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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 10, 2002

On a voyage to Ionia

THE INLAND SEA, by Donald Richie. Stone Bridge Press, 2002, 255 pp., $16.95 (paper) Since the publication in English of Yukio Mishima's 1954 romance novel, "The Sound of Waves," there has been a fondness for visualizing Japan's Inland Sea, with its islands of olives, oranges, sunburned fisherfolk and...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 10, 2002

The mismeasure of Emperor Meiji

EMPEROR OF JAPAN: Meiji and His World 1852-1912, by Donald Keene. Columbia University Press: New York, 2002, 922 pp. + xiii + 18 pp. of illustrations, $39.50 (cloth) Like any great story, history prefers that its leading men (and women) have some sparkle, whether a foible (Henry VIII's marital tangles;...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Nov 10, 2002

Magazine muckrakes where major media won't make waves

The Asahi Shimbun's April 9, 1999, morning edition featured a front-page story by the monthly magazine Uwasa-no-shinso (The Truth Behind the Rumors) that sparked a scandal leading to the downfall of the then head of the Tokyo High Public Prosecutor's Office.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2002

Victims of over-zealous media weigh new human rights bills

The media are both Kenichi Ino's worst enemy and strongest ally.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2002

Nisei seeks 'kiyomoto' doctorate

Mark Oshima first wanted to study Japan's prewar colonial policy and become an academic, changed his mind and decided to earn a doctorate in 19th century kabuki, and ended up studying "kiyomoto" -- musical accompaniment to kabuki dancing.
COMMUNITY
Nov 3, 2002

Japan's hometown of jazz

Yokohama's love affair with jazz first blossomed when the West was Roarin' in the 1920s. Back then, ocean liners were bringing passengers and ships' bands from all over the world, and Japan's maritime gateway was a major port of call for steamers plying between the famed entertainment hubs of Shanghai...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 20, 2002

The garden of heavenly tofu delights

Traditional cuisine intersects with a distinctive modern sensibility at Sorano-niwa. Newly opened on one of Ebisu's quieter back streets, this is an almost textbook example of how some of Japan's most representative foods are being updated and repackaged for the new millennium.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 16, 2002

Tale of honor that'll run and run

This October, the Kabukiza is anticipating the 300th anniversary of the famous act of revenge accomplished by 47 ronin (masterless samurai) on Dec. 14, 1702 by staging one of kabuki's most celebrated dramas, "Kanadehon Chushingura (The Forty-seven Loyal Retainers)." Selections from this epic work are...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 6, 2002

When every channel is the same channel

Ever since the advent of that popular programming idea known as the "wide show" in the mid-1980s, so-called hard news and tabloid news have slowly merged into an alloy of informational reporting that defies easy categorization.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 6, 2002

Iseya: Tempura with a tale to tell

Iseya is a diamond in the rough-and-ready neighborhood that lies to the north of Asakusa. Set between the sleazy, winking red lights of the Senzoku soaplands and the grim and grimy flophouses of San'ya, this is far from tourist territory. And Iseya is no tourist restaurant. But without doubt it's a shitamachi...
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Sep 29, 2002

'Kabukicho guide' offers punters a walk on the wild side

Sporting a pinstripe suit, a wiry figure hovers on the main street of Shinjuku Ward's Kabukicho -- Tokyo's busiest and arguably seediest entertainment district.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2002

Tokyo Dome operator tied to mob

Tokyo Dome Co., which runs the Tokyo Dome indoor stadium and an adjacent hotel, had for years extended favors to an underworld organization affiliated with the Sumiyoshi-kai syndicate and related companies, it was learned Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 24, 2002

Construction on a roll in central Tokyo

The newly rebuilt Marunouchi Building symbolizes the huge transformation that is taking place in the hub of corporate business activity in the capital.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Sep 22, 2002

The true soul of Roppongi

Most of what passes for entertainment in Roppongi is only skin-deep. And while the area itself may appear to be a dense maze of bars stretching for miles, it is only a facade, barely extending more than one block off the strip. The 4-chome area, in particular, which fills the blocks behind the bank at...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 18, 2002

Winner loses all in the games people play

Two eagerly anticipated German-directed productions of Shakespeare arrived in Tokyo last week, each the product of its director's extensive experience and deep deliberation on the play's contemporary relevance, and each given a polished reinterpretation as a result.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Sep 18, 2002

Talk about the passion . . .

Can Kiyoshi Hikawa save enka?
BUSINESS / ANOTHER LOOK
Sep 16, 2002

Outsourcing offers Japan Inc. a viable, new cost-cutting option

Regardless of the size of a company's operations, one of the most pressing issues for management is reduction of costs. With very low economic growth likely to continue for some time and deflation placing pressure on prices in many different industry sectors, management is being called upon to make more...
COMMUNITY
Sep 15, 2002

Did Plato's Republic find a spiritual home in Japan?

Four hundred and two years ago this week, a battle was fought near the village of Sekigahara, 40 km northwest of Nagoya. Though short -- it was over soon after lunchtime -- the battle was decisive, ushering in . . . Plato's Republic?
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2002

Foreign performers both young and old help keep traveling big top alive

KANAZAWA, Ishikawa Pref. A glimpse of the giant tent reveals that a traveling circus is in town.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Sep 11, 2002

Take the plunge into 'Vegas' art

I'm just back from hot and dry Las Vegas, where the world's high rollers, faced with lavish entertainment options such as performance-art ensemble Blue Man Group and magicians Siegfried & Roy, have made the Cirque du Soleil's "O" the hottest ticket in town. The central attraction of "O" is not its troupe...
COMMUNITY
Sep 8, 2002

Hey Taxi!

An arm stuck out from the sidewalk and Hideaki pulled up his cab, let the customer in . . . and immediately sensed trouble.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 8, 2002

Is life but a walk in the park?

The latest winner of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for promising new writers of literary fiction, Shu'ichi Yoshida (born 1968), is being lauded for his light touch in portraying the loneliness and isolation of urban life today. At the Akutagawa Prize press conference, Yoshida said that he wanted to...
JAPAN / LEGACIES OF 9/11
Sep 6, 2002

Overreliance on U.S. market a gamble

When the United States was hit by terrorist attacks nearly a year ago, the economic fallout was predicted to be a nightmare.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / INDUSTRY TRENDS
Sep 6, 2002

Demographic shift prompts toy makers to reach out to adults

Faced with an ever declining number of children, Japan's toy makers have started courting their parents, alluring them with frothy beer dispensers and matchbox luxury sedans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2002

No fear of flying

"There's no such thing as improvisation," the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia once said. "There's only composition. Only you do it quickly; you're composing on the spot."
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2002

'Galaxy Express 999' to go online

Toei Animation Co. will soon distribute via the Internet the latest episodes of the popular "Galaxy Express 999" animated series by cartoonist Reiji Matsumoto in a tieup with Yahoo Japan Corp., Japan's largest search engine, according to Toei officials.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 1, 2002

How can we be No. 3?

In a revelation no less stunning than if Mount Everest was suddenly surpassed as the world's tallest mountain or the Nile outstretched as the world's longest river, a July news report announced that Tokyo is no longer the world's most expensive city.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 1, 2002

Reaching for the skyline

Sixty-nine-year-old British architect Sir Richard Rogers has been one of the world's foremost architects for the last 30 years. Awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1985, he was further rewarded for his outstanding achievements with a knighthood from the Queen six years...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 1, 2002

Hitting English language-learning overdrive

The Japanese media is in the middle of another of its sporadic English-language learning frenzies, which, this time, seems to have been sparked by an Education Ministry decision to promote English conversation lessons in public elementary schools.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2002

CPI continues record-breaking slide

Tokyo's key consumer price gauge fell 0.9 percent in August from a year earlier for a record 35th consecutive monthly drop, the government said Friday in a preliminary report.

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.