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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2004

Signs of a mature diplomacy

Anti-Japanese behavior by Chinese soccer fans during the Asian Cup tournament in August stirred strong resentment among the Japanese public. Man questioned whether China was qualified to host the 2008 Olympics. Others criticized the Japanese government's lukewarm protests against the incidents. I feel,...
JAPAN
Oct 5, 2004

Payout made for revolving door death

The family of a 6-year-old boy who was crushed in an automatic revolving door at Tokyo's Roppongi Hills commercial complex has reached an out-of-court settlement with the complex operator, sources said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2004

The road to 'sports citizenship'

The good news about Japanese professional baseball last week was that the players averted a second weekend strike following a last-minute agreement with management. A week earlier, an unprecedented walkout had been staged in protest against a merger deal between the Kintetsu Baffaloes and the Orix BlueWave...
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Sep 28, 2004

Japanese mega-stores blazing trails in a brave, new publishing world

The Japanese bookstore world used to be one of "If you put it out, it will sell." But that comfortable age is over. Seven straight years of declining book sales have killed off some 1,500 bookstores.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 24, 2004

Northern delights of Sapporo

Despite its easy proximity, brought by the relatively short flying time from Tokyo, an air of remoteness still hangs over Hokkaido. Physically the island is more a last outpost of Siberia than an integral part of Japan. In Hokkaido, little rice grows, scant cherry trees bloom, no rainy season descends,...
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2004

Smaller PlayStation 2 set to debut

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said Tuesday it will release a smaller PlayStation 2 model in November at home and overseas.
Japan Times
Features
Sep 19, 2004

Cream-puff heaven is open to all

First it was Chinese dumplings that got the theme park treatment at Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium in 2002. Then, last year, up popped Ice Cream City. So, what was to be this year's gastronomic addition to the menu of attractions at Namco Namja Town in Sunshine City?
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2004

Golden efforts belie risk-averse image

WASHINGTON -- A stereotype exists in the United States and elsewhere: Japanese are risk-avoiders while Americans are risk-takers.
BUSINESS
Aug 28, 2004

Tokyo CPI falls for 59th month as deflation drags on

The key gauge of consumer prices in Tokyo fell 0.2 percent in August from a year earlier, marking a record 59th straight month of decline, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 10, 2004

'Cats' due for a return to Tokyo

Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats," which became a sensation across Japan when performed by the Shiki (Four Seasons) Theater Company, will be restaged in Tokyo in November for the first time in eight years and the fourth time in the capital since its first Japanese performance in 1983.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 8, 2004

Happy Democrats suffer some nostalgia

WASHINGTON -- A lot of Democrats arrived home from the 44th national convention of their party happy that the performance of their new nominee exceeded their expectations and that the entire presentation was positive and error-free.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Aug 8, 2004

Three glorious days in musical heaven

The Fuji Rock Festival went off without a hitch or a typhoon this year. Philip Brasor, Simon Bartz, Jason Jenkins and Mark Thompson were there to bear witness.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 4, 2004

Telling some truth in black & white

Dirty Pretty Things Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Stephen Frears Running time: 97 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] I'm not one of those cranky post-Marxist social critics who believe that the movies, particularly the American brand, subtly...
COMMENTARY
Aug 2, 2004

Thirsting for just a trickle

John Maynard Keynes established a theory about why a government's fiscal and monetary policies of manipulating the official discount rate, tax rates and public works investment were a highly effective means of economic management.
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2004

CPI declines for 58th month, indicating deflation ongoing

The key gauge of consumer prices in Tokyo fell 0.1 percent in July on a year-on-year basis, marking a record 58th straight month of decline, the government said Friday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Jul 30, 2004

Real downs JEF Utd

Real Madrid cruised past a game, but thoroughly outclassed JEF United Ichihara 3-1 at Tokyo National Stadium on Thursday night.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 30, 2004

The kids are all right at these spots

The heat is most definitely on. And with the mercury so high, so are the expectations among the wee ones that you haul them off somewhere that little bit different. Here are a few ideas for Tokyo places where you and they might find some respite during the dog days.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 28, 2004

Something for your head

Animators have always had a thing for Surrealism, going back to Disney's "Silly Symphonies" in 1934 and beyond. (Disney, in fact, collaborated with the most notorious Surrealist of all, Salvador Dali, on 1946's fabled "Destino" project.) Japanese animators, however, are the arch Surrealists of the movie...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2004

Building accident task force in works

The infrastructure ministry will form a task force to look at ways to prevent structure-related accidents, such as the revolving-door fatality in March at the Roppongi Hills complex in Tokyo, officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 28, 2004

Docu-dramas protest war in Iraq

When U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage reportedly said last week that Article 9 of Japan's war-renouncing Constitution "is becoming an obstacle to strengthening the Japan-United States alliance," nobody, let alone the mass media in Japan, seemed to be too shocked.
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2004

Like NTT phone fee, line brokers face extinction

Kanji in the window of a three-story building near JR Okachimachi Station in central Tokyo advertise "denwa tokubai" (discounted telephone lines).
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2004

Flawed homeland security

LAS VEGAS -- The dispute between Washington and Tokyo over the fate of Army Sgt. Charles Jenkins, whom the United States accuses of defecting to North Korea some 40 years ago, is more than a case of American legalism vs. Japanese ad hoc policy and humanitarian instincts. The issue goes much deeper into...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 25, 2004

Kabuki star in Fuji TV's "Tuesday Special" and more

On July 25, kabuki star Nakamura Kankuro will wrap up a historic weeklong run in New York City. Though Kankuro has performed in New York before, this time he brought his portable Heisei Nakamura-za theater and had it erected in the plaza of Lincoln Center.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 21, 2004

Reversal by owners likely to keep two-league system in place

Two weeks ago, it appeared Japanese pro baseball was surely headed for a 10-team, one-league restructuring for next season.
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...
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2004

New PlayStation due this fiscal year

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said Monday it will launch the next-generation PlayStation video game console by the end of the current fiscal year.
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
Jul 7, 2004

Exporting animation a huge Japanese success story

Pokemon, Digimon, Sailor Moon and Yu-Gi-Oh!
MORE SPORTS
Jul 7, 2004

World's top agent Johnson key to IMG's future

How rare is an interview with Peter Johnson?
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 4, 2004

Fuji TV's "Ningen no Shomei" and more

Next week, the Upper House elections will feature a lot of celebrity would-be politicians, most of whom seem to be professional wrestlers. One of the most famous celebrity politicians, comedian Kiyoshi Nishikawa, is retiring after 18 years in the Upper House.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 4, 2004

Imaginative filmmakers shed light on dark side of humanity

At the end of May the Cine Pathos movie theater in Ginza was scheduled to run "Concrete," which is based on a "nonfiction novel" that itself is patterned after an incident that took place in Tokyo's Adachi Ward in 1989. Four teenage boys abducted a high-school girl and kept her prisoner for 40 days,...

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?