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COMMUNITY
Feb 17, 2002

Waseda and Keio: rivals to the core

It was Oct. 22, 1933, at the Jingu Baseball Stadium. The winner of the day's So-Kei (Waseda vs. Keio) match would lift the trophy for the year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 2, 2002

How Lon Chaney led to lifetime of Japanese film

I'm rarely nervous these days. But the prospect of sitting down with author, academic, film scholar and art critic Donald Richie has me ever so slightly on edge. Movies like Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon," seen as a student in England, were profound in effect. Forty years on and here I am with the man reputed...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2002

Teens face prosecution over slaying of homeless man

Three 14-year-old males arrested over the weekend on suspicion of beating a homeless man to death in northern Tokyo were turned over to prosecutors Monday, police said.
COMMUNITY
Dec 2, 2001

Your click-and-go guide to the snow

Although 75 percent of Japan is mountainous, and there are 600 ski resorts nationwide, the process of arranging a ski holiday can often be full of trials and tribulations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 4, 2001

It's a paradise for bikers in Japan

Maybe I'm losing it. With temperatures dropping and the first frost just around the corner, thoughts of winter sports and steaming cups of hot chocolate are starting to dance through most people's minds. But I've still got motorcycles wheelying through mine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Nov 4, 2001

Not just another hole in the wall

Our last stop in Golden Gai takes us in deep -- deep into its heart and soul, deep into its geographical center. This is where you'll find the crumbling cinder-block row houses, which once dominated the area, still clinging to the narrow alleys that zigzag through Golden Gai's core. Whereas Tre Tre and...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 14, 2001

The truth about the 'enemies of the people'

For the past month there's been a lot of talk about how much our sense of the world has changed since the events of Sept. 11. Actually, it's mainly changed for Americans, but as someone once said: When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 5, 2001

Welcome to wonderland

The Yokohama Triennale, a grand-scale international art exhibition four years in the making, debuted last weekend with a gala party attended by the everyone who is anyone on the Japanese art scene, a sparkle of the global art illuminati, and even Prince Takamado. The 10-week-long exhibition, running...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2001

So you think you're some sort of wiseguy?

Love, Honour and Obey Rating: * * * * Japanese title: London Dogs Director: Dominic Anciano and Ray Burdis Running time: 103 minutes Language: English Now showing "Oi, mate, what'ya up to this weekend?" "Dunno. Nothin' special -- maybe a spot of snooker." "How d'ya fancy making a film with us,...
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jul 22, 2001

Bourbon Street comes to town

If seen on the street, minus their sousaphones and trombones, the guys from the Black Bottom Brass Band would look like any of the other slightly hip types that wander around Shibuya or America-mura. A guess about their musical tastes would probably run toward some obscure DJ or indie rock's flavor of...
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2001

From Here To Inanity

After you've sat through three hours of "Pearl Harbor" -- 90 minutes' worth of passionless romance, 45 minutes of incessant explosions and then a seemingly endless 45-minute coda -- while your butt is screaming to get off that seat and out the door, the final bomb drops. As the credits roll -- including...
LIFE / Travel
Jun 26, 2001

Down the Devil's Washboard

When evening falls on Miyazaki, a scarlet and indigo sky drops behind the phoenix palms that line many of the city's roads. You might think you were strolling through a middle-class quarter of Cairo or Marbella.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 6, 2001

Music for the masses

Lord knows, it ain't easy Call it the Happy Meal effect, but what used to be considered "bonus" is now taken for granted. The multiple-stage gimmick offers more of a festival atmosphere, but if you go for the music you will eventually have to choose, and sometimes it ain't easy.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 5, 2001

Sparks fly in Mexico's city of artists and artisans

SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, Mexico -- Having grown up in Los Angeles, where only the sanest of fireworks were legally sold, I was taught that colorful sparks shooting up higher than 30 cm would surely make someone pay for their reckless abandon. How happy I was to discover here that it's not necessarily true....
CULTURE / Film
Apr 25, 2001

Hidden Gems

'Straight-to-video" is a term that carries a stigma, and deservedly so. So much of what emerges without theatrical release is either slasher, sleaze or sly made-for-TV imitations of a bigger-budgeted film (e.g., "Asteroid," released just prior to "Armageddon"). But here in Japan there is a surprisingly...
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2001

Support for Asian filmmakers

Facing nonexistent government support, meager prospects for private-sector funding and even diminishing turnout at box offices, any aspiring filmmaker in Japan might lose sight of their movie-making dreams.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 3, 2001

Suzuki's view of the stars

Of the many categories of dance in Japan, from traditional ballet to so-called neo-butoh and beyond into the unmapped territories of performance installation, Minoru Suzuki is the only ballet choreographer with the potential to be a contender internationally. To celebrate 35 years in the business, Star...
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Aug 12, 2000

Lieberman gives Gore a boost

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut is Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore's choice for vice president. The choice is a masterful one. Lieberman brings several big pluses to Gore's candidacy:
LIFE / Digital
Jul 26, 2000

Itsy-bitsy, teeny-tiny . . . camera

oceankey.com/cam.htm The surfcam pointing out from the Ocean Key Resort in Key West, Fla., gives glimpses of leisure boats as they make wakes, and then, as it refreshes every couple minutes, makes them disappear. It's a beautiful seascape even on a CRT, but Sleepyspud just can't wake up in time to catch...
LIFE / Travel
Jun 29, 2000

Take the sunset road to Fukuoka's natural lifestyle zone

"Everyone wants to head west," an architect friend told me recently. "It's natural. That's where the sun sets, and where thoughts of relaxation turn to at the end of the day."
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2000

Ex-Prime Minister Takeshita, 76, dies

Former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, who wielded enormous influence over Japanese politics long after scandal forced him to resign more than a decade ago, died of respiratory failure at 12:53 a.m. Monday at Kitasato Institute Hospital in Tokyo, his aides said. He was 76.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 11, 2000

A journey to golf's front line

PYONGYANG -- I don't know who was more surprised, the caddie, the minder or myself. It was a pretty average tee shot, but a ricochet of applause had startled the birds from the trees. We were not alone after all. Waiting for us over the hill were dozens of Young Pioneers, beaming, red-scarved children,...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 26, 2000

The home of Japanese porcelain

Arita is a fine spot for porcelain pots -- and cups, vases, buttons, wall sockets and even denture-holders. Need a cartwheel-sized ashtray (useful at Japanese banquets), or a 1.8-meter-high urn to brighten up a castle somewhere? You'll find them in all shapes, sizes and colors in this peaceful town,...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 27, 2000

Wineries to complement your travel plans

In the dead of winter, what's a wine lover to do? I'm almost tempted to say "Bring back the hot, spicy wine," the body-warming concoction quaffed at stalls in town center squares all over Europe toward year's end. It's a splendid custom, but actually what I had in mind is winery visits in California....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 3, 2000

Bad predictions ring out 1999; New Year to see games in Nagano

Apparently, my ability to predict where Japanese free agent ballplayers would sign new contracts is no better than my infamous skill at picking pennant winners. You may recall in the Nov. 21 Baseball Bullet-In, I speculated on which teams the three high-profile Japanese free agents would eventually sign...

Longform

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