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Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2002

Performing 'rakugo' in English provides a true test of 'character'

OSAKA -- Clad in a bright pink kimono and blue obi with matching color accessories in her neatly tied blonde hair, English-language "rakugo" comic storyteller Diane Orrett appeared on stage recently in front of a mostly Japanese audience in central Osaka.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jul 18, 2002

Taking a break in Tokyo and getting to grips with coins

Did you miss me? Hopefully not. Due to stockpiling three columns, I was able to escape the worst excesses of rainy season to the U.K. for five weeks without leaving a gaping hole on the page.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2002

Improved conditions needed to draw ASEAN brains: panel

An informal government panel basically agreed Thursday to seek improvements to Japan's immigration and social environments to attract more experts and engineers from Southeast Asia, the panel's chairman said.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2002

Japan's close encounter with the West

'By reading, hearing, and by observation in foreign lands, our people have acquired a general knowledge of constitutions, habits and manners as they exist in most foreign countries. . . . Japan cannot claim originality as yet, but it will aim to exercise practical wisdom by adopting the advantages, and...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2002

Legacy-building in Beijing

CAMBRIDGE, England -- Chinese President Jiang Zemin has made another speech -- another important speech -- adding gloss to the landmark speech he made July 1 last year at the Communist Party of China's 80th birthday party.
COMMUNITY
Jul 4, 2002

The land of the early rising, and setting, sun

The issue of daylight-saving time is back in the news.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2002

Koizumi expresses regret over info-seeker scandal

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi voiced regret Monday over the "confusion" the Defense Agency caused by initially withholding the full report of an in-house probe into a scandal involving background checks on people seeking information.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2002

Shenyang highlights bilateral problems

BEIJING -- Although the furor raised by the two-week dispute over the Shenyang incident has died down, it has not entirely dissipated -- particularly in Japan. The incident highlighted Japan's sensitivity toward China's growing power, and demonstrated that if frictions in this area are not effectively...
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 20, 2002

South Korea scores huge upset

TAEJON, South Korea -- A sudden-death goal by Ahn Jung Hwan propelled South Korea into the quarterfinals of the World Cup here Tuesday night, a well-earned 2-1 victory over Italy setting off incredible scenes of celebration.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 19, 2002

Piecing together the picture

There are hundreds of good -- even great -- art spaces in New York's West Chelsea, the world's largest and most important contemporary art gallery district. It's a wonderful place to browse, but this is best done with an open mind. I've often been frustrated when visiting art fairs or gallery districts...
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 16, 2002

Majestic England sweeps past Denmark

NIIGATA -- England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's local priest had "promised" that England would defeat Denmark in their Round of 16 game 2-1, with Michael Owen scoring the winner. The priest managed to get the result and one of the scorers right, coming up short with the scoreline however, as England cruised...
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2002

Survey shows regional gaps in Internet use

A wide regional digital divide exists in Japan despite government efforts to spread Internet use, according to a recent telecom ministry survey on household consumption.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2002

The World Cup: more than just a game

"Si, Senor, It's War" read the headline in an English newspaper a few days before the national team of England and Argentina met in their semifinal soccer game during the World Cup in Mexico in 1986. The headline was an exaggeration, of course. It was just a game. Yet, the Falklands War was fresh in...
BASEBALL / MLB
May 29, 2002

Buffs' bash brothers pound Lotte

Kintetsu slugger Norihiro Nakamura homered in back-to-back at-bats, including a go-ahead two-run blast in the eighth, as the Buffaloes came from behind to beat the Lotte Marines 4-3 at the Osaka Dome.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2002

FSA optimistic over banks' health

The projected amount of loan-loss charges by major Japanese banks for this business year will probably stay within the size of operating profits, Financial Services Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2002

Candidate of Kim's party in tough race

SEOUL -- Roh Moo Hyun, the recently anointed presidential candidate of Kim Dae Jung's Millennium Democratic party, or MDP, for December's elections, has been on a roll this spring. A relative political unknown, he succeeded in toppling his party's front-runner for the nomination, Rhee In Je, while generating...
JAPAN
May 18, 2002

Cows born in spring '96 face inspection

The farm ministry will inspect all cows born between March and April 1996 for symptoms of mad cow disease, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe said Friday.
SOCCER / World cup
May 2, 2002

Troussier plans no more 'surprises'

KOBE -- Japan coach Philippe Troussier didn't promise any more "surprises" for Thursday's Kirin Cup match against Honduras at Kobe Wing Stadium, saying only that it was a practice match for the World Cup and he would be happy to win 1-0 with an own goal.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 1, 2002

Young artists are making a splash

The third installment in an almost-annual series (they skipped it last year), "New Media New Face 02" is now showing at the NTT InterCommunication Center, in Shinjuku. The work here, from four Japanese artists, falls into the vague but trendy, technology-based genre known as "media art."
EDITORIALS
Apr 21, 2002

Upper House needs reform, too

There appears to be no end to the money scandals involving politicians and their aides. On Friday, Mr. Yutaka Inoue, president of the Upper House, resigned amid allegations that his aide took a huge bribe from a construction company. In this year alone, two other legislators surrendered their Diet seats...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 21, 2002

A fresh spin on Okinawan tradition

Inside Hot Wax, a hip music shop in Shibuya's Udagawa-cho, the wet, modern sounds of Ryukyu Underground's "Tinsagu nu Hana Dub" wash over racks of used records, compact discs and a half-dozen music lovers. One of the browsers, a young woman, describes the music as "like summer with the windows open."...
EDITORIALS
Apr 18, 2002

Emergency bills need consensus

After a quarter century of government discussion of security policy, the Diet is set to debate legislation designed to deal with emergencies directly affecting the security of Japan -- namely, military attacks from abroad. At stake is a set of three bills, adopted by the Cabinet on Tuesday and submitted...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 17, 2002

Into the woods today: mourning nature's demise

Japanese cultural life has long revolved around the changing of the seasons, in particular, and nature, in general. Or has it? The differences between Japanese sensibilities toward nature and those generally held by Westerners have been much discussed. Yet it is interesting to note that, when used to...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 14, 2002

New twists on a venerable tradition

EINSTEIN'S CENTURY: Akito Arima's Haiku, translated by Emiko Miyashita & Lee Gurga. Brooks Books, 2001, 128 pp., $16/2,000 yen (paper) GENDAI HAIKU 2001/JAPANESE HAIKU 2001, edited by Modern Haiku Association. YOU-Shorin Press, 2000, 297 pp., 3 yen,000/$30 (paper) A FUTURE WATERFALL, by Ban'ya Natsuishi,...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Apr 12, 2002

Humpback whale

* Japanese name: Zatokujira * Scientific name: Megaptera novaeangliae * Description: Measuring 12-14 meters, weighing 25-30 tons and with flippers up to 5.5 meters long, the humpback whale is unmistakable. It is black, with white patches on the flippers, which may also be encrusted with barnacles....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL
Apr 11, 2002

Trip through time at Tokyo's verdant royal hub

The Imperial Palace grounds are, without doubt, Tokyo's green heart. Located inside a 6.4-km ring of walls and moats that were once the inner defensive perimeter of Edo Castle, this verdant oasis now covers 115 hectares in all, with evergreen woodlands overlooking the moats and creating a very special...

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan