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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 24, 2004

Japan sells its soul, again and again

Thirteen years ago, when Hideki Noda's Yumeno Yuminsha theater company was all the rage, the acclaim that greeted his then-new play "Tomei Ningen no Yuge (The Hot Air of an Invisible Man)" caused him nothing but artistic distress.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 24, 2004

Room without a view

No Quarto de Vanda Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Pedro Costa Running time: 178 minutes Language: Portuguese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Behold Vanda's face. Presumably, she's still in her early 20s but her skin already has the swarthy lifelessness of a junkie's,...
COMMENTARY
Mar 23, 2004

A decade of empty slogans

For all the shouting from the rooftops, political reform in Japan has made little headway. The latest reminder is the arrest of Kanju Sato, a former Lower House veteran of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, on charges of embezzling the salary of a state-paid secretary.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 23, 2004

More big sizes and outdoor pursuits

Big sizes So many of you responded to the reader looking for larger sized clothes. Here are some more tips.
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2004

Pension role model a shirker herself

While reproaching the nation's youth last year in a government-sponsored TV commercial for not paying into the financially pinched mandatory National Pension System, popular actress Makiko Esumi was keeping her own dark secret.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 21, 2004

A different kind of matrimony

TWINKLE, TWINKLE, by Kaori Ekuni, translated by Emi Shimokawa. New York: Vertical Inc., 2003, 172 pp. $19.95 (cloth). This is an excellent translation of Kaori Ekuni's 1991 novel, "Kira Kira Hikaru," a popular best seller that was made into a very good film by Joji Matsuoka the following year.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Mar 21, 2004

Little reason to gush about showy Sun King's fountains and gardens

King Louis XIV's finance superintendent, Nicholas Fouquet, decided to build himself a cha^teau on a grand scale. No expense was spared. The finest architects of the day were summoned and put to work. Landscape designers, too. And when the Cha^teau Vaux-le-Vicomte was finally complete, well, it was only...
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2004

Bulgarian envoy pushes bilateral trade

Bulgarian Ambassador to Japan Blagovest Sendov said Friday that reinvigorating economic and trade relations with Japan is his current priority.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 20, 2004

Shigeko Misaki

Interest in whaling was handed down to Shigeko Misaki at first remove. Her father was minister for agriculture, forestry and fisheries when Shigeru Yoshida was prime minister and Gen. Douglas MacArthur was supreme commander of the Occupation forces. "The International Whaling Commission was the first...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2004

Fukui said to be 'doing his best' under strict policy

Sakuya Fujiwara, former deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, says BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui is constantly under public pressure over the central bank's monetary measures.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2004

Roh's fate hangs on political pulse

SEOUL -- The always contentious South Korean political scene was shattered last week with the impeachment of the sitting president, Roh Moo Hyun, with both Korea watchers and Koreans themselves who take their young democracy very seriously caught off guard.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 18, 2004

Valentine speaks his mind in preseason game

The season hasn't even started yet and Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine is already getting hot under the collar.
COMMENTARY
Mar 18, 2004

China adds protections to Constitution

HONG KONG -- The 2004 session of China's National People's Congress closed Sunday with the passage of several constitutional amendments. Attention focused on those relating to human rights and the protection of private property.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 18, 2004

Professional bowling coming to an alley near you

When first approached to interview Steve Miller, President and CEO of the Pro Bowling Association Tour (PBA), I was reluctant to put it politely. Bowling for me was always something of a last resort if a date was going badly, a sport in which my average closely resembled what it takes me to get around...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 17, 2004

The boy who lost everything

Kamachi Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Rokuro Mochizuki Running time: 115 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] "Live fast and leave a beautiful corpse" James Dean used to say -- and he famously followed his own advice by dying in a car crash...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 17, 2004

A 'kitchen sink' filled deep

Strange, but true: These days, the chance of seeing a quality Japanese "kitchen sink" (domestic) drama about ordinary people's everyday lives is rarer than the opportunity of watching yet another reworking of Shakespeare, Chekhov or Tennessee Williams. Now, though, and until the end of the month, theatergoers...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 17, 2004

Fans should decide if Japan pro ball has interleague play

A couple of interesting articles appeared in The Japan Times during the first week of this month, both mentioning interleague play, and it would appear Japanese baseball may finally be moving toward the scheduling of regular-season games between Central and Pacific League teams.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 17, 2004

He's gone and forgot it all again

Paycheck Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: John Woo Running time: 118 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] In the world of sci-fi literary giant Philip K. Dick, memory is a commodity and a liability. Memory is what his characters try to protect...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 17, 2004

Oshii talks softly, but carries a big script

Before I interviewed Mamoru Oshii, his publicist asked if I would need an interpreter. "He tends to mumble," she explained. No, I didn't need an interpreter, but I did turn the volume of my tape recorder on high, fortunately. Looking a decade younger than his 52 years, with a mane of unruly black hair,...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2004

Fukuda gets testy over Yasukuni Shrine questions

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda got annoyed Monday with a reporter who asked him about China's latest protest over Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2004

Japanese airlines grapple for slice of China pie

China became the focus of grave concern among international airlines a year ago, when the SARS epidemic led to a dramatic decline in travelers to the country.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 16, 2004

Citizenship and health insurance

Citizenship I am a holder of a valid Philippines passport and have permanent residence status here in Japan, where I have lived for at least 18 years. I would like to apply for citizenship.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 14, 2004

Japanese erotica exposed

FORBIDDEN IMAGES: Erotic Art from Japan's Edo Period, by Monta Kayakawa, (Trilingual: Finnish, Swedish, English). Helsinki: City Art Museum, 2003, 112 pp., 82 color plates, 3,800 yen (cloth). Japanese shunga -- erotic paintings and prints, some of the world's most beautiful -- remain indigenously unknown....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 14, 2004

Tomasz Stanko: "Suspended Night"

Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko's newest release, "Suspended Night," is a masterpiece of minimalist beauty. A suite of interconnected compositions, "Suspended Night" simply numbers its "Variations" I to X. The unaffected simplicity and flexible modal structures strip down chords and melody lines to allow...
MORE SPORTS
Mar 14, 2004

Toshiba, Kobe Steel to meet in title game

Toshiba Brave Lupus will be hoping to get rid of an unwanted tag when it takes part in the final of the 41st Japan Championship at Tokyo's National Stadium on March 21.
Japan Times
Features
Mar 14, 2004

Roots

Have you ever considered making your family tree?
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 13, 2004

Usual suspects set to do battle for J. League honors

Turkish World Cup star Ilhan Mansiz lining up for big-spending Vissel Kobe. Japan international Alessandro Santos in an Urawa Reds shirt. Veteran defender Yutaka Akita battling it out at the back for Nagoya Grampus Eight.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 13, 2004

Einstein's theory of ski map relativity

Inquiring 'gaijin' want to know the best ski and snowboard spots in Japan. If you're a snowboarder, you're lucky because starting in March, Shigakogen in Nagano Prefecture, Japan's largest 'sooki snow-bo' area, opens all its runs to snowboarders as well as skiers.

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