good year with the sea. First, on a yachting trip from Japan to Guam, the boat turned over in the Pacific Ocean and we had to be rescued. More recently, I sprained...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 16, 2004

A year of flower power

Looking for places to go this summer? Well, if you want something unique then head for Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2004

Miyake islanders can return home in '05

The village authority of Miyake Island, 180 km south of Tokyo, will lift a nearly four-year-old evacuation order on islanders by early next year, despite ongoing volcanic activity there, village officials said Thursday.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jul 15, 2004

Japan's kindergartens could serve families better

Procreation just ain't what it used to be.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 15, 2004

Forces pact should underscore Japanese lack of rights: lawyer

Attorney Annette Eddie-Callagain has had to defend people subjected to closed-door interrogations, limited access to lawyers and lengthy detention during which they are pressured to confess.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 14, 2004

Little House on the Pavement

Once Upon a Time in the Midlands Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Shane Meadows Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] A woman is caught between her bad-boy, rock 'n' roll ex-husband and the sweet, adoring current lover in "Once...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 14, 2004

Remembering the good old future

Steamboy Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Katsuhiro Otomo Running time: 126 minutes Language: English Opens July 17 [See Japan Times movie listings] I am old enough to remember when the future looked fun. As a kid I was an eager reader of Jules Verne, whose futuristic novels, written...
SOCCER / World cup
Jul 14, 2004

Japan triumphs in Kirin Cup

YOKOHAMA -- Japan won the 2004 Kirin Cup at International Stadium Yokohama on Tuesday night with an uninspiring 1-0 victory over Serbia and Montenegro.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2004

Peace group protests activists' arrest, beating by cops

An umbrella organization of 51 citizens' groups that has staged peace marches in Tokyo lodged a protest Tuesday over the arrests of three participants in one such walk in Shibuya Ward earlier this month, displaying video footage of one of them being repeatedly beaten by police.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2004

Pension reform, SDF weigh on voters' minds

If anything, Sunday's House of Councilors election will probably be remembered for the clarity of the issues voters were being called on to judge.
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2004

Bush goes to work with the whitewash

WASHINGTON -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton's commitment to doing the popular thing politically was legendary. He has met his match, however. If anything, President George W. Bush is even more devoted to turning everything to his political advantage.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 11, 2004

It's best to be aware of this big trucking problem

The crimes of Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have made the media a little more attentive to vehicles that blow up. In the past several weeks, it seems an awful lot of MMC products have spontaneously combusted. Whenever they do, it's reported in the newspapers, and the frequency of such reports (at least four...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 11, 2004

Classic love-tragedy finds new blood

Noh, contemporary classical music and calligraphy -- each is an artistic form with its own appeal.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2004

Aum reportedly asked cop to case site before NPA chief was shot

A former police officer under arrest in connection with the 1995 shooting of the chief of the National Police Agency was asked by a senior female Aum Shinrikyo member to survey the shooting site five days before the attack, according to investigation sources.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2004

Firms grope for enticing product names

Nissan Motor Co.'s popular March compact becomes the Micra in Europe, while Toyota's Vitz is known as the Echo in the U.S. and the Yaris in Europe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 7, 2004

When life gives you lemons, make an underground comic

American Splendor Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini Running time: 101 minutes Language: English Opens July 10 [See Japan Times movie listings] Religion may be the opiate of the masses, but surely comic books are the opiate of the misfits. Walk...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 7, 2004

Darkness in teenage wizardland

Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Alfonso Cuaron Running time: 136 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy has come and gone, but its fantasy film rival, the "Harry Potter"...
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
Jul 7, 2004

Exporting animation a huge Japanese success story

Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon and Yu-Gi-Oh!

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