Search - special

 
 
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 8, 2005

Pathway to joy offers sips of water, vision of light

Pauline Tsukamoto has been on two psychological paths in her life: trying to make peace with Japan, and trying to make peace with herself. Her body is on yet another journey, one that involves accepting the gift of life itself.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 7, 2005

Ebisu Imaiya Saryou: A yakitori pavilion that rules the roost

A brave new Year of the Rooster has dawned -- so what better way to celebrate it than by eating one? On such auspicious occasions as this, naturally, only the finest fowl will do -- and it's hard to find any that taste better than the variety known as Hinai jidori.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2005

Yamasaki declares bid to win back Fukuoka Diet seat

Former Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Taku Yamasaki said Wednesday he will run in April's by-election in Fukuoka Prefecture in a bid to retake the Diet seat he lost in the 2003 general election.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jan 6, 2005

Buckwheat booze lifts locals' spirits

The first flurries of snow usually fall here where I live in Kurohime in mid-November, just at the start of the hunting season.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2005

Collegians abroad to get to teach here over break

The Justice Ministry will launch a new immigration initiative possibly next month to allow university students from overseas to come to Japan during school breaks to teach children at public schools, it was learned Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2005

Japanese death toll from tsunamis is raised to 21

The number of Japanese nationals killed in the earthquake and tsunami devastation in Southern Asia has risen to 21, according to the Foreign Ministry.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jan 3, 2005

Putin's tragic gaffes of 2004

MOSCOW -- The year 2004 has had mixed blessings for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He won re-election in a landslide, and though the results were probably rigged, by and large they still reflected voters' sympathies well enough: Russia likes its president.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Dec 30, 2004

What is behind 'shocking' Hokkaido bid for World Heritage Site status?

Recently I was lucky enough to visit no fewer than six World Heritage Sites (WHS) in northern India. An astonishing cultural, ethnic and biological diversity is well represented in India's array of national parks (NP) and WHS, and, my goodness, they have a huge wow factor.
COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2004

Turkey's long march to an EU wedding

PARIS -- Although a wedding date has yet to be set between the European Union and Turkey, the two parties managed to conclude what several participants at the Dec. 17 European summit have called a formal "engagement."
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2004

An updated stab at security

Japan's new National Defense Program Outline has three major objectives: dealing with "new threats" such as terrorism, introducing a missile defense system and participating in "international peace cooperation activities."
EDITORIALS
Dec 27, 2004

Lessons from a year of disasters

Preparers of government white papers usually try hard not to offend anyone by giving only the average scores for survey results and, in the case of prefectural statistics, summing them up in flat tables. The 2004 white paper on fire and disaster management, however, carries a bar graph so that readers...
Japan Times
Features
Dec 26, 2004

The voice

The first time he met her she told him everything, but he wasn't listening to the words.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 26, 2004

The Clash: "London Calling: 25th Anniversary Edition"

"London Calling" is one of those timeless songs that can't help sending a shiver up your spine anytime you hear it and the double album it lent its title to is, for many, the quintessential Clash album. To celebrate 25 years since its release, "London Calling" has been re-issued as a special CD/DVD pack....
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2004

Daikyo to sell seven noncore properties

Ailing condominium builder Daikyo Inc. said Friday it will sell properties from its noncore operations to seven companies, including a special purpose company established by the Morgan Stanley group of the United States, for about 80 billion yen.
COMMENTARY
Dec 25, 2004

Strained Japan-China ties bode ill for region's future

HONG KONG -- Beijing's relations with Tokyo, already strained by the intrusion of a Chinese nuclear submarine into Japanese territorial waters last month, have been worsened by Japan's release on Dec. 10 of a new National Defense Program Outline that for the first time names China as a potential threat....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Dec 23, 2004

Rock ptarmigan

* Japanese name: Raicho * Scientific name: Lagopus mutus * Description: Ptarmigan are medium-size, plump birds about 35 cm long with a 54-60 cm wingspan. They weigh around 500 grams. Since the birds depend on camouflage for defense, their plumage changes with the season. In summer, the top half is...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2004

230 people killed or missing in natural disasters in 2004

At least 230 people were killed or remain missing and presumed dead in typhoons, rainstorms and other natural disasters in 2004, according to a government report released Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Dec 22, 2004

Dreams for a perfectly set table come true

"Everybody sets out to do something, and everybody does something, but no one does what he sets out to do," said Irish author George Moore of the good intentions that abound in life. Setting an idea in motion is often more important than the end result, whether one creates products, ideas, or life itself....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2004

The sound of 2004

Rock and blues Animal Collective, "Sung Tongs" (Fat Cat): An acoustic hootenany reinvented for the electronic era. Exhilarating, innocent of any apparent influence, and completely unlike anything else released this year (or maybe ever). (S.T.)
Dec 22, 2004

230 people killed or missing in natural disasters in 2004

At least 230 people were killed or remain missing and presumed dead in typhoons, rainstorms and other natural disasters in 2004, according to a government report released Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2004

Salsa fanatics defy rigid Japan

A pulsating mambo fills the air at a cavernous club near Tokyo Bay. "Ayyy-esssooo!" the song calls in exhortation as a sea of dancers -- sweaty, skin bared, clothes clinging -- roll their hips and hurtle into turns with increasing abandon.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2004

Shinsei Bank sees first-half group net profit rise 20%

Shinsei Bank said Monday its first-half group net profit jumped 19.8 percent from a year earlier thanks to brisk business in both institutional and retail banking.
COMMENTARY
Dec 20, 2004

Weigh antiterror measures

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Home Secretary David Blunkett (who resigned last week) have been doing their utmost to alert the British people to the terrorist threat. This is seen by some as a cynical attempt to divert criticism of government support for the Americans in Iraq and to...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Dec 19, 2004

PM's barber keeps 'Beethoven' top of the locks

Tadashi Muragi is a 46-year-old Tokyo hairdresser with a 22-year career of scissor wielding already behind him. Clad in a clean white barber suit at his classically styled, five-seat shop, Muragi may look little different from others of his professional ilk -- though the fact that he is tonsorially responsible...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 19, 2004

Final warning: The horror of horrors medical TV show

The medical industry has become as scary as the diseases it treats. On Dec. 10, the government released a list of 7,000 medical institutions nationwide that handled tainted blood products before 1994, and on the same day a judge ordered the Tokyo Medical University Hospital to preserve evidence related...
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2004

Japan's sky marshals begin work without captains' nod

Japan began deploying sky marshals Thursday on board commercial flights to deter hijacking and terrorist attacks, according to sources.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 18, 2004

'Hands Across Water' spreads inclusion message

With a 30-room house sitting amid 12 hectares in northern England, artist-activist Scott Baron lives up to his name. Now his signature custom-made black fedora has gone missing, and he has to make one last trip to Kiba, in Tokyo, before leaving Japan. "It's in station lost property, rather the worse...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Dec 17, 2004

Delicatessens delight Tokyo

Everyone hankers after a little luxury in their life and in food-fixated Japan the latest in retail therapy is splashing out on fancy imported snacks or take-home dishes prepared by expert chefs.
EDITORIALS
Dec 17, 2004

Better ways to share tax money

Local governments in Japan, like the central government, are heavily in debt. The deficit problem is adding to difficulties in budget talks between the Finance and Internal Affairs ministries. The key question is how much national tax revenue should be transferred to local administrations in fiscal 2005....

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat