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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 14, 2004

Coen bros.' latest just makes the cut

In the Cut Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Jane Campion Running time: 119 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Intolerable Cruelty Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Joel Coen Running time: 102 minutes Language: English Currently...
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2004

By-election races focus on Iraq, pensions

The Japanese hostage crisis in Iraq and pension reform weighed heavy on the agenda as House of Representatives by-election campaigning kicked off Tuesday in Saitama, Hiroshima and Kagoshima prefectures.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 14, 2004

Lessons still unlearned

Timely or what! Just as Japan's autocratic leaders appear to have junked war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution -- with news last week of SDF aircraft even having transported armed U.S. soldiers into Iraq -- along comes "Taiko Tataite Fue Fuite (Playing Drum and Flute)," which vividly portrays...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 14, 2004

Shooting at the top

Another reason to love Sofia Coppola: She had the good sense (and stubbornness) to refuse to do any more interviews while in Japan. Judging by her news-conference comments, she is better at making her films than talking about them -- no crime, that -- so it was a smart move to delegate the explaining...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 11, 2004

Keeping ghosts in the family

STRANGERS, by Taichi Yamada, translated by Wayne Lammers. New York: Vertical, Inc., 2003, 204 pp., $19.95 (cloth). Orphaned as a child, a middle-aged TV script writer wanders back to Asakusa where he was born. "A forlorn air hung about the area . . . streets empty even at midday . . . the atmosphere...
Events
Apr 11, 2004

KANSAI: Who & What

Major exhibit features Miffy the bunny: A big event featuring Miffy the bunny is being held until April 18 at ATC Museum in Suminoe Ward, Osaka.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2004

Abductions put Japan's resolve on line

News that three Japanese civilians had been taken hostage by apparent terrorists in Iraq demanding that the Self-Defense Forces troops be withdrawn from the country drew a mixed response Friday on the streets of Tokyo.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 9, 2004

Savor a city's soul

A rusted observation platform on the eastern edge of Nogeyama Hill commands views across central Yokohama -- from the Western houses on the Bluff to the Landmark Tower in the Minato Mirai district. At the hill's foot, behind the up-slope march of buildings, lies Noge, its inconspicuousness emblematic....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 7, 2004

Guests of a grand hotel

The Hotel Venus Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Hirota Takahasi Running time: 125 minutes Language: Korean Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Kyo no Dekigoto Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: isao Yukisada Running time: 110 minutes Language: Japanese Currently...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 7, 2004

Mario A -- a 'Japanese artist' who provokes admiration

"This is Not a Pipe," the title of Rene Magritte's 1926 painting of a pipe, succinctly illustrates a paradox in perception. On Magritte's canvas is a representation of a pipe, not an actual pipe, and so the title is perfectly valid. But how tempting to scoff at this, to regard Magritte as mischievous,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2004

Fukuda set for longevity record

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda on Tuesday will tie the record as the longest-serving official to work as a prime minister's right-hand man.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Apr 6, 2004

Otaku proud of it

I wouldn't be offended if someone called me an otaku," says Koichi Nakayasu, ". . . because I am."
COMMENTARY
Apr 6, 2004

Japan-America's worldview

HONOLULU -- There's every reason to celebrate as the United States and Japan commemorate 150 years of diplomatic relations this year. The bilateral relationship is the best ever, surpassing even the Golden Age of the "Ron-Yasu" years (1982-87). Credit a decade of preparation, hardworking bureaucracies...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 4, 2004

D.D. Jackson

DD Jackson's muscular and frenetic keyboard style reminds listeners that the piano is, after all, a percussion instrument. He drums the piano as much as plays it, drawing out sounds that few other contemporary players can manage. While traditional-minded fans of lyrical piano will wince at his attack,...
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2004

NKK may have paid off mob to quell incinerator outcry

Steelmaker NKK Corp., now known as JFE Engineering Corp., is suspected of using some 500 million yen in undeclared income to quell opposition to its construction of two waste incinerators.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2004

Teachers will be punished for not singing anthem

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education said Tuesday it will punish teachers at public high schools in the capital who refused to stand up and sing the "Kimigayo" national anthem at graduation ceremonies this month.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 31, 2004

The glory that was Rome, set in stone

Ancient Romans knew all about personality cults. Successful gladiators were the Beckhams and Ichiros of their day, celebrated in graffiti scrawled on city walls. Emperors from the time of Augustus (27 B.C.-A.D. 14) took it all one step further, with an official "cult" of the imperial personage that saw...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2004

Kids to learn about North Korea abductions, Sept. 11 attacks

The abduction of Japanese nationals to North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States have been included for the first time in elementary school textbooks.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 31, 2004

Hey mom! Just grow up

Laurel Canyon Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Lisa Cholodenko Running time: 104 minutes Language: English Open April 3 [See Japan Times movie listings] Used to be, not so long ago, that the sure-fire way to rebel against your parents, teachers and other adult authority was as...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 31, 2004

Ishiwata's hands make 'Lightworks' at Uplink

In the event that you find yourself up in Edogawabashi, be aware that the northern Shinjuku neighborhood is not completely off the map, art-wise. Two very pleasant spaces occupy a building just a few minutes walk from its eponymous station -- the Uplink Gallery and La Galerie des Nakamura.
Japan Times
JAPAN / SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
Mar 30, 2004

Universities face brave new world of autonomy, competition

The academic year that begins Thursday will mark a new era for national universities, which will be cut loose from the fetters of the education ministry and gain independent administrative institution status.
COMMENTARY
Mar 30, 2004

Irrational highway demands

The debate over privatizing Japan's four highway and bridge corporations has moved from the absurd to the ridiculous.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 28, 2004

A subversive sampler of the future

Since the '80s -- when the first samplers came on the market -- sampling in music has evolved from a revolutionary and barely understood practice to become a standard tool in the production of even the most mundane pop song. It's all in the hands of the user -- and when those hands belong to Coldcut,...
Japan Times
Features
Mar 28, 2004

Barenboim Project to 'strip' Beethoven

The 32 piano sonatas that Beethoven composed between 1799 and 1824, including some of his most recognized works like the "Moonlight" and "Appassionata" sonatas, are often considered among the German composer's finest and most personal musical achievements.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2004

Boy crushed in Roppongi Hills' doors

A 6-year-old boy died Friday after his head was crushed in the revolving doors at the main entrance to the Mori Tower building in the Roppongi Hills complex in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2004

Coca-Cola-Shiseido tieup to offer 'fat-burning' products

Coca-Cola (Japan) Co. and Shiseido Co. said Thursday they will launch next month a "fat-burning" soft drink and body lotion developed under a single brand.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Mar 26, 2004

Meet the Office manager

Everybody knows about Office in Kita-Aoyama -- the funky little fifth-floor, no-elevator hangout with a photocopier next to the DJ booth. But few people have had the pleasure of meeting Sadahiro Nakamura. Then again, you may have met him and just not realized that he was the man behind the scene and...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 26, 2004

Recycling law spurs sales of used PCs

Sellers of used personal computers are enjoying brisk trade, partly because consumers are now required by law to spend several thousand yen on sending PCs they no longer need back to manufacturers.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 25, 2004

The bento -- a scrumptious expression of love

As the season of hanami (cherry-blossom viewing) comes upon us, it's timely to reflect on the single most important aspect of hanami -- the o-bento (boxed meal). I say this because I grew up in a family in which the creation of the hanami bento was so elaborately planned, heatedly discussed and lovingly...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 25, 2004

Grizzlies defying expectations

NEW YORK -- Let's have a big round of applause for Hubie Brown, whose Grizzlies are an astounding 43-26. Other than team president Jerry West, who unflinchingly branded his team "dangerous" to me prior to the exhibition season, I imagine no one else figured Memphis, which began last season 0-8 under...

Longform

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