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JAPAN
Jun 6, 2005

Frenchman to try to row from Chiba to San Francisco

Emmanuel Coindre, the French sailor who has crossed the Atlantic five times in a rowboat, is planning to set out this month on the first-ever solo nonstop rowboat voyage from Japan to the U.S.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 6, 2005

Income gap among Japanese expanding, but not by much

Traditionally, the income gap between the rich and the poor has been rather small in Japan, creating what has become known as the "all-Japanese-as-middle class" mentality.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 5, 2005

MLB Japan tries to reassure NPB on World Baseball Classic

Disturbed by repeated media reports saying Nippon Professional Baseball is dissatisfied with the organization and conditions of next year's proposed World Baseball Classic, Major League Baseball's Managing Director in Japan Jim Small invited the media to a coffee session in his Tokyo office on May 30...
MORE SPORTS
Jun 5, 2005

Murofushi claims record 11th title

Olympic hammer throw champion Koji Murofushi eased to a record 11th title despite a mediocre performance at the national track and field championships Saturday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jun 5, 2005

Denial of existential needs

MOSCOW -- The blackout that hit Moscow late last month wasn't any better or worse than others that have struck big cities recently, say New York in August 2003. It is the same old thing over and over again -- people stuck in subways and elevators, hospitals canceling lifesaving surgeries, crowds grimly...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2005

Adrian Sherwood: "On-U Sound Crash"

The recent On-U Sound reissue program through Japan's Beat Records has been a kind of heaven for longtime followers of the London dub/reggae label. For newcomers bewildered by the stream of titles, a new megamix "On-U Sound Crash," by the label's founder and producer, Adrian Sherwood, could be the perfect...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 5, 2005

"Charisma housewife" gives her secret on NHK's "Eigo de Shabera-Naito," and more

Since English is the lingua franca of the international business community, it follows that anyone who really wants to make a global impression should be able to communicate in English.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 5, 2005

The crucible of Japanese culture

INSPIRED DESIGN: Japan's Traditional Arts, by Michael Dunn. Milan: Five Continents Editions, 2005, 304 pp., 275 color plates and map, 2003, $85.00 (cloth). One might say that, traditionally, the Japanese are a patterned people. They live in a patterned country, a land where the exemplar still exists,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 5, 2005

Misfits stand up, look to the stars -- or for some grub

The media and the popular arts thrive on synergy: Broadcasters and publishers play footsy with movie companies, record labels and talent agencies to keep the public drooling over whatever product or personality they're all selling at this particular moment. Synergy takes work, but sometimes it just happens...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2005

Weezer "Make Believe"

Four years ago, Weezer songwriter Rivers Cuomo decided that the meticulously documented angst beloved by his die-hard fans wasn't impressing enough people, so he stocked his next two albums with somewhat catchy yet largely meaningless pop songs instead. On their new effort, "Make Believe," he has returned...
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2005

Two Renoirs fetch 310 million yen

A pair of oil paintings composed in 1895 by impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir sold Saturday for 310 million yen in a Tokyo auction, the second-highest price ever at an art auction in Japan, Shinwa Art Auction Co. said.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2005

Amnesty challenges Japan to do more on rights

Japan can and should do more to improve its record on human rights as it seeks a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, according to the secretary general of Amnesty International.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2005

The big presence of Little Joe

If the old saying that you can't play the blues until you have lived the blues is true, then Little Joe Washington should be a giant of the genre. The 66-year-old Houston native has certainly paid his dues. Some will say he is still paying them. He's marginally homeless and has been for 20 years or so,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2005

The New Mastersounds: "This is What We Do"

Though Leeds isn't particularly associated with funk, The New Mastersounds may change that. James Brown and Sly Stone can be heard stomping through their hard-hitting "deep funk" sound of this 4-year-old band, and their new release, "This Is What We Do," is a funk-jazz workout that is proudly retro and...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 5, 2005

Will Japanese inertia never be the same again?

Who is to blame for the dead hand of inertia that has prevented Japan from forging ahead economically and politically in the last decade and a half?
EDITORIALS
Jun 5, 2005

Sex crime recidivism

In view of recent crime trends, measures to prevent the repetition of crimes have become an issue. What especially needs to be addressed is how to prevent the same people from repeating sex crimes. In November, the public was alarmed by the kidnapping and murder of a 7-year-old girl in the city of Nara....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2005

Yo La Tengo: the band next door

Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley are a nice, mellow couple in their mid-40s from Hobokken, N.J. They like homemade peach pie, watching TV and going to the occasional baseball game. Oh, and they also founded one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the last decade, Yo La Tengo.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2005

Startup seeks cell-phone capital

IP Mobile Inc., a data communications startup, has asked several firms for fresh capital to help it enter the cell-phone business, company officials said Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 5, 2005

U.S. security pledge buoys Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD -- The latest U.S. promise to enhance Afghanistan's security in the years to come raises more questions than it answers for the the war-ravaged country, although the so-called declaration of strategic partnership signed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington...
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2005

Separation of war criminals 'will never happen': Yasukuni

Yasukuni Shrine will not separate Class-A war criminals from the ranks of Japan's war dead honored there, because the outcome of the Tokyo war crimes tribunal that convicted them remains controversial, officials from the Shinto shrine have said in a written statement.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes