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COMMUNITY
Oct 27, 2002

Ultimate distrust

Few things seem more certain than death.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 27, 2002

Passionate Cortes back with live 'flashback'

Joaquin Cortes -- the "dancer of passion" -- has cast his spell on audiences around the world with his exotic moves and the passionate Latin personality he oozes while in the spotlight. In November, he is back on stage in Japan to perform his most recent creation, "Live."
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 27, 2002

Before I go, these are a few of my favorite things

After precisely eight years, this is to be the final installment of the Nihonshu column. It has been extremely enjoyable write it over the years. The amount I have learned along the way has been nothing less than phenomenal -- and it only got more interesting as time went on.
Japan Times
Uncategorized
Oct 26, 2002

Japan shares its antipollution expertise

The city of Kitakyushu has moved ahead of other municipalities in transferring Japan's industrial knowledge and technology -- including measures to combat pollution -- to developing countries.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 26, 2002

Leiko Oshima

"Since the cradle," said Leiko Oshima, "I was destined to browse the world in search of cosmopolitan truth. I can't help being a 'thinking reed' as I live in the country of Pascal and Sartre."
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 23, 2002

Rocket From the Crypt: "Live From Camp X-Ray"

John "Speedo" Reis' critical image is of a pop culture otaku who channeled his obsessions into decent rock 'n' roll that doesn't embarrass the artists it reveres. The name of his best-known group, Rocket From the Crypt, pays homage to both Rocket From the Tombs, the legendary Cleveland shock-rock group...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 20, 2002

Personality professional tells young women to break mold

For Akiko Shimizu, director of the John Robert Powers School, getting the best out of her young students is not just her job, but a way to make herself more attractive.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 19, 2002

T.W. Sudhakar

"Namaste" is the Indian greeting, traditionally used with a prayerful undercurrent. "Namaste India 2002" is a daylong Tokyo program that, for the last 20 years, has been offering Indian greetings to the people of Japan. Sponsored and supported by several influential organizations of both countries, the...
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 18, 2002

Let's hear it for the big wa in a small country

Although we seem to have built an entire culture based on loathing of all things Japanese and admiration of all things foreign, scratch the surface of our inferiority complex and you'll find a streak of patriotism somewhere.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2002

Terrorist front in largest Islamic nation

MADRAS, India -- The bomb explosions that killed more than 180 people in Bali last Saturday night affirmed what Indonesia has long denied -- that terrorists are active in the country. For many months now, Indonesia's neighbors and Washington have urged Jakarata to get tough with extremists, particularly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2002

Savoring and saving China's art

Japan's history is replete with examples of the assimilation of art and artifacts from China, yet in many cases the cultural traditions that produced them have disappeared in China itself. Often, the best clues to further our understanding of these lost artistic traditions lie in examining artifacts...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 13, 2002

Confessions over a cup of coffee

ON TSUKUBA PEAK: Tanka by Hatsue Kawamura. Five Islands Press: Wollongong, Australia, z2002, 93 pp., $20/1,500 yen (paper) MEMORIES OF A WOMAN: Tanka by Harue Aoki. Mura Press, Tokyo, 2001, 204 pp., 1,800 yen (paper) Women poets have a long and industrious history in Japan, where they have been writing...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 13, 2002

Japanese will have babies when living is easy

In the middle of September, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry released a set of countermeasures to address the declining birthrate, which Chikara Sakaguchi -- the head of the ministry -- has said will "sink Japan" if it remains as low as it is.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 12, 2002

Success of globalization rests on good business reputations

These are not good times for business ethics in the industrialized nations. In spite of a carefully honed reputation for professionalism and honesty, businesses in the United States, Japan and Europe have seen scandals and problems. In the U.S. it has been the overstatement of profits by and exorbitant...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 9, 2002

JTA to take coaching applications

will take the unprecedented step of accepting applications from the public for coaching positions for the men's Davis Cup and women's Fed Cup teams, JTA chief technical director Jun Kamiwazumi said Monday. "Applicants don't have to be former big-name players, we're just hoping to find someone with talent,...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Oct 9, 2002

Steve Earle: "Jerusalem"

The fuss over "John Walker's Blues," Steve Earle's look-see into the mind of the American Taliban, barely survived the actual release of the song a few weeks ago. John Walker Lindh, who is portrayed by Earle as a naive but well-meaning young idealist, has since tearfully owned up to his mistakes and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Oct 6, 2002

Takafumi Goda: the man at the helm

As director of the university division of the higher education bureau at the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, Takafumi Goda is at the helm of national policy on university education. Recently, one of his chief tasks has been to oversee long-awaited reforms to Japan's university...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Oct 4, 2002

Finding inner silence in the shamisen

When Catriona Sturton first arrived in Japan in August 2000, she knew very little about Japan or its culture. Little did the 24-year-old assistant language teacher know that she would become a skilled shamisen player. But that is exactly what happened -- her musical performances were recently broadcast...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 30, 2002

Give democracy a chance in postwar Iraq

LIMASSOL, Cyprus -- In recent months, the Iraqi debate has played in the news like a tennis match, with observers awarding points to U.S. President George W. Bush for his U.N. speech, then to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for his shrewd move to admit inspectors "without conditions" -- subject, of course,...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 29, 2002

30 years of China relations aired out

Thirty years ago, the late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka normalized relations with the People's Republic of China. Historically, the relationship between Japan and China has often been compared to that between Rome and Greece, since much of Japan's culture (writing system, Buddhism, handicrafts, etc.)...
JAPAN
Sep 27, 2002

Seniors' Net clubs give elderly way to reach out, enhance life

With more than 40 percent of Japanese now using the Internet, an increasing number of elderly people have found a new way of enjoying life by opening their own home pages or establishing Net clubs for seniors.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Sep 27, 2002

Plenty of reasons to enjoy the predictable pleasures of fall

The Japanese have long described themselves as people who value the solidity of sameness. Anyone who has ever seen "Mito Komon" on TV will know what this means: the same dialogue, the same roles and the same big sword fight exactly 45 minutes into the program, all going on for many decades to general...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Sep 25, 2002

Howie B.

DJs tend to fall into two irreconcilable categories: those who garner glowing accolades from faux intellectuals who don't dance -- and those who pack dance floors with throbbing, heated bodies.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Sep 25, 2002

So you're a wannabe J-pop star?

Yellow Magic Orchestra burst upon the scene in the late '70s with a refreshing and original blend of pop music and electronic sounds that established a new pop template and influenced musicians all over the world. The band broke up in 1983 and, apart from 1993's one-off reunion album, "Technodon," its...
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2002

Corporate ethics remain in peril

Safety should be the highest priority of any nuclear power-generating program. Japan, the world's only victim of atomic bombings, has every reason to be particularly sensitive about nuclear safety. However, some of the nation's electric power companies have been found wanting in the safety management...
COMMENTARY
Sep 23, 2002

EU immigration issue heats up

LONDON -- The enlargement of the European Union, with the addition of up to 10 more states and dozens of new local cultures and minorities, is approaching.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 22, 2002

Hsia Yu: modern, universal and refreshing

FUSION KITSCH: Poetry by Hsia Yu, Translated by Steve Bradbury. Zephyr Press, Massachusetts, 2001, 131 pp., $13 (paper) The title of this book, the first bilingual collection of work by Taiwanese poet Hsia Yu, is apt. In fact, translator Steve Bradbury, a professor at National Central University in Taiwan,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 21, 2002

Far-out news headlines from the Far East

Sometimes I yearn for lies. Like sensational news items that everybody knows aren't true:
JAPAN
Sep 19, 2002

Teikyo CEO resigns over student donations scandal

The chief executive officer of Teikyo University in Tokyo has resigned to take responsibility over allegations that questionable donations were taken from students seeking admission to its medical school, Teikyo officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 18, 2002

Yuki Ogura: The other side of modern

Visitors to the current exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo might be excused for thinking they'd been misled. Instead of encountering a display of works expressing the essence of 20th-century Japanese art, perchance, or the challenge of assimilating Western artistic techniques, this...

Longform

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