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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Feb 13, 2004

Champagne's blushful secrets stripped bare

Champagne made its debut at the French court at Versailles in the second half of the 17th century and was an instant hit with licentious aristocrats such as the regent Duc D'Orleans and Madame de Mailly, mistress of Louis XV. Ever since, Champagne has enjoyed a reputation as one of the most "romantic"...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 8, 2004

Less confusion on Confucian: Time to redfine 'tradition'

WOMEN AND CONFUCIAN CULTURES IN PREMODERN CHINA, KOREA, AND JAPAN, edited by Dorothy Ko, Jahyun Kim Haboush, and Joan R. Piggott. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. 338 pp., 35 illustrations and tables. $24.95 (paper). It is often thought that Confucianism is somehow discriminatory toward...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 4, 2004

My unlikely valentine

Love Actually Rating: * * * (out of 5) Director: Richard Curtis Running time: 135 minutes Language: English Opens Feb. 7 [See Japan Times movie listings] Love, love, love. Given how movies are pretty indiscriminating when it comes to strewing that word around, there's a positive recklessness...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 4, 2004

Crooked path pays off

Yudan Daiteki Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Izuru Narushima Running time: 110 minutes Language: Japanese Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Cops and crooks aren't supposed to be pals, but in any society they often become . . . acquaintances, if not quite allies....
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

2003 saw 322,000 loan shark victims

Police across the country took action against 556 cases of shady lending practices in 2003 as a record 322,000 people fell prey to loan sharks, according to the National Police Agency.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

Electronic toll system users on rise

The Electronic Toll Collection system, introduced in 2001 to collect highway fees without drivers having to stop, is gaining in popularity due to discounts for installing the system and reduced fees for users.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 28, 2004

Good win in the gambling genre

The Good Thief Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Neil Jordan Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Opens Jan. 31 [See Japan Times movie listings] Gambler flicks can be a pretty predictable lot, and it's all too easy to adhere to formula and end up with an entirely forgettable...
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2004

Come clean on Iraq

Recent admissions by top U.S. officials that Iraq might not have had weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, demand an explanation. Questions must be answered and the damage done to both U.N. and U.S. credibility must be repaired.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2004

Troubles cast a shadow on EU future

LONDON -- Europe's currency has never been stronger. The European Union has been portrayed as a "post modern" association of states that have moved beyond the use of force to a more rational organization of their relations. Though still hobbled by inflexibilities, its economies are forecast to show stronger...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2004

Matsushita chief resolves to achieve profit target before stepping down

OSAKA (Kyodo) Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. President Kunio Nakamura said Thursday that the Matsushita group will raise its targeted ratio of operating profit to sales to 5 percent under his leadership and achieve that goal.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 22, 2004

The 'shitagidorobo': from criminal to fashion critic

It's not something that's widely advertised, but Japan is home to a massive shitagi-bunka (underwear culture). The most demure and modest of women will often be the owners of a collection that would put Frederick's of Hollywood to abject shame. And it's no secret that lan-pabu ("lingerie pubs," in which...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2004

Resort's 'healing powers' draw sick, scam artists

Crystallized minerals called "hokuto-seki" at the Tamagawa Onsen hot spring resort in Akita Prefecture have captured much media attention because they are believed to be effective in curing cancer and rheumatism.
COMMUNITY
Jan 10, 2004

Buddha, Shinto artifacts make great new business

Having purchased a figuratively decorated enameled wall vase before Christmas for my daughter in Toronto, but not quite sure what I'd got, I headed for the home of Byron Monasmith in Tokyo's Shinanomachi.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2004

Firms fear Seoul's easier rules on Japan's culture

South Korea's gradual lifting of its decades-old ban on the import of Japanese popular culture entered its fourth phase this month, paving the way for the legal circulation of Japanese CDs, game software and all nonanimated films.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 4, 2004

From mourning to 'magic'

It may be only mildly surprising that Japanese translations of the first four "Harry Potter" titles have racked up 16.5 million sales to date. It is, though, quite astonishing that the publisher is not an industry giant, but a small Tokyo firm with no previous best seller to its name.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 3, 2004

A primer for Japanese holidays

If you're like me, the one thing you need at the end of a long run of holidays is . . . yet another holiday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Dec 31, 2003

Looking back to find new beginnings

New Year's is about endings and beginnings. People we've lost, places we've discovered, what's gone and what's to come. Some thoughts as we cross over:
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 29, 2003

Cutting an ancient myth down to size

NEW YORK -- The myth of the Japanese sword, which Quentin Tarantino plays to the hilt in the film "Kill Bill," has several origins: There was a religious connection. The manufacture of the blade was linked to Shugendo, a form of nature-worship that held that rough physical training is essential to enlightenment....
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 28, 2003

Fear of modern terrorism

THE NEW TERRORISM: Anatomy, Trends and Counterstrategies, edited by Andrew Tan and Kumar Ramakrishna. Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, Regional Security Studies, 2002, 254 pp. (paper). If the contributors to this excellent survey of "the new terrorism" are correct, then the world needs to be prepared...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2003

High-profile lawyer cleared of obstruction

Lawyer Yoshihiro Yasuda, chief attorney of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara and the country's leading crusader against the death penalty, was acquitted Wednesday of obstructing the compulsory seizure of rent income used by clients as collateral.
COMMENTARY
Dec 20, 2003

Iraq and Japan's far right

If you think Japan's right wing is inevitably pro-American then think again. Over policy on Iraq and the Middle East, the gap between the conservative rightwingers, who support the United States, and their ideological kin on the extreme right is about as wide as it can get.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 19, 2003

Candy firms jump on CD bandwagon

Giveaways attached to packets of candies and chocolate are nothing new in Japan. Recently these omake have commonly taken the form of wonderfully detailed little toys and figurines in themed, collectable sets such as animals, anime characters, dinosaurs, birds, cars or motorbikes.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 19, 2003

In praise of a 'brilliant idea'

Even a cursory check of convenience store shelves these days shows how the omake giveaways that makers once offered as lures to buy certain candies have now become the main selling points themselves. After all, how many people would pay 300 yen just for the two almond chocolates in a packet of "Time...
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 16, 2003

Boca Juniors capture Toyota Cup on penalties

South American champions Boca Juniors added the Toyota Cup to their collection of trophies on Sunday with a victory over Champions League winner AC Milan after a penalty shootout in Yokohama.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 14, 2003

Harboring American memories

DATE WHICH WILL LIVE: Pearl Harbor in American Memory, by Emily S. Rosenberg. Durham & London: Duke University Press, 2003, 236 pp., $24.95 (cloth). History is not a record of facts and just the facts, but rather a collection of significant tidbits plucked from among the accessible data and then arranged...
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2003

Not a two-party system yet

LONDON -- Is Japan becoming a "normal" parliamentary democracy with a two-party system? Commentators outside and inside Japan have suggested that the Nov. 9 general election may have fundamentally altered the balance of power in Japan and that, with the growth of the Democratic Party of Japan, the country...
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2003

Current account surplus rose 38.9% in October

Japan's current account surplus rose 38.9 percent in October from a year earlier to 1.259 trillion yen, logging its fourth straight monthly rise.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Dec 10, 2003

Desperately seeking Kyusetsu

In the world of tea, certain inherited potters' names stand out as shining stars and their works are seen almost as brand-name goods. Just as shoppers hanker for a Gucci bag, a tea devotee covets certain chawan (tea bowls), say, from the Kaneshige kiln in Bizen. Possessing one of these is a status symbol,...

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.