Search - 2003

 
 
COMMENTARY
Feb 24, 2008

Dawning of strategic realism in Cyprus

LONDON — To call Tassos Papadopoulos a dinosaur is a slur on the entire Cretaceous era, but at least the age of the dinosaurs has ended in Cyprus. Running for re-election as president last Sunday, Papadopoulos, the man who almost single-handedly scuttled a peace settlement in Cyprus four years ago,...
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2008

Activists plan Article 9 conference

Dozens of peace activists from around the world will gather in Chiba from May 4 to 6 for an international conference on the Constitution's Article 9, which renounces war, the organizer said Friday in Tokyo.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 22, 2008

Takagi taps the color of sound

Is Masakatsu Takagi a musician that makes video art or a video artist that makes music?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 21, 2008

A living play appears from the past

"I have absolutely no idea beforehand what exactly I am going to do. Everything comes together really at the last minute," says 50-year-old English dramatist Simon McBurney when asked how he's approaching his latest collaboration. Working with Japanese actors, McBurney is producing "Shunkin," a play...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2008

European Union's catalyst for Kosovo

PRAGUE — Kosovo's declaration of independence has put stability in the Western Balkans back on Europe's agenda. Unless the European Union acts quickly, the whole region could slide backward, with dire social, economic and security consequences. The EU needs a comprehensive regional approach, focusing...
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2008

Top court sides with Korean hibakusha

Sweeping aside a high court ruling backing the city of Nagasaki's refusal to pay medical benefits to a South Korean A-bomb survivor, the Supreme Court on Monday granted the relatives of the deceased hibakusha ¥827,900.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Feb 17, 2008

Japan's 'pouch curry' turns a tasty 40

Fancy a feast? Un petit peu du foie gras, perchance? A slice or three of the finest Aberdeen Angus roast beef, if you will — with lashings of horseradish, sans doute. Or, drop a plastic pouch of curry into boiling water, wait for 3 minutes, pour it over rice and — voila! — you have a meal fit for...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 17, 2008

Veterans Kudo, Rhodes approaching longevity milestones

Among players within reach of milestones this season are two guys making the most of their longevity: Yokohama BayStars left-handed pitcher Kimiyasu Kudo and Orix Buffaloes slugger Tuffy Rhodes.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2008

Sarin killer's death penalty is finalized

Rejecting his appeal, the Supreme Court on Friday finalized the death sentence of senior Aum Shinrikyo cultist Yasuo Hayashi, a key figure in the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on Tokyo's subway system.
JAPAN
Feb 16, 2008

Displaced dwellers sue over Aneha design scam

Fifty-two residents displaced from a condominium complex in Tokyo's Sumida Ward sued the ward and disgraced architects Hidetsugu Aneha and Kazuyoshi Sasaki for a combined ¥1 billion in damages Friday over the loss of their homes in connection with the earthquake-resistance falsification fraud.
COMMENTARY
Feb 15, 2008

U.S. campaign fires up Brits

LONDON — "A woman president, a black president or the oldest president — which would you prefer?"
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 15, 2008

Lego turns 50

Fans of Lego will likely remember the exhibition in 2003 in Shibuya's Parco building that featured spectacular models of World Heritage sites made entirely of the children's building blocks. The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Parthenon in Athens and even an appropriately tilting Leaning Tower of Pisa helped...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 14, 2008

A question of intention

How valid is the distinction between crafts and arts? A number of recent exhibitions, most notably "Roppongi Crossing" at Tokyo's Mori Art Museum and "Space for Your Future" at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Tokyo, have confronted us with this question, one that is of great relevance to Japanese art....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 8, 2008

Shorty Cat

Adding some spice to this month's Wild Wacky Party event, held to mark the 18th anniversary of Japanese punk ladies Lolita No. 18, South Korea's Shorty Cat are bound to cause a few cold sweats.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 8, 2008

'The Kite Runner'

Horror movies, especially those of the J-Horror kind, often try to scare us with vengeful ghosts. The real ghosts in our lives, though, aren't those who crawl out of TV screens but the ones who haunt our memories. These ghosts exist as regrets, and trying to exorcise them can be a long and painful process....
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2008

Immigration-abuse suit is dismissed by court

The Tokyo District Court dismissed a lawsuit Thursday filed by three foreigners who demanded ¥31.66 million in combined compensation from the government for physical abuse, emotional suffering and medical neglect allegedly inflicted at the hands of immigration officials.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2008

Are Putin and Medvedev allies or rivals?

PRAGUE — Vladimir Putin's decision to serve as prime minister should Dmitri Medvedev become Russia's next president has made their electoral success in March a virtual certainty.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 7, 2008

The gobbiest girl in London, innit?

Adele cringes: "I can't believe I did a peace sign on TV — like Ringo Starr!"
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Feb 6, 2008

Talking sense about deer

We were filming a television documentary in the mountains of Hokkaido. It was winter, and bitterly cold. Through the trees, bare of leaves, we could see floe ice, dotted with eagles, gulls, crows and a few ravens. Then a raucous gathering of crows ahead drew our attention and we trudged through the crisp...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 5, 2008

Retiring Stateside

With many baby boomers in the process of retiring — and this includes many foreigners who have spent years working in Japan — the following letter from the U.S. (in response to a query from HB on shipping, printed back on Dec. 12) makes a number of points that may help those in a similar situation....
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2008

Election should settle the war question

LOS ANGELES — The current race for the White House might just prove to be a great clarifier on the Iraq war. This is undoubtedly the high-profile foreign-policy problem that the world would like our electoral system to resolve decisively.
COMMENTARY
Feb 2, 2008

Tet offensive's long shadow

LONDON — Forty years ago this week, the American public realized that the United States was not going to win the Vietnam war. Lulled by assurances that "progress" was being made in the fight against the insurgents, Americans had patiently borne five years of growing military casualties in Vietnam,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2008

Gas levy vital for maintaining rural roads

Provisional higher tax rates for gasoline and cars are now the main bone of contention in the divided Diet. The Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc has submitted a bill to extend the rates, due to expire March 31, for another 10 years. Revenues from the levies are used to build and repair...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2008

No sure bets on next BOJ chief

Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's voice became slightly tense as he answered questions from reporters at a news conference last month about the upcoming appointments of his successor and two new deputy governors.

Longform

Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick