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CULTURE / Books
Jul 2, 2006

Journeys across turbulent waters

MAD ABOUT THE MEKONG: Exploration and Empire in South-East Asia, by John Keay. HarperPerennial, 2006, 294 pp., £8.99 (paper). The long-lasting conflict in Vietnam made the name of the Mekong familiar to people in other countries, but to those who live along its banks and tributaries it is known simply...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 2, 2006

Hedge your bets: Conform, but don't act like you belong

'The barriers of racial feeling [between Japanese and foreigners], of emotional differentiation, or language, of manners and beliefs, are likely to remain insurmountable for centuries."
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2006

Group plans rallies against Yasukuni visits

Citizens have banded together to arrange five days of demonstrations and forums in Tokyo in August to oppose Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's contentious visits to Tokyo's war-linked Yasukuni Shrine.
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2006

Mitsui to sell aluminum plant stakes

Mitsui & Co. said Friday its U.S. subsidiary will sell its 32 percent stakes in two U.S. aluminum processing plants to Alcoa Inc., which holds 61 percent stakes in both plants, due to deteriorating profitability stemming from higher electricity costs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2006

European ruling upholds school racism

PRAGUE -- I am what many people call a "Gypsy." I prefer the term "Roma." There are more than 10 million of us across Europe. The vast majority of us live in Third World conditions -- denied access to adequate housing, health care, and education.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2006

Lack of new cars dragged industrial output down 1% in May

Industrial production fell for the first time in three months in May because automakers did not launch new models, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report Thursday.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jun 30, 2006

Architecture at the cutting edge

Architectural designs and models of the latest projects by 27 cutting-edge contemporary architects will be showing at GA Gallery in Tokyo's Harajuku district in an exhibition titled "GA International 2006" that runs through July 30.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Jun 30, 2006

Psychedelic radar 06.30

Solstice Music Festival 2006: July 15-17
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2006

Koizumi-Bush friendship one for the ages

What has been touted as the best Japan-U.S. relationship in the postwar era started with a cowboy movie and will end with an Elvis Presley museum.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 29, 2006

Posies blossom as fans continue to pop up

Shonen Knife didn't make much of an impression overseas until the release of a 1989 tribute album that included versions of their songs by the likes of Sonic Youth and Red Kross. Coincidentally, the whole Seattle rock scene went global shortly thereafter, pulling into the spotlight bands that happened...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2006

Clay captures the motion of organic forms

Seeming to peer out the window of the gallery is a brightly colored red and blue polka-dot blob. For a moment the amorphous shape looks like it is slowly crawling up the wall, till further inspection suggests that the piece is actually still -- or is it? Such is the work of Japanese ceramic artist Chiho...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2006

"Olafur Eliasson -- Your Constants are Changing"

Gallery Koyanagi Closes in 9 days
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2006

Steelmakers warned to look out for cross-border M&As

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshihiro Nikai told steelmakers Tuesday to be aware of the global reorganization taking place in the industry after Sunday's decision by Arcelor SA of Luxembourg to accept a takeover bid from Mittal Steel Co. of the Netherlands.
COMMENTARY
Jun 27, 2006

Iraq pullout is not the end

The Japanese government has formally decided to withdraw Ground Self-Defense Force troops from Iraq. The decision reflects Tokyo's judgment that recent developments in the country -- the beginning of a formal government, appointment of three security ministers and the transfer of security powers to Iraq...
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2006

Troops hurt in Iraq when vehicle flips

A light-armored vehicle of the Ground Self-Defense Force overturned near the Tallil air base in southern Iraq, injuring three GSDF soldiers in an apparent accident, Defense Agency officials in Tokyo said Monday evening.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 25, 2006

No end is an end in itself

Endurance riding on the Yamanote Line soon gives you a numb bum.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2006

Japan heats up whaling wars

The battle over whaling has grown more acrimonious in recent years principally because Japan has become a more vociferous and belligerent advocate for a resumption of commercial whaling. In the recently concluded meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Japan's representative browbeat and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 24, 2006

Geta fliers and Bo(y) Derek on a jet ski

The Moooo! Bar season has started on Shiraishi Island and I have to admit that I am a little disappointed. Now into our third season, not one cow has come to the Moooo! Bar, even though I advertise that cows drink for free.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2006

Trade surplus surges 35%, fueled by car exports to U.S.

Japan's trade surplus jumped 35.2 percent in May from a year ago to 384.9 billion yen, marking the first jump in 17 months on brisk auto exports to the United States, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2006

Ah, no kids afoot: Empty trains, work till you die

There has been a great deal of hand-wringing in the media and government about Japan's population implosion. A breakdown in the pension system, soaring health-care costs, slower economic growth and a looming labor shortage are just a few of the dark clouds on the horizon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jun 23, 2006

Here for your a muse ment

Though Roppongi is party central for most foreigners, Shibuya has, in the course of the last 10 years or so, emerged as a brave new challenger for the title. Even foreigners have come around to the upstart, which was originally put on the party map by a new breed of then young and restless Japanese revelers,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 22, 2006

Innovation, individuality in the mix

One place where language and cultural differences are barely an issue for Japanese artists is at the annual Barcelona electronica and multimedia event Sonar, which is part music industry showcase, part festival for ordinary music fans.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 22, 2006

Lighting up suburban Tokyo nights

What a concept: Imagine if you could see as clearly and in as much detail at midnight as you can at noon. The desire for night vision is an old one, but frankly the visions provided by new technologies have not impressed me -- the best I've experienced were a set of cumbersome electric goggles that yielded...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 22, 2006

Bringing "Lepage magic" to Tokyo

Last year, to mark the bicentennial of the birth of author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-75), Denmark held a yearlong celebration titled "Andersen Project 2005." Part of the project was a special commission to French-Canadian dramatist Robert Lepage to create a play commemorating the author's life and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 22, 2006

The D.I.Y. route to rock stardom

From the suburbs of Tokyo to downtown Toronto is hardly the most direct route to pop stardom -- or one assured of success. But it was the path that blues-rock outfit Stone Deaf chose earlier this month in what was a bold move for a group whose sole claim to fame is having been Marky Ramone's backing...

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly