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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 30, 2005

Pull of the people

My album of the year was M.I.A.'s "Arular," for a number of reasons. First, it's a party album whose energy and imagination never flag. Second, it's utterly distinctive: Maya Arulpragasam's nursery-rhyme rapping style doesn't sound like anybody else's. Third, it's a work of art whose local specificity,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 27, 2005

Lighting brilliance from Kouichi Okamoto

Lighting is many things to many people. For many, it's simply a practical tool to combat darkness. For others, it plays the role of mood enhancer. Carefully calibrated lighting can transform a space both subtly and dramatically.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 25, 2005

Creators, not hacks

OUTLAW MASTERS OF JAPANESE FILM by Chris Desjardins. London, New York: I.B. Tauris, 2005, 262 pp., $19.95 (paper). IRON MAN: The Cinema of Shinya Tsukamoto, by Tom Mes. FAB Press, 2005. 237 pp., $24.95 (paper) Foreign critics used to worship at the altars of Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 25, 2005

Cultural depths of celluloid

READING A JAPANESE FILM: Cinema in Context, by Keiko I. McDonald. Honolulu: Hawai'i University Press, 2005, 294 pp., photo illustrations. $20.00 (paper). Films are not only to be passively watched, they are also to be actively "read." The viewer deciphers not just the story but all the other indications...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 23, 2005

Kafka on the . . . wall

Scottish artist Jack McLean's exhibition of drawings "Kafka on the...," which runs through Dec. 31 at Artist Residency Tokyo (A.R.T.) Gallery in Tokyo, focuses on two Johnnie Walkers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 15, 2005

Bridging cultural currents

SEOUL -- It has long been known, though usually not mentioned in public discourse in Japan, that Korea has played a vital role in the transmission of Chinese culture to the country, starting with the introduction of Buddhism in 538. As of Oct. 28, the 60th anniversary of Korea's National Independence...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2005

Japan, Iraq finalize energy support deal

Japan and Iraq agreed Tuesday that Tokyo will extend financial and technical support for oil and natural gas projects in the war-ravaged country, which intends to expand oil production capacity to 2 million barrels per day next year, a Japanese official said.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 4, 2005

Complexity drawn from emptiness

THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF IMAGES by John Mateer. Fremantle, Australia: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2005, 61 pp., A$22.95 (paper). The poet John Mateer has published previously in South Africa, where he comes from, Australia, where he now lives, and Indonesia, which he has traveled in. A group of his poems...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Nov 26, 2005

Keane's baggage may scupper his dream move to Celtic

LONDON -- In August, you would probably have been able to name your own odds against both Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and captain Roy Keane seeking new employment midseason. One half of any such bet has already come up trumps, and unless United beat Benfica in Lisbon on Wednesday week,...
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2005

RCC to sue Chongryun for 62.8 billion yen

The government-backed Resolution and Collection Corp. will file a civil lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court to seek the return of 62.8 billion yen from a North Korean group, sources said Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 22, 2005

The 'IC you' card

People are still reeling from September's LDP landslide election, realizing that Koizumi can essentially legislate whatever he wants.
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Nov 20, 2005

Update beckons for 'lucky' feline

A retired mannequin sculptor who fashioned his entire career out of observing women's curves is now eyeing curves of an even more mystical kind: those of the manekineko, the good-luck "beckoning cat" statues found all over Japan in the corners of bars, restaurants and lottery-ticket booths, where their...
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2005

MUFJ profit tops Toyota's, hits record

The estimated consolidated April-September net profit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. has topped the group net profit of Toyota Motor Corp. to become the largest in Japan, figures released Thursday showed.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2005

Teen says hatred from being snubbed drove him to kill

The 16-year-old boy arrested in the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old schoolmate said he felt snubbed by the victim and bore a grudge, investigative sources said Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Nov 15, 2005

Marie-Helene de Taillac, Side by Side, Viliue cosmetics, Youth Records

Staff writer A gem of an idea
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2005

Aussies preparing for worst

SYDNEY -- Tough new antiterrorist laws will soon give troops shoot-to-kill authority when patrolling Australian streets in anticipation of a terrorist attack. But the change will come only after the Australian public has agonized over a claimed loss of civil liberties.
Japan Times
Features / JAPAN FASHION WEEK IN TOKYO 2005
Nov 13, 2005

Catwalk caperings

In the major fashion capitals, only the bravest of designers dare to push the envelope of a show beyond the conventional parade of models marching with their pouts and haughty glares along a catwalk. In Tokyo, though, while the clothes themselves may not match up to those gracing European runways, the...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 6, 2005

A modern master of an old tradition

MIREI SHIGEMORI: Modernizing the Japanese Garden, by Christian Tschumi, photographs by Markuz Wernli Saito. Stone Bridge Press, 128 pp., $18.95 (paper). A revival of interest in the dry landscape garden of Japan both domestically and internationally took place during the early Showa Era (1926-1989),...
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Nov 4, 2005

Keep road taxes for road projects, Kitagawa says

Reappointed transport minister Kazuo Kitagawa says motorists will be disgruntled if tax revenue currently earmarked for road construction is shifted to the general budget.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 1, 2005

Sumo, golf and old maps

Sumo memorabilia Mark in Tokyo would like to purchase old sumo "tegata" (wrestlers' handprints) and "banzuke" ranking sheets. "Any ideas?" he asks.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Oct 28, 2005

The velvety allure of Aoyama

Aoyama is full of small, high-end hideaways where service is delivered in studied silence and conversations are reduced to a whisper.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 27, 2005

International winners at Praemium Imperiale

In 1989 the Japan Art Association established the Praemium Imperiale to reward major contributions to the arts in the fields of architecture, music, painting, sculpture and theater/film. It was the last wish of Prince Takamatsu, who had served as governor of the Japan Art Association from 1929 to 1987,...
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2005

JAL decides to join oneworld airline alliance

Reversing its longtime stance of sticking to bilateral agreements, Japan Airlines Corp. said Tuesday it has decided to join oneworld -- the global airline coalition featuring British Airways, American Airlines and other six carriers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 21, 2005

Shop-till-you-drop hints in fashionable districts of Harajuku and Omotesando

Harajuku has long been an area frequented by fashion-sensitive youngsters.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2005

Takefuji suit only trying to shut up critics: court

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that a lawsuit filed by Takefuji Corp. was aimed at suppressing freedom of expression and ordered the firm to pay 4.8 million yen in damages to a group of lawyers and a publisher.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 20, 2005

The aesthetics of the Korean noblewoman

Korean aesthetics can be summed up in one word, mot. Used frequently in casual conversation, the term refers to stylishness, elegance and the state of being chic.
JAPAN
Oct 18, 2005

Packaging costs lawsuit filed

A major supermarket chain filed a 616 million yen damages compensation lawsuit Monday against the government and a state-backed corporation, claiming that a recycling law that obliges retailers to shoulder most of the costs of recycling plastic containers is unconstitutional.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.