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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 21, 2003

Mysteries along the Mekong

BANGKOK 8, by John Burdett. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003, 318 pp., $24.00 (cloth). WAITING FOR THE LADY, by Christopher G. Moore. Bangkok: Heaven Lake Press, 2003, 342 pp., $24.95 (cloth). Can a Western author convincingly put himself inside the mind of a Thai cop? Writing in the first person in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 17, 2003

'50s cannibal masterpiece offers plenty to chew on

Down by Tokyo Bay, most people think of the industrial wasteland of Hamamatsucho merely as a convenient stop on the Yamanote Line, a station for changing onto the Haneda-bound monorail en route to faraway places. Theatergoers, though, and especially lovers of big, slick, Western-style productions, know...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 12, 2003

'Land of Fire' with history burning in its mokkosu heart

Few things puff up local pride like a local hero. Sendai dotes on its "One-Eyed Dragon," warrior Date Masamune. Kagoshima loves its plump 19th-century rebel Saigo Takamori. And Kumamoto adores its old daimyo lord Kato Kiyomasa.
BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2003

Regional bank bailout plan gets LDP nod

The Liberal Democratic Party approved a plan Thursday that will give the government greater freedom to inject public funds into troubled regional banks and credit unions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 12, 2003

The Oak Door: Steak a claim to heavyweight dining

The first thing you see as you enter The Oak Door is the bar, surrounded on three sides by sleek, glass-fronted wine racks packed with boutique New World wines. The second thing that grabs your eye is the warm, flickering glow emanating from the bank of wood-fired ovens by the kitchen, and the white-clad...
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2003

Cabinet approves plan to send SDF to Iraq

The government Tuesday approved a basic plan to dispatch Self-Defense Forces units to Iraq, paving the way for the deployment of up to 600 ground troops in southeastern Iraq early next year.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2003

Koizumi's credibility placed on the line

There is arguably no profession that places a greater premium on the credibility of a person's words than politics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 10, 2003

Think Positive

To the general public, Yoko Ono is best known as the wife of John Lennon. Some may have a vague inkling that she is important for something other than the far-out records she made with her husband, but without knowing exactly what.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Dec 6, 2003

Yoko Wakabayashi

Last month, Shinjuku Gardens staged its annual chrysanthemum show. Last spring, it maintained its reputation as one of the best Tokyo places for cherry blossoms. Year round, people enjoy the extensive lawns, giant trees and scenic lakes of these public gardens, which have replaced what used to be the...
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2003

Wiretap charges clip highflier

Takefuji Corp., Japan's largest consumer finance company, is at the center of an unfolding wiretap scandal. Earlier this week, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested the company's founding chairman, Mr. Yasuo Takei, on charges of ordering his employees to wiretap a freelance journalist who had criticized...
JAPAN
Dec 5, 2003

Bagabandi submits war internee info

Visiting Mongolian President Natsagiin Bagabandi on Thursday handed over documents on about 110 Japanese transferred to Mongolia after being detained by the Soviet Union after World War II.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Dec 4, 2003

"Lionboy," "The English Roses"

"Lionboy," Zizou Corder, Puffin Books; 2003; 352 pp. How old do you have to be to write your first book? Thirty years old? Twenty? How about 10? If you're Isabel Adomakoh Young, 10 is as good an age as any.
EDITORIALS
Dec 3, 2003

A victory for hardliners

Hardliners from both ends of the political spectrum are the winners of elections held in Northern Ireland last week. The polarization of politics is a sign of weariness and wariness on the part of voters and is another blow to the tattered Good Friday peace accords.
EDITORIALS
Dec 2, 2003

Tread carefully in Iraq

Two Japanese diplomats were ambushed and shot dead by gunmen Saturday in the Iraqi village of Mukayshifa while driving to a conference on reconstruction work in Tikrit, north of Baghdad. Mr. Katsuhiko Oku and Mr. Masanori Inoue were reported to have been attacked when they stopped to buy food and drinks...
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2003

