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COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 2002

Weaning Afghanistan off militarization

ISLAMABAD -- The U.N. secretary general's special representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, could not have chosen a more precise way to underline Afghanistan's predicament. During his latest trip to the central Asian country, he favored spending more on reconstruction and development work to rebuild...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Sep 15, 2002

In the realm of the senses and spirits

Tantra is a fabulously atmospheric retreat from the mundane. Here -- in a darkened corner illuminated only by candlelight -- one may ponder and explore the spiritual aspects of corporal desire. The name itself refers to one in a series of Hindu texts collectively known as the Kama Sutra; the Tantric...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 15, 2002

'Socialism' goes shopping at Vuitton free-for-all

As an economic power, Japan is the ideal that the rest of Asia aspires to, but it isn't merely Japan's vast material wealth that everybody envies. There's a social aspect to Japan's success that many see as even more desirable.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Sep 15, 2002

Pro Music Nipponia gives new life to contemporary hogaku

For the past 40 years, Pro Musica Nipponia has taken an active role in the contemporary hogaku music scene by commissioning and performing new works for traditional instruments. The highly professional and talented ensemble has premiered dozens of works by both Japanese and foreign composers and has...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2002

KANSAI: Who & What

Women execs offered medical system info: Foreign Executive Women in Kansai, an organization of non-Japanese professional women working in the region, is hosting a dinner meeting from 6 p.m. on Sept. 26 at Hilton Osaka in the city's Kita Ward.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 15, 2002

A river of ill repute

THE MEKONG: Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future, by Milton Osborn. Allen & Unwin, 2001, 295 pp., b/w & color photos, $25 (cloth) The waters of the Mekong, the world's 12th-longest and Southeast Asia's foremost river, do not, like the Thames, run sweetly. Nor have they inspired poets to dream on the river's...
COMMUNITY
Sep 15, 2002

Love in a lovelorn land

Once upon a time, at a temple where homeless families were sheltering after a fire, a girl and a boy fell in love. Months passed. The burned-out neighborhood was rebuilt. The lovers were separated. Oh, misery! Oh, fleeting, unreal world!
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 15, 2002

The science of fiction: telling history as it was, and as it wasn't

DECEMBER 6, by Martin Cruz Smith (published in Britain as TOKYO STATION). Simon & Schuster: New York, 2002, 352 pp., $26 (cloth) THE MASTER OF RAIN, by Tom Bradby. Doubleday: New York, 2002, 452 pp., $24.95 (cloth) Try to imagine, for a moment, if Rick Blaine, the hardened expat cafe owner portrayed...
COMMUNITY
Sep 15, 2002

Fight for the future

In a room at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in Tokyo's Akasaka, Prussian Military Adviser Klemens Meckel studied a map showing the disposition of forces before the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 15, 2002

It's time for family feuds!

The inter-season "specials" period is in full swing, and this week there appears to be more than the usual number of variety programs dedicated to dysfunctional families. If you're into this type of thing, which usually involves cameras invading homes where husbands and wives fight, kids fight or in-laws...
SOCCER / J. League
Sep 15, 2002

Urawa Reds knock Jubilo off pedestal

Urawa forwards Yuichiro Nagai and Tatsuya Tanaka scored goals in the second half as the Reds stunned J. League first-stage champion Jubilo Iwata 2-1 at Iwata Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE WAY OF WASHOKU
Sep 15, 2002

For that rare occasion, why not try conger eel?

...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 15, 2002

Making music seem like child's play

Giants of the financial world and famed for more than two centuries as patrons of the arts (Mendelssohn and Chopin were among their many beneficiaries), the Rothschilds also nurtured an acclaimed musical talent of their own: soprano Charlotte de Rothschild.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 15, 2002

Where are they now?

Not all stories end when the curtain drops. For a dynasty fallen from power, as with a celebrity out of the spotlight, life goes on away from the public eye.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 15, 2002

A ride on the darker side of Tokyo's history

Temples, shrines, gardens, the Imperial Palace . . . Why, tourist guidebooks are full of places that echo the form and spirit of the Old Edo that once was. But they're only telling you a part of the story.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 15, 2002

Simplicity, the mother of perfection

First impressions are everything. You can tell a good restaurant from the moment you walk through the door. It could be a visual cue or the general layout, a subtle feeling that the feng shui is right. It could be the way you are greeted at the door, the movements of the chef or the reassurance of seeing...
COMMUNITY
Sep 15, 2002

Did Plato's Republic find a spiritual home in Japan?

Four hundred and two years ago this week, a battle was fought near the village of Sekigahara, 40 km northwest of Nagoya. Though short -- it was over soon after lunchtime -- the battle was decisive, ushering in . . . Plato's Republic?
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Sep 15, 2002

Life in the fast lane

STANDARD DEVIATIONS: Growing Up and Coming Down in the New Asia, by Karl Taro Greenfeld. New York: Villard, 2002, 272 pp., $23.95 (cloth) The new Orientalist finds adventure in the "wicked sorcery in Asia," discovers "sexual magic in the fleshpots where girls and boys stand behind glass partitions with...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 15, 2002

Sake-shopping picks that really hit the spot

There exists, where you would least expect it, a marvelous oasis for sake shopping. Yoshiike department store, just outside Okachimachi Station and just across from the entrance to Ameyokocho, has a fantastic selection of sake and a plethora of sake utensils to go with it.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2002

Tepco not to be punished in reactor crack scandal

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has decided not to file a criminal complaint against Tokyo Electric Power Co. for allegedly running nuclear reactors it knew were cracked, government sources said Saturday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 15, 2002

Kawanaka helps Giants top Tigers

Mototsugu Kawanaka led off the bottom of the 11th with his career first home run to give the Yomiuri Giants a 5-4 "sayonara" victory over the Hanshin Tigers at the Tokyo Dome on Saturday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2002

China's about-face on AIDS

After denying for years that it had a problem, China last week acknowledged the HIV-AIDS epidemic that is sweeping that country. But the relief that greeted this long-overdue candor was tempered by Beijing's admission that it has also detained the country's most outspoken AIDS advocate -- for exposing...
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE OKINAWA FACTOR
Sep 14, 2002

Okinawans look to tackle problems on own terms

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- Every third Monday, members of an underground community bank gather in a bar in downtown Naha.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 2002

USJ resumes fireworks show following explosives directive

OSAKA -- Universal Studios Japan was set Friday to resume its popular Hollywood Magic fireworks attraction after receiving permission from the Osaka Prefectural Government, USJ officials said.

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’