Search - 2005

 
 
SUMO
Jan 16, 2006

Asashoryu dominates in a flash, stays one back

Grand champion Asashoryu took apart Tochinohana to stay in hot pursuit of front-running duo Tochiazuma and Hokutoriki at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 16, 2006

Anai emerges victor over Ishii to win Kano Cup title

Takamasa Anai scored a decisive "yuko" point against Satoshi Ishii on Sunday to win his first title in the 100-kilogram final at the Kano Cup international judo tournament.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2006

Infamous English word is just an import

HONG KONG -- Apart from Thatcherism and the creation of the modern game of soccer, some cynics say that the major English contribution to modern international life has been the widespread promulgation of the dreadful "F" word.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 15, 2006

Spreading the word on popular literature

THE BAMBOO SWORD AND OTHER SAMURAI TALES by Shuhei Fujisawa, translated by Gavin Frew. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 2005, 254 pp., 2,400 yen (cloth). Japanese critics have long made a distinction between taishu bungaku, "popular literature," which is simple entertainment, and jun bungaku, "pure literature,"...
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2006

Catching the kabuki spirit

Kabuki, which dates back some 400 years to Izumo no Okuni, the leader of a women's theatrical troupe that caused a sensation in Kyoto, now appears to be riding an upsurge. Recently, the kabuki world saw a series of events that have caught people's attention and increased their interest.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 13, 2006

No West Ham deal for Ogasawara

Japan and Kashima Antlers midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara has failed in his attempt to secure a contract with West Ham United following a brief trial period with the English Premier League club, soccer sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2006

'Smile' the theme of annual palace poem recital

Emperor Akihito's poem for the annual New Year poetry reading Thursday at the Imperial Palace was a reflection on his visit to Norway last year to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of bilateral diplomatic relations with the country.
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2006

Aneha scam making buyers wary, for now

To buy or not to buy a condominium? That is the question people are asking, fearing the slipshod construction borne out in the widening scandal over the falsification of quake-proofing data might be industrywide.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 12, 2006

Araki ponders WBC spot

Chunichi Dragons infielder Masahiro Araki said Wednesday he has received an offer to join the Japan squad for the World Baseball Classic in March to fill the void left by Tadahito Iguchi, who withdrew last weekend.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2006

Bleak times for bridge builders

This winter is proving to be a bitter one for people across the country battling heavy snows. It is also a dark time for the firms whose decades of rigging bids for bridge construction was exposed.
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2006

Man arrested over sex with minor

An employee of Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of having had sex with a 15-year-old junior high school girl after paying her 50,000 yen a year ago, police said.
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2006

Turbulent times for Mr. Bush

For U.S. President George W. Bush, 2005 turned out to be an unusually tough year. Having won re-election -- something his father had failed to achieve, Mr. Bush had started out on his second term as a historic second-generation president of the United States. But the initial euphoria proved short-lived....
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Jan 12, 2006

Democrats taking aim at House control

WASHINGTON -- The American political landscape continues to be dominated by U.S. President George W. Bush. He had his ups and downs in 2005, and while he has gained about seven points in the various polls since he hit bottom in late November, his approval ratings remain in the low 40s, according to various...
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2006

Kimura data suggest Aneha lied before Diet

In-house information provided Wednesday by a bankrupt construction firm linked to the building-code violation scandal indicates disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha may have given false testimony to a Lower House committee in December over his involvement in the fraud.
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2006

Step up positive diplomacy

The year 2005 is likely to be remembered as the year when rivalry between Japan and China over how to create a new international order reached a high point.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 11, 2006

Lasorda hopes Cuba makes it to World Baseball Classic

Cuba's exclusion from the World Baseball Classic would be tragic, and no one knows it more than WBC ambassador Tommy Lasorda.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2006

Coming-of-Age Day sees record low total

Some 1.43 million people across the country celebrated their coming of age on Monday, a figure equivalent to about 1.12 percent of the total population and tying a record low set in 1987, according to government statistics.
JAPAN
Jan 10, 2006

Japan hopes to launch two more satellites to aid spying on North Korea

Japan plans to send two more spy satellites into orbit by March 31, 2007, to strengthen the monitoring of movements in North Korea, notably its missile and nuclear development facilities, according to government sources.
COMMENTARY
Jan 10, 2006

Legions of bloggers, not so many readers

MANILA -- Hardly any other industry has developed as dynamically in recent years as the media sector. The impact of the so-called digital revolution is particularly evident in the way we communicate. Sending and receiving digitized data has become faster and faster; at the same time the costs have fallen...
SUMO
Jan 9, 2006

Asashoryu stays in control at New Year

Yokozuna Asashoryu kicked off 2006 with a routine win, but Bulgarian bulldozer Kotooshu made a nightmare start on his ozeki debut after a shock loss to Roho on the opening day of the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Sunday.
SUMO
Jan 8, 2006

Can Kotooshu stop Asashoryu?

The image of the silent but deadly giant whose hobby growing up in Bulgaria was baking cakes soaked in caramel fudge must be reconciled.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 8, 2006

Resurrection of 47 masterless samurai

KUNIYOSHI: The Faithful Samurai, by David R. Weinberg, translations and essay by Alfred H. Marks, Foreword by B.W. Robinson. Amsterdam: Hotei Publishing, 2005, 192 pp., map, pictures, color plates. 39.50 euro (paper). This is the paperback edition (first published in 2000) of one of the most interesting...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 8, 2006

'Sayuri' by any other name is still a sexist whitewash

Stereotypes die hard, and none more so than outsiders' stereotypes of Japan. Time and again, they are not so much reinvented as recycled, using potent but often semi-mythical symbols from a potpourri of favorite bygone eras. In the end, they tell us more about the foreigners who have dredged them up...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 8, 2006

Unsparing view of Indonesia past

IN THE TIME OF MADNESS by Richard Lloyd Parry. London: Jonathan Cape, 2005, 315 pp., £12.99 (paper). This firsthand account of fin de siecle Indonesia, an era of widespread chaos and violence, takes us into the heart of darkness, searing our consciousness with images of deprivation, fear and mayhem...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 7, 2006

Portsmouth set to get influx of cash from Russian investor

LONDON -- Imagine you won the lottery and suddenly had wealth beyond your wildest dreams.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 7, 2006

Fukudome joins Japan WBC squad

The Japanese baseball commissioner's office said Friday it has approved Chunichi Dragons outfielder Kosuke Fukudome to join the nation's squad for the World Baseball Classic.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake