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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 12, 2004

Adjusting McLuhan's reception of 'hot' and 'cool' media

Almost 25 years after the death of Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian writer who coined the term "global village" and philosophized about the impact that television had on our minds and bodies, some of his theories are taking on a larger meaning.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Sep 11, 2004

Matthew Zuckerman

BATH, England -- In a two-hour walk, you can take in all the major features of interest in Bath, an attractive compact city in southwest England. The Romans, here 2,000 years ago, left behind several relics that center on a magnificent temple and a bathing spa where hot water still gushes. Bath's great...
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2004

Windows XP SP2 to be offered free

Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday it will exploit a network of 25,000 post offices in Japan to provide a free CD-ROM version of the Windows XP Service Pack 2 with added security features, beginning Oct. 1.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 8, 2004

Which way for Japanese capitalism?

THE END OF DIVERSITY?: Prospects for German and Japanese Capitalism, edited by Kozo Yamamura and Wolfgang Streeck. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2003, 401 pp., $24.95 (paper), $49.95 (cloth). This book is about the future of capitalism and its national varieties. "Free market capitalism...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 28, 2004

Photos bloom in Ebisu's garden

Conceived during the halcyon days of Japan's economic boom, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (TMP) has seen plenty of ups and downs in its 10 years of operation. The fact that the TMP's entrance is hidden within Yebisu Garden Place has been one issue, but the bigger problem is that the TMP...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 7, 2004

The cutting edge of samurai swords

Attention to detail, design, and decoration are hallmarks of traditional Japanese aesthetics, and these values are shown off splendidly by the decorative elements and accoutrements of the Japanese sword. Furthermore, the sword is believed to be an almost sacred item, capturing the soul and spirit of...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jun 6, 2004

Shinya Tasaki: Sommelier supreme

Shinya Tasaki was a teenager when he made his first solo trip to France in 1977. Even back then, he was so eager to learn about French food and wine that he visited as many wineries as he could -- only to be turned away from most. But his determination kept him from giving up -- and now nobody will turn...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 6, 2004

"Kaiteki Sumaeru Navi" on TV Tokyo and more

The new series, "Kaiteki Sumaeru Navi (Comfortable Living Navigation)" (TV Tokyo, Monday, 10 p.m.), satisfies its viewers' hunger for information about better residential spaces than the ones they occupy by visiting five gorgeous or unusual private homes. This week's menu:
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jun 4, 2004

Down by Edo's lost canal

The landscape in the accompanying 1830s woodblock print depicts the valley of the Kandagawa River.
Japan Times
JAPAN / BY THE NUMBERS
May 28, 2004

Inconvenience of 2,000 yen bills keeps them a novelty

How often do you come across a 2,000 yen bank note?
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 1, 2004

UNESCO heritage bid challenged over gender bias

The government's bid to have a sacred area in western Japan registered as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site is being challenged by those who claim it reinforces gender discrimination.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 26, 2004

Getting underneath the language of skin

"Obsessed" is probably the right word to describe the Japanese's woman's relationship with her hada (skin). From her earliest years, she is exhorted by her elders to look after her skin -- scrub, cleanse, moisturize -- to achieve that tsuru-tsuru (polished) texture and shittori (moist) feel. If a young...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 4, 2004

UNESCO top honor for bunraku puppet theater

On Nov. 7, 2003, bunraku was recognized by UNESCO as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage. The award cited the unique nature of Japan's indigenous puppet theater, and praised the realism with which it portrays human emotions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 14, 2004

Taking responsibility pays off

25th Hour Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Spike Lee Running time: 136 minutes Language: English Opens Jan. 24 [See Japan Times movie listings] Think of Spike Lee and you'll probably think of a film he made in his fertile period of 1988-1992: "Do The Right Thing," "Jungle Fever,"...
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2004

International luxury hotel chains set sights on central Tokyo market

Top foreign hotel chains have set their sights on Tokyo, betting their respective brands of high-class luxury and innovative services will shake the local hotel market out of its doldrums.
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2004

LDP platform includes revising Constitution

The 2004 policy platform of the Liberal Democratic Party advocates drafting a revised Constitution before the party's 50th anniversary in November 2005, LDP sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2003

A chance to catch the latest meows

Toy maker Takara Co. on Friday launched what it claims to be a "cat translator," the latest in a series of gadgets aimed at aiding human-animal communications.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Nov 27, 2003

Feral goat

* Japanese name: Yagi * Scientific name:Capra hircus * Description: Feal goats are smaller and stockier than their domesticated relatives. Males (billies) weigh 30 to 45 kg, females (nannies) 25 to 35 kg; they are 60 to 70 cm high. The color varies from white to dark brown, black or gray, and while...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2003

Redesigned 1,000 yen bills roll off presses

Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki announced Friday the start of printing of redesigned 1,000 yen bills, which will go into circulation in July.
BUSINESS
Oct 1, 2003

Nissan Diesel restructuring plan calls for bailout worth 106 billion yen

Struggling truck maker Nissan Diesel Motor Co. announced Tuesday a new restructuring plan that calls on Nissan Motor Co. and its three main banks to provide a 106 billion yen bailout.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 24, 2003

Keeping abreast of the boob tube's favorite idols

Can we talk about breasts? Specifically, the large kind, which in the United States are affectionately (or not) called "knockers" or "hooters." In Japan, the slang is more clinical : kyonyu (giant breasts), honyu (rich breasts), and even bakunyu (explosive breasts). These words are clinical because nyu...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 23, 2003

The high priestess of rock 'n' roll 'n' . . . art

Patti Smith has shown her drawings and paintings before in Japan -- some years ago at the Museum Eki in Kyoto. But it is a safe bet that most of her Japanese fans are more familiar with Smith the rock'n'roller, that sexily disheveled female version of Mick Jagger who kicked out prepunk jams from New...
COMMENTARY
Jul 21, 2003

Japanese-style management deserves updated appraisal

Japanese-style management was once widely acclaimed as ideal. Since the collapse of the bubble economy, though, it has been discarded as a model for its incompatibility with reform. Now the system is being revaluated, and active debate is going on in the business community on how to adapt it to changing...
COMMUNITY
Jun 29, 2003

Going it alone 'to lift the gloom'

Reiko Togo has been very dissatisfied with Japan's magazine industry for a very long time. "Magazines have become just vehicles for advertisements, and there are none I want to read," she says.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jun 27, 2003

Prepare for lift-off: destination, the stars

Having spent the best part of two decades prowling Roppongi at street level, my first visit to the Roppongi Hills Club felt like an out-of-body experience. Hovering an awesome 51 floors above the network of increasingly seedy bars below, my spirit could not help but feel elevated. The club is so far...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jun 19, 2003

Choose your weapons

"Soul Calibur 2," Namco's new fighting game for GameCube, Xbox and PlayStation2, has little new to recommend it. Thank goodness for that.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 27, 2003

Black salamander

* Japanese name: Kuro sansho uo * Scientific name: Hynobius nigrescens * Description: Salamanders are considered primitive amphibians in comparison to frogs and toads. Like all amphibians, however, salamanders spend their lives in two entirely different states. The larvae are aquatic, breathing water...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 26, 2003

Life: the home movie, Japan: the video game

Two very different female video artists have brought pleasantly complementary exhibitions of their recent work to the Tokyo Opera City Gallery. Elija-Liisa Ahtila, 43, from Finland, and Japanese artist Tabaimo, 27, both opened with impressive solo efforts at the spacious Shinjuku gallery Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2003

'10,000 yen painting' is an early van Gogh

An oil painting in Tokyo once valued at just 10,000 yen has been identified as an early work by Vincent van Gogh, it was revealed Friday.

Longform

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