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SUMO
May 9, 2004

Asashoryu poised for record run

After demolishing all before him en route to a second straight Emperor's Cup without a loss in March, indestructible yokozuna Asashoryu is on the verge of achieving a remarkable feat.
Features
May 9, 2004

When wrong can be right

At the beginning of "Showgirls," suspicious that a kind seamstress might be physically attracted to her, aspiring chorine Nomi (Elizabeth Berkley) asks: "Are you hitting on me?" The Japanese subtitle reads: "Are you making fun of me?"
Features
May 9, 2004

Lost in translation on Japanese screens

Unlike the countries that tend to dub foreign movies, Japan has been mainly using subtitles for more than 70 years. No one knows exactly why, but some say the Japanese simply enjoy hearing the original voices of the actors and the sounds in the background. Most now take it for granted that going to the...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 9, 2004

"Nanmon Kaiketsu" on NHK and more

The word motodoru refers to female celebrities who were "idols" in their youth. However, it also means "getting value for one's money," and is usually associated with housewives.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2004

Don't fret China competition: ADB economist

Japan's fears over China's status as a rival for economic supremacy in Asia are misplaced, according to the chief economist at the Asian Development Bank.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
May 8, 2004

Learning hard lessons in inferiority

The man towers over my life like Atlas holding up an entire Earth's worth of responsibility.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 7, 2004

Takarazuka groupies do it by the book

Akiko Okawara, 37, comes to Tokyo Takarazuka Theater almost every day to catch a stage-door glimpse of Sumire Haruno, a top star who plays a male role in the Takarazuka all-female theater troupe, even when she is not taking in the show.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 5, 2004

Dead man walking

The Passion of the Christ Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Mel Gibson Running time: 127 minutes Language: Aramaic, Latin Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "There's enough torture in life without having to inflict it for no good reason." -- Mel Gibson, interviewed by...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 5, 2004

Future through sepia-colored glasses

Immortel (ad vitam) Rating: * * 1/2(out of 5) Director: Enki Bilal Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] The future is not now, it's retro in "Immortel (ad vitam)" (released in Japan as "God Diva") -- the latest Euro sci-fi created...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 5, 2004

Suffering for her r'n'r art

Rock 'n' roll is an extreme sport and can seriously damage your health. Just ask Eri Shibata, who's fast becoming one of Japan's most celebrated "rock chicks." At a bar in Shibuya she pulls back the collar of her blouse to reveal a 10-cm scar running down from the nape of her neck.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 5, 2004

One sure way to the enjoy the twilight years

Shinibana Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Isshin Inudo Running time: 120 minutes Language: Japanese Opens May 7 [See Japan Times movie listings] Japanese society is rapidly graying, as journalists never tire of telling us. What the journos seldom mention -- though the cannier film...
JAPAN
May 4, 2004

Iraqis here laud Hussein's fall but have mixed feelings about U.S. role

When the war in Iraq began in March last year, many Iraqis living in Japan, just like their compatriots back home, pinned their hopes on the United States being able to oust Saddam Hussein from his iron-fisted, decades-long grip on power.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2004

Blair's hard sell of a new EU

LONDON -- "It's ghastly," Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, said with a shudder. He was speaking of the referendum -- that Prime Minister Tony Blair has declared, after no consultation with his Cabinet, will now be held -- on the draft EU constitution. Why is a referendum ghastly? Because,...
BUSINESS
May 3, 2004

Japan leading quest for first quantum computer

A quantum computer, dubbed the ultimate computer that can process information at a speed 100 million times faster than a supercomputer, is attracting global attention.
COMMENTARY
May 3, 2004

EU constitution no shoo-in

PARIS -- Now 78, former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing managed at the end of last year to achieve two major successes: He was elected to the Academie Francaise, which for more than three centuries has been France's most prestigious intellectual institution; and the Convention of the Future...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 2, 2004

Scripting Yazujiro Ozu: Avoiding sentimentality to reveal pathos

TOKYO STORY: The Ozu/Noda Screenplay, by Yazujiro Ozu & Kogo Noda, translated by Donald Richie & Eric Klestadt, introduction by Richie. Stone Bridge Press, 2003, 144 pp., $12.95 (paper). The opening scene in Yazujiro Ozu's 1953 film "Tokyo Story" takes place not in the nation's capital but at the Inland...
JAPAN
May 1, 2004

MMC eyes tieup with other automakers

The newly appointed Mitsubishi Motors Corp. chairman and chief executive officer hinted Friday that the troubled automaker might seek a capital tieup with other automakers besides its biggest shareholder, DaimlerChrysler AG.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 1, 2004

Lenne Hardt

More than one organization for which she works calls Lenne Hardt "the best female narrator in Tokyo." She is much in demand by entertainment agents who regard her as being unique locally for her range of voices, knowledge of the industry, consummate professionalism and fluency in English and Japanese....
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 1, 2004

UNESCO heritage bid challenged over gender bias

The government's bid to have a sacred area in western Japan registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site is being challenged by those who claim it reinforces gender discrimination.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 1, 2004

The well-heeled, gut-knotting yacht life

I wanted to sail through the Seto Inland Sea as my great-grandfather had done 100 years ago on a U.S. Navy ship. He had kept a diary of his experiences, and I yearned to be a modern great-grandfather like him. I started near the Kii Channel, where he would have entered Osaka Bay, located at 33 degrees...
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 30, 2004

Matsui's HR in vain as Dodgers bump Mets

LOS ANGELES -- Kazuo Matsui opened the game with a leadoff homer for his first hit in three games and connected for a single off Eric Gagne in the ninth inning, but the New York Mets fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 30, 2004

Get away from it all without going so far

HINASE, Okayama Pref. -- Most people, if asked to name their favorite islands in Japan, might plump for the southernmost and most exotic ones which together comprise Okinawa Prefecture. Others, less enamored of balmy climes, might prefer Niigata Prefecture's Sado Island in the Sea of Japan; while some...
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2004

Boat crew survivors focus of Bikini nuke test study

The city of Sukumo, Kochi Prefecture, will conduct health studies next month on crews from Kochi fishing boats hit by fallout from the 1954 U.S. hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the Central Pacific.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 29, 2004

Gray city's parks green escapes

No plans for the Golden Week holidays? Spending a relaxing day in a park under blue skies may be just the ticket for weary urbanites.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 28, 2004

Selling oneself short in the South

Sonny Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Nicholas Cage Running time: 110 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] There was a time when one could relish seeing Nicholas Cage's name in a film's credits, a fertile period that encompassed 1991's "Wild at...
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2004

Locksmith admits kidnapping, killing writer

A locksmith pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Tokyo District Court to illegally confining and murdering a freelance journalist in September.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 28, 2004

Between blue and gray, love finds a way

Cold Mountain Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Anthony Minghella Running time: 152 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Sixty-some years after Scarlett O'Hara clutched that handful of earth and swore she would never go hungry again, another...

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