Tochigi tries to pick up the pieces

UTSUNOMIYA, Tochigi Pref. -- One sleepless night after the government's decision to nationalize Ashikaga Bank, senior executives at manufacturer Rheon Automatic Machinery Co. held an emergency meeting Sunday at its headquarters to assess the damage.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 1, 2003

Tap Dance City scoops Japan Cup

The home team completely flattened the foreign competition Sunday in the 23rd running of the Japan Cup with Japanese horses sweeping the top five finishing places.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 30, 2003

all systems GO!

In the game of go, there are no cards, no dice, no tricky moves like chess or complicated formulas to remember as there are in poker or mah jongg. And though in principle the game is simplicity itself, go is in a mathematical stratosphere all of its own.
Events
Nov 30, 2003

KANSAI: Who & What

Planetarium to display stars at Osaka store: A display of the stars and the solar system is being offered free until Dec. 25 at a special planetarium dome set up at the Kintetsu Abeno department store in Abeno Ward, Osaka.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 30, 2003

Japan is not sending the 'right stuff' to Iraq

If ever there was a time to discuss the constitutional legality of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, it's now. The SDF has done peacekeeping work, but it's never been placed in a country like Iraq, which for all intents and purposes is still at war.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2003

Sensible plan for South Korea

WASHINGTON -- Even those who admire U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld rarely consider his diplomatic skills among his strongest suits. Capable of being charming and engaging in person, he tends to come across less well when sniping at allies across oceans over the chief foreign policy issues...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 28, 2003

Peacefulness that's action-packed

Airplanes are the worst. I hate flying and avoid doing so as much as possible. But to compound my suffering, the day I flew down from Tokyo to Shikoku was also the day a typhoon was heading there, too. So, as the plane was being buffeted in midair, and I sat clutching the arms of my seat for dear life,...
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2003

Defense chiefs lay out North Korea stances

The defense chiefs of Japan and South Korea on Wednesday presented slightly differing views on how to deal with the issue of North Korea's nuclear development.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Nov 27, 2003

Hobbit's-eye view of world

You cannot put yourself in Frodo's shoes as Hobbits walk barefoot. You can, however, walk in Frodo's virtual footsteps.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 25, 2003

The rise of the machines

She's young, beautiful, and fluent in several languages.
COMMENTARY
Nov 24, 2003

Stub out the smoking habit

The Tokyo District Court has rejected a damage suit filed against Japan Tobacco Inc. and the national government by seven former smokers who said they developed cancer and other health troubles from long years of smoking. The suit, filed by victims of lung cancer, cancer of the larynx and emphysema,...
Japan Times
Events / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Nov 23, 2003

Kobe German school to host Christmas market

Deutsche Schule Kobe, a German school in the city's Nada Ward, is hosting a Christmas market between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Nov. 29.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2003

Embassies crank up security amid wave of terror attacks

Japan has tightened security at the Japanese Embassy in Baghdad and at other overseas consulates following a recent wave of terrorist activity, including Friday's rocket-bomb attacks in Baghdad.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Nov 21, 2003

Lowdown on the Top End

One interesting thing about Darwin is how often this city in the so-called Top End of north tropical Australia has been destroyed. Indeed there are those who contend that this is the only interesting thing about Darwin.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2003

Worlds apart: a tale of two Asian cities

LONDON -- I have spent most of the last two months traveling in the poor areas of western China (the mountain areas in south Ningxia, Qinghai and Gansu) and in Uzbekistan. What a contrast! You could describe the development process in western China as two steps forward and one step back, while in Uzbekistan...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 19, 2003

Islamic scholars: America's natural allies

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Since the tragic events of 9/11, millions of words have been written attempting to understand and explain the causes of Muslim terrorism and the extremist ideologies that underpin it. Many have suggested that terrorism is simply a reaction to social injustice, whereas others have...

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?