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Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 27, 2004

A feast of culture on Hokkaido menu

Modernization and industrialization have ensured that the traditional lifestyle of the Ainu has been destroyed as thoroughly as the traditional customs of their Japanese neighbours.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2004

Flagging heart for the EU

LONDON -- More than 40,000 Britons have made a special trip to Portugal for a two-week European festival while, back at home, tens of millions of others are following the festival, alternatively rejoicing and groaning, on television screens in pubs and bars, city centers and homes. Euro 2004 is the most...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 27, 2004

Korean wave may help erode discrimination

Though a lot of people are tired of the guy by now, there's something encouraging about the inexhaustible, Beatlemaniacal attention being paid to Korean star Bae Yong Joon. Bae's popularity is merely the most prominent feature of the current kanryu (Korean wave) boom, but the attraction that many Japanese...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 26, 2004

Iain Gibb

Sometimes, depending on where he has been and where he is going, Iain Gibb may be seen dragging a wheeled suitcase along a Tokyo street. People who wonder may be surprised to learn that inside the suitcase are a leg of lamb, bagpipes and a complete Scottish outfit. The lamb is Iain's shopping, to be...
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2004

Japan's soaring debt now more than 700 trillion yen

Japan's outstanding debt rose 4.9 percent from a year ago to a record 703 trillion yen as of March 31, the government said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2004

Dowry custom killing India's daughters

MADRAS, India -- Recently a mother strangled her newborn baby in a well-known hospital in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh. The infant was a girl.
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2004

Toshiba develops miniature fuel cell

Toshiba Corp. said Thursday it has developed a prototype of the world's smallest direct methanol fuel cell that can power hand-held devices such as digital audio players and wireless headsets for mobile phones.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 24, 2004

Girls to the fore in planning 'eye-for-an-eye' revenge

If there is an extraterrestrial college student orbiting Earth or floating invisibly among us while writing a thesis on human behavior, then current events have provided some good examples of one basic human trait: retaliation.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2004

Chip makers scuttle planned alliance

Major semiconductor companies have scrapped a plan to form an alliance to invest in advanced manufacturing facilities, the president of chip maker Renesas Technology Corp. said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2004

New approach needed in six-party talks

WASHINGTON -- As the six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear program resume late this month, the outlook for success remains as poor as ever. The Bush administration continues to take a firm stand, insisting on complete, verifiable and irreversible North Korean nuclear disarmament before any discussions...
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jun 22, 2004

Nova's culture clash

Going to extremes Your article about the Nova no-contact rule was interesting, but seemed to overlook (or at least de-emphasize) one important aspect of the rule. It not only prevents Nova employees from having romantic or potentially romantic contact with any Nova student from any branch, but it also...
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2004

KDDI to offload PHS business

KDDI Corp., the nation's No. 2 mobile carrier, officially announced Monday that it has agreed to sell its PHS business to the Carlyle Group, a U.S. private equity fund, for 220 billion yen.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 22, 2004

Sato makes podium as Schumacher dominates

INDIANAPOLIS -- Takuma Sato became the first Japanese driver in 14 years to make a podium finish at an overseas grand prix when he placed third in the final of the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2004

Japanese baseball at a crossroads

Whither goes Japanese professional baseball? That question must have come to the minds of many Japanese when they heard last week the news that officials of two professional baseball clubs, the Kintetsu Buffaloes and the Orix BlueWave, have reached a basic agreement to merge the teams. The news came...
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 20, 2004

Guys en pointe frolic in frocks in grand diva style

Watching a bunch of grown men wearing tutus and pancake makeup parodying some of ballet's most cherished classics, such as "The Dying Swan" and "The Nutcracker Suite," may not sound like everybody's bag. But the wildly hilarious Les Ballets Grandiva, an all-male comedy ballet troupe based in New York,...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 20, 2004

Bangkok: Resilience in decay

FRAGILE DAYS: Tales from Bangkok, by Tew Bunnag. Singapore: SNP International 2003. 136 pp., 395 baht (paper). The Bunnag family is one of Thailand's most eminent. Siriwong Bunnag was the formidable and omnipotent Regent of Siam during the minority of King Chulalongkorn in the 19th century. The family...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2004

Big in Japan, without really trying

Eugene Kelly released his first-ever solo album, "Man Alive," in December. So far, it's only available in Japan, which isn't unusual. Japanese record companies are famous for taking chances on unknown artists no one else is interested in. But Kelly isn't exactly an unknown artist. He was part of the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2004

Graham Fitkin's "Kaplan," Max Richter's "Blue Notebooks"

The border between popular and new classical music has long been blurred. Glass, Stockhausen and Reich lurk in the background of much electronica and avant-rock, while many contemporary composers owe a debt to ambient or even punk. The upcoming performances of Graham Fitkin and Max Richter offer an opportunity...
MORE SPORTS
Jun 20, 2004

Maruyama retains share of lead

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. -- Japan's Shigeki Maruyama maintained the lead he took after the opening round that was postponed due to heavy fog and shared the top spot with Phil Mickelson after two rounds of the U.S. Open on Friday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 19, 2004

Where has America gone?

LONDON -- The 60th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings focused attention on the nature of the relationship between Europe and America. The liberation of France and the overthrow of the Nazis in 1944-45 could not have been achieved without American forces. Britain had stood alone against Adolf...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 19, 2004

Kohei Yamada

For 27 years Kohei Yamada has worked professionally in different capacities for the Young Men's Christian Association. As a gerontologist deeply committed to community care, he says he looks for quality in the life of the elderly. "In Japan, very often people with good will take care of the elderly,...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 18, 2004

Boorish behavior of England fans reaching outer limits

LONDON -- After each Euro 2004 game representatives of UEFA's technical committee select the Man of the Match. Correction, the (fill in the sponsor name) Man of the Match.
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2004

Shifting rightwing goal posts

Japan's increasingly powerful rightwing has gone to some strange lengths to condemn Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's recent admirable efforts to improve relations with North Korea.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 17, 2004

Ono out of squad for Asian Cup

Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono was omitted from a provisional 30-man squad for Japan's defense of the Asian Cup kicking off in China next month and is set to join the country's Olympic team as an over-age player, the Japan Football Association said Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 17, 2004

Some pictures worth 1,000 words

I take my hat off to those folk who can draw and paint. What a wonderfully inspiring skill. And when they can illustrate living creatures in lifelike form then I am in awe. What has prompted this outpouring is the fact that I am currently at work on a new field guide, so I am heavily involved in both...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jun 16, 2004

A 'Brazil-ness' beyond soccer and samba

I suppose that without some sort of unifying theme, every exhibition of artworks would be titled, simply and dully: "Art Exhibition." And so museums base their shows on a period, genre or, more recently, an intriguing turn of phrase. This I welcome, but exhibitions curated on the basis of the artists'...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 16, 2004

ReJoyce! Fans fete Bloomsday centenary

DUBLIN -- One hundred years ago today is the day described in arguably the greatest novel of the 20th century, James Joyce's "Ulysses." June 16, 1904, was when Joyce's hero, Leopold Bloom, set out on a meandering stroll through Dublin, and the date is now celebrated worldwide as Bloomsday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2004

U.S. troop pullouts: There's a political message, too

The implications of the forthcoming withdrawal of one-third of the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea and two army divisions from Germany are as much political as military since both nations have been the site of vigorous anti-American eruptions in the last few years.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo