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CULTURE / Art
Jul 18, 2001

Spotlight thrown on a killing trade

At the United Nations headquarters in New York, a July 9-20 conference is examining "The Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects." Meanwhile, at the UN Gallery in Tokyo's trendy Omotesando, an exhibition reflecting the grim realities of that subject is running until Aug. 31....
CULTURE / Art
Jul 18, 2001

A breakfast to blow your mind

I recall reviewing a group exhibition at an embassy gallery last year and referring to it as a "hodgepodge" of styles and media. So incensed were the amateur curators that they fired off a complaint to the paper protesting the use of the word. When the husband of one of them caught up with me in public,...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jul 18, 2001

The Beta Band: 'Hot Shots II'

The Beta Band is one of those cool artsy bands and if you like them then you must be pretty "cool" too. At gigs -- which are always attended by stacks of graphic designers, artists and French people -- home videos are played of band members doing really weird stuff like eating birthday cakes and falling...
CULTURE / Art
Jul 18, 2001

Top ceramic artists take a final bow

The 38th Asahi Ceramic Art Exhibition's grand prix-winning work looks as if the top is going to snap off at any moment and destroy the piece. Yet it defies gravity, frozen in time by fire.
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2001

An Olympic win for China

China exploded in celebrations last Friday night when the International Olympic Committee awarded Beijing the right to host the 2008 Games. The rest of the world's reaction was more reserved. While millions of Chinese rejoiced, human rights advocates voiced concern that the Games would be used to put...
SOCCER / J. League / ON THE BALL
Jul 17, 2001

Cohosting requires harmonious effort

"Cohosting is like a three-legged race," Lee Yun Taek, co-chairman of the South Korean World Cup Organizing Committee said last month at the Korea-Japan soccer journalists seminar in Seoul.
EDITORIALS
Jul 16, 2001

Aid and ethics must go hand in hand

The man who was called Peru's Rasputin is back behind bars. Mr. Vladimiro Montesinos, who backstopped former President Alberto Fujimori during his decade in office, has been caught in Venezuela after 10 months on the run and whisked to Lima. His life in exile was much like his years as Mr. Fujimori's...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 2001

Master of a dying art

In order to stay true to his art, James Wright prefers to keep a low profile; to blend in with his surroundings. But in his adopted Matsubushi, a rural town in Saitama Prefecture, the fair-haired, 180-cm Scot would seem to be fighting a losing battle. That he also works for the local butcher merely adds...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 15, 2001

Controversial textbooks are big sellers for Fusosha

The latest best seller, oddly enough, is a junior high school history textbook. After going on sale on June 1, "Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho" has been at or near the top of the best-seller list and the related social studies text "Atarashii Komin Kyokasho" in the top 10. Already 500,000 copies of the history...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 2001

Inking the moment

A sheet of white washi paper, a brush, an ink stone, a black ink stick and a good mood -- these are the ingredients for a work of shodo (calligraphy).
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 2001

What's in a domain name?

As children, we were told that names could not affect us. Words were not instruments of power; sticks and stones were. "What's in a name?" Shakespeare scoffed. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." As we grew up, though, we learned better. The act of naming, or controlling the assignation...
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 2001

For the sake of sake

Every winter and spring for the last 10 years, Philip Harper reckons he has had no more than a few nights of uninterrupted sleep, but he's more than willing to sacrifice some shut-eye in pursuit of the perfect glass of sake.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jul 15, 2001

Wine comes alive through expert guidance

The next time you shop for wine, consider turning it into a leisurely expedition to Le Vin Vivant. Start in the store's cool, gold-painted cafe with a tasting of five recommended wines. The selection changes every other week and costs 1,800 yen (single glasses are 300 yen). If you are feeling peckish,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 14, 2001

Patrick Carey

Patrick Carey thinks he may be the only non-Japanese to have walked the entire distance of the Old Tokaido, from Tokyo to Kyoto, and to have written about it.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2001

Injustice across borders?

The arrest and transfer of former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic to the international tribunal at The Hague is but the latest of several dramatic twists and turns in the last few years in the search for universal justice. Just as the indictment issued against him during the NATO war in Kosovo was...
COMMUNITY / THE PARENT TRIP
Jul 13, 2001

Whatever can go wrong . . .

Writers of how-to articles about traveling with kids usually talk about Baby's ears popping in airplanes and keeping little Junior and Sis amused on long drives so they don't refight the Macedonian War in the back seat. Older kids, these writers seem to assume, can take care of themselves, when they...
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2001

Evaluating Japan's defense needs

This year's defense white paper, released last week, specifically calls for both quantitative and qualitative improvement in SDF capabilities, including weapons replacement and modernization under the midterm defense-buildup program. More significantly, it points to a need to enact contingency legislation...
COMMENTARY
Jul 12, 2001

Facing up to the harsh truth

LONDON -- The long shadow of recession is now stretching from America over Europe, bringing disappointment and unease to Europe's policymakers and business communities.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Jul 12, 2001

Foreign plants are right at home in Japan

I have always been interested in the natural origins of plants. Where does a particular plant come from? How and when did it come to this country? Geographic botany investigates the distribution of plants around the world.
EDITORIALS
Jul 11, 2001

Japan's sincerity put to test

Japanese junior high-school history textbooks, particularly one compiled by a group of nationalist historians, continue to draw angry reactions from South Korea and China. On Monday, the Education Ministry formally rejected almost all of the revision requests from Seoul and Beijing, which claim that...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 11, 2001

India and Pakistan once again eye peace

ISLAMABAD -- India and Pakistan will try yet again to come a step closer to peaceful coexistence this weekend when Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf travels to India to meet with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2001

Remember Pearl Harbor?

There's been a lot of talk about historical revisionism in Japan lately, given the history textbook controversy and other attempts by rightists to gloss over past aggression in favor of a Reaganesque, feel-good imagining of history.
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...
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 11, 2001

Renegade samurai lead first revolution

Executives of Japan's top 200 corporations were recently given a survey in which they were asked the following question: "Who in the past millennium of world history would you choose to help Japan solve its present financial crisis?"
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2001

Sense, censors and sensuality

Romance Japanese title: Romance X Rating: * * * * Director: Catherine Breillat Running time: 99 minutes Language: FrenchNow showing Caroline Ducey in "Romance" As anyone who's seen the provocative poster for "Romance" (a woman's hand placed between her thighs, with an electric "X" branded...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jul 11, 2001

'Discosis': Bran Van 3000

Bran Van 3000's 1998 debut, "Glee," was a clever and confusing patchwork of hip-hop, disco and pop-rock signifiers. The album produced one underground hit, "Drinking in L.A.," whose sardonic take on the snarky side of the music biz endeared the mysterious Montreal consortium of artists and musicians...
EDITORIALS
Jul 10, 2001

Northern Ireland trembles

The Northern Ireland peace process is in crisis following the resignation of Mr. David Trimble, the province's first minister. Mr. Trimble gave up his office earlier this month, blaming the Irish Republican Army, which has failed to give up its weapons. Mr. Trimble is not alone in blaming the terrorist...
COMMENTARY
Jul 10, 2001

Breaking the Kyoto impasse

At the Japan-U.S. summit held June 30, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reportedly told President George W. Bush that to curb global warming it was important to respect the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol. Koizumi also said Japan and the United States should continue discussions on the issue.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 8, 2001

In the pink

When Yokohama hosts the final and three other games in the soccer World Cup next June, foreign visitors will be spared a full-frontal view of the city's sleazier side by the waterfront, where a campaign to lessen any shock to their systems has been under way since last year.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jul 8, 2001

Girls know what girls want

At first glance, it looks like a small shop filled with hundreds of colorful fancy goods.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go