Search - 2004

 
 
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Dec 15, 2004

We mix you a Merry Christmas; stocking stuffers & party plans

"Drape the Messe in day-glo deco,
BUSINESS
Dec 10, 2004

Think tanks see big profit for large companies in '04

Japan's large corporations are expected to post double-digit profit growth for fiscal 2004, according to updated forecasts issued Thursday by two private research institutes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Dec 9, 2004

"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell," "ABC T-Rex"

"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell," Susanna Clarke, Bloomsbury; 2004; 782 pp.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Dec 8, 2004

Skipper Deeble proud of his Aussies in Athens

One of the big baseball stories of 2004 was the winning of the silver medal in the Athens Olympics by Australia, which upset a highly rated Japanese team twice during the Summer Games. The 1-0 and 9-4 victories by the Aussies stunned Japan, which had to settle for bronze, and it also raised the excitement...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Nov 29, 2004

Remains of the Occupation mentality

NEW YORK -- Sometimes a perception formed during an era, however unthinking, never seems to leave you. When I read, in a detailed chronology of Yukio Mishima (1925-70), that Meredith Weatherby visited Mishima at a New York hotel for an all-day discussion about his translation of Mishima's "Confessions...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 14, 2004

Two Zen portals: different yet the same

ZEN INKLINGS, by Donald Richie. IBC Publishing, 132 pp., 2004 (new edition), 1,400 yen (paper). THE NEW ZEN GARDEN, by Joseph Cali, photos by Satoshi Asakawa. Kodansha International, 87 pp., 2004, 3,500 yen (cloth). One opens a book by Donald Richie with certain expectations -- namely, that it will be...
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2004

Japan's prisons bursting at the seams

The nation saw 61,534 people incarcerated as of the end of 2003, topping the 60,000 mark for the first time since 1960.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Nov 4, 2004

"How I Live Now," "News photo"

"How I Live Now," Meg Rosoff, Puffin Books; 2004; 186 pp. When a good writer writes, even if it is their first book, you can "hear" their voice.
EDITORIALS
Nov 3, 2004

Time to review Iraq policy

The Japanese hostage crisis in Iraq has ended in the death of Mr. Shosei Koda, a 24-year-old traveler, whose decapitated body was found in central Baghdad on Sunday. He had been detained by Islamic militants demanding that Japan withdraw its troops from the country. The government, having failed in its...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2004

Bush foes keep fingers crossed

CAMBRIDGE, England -- While the world looks on, tens of millions Americans will go to the polls next Tuesday, along with millions of American expatriates, for what is being billed as the election of the century, or at least the most important election in our lifetime. And while non-Americans cannot directly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 27, 2004

Classic tale gets a fitting finale

What makes for a good play?
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2004

ODA looks wasted on China

This year Japan marks the 50th anniversary of the official development assistance program it launched after getting out of the postwar economic chaos. The Foreign Ministry's 2004 white paper on ODA boasts that Japan, now one of the world's largest ODA providers, has made major contributions to the economic...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2004

State might dip into reserve funds to repair typhoon damage

The chief Cabinet secretary said Thursday that the government might use reserve funds in the general-account budget for fiscal 2004, rather than creating a supplementary budget, to deal with the serious damage brought by Typhoon Tokage.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Oct 21, 2004

Candidates focus on battleground states

WASHINGTON -- Regardless of what you thought of the idea before the debates came off, chances are you will have to admit that the 2004 U.S. presidential debates provided a rare and welcome opportunity to get a better understanding of the two candidates, U.S. President George W. Bush and Massachusetts...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2004

Friction on Asia's flywheel

MANILA -- The economies of developing Asia are expected to grow 7 percent this year, equaling their performance of 2000, which saw the fastest growth since the Asian financial crisis (1997-98). Growth has been strong in all regions, particularly in East and Southeast Asia. Is this pace sustainable?
Events
Oct 17, 2004

Autumn sage festival in Kobe's herb park

Nunobiki Herb Park in Chuo Ward, Kobe, is holding an autumn sage festival through Nov. 21.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 16, 2004

Seibu Lions look to have slight edge in Japan Series

The 2004 Japan Series begins Saturday with the Central League champion Chunichi Dragons of Nagoya facing the Pacific League, playoff-winning Seibu Lions, based in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, in the best-of-seven showdown to decide the No. 1 pro baseball team in this country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Oct 7, 2004

"The End of the Beginning," "Change Your Room"

"The End of the Beginning," Avi Harcourt, Dorling Kindersley; 2004; 140 pp. "Hmmmm," said the ant. "You'll need a lot of questions answered."
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2004

Expect loose reins on Japan

LAS VEGAS -- For decades, Tokyo has wanted to be treated like a "normal" nation free from the constraints of the Occupation Era and U.S. foreign-policy dominance. Well, Japan is on the edge of realizing that dream, but the costs will be the end of the special U.S.-Japan relationship and the emergence...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Sep 23, 2004

"The World Came To My Place Today," "Faerie Wars"

"The World Came To My Place Today," Jo Readman and Ley Honor Roberts, Random House; 2004; 24 pp.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 19, 2004

In search of an elusive identity

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, by Don Lee. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004, 318 pp., $24.95 (cloth). THE PEARL DIVER, by Sujata Massey. New York: HarperCollins, 2004, 335 pp., $23.95 (cloth). One formula frequently applied to the mystery novel involves adoptees who reach adulthood and seek to track down their...
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2004

Inside out and round and round the Yamanote

Johnnie Walker's A.R.T. gallery (Art Residency Tokyo), which opened last October, extends his philanthropic mission to promote cultural exchange between foreign and Japanese artists. Offering a window into Tokyo for many young hopefuls as well as a meeting point for the more established, the gallery...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 12, 2004

The cool aesthetics of Edo

KUKI SHUZO: A Philosopher's Poetry and Poetics, translated and edited by Michael F. Marra. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004, 358 pp., $56 (cloth). THE STRUCTURE OF DETACHMENT: The Aesthetic Vision of Kuki Shuzo (with a Translation of "Iki no Kozo"), by Hiroshi Nara, with essays by J. Thomas...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Sep 3, 2004

Signing of Rooney a big gamble for Manchester United

LONDON -- Incredible.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 2, 2004

Dragons hoping Ochoa's lucky No. 4 can bring them success

The Chunichi Dragons have won the Central League pennant four times in the past 30 years, and each time the club had a strong foreign player who wore the uniform No. 4 and contributed greatly to the team's championship seasons.
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2004

An example for the real world

Peace is the central message of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The Olympic flame -- the symbol of that message -- will be extinguished late Sunday night (early Monday in Japan), about five months after it was lit in Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympics. In a world riven with hatred and violence,...
Japan Times
Features
Aug 22, 2004

'Stray dogs' dig the dirt

"Bluebottle fly" was what he says he was called by the police. But freelance journalist Shunsuke Yamaoka is now getting a buzz from watching the law deal with wrongdoers he exposed.
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2004

Think tanks turn positive forecasting GDP growth

Three private economic research institutes revised upward their forecasts of Japan's economic growth for fiscal 2004 due to a strong recovery in the corporate sector.

Longform

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