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EDITORIALS
Jan 15, 2003

Sidetracking the territorial issue

Japan and Russia remain far apart on the territorial dispute over the Northern Territories, a group of northern Pacific islands known to the Russians as the Southern Kurils. The meeting over the weekend in Moscow between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin produced no...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 15, 2003

Theater greats raise curtain on the new year

Have you made your first visit of the new year to the theater yet? If not, "Umi yorimo nagai yoru (The Night Longer than the Sea)," being staged by Seinendan at Theater Tram in Sangenjaya, will surely whet your appetite for what promises to be a lively and exciting year on the Tokyo drama scene.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 15, 2003

MoT showcases artists who draw deeply from real life

"Art," wrote the French artist Robert Filliou (1926-87), "is what makes life more interesting than art." And this, dear reader, is just about my favorite quote. Profoundly mystifying, it serves as an M.C. Escher-esque comeback when the old "What is art?" line is thrown out less as a question than as...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 15, 2003

You've got to give a little

Tamao Kubota, the founder and lead singer of Apple Beat, has a powerful, slightly husky voice and carries herself with an attractive air of unself-conscious defiance. She sounds as good belting it out like an impassioned R & B singer as she does slow, quiet and personal.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2003

Son, 35, arrested in mom's slaying

OSAKA -- A 35-year-old man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stabbing his mother to death and slightly wounding his father at their home after they refused to lend him money, police said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 15, 2003

The Sea and Cake

Post-rock seems to have been born a genre already approaching middle age. While rock 'n' roll swaggered and screamed, this reticent cousin of indie-rock purposefully strode away from the testosterone. Post-rock's aim was a departure from rock's basic instincts, placing mood and texture over guitar hooks...
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2003

Prince to assume Emperor's duties while he recovers

Crown Prince Naruhito will take over Emperor Akihito's constitutional duties while his father has surgery for prostate cancer and undergoes rehabilitation, the government said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2003

Koizumi stirs diplomatic row with surprise Yasukuni visit

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a surprise visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon, a move that is likely to rekindle anger in South Korea and China -- countries in pivotal positions at a time of mounting concerns over North Korea.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 15, 2003

On with the old and in with the new

The kabuki year has kicked off with three striking programs at the Kokaido (Public Hall) in Asakusa, the Kabukiza in Ginza and the Tokyo National Theater in Hanzomon.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2003

Japan to fund green projects in return for emission credits

Japan will help to fund projects in developing countries conducted under the mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol starting next fiscal year, government officials said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 15, 2003

Toshinori Kondo: "Nerve Tripper"

Among his many accomplishments, trumpeter and electronic music programmer Toshinori Kondo has won the friendship of the Dalai Llama, played on Herbie Hancock's influential album "Future Shock" and produced the World Festival of Sacred Music in Hiroshima.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2003

Japan NGOs to hold antiwar rally

More than 30 Japanese nongovernmental organizations will stage a demonstration in Tokyo this weekend to protest a possible U.S.-led attack on Iraq, they said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 15, 2003

hoggboy: "Or 8?"

The British rock press has declared the Sheffield band hoggboy the official scapegoat of the inevitable garage-rock backlash in England, where The Strokes first made a splash and, therefore, the place where their star has been fading most rapidly.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 15, 2003

Talent-laden 'festival' to bring back a pinch of that old magic

Once upon a time, rock shows were long, drawn-out affairs, with two or three opening acts who could be counted on to play as if they were headliners. Magic Rock Out, an event that will be held in Kobe and Tokyo in early February, is too limited in scope to be called a "festival" (only one stage), and...
EDITORIALS
Jan 14, 2003

Pointless posturing in South Asia

The posturing and muscle-flexing continues in South Asia. The governments in India and Pakistan appear committed to matching each other's every military move and utterance, no matter how inflammatory. This behavior is immature at the best of times, but missile tests and reckless talk of nuclear war are...
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2003

Renewable energy plan looks to wind, seawater, fuel cells

The Environment Ministry will begin developing a system in the next year to extract hydrogen from seawater to power fuel cells in hopes of creating a fully renewable energy supply, ministry officials said.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2003

Electronics trio eyes grid-computing project

NEC Corp., Fujitsu Ltd. and Hitachi Ltd. are considering joint development of software for grid computing, the integration of many computers to enable ultrahigh-speed data processing, company sources told Kyodo News on Monday.
COMMENTARY
Jan 14, 2003

Afghanistan's fate holds lessons for Iraq

ISLAMABAD -- As prospects for a U.S.-led war on Iraq loom larger, Afghanistan faces an increasingly uncertain future -- more than a year after the United States intervened in that country. Many analysts believe the fate of Afghanistan may determine whether and when the major powers should intervene in...
MORE SPORTS
Jan 14, 2003

Japan sweeps all at Kano Cup

Asian Games champion Yasuyuki Muneta beat Hiroaki Takahashi to win the heavyweight title Sunday as host Japan added three more victories to complete a sweep of seven weight categories at the Kano Cup international tournament.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 14, 2003

JBA set to sack national coach

The Japan Basketball Association will sack men's national head coach Kenji Yoshida after a string of poor results in international tournaments, basketball sources said Sunday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2003

Supermarket safe thieves check out with 25 million yen

OSAKA -- Safes containing a total of 27.5 million yen were stolen early Monday from five supermarkets in Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, police said.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2003

Campaign cooperation elusive for DPJ, Liberals

The Democratic Party of Japan and the Liberal Party remain at odds over how they might pursue campaign cooperation in the next general election of the Lower House, as speculation continues to grow that it will be held sometime this year.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2003

Moscow summit a ratings winner for Koizumi

The public approval rating for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi now stands at 54.6 percent, up 4.6 percentage points from December, according to the results of a Kyodo News survey released Monday.

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’