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COMMENTARY
Jun 28, 2004

Treading too softly on SOFA

In April, an epoch-making event occurred in the history of the Japan-U.S. security alliance. Two Diet members of the governing Liberal Democratic Party met with U.S. State and Defense Department officials to ask Washington to consider overhauling the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
BUSINESS
Jun 28, 2004

Fishing net supplier attracting investors after conversion to investment banking

What was once a major Tokyo-based seller of fishing nets has recently been attracting the attention of foreign and domestic investors, both individual and institutional, thanks to a unique business strategy and an astonishingly fast pace of growth.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 28, 2004

Decline in savings rate a warning to reform-resistant politicians

As Japan continues to maintain a current account surplus, it will remain subject to overseas criticism that its people should spend more and save less. However, the truth is that Japan's savings ratio has rapidly declined over the past decade. Let us look at some data and discuss why this is happening,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2004

People of Myanmar need Asia's help

Myanmar's stubborn military regime has decided to carry on with its controversial constitutional convention even as National League of Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her lieutenant, U Tin U, remain under house arrest. The last time a free and fair election was held -- in 1990 -- the NLD won a...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2004

Deflate tension with dialogue

HONOLULU -- Recent events confirm that maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea remain an issue for East Asian governments. Ownership of the Spratly Islands is claimed, in whole or in part, by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 27, 2004

Tamura to hang up his skates

Reigning men's national champion Yamato Tamura said Saturday he has decided to retire as a competitive figure skater.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2004

Mr. Kerry's French

Every now and then, U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, lets slip that he speaks French. He chats with French reporters, has occasionally responded in French to a French-language question at a news conference, and once participated in a phone-in talk show in France....
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 27, 2004

Lions pounce on Marines

Kazuhiro Wada hit a two-run homer Saturday and Masahide Kaizuka added a three-run blast to lead the Seibu Lions to a 9-2 victory over the Chiba Lotte Marines at Ishikawa Prefectural Stadium.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 27, 2004

North Korea's likely arsenal

NORTH KOREA'S WEAPONS PROGRAMMES: A Net Assessment, by International Institute for Strategic Studies staff. Palgrave Macmillan, 80pp., 2004, $90 (paper). To America's hard men of the right, North Korea harbors a full and fearsome array of weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, and the willingness to sell...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 27, 2004

H. Art Chaos explores poetry in motion

One of Japan's most innovative dance companies will tackle the challenging task of giving form to an almost forgotten music and dance concept, developed by a composer some 90 years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 27, 2004

Kelis

So which hip-hop couple do you like? Beyonce & Jay-Z, or Kelis & Nas? Given the brittleness of celebrity engagements, either pair might have split as of this morning, but the choice is pretty distinct: penthouse-paid-for vs. prove-it-all-night.
Japan Times
Features
Jun 27, 2004

Baby pictures

She hung up the phone and looked out of the living-room window. The house was on a slight rise and she could see most of Fairview Estates -- the rows of wide, orderly streets, the big houses and neat lawns, children on bicycles, the mail truck making its rounds. It all looked too neat, too much like...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 27, 2004

A feast of culture on Hokkaido menu

Modernization and industrialization have ensured that the traditional lifestyle of the Ainu has been destroyed as thoroughly as the traditional customs of their Japanese neighbours.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2004

Flagging heart for the EU

LONDON -- More than 40,000 Britons have made a special trip to Portugal for a two-week European festival while, back at home, tens of millions of others are following the festival, alternatively rejoicing and groaning, on television screens in pubs and bars, city centers and homes. Euro 2004 is the most...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 27, 2004

Conrad Herwig: "Another Kind of Blue"

On "Another Kind of Blue," leader/trombonist Conrad Herwig and trumpeter/arranger Brian Lynch update, into Latin jazz, what is Miles Davis', and perhaps jazz's, most listened to recording, "Kind of Blue." Latin jazz has often taken cues from Miles Davis, but this collection of New York's finest Latin...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2004

Middle East policy banks on destruction

NEW YORK -- The decision by the Bush campaign to enlist thousands of religious congregations in the United States to distribute information and register voters for the November presidential election shows how close the connection has become between politics and religion, a situation not anticipated by...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 27, 2004

Korean wave may help erode discrimination

Though a lot of people are tired of the guy by now, there's something encouraging about the inexhaustible, Beatlemaniacal attention being paid to Korean star Bae Yong Joon. Bae's popularity is merely the most prominent feature of the current kanryu (Korean wave) boom, but the attraction that many Japanese...
COMMENTARY
Jun 27, 2004

Asian antiterror group finds its footing

HONG KONG -- Last week the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an international antiterrorist group formed by China, Russia and four Central Asian countries only months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, inaugurated a new antiterrorism center in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 27, 2004

Nothing like vintage tech

It's been said that the musical style now referred to as "electro" wriggled to life in the early '80s, when the heavy thump of funk collided with burgeoning synthesizer technology. Jittery, bass-heavy and bombastic, electro lurked on the half-courts and back-alley clubs of New York City, embraced mostly...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 27, 2004

Business documentary "Dawn of Gaia" on TV Tokyo and more

Recently, the news has been filled with stories about customer data being leaked from large companies to shady individuals. This activity, which is called "information theft," is explored in depth on TV Tokyo's business documentary program "Dawn of Gaia" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.). Such leaks are not a new phenomenon,...
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2004

A wakeup call for Europe

June has been a cruel month for the European Union. Euroskeptics were the big winners in elections for the EU Parliament, although apathy rather than outright opposition to the EU project best captures voter sentiment. Then, last week, a second attempt to agree on a new constitution made progress only...
MORE SPORTS
Jun 26, 2004

Murofushi to compete in Prague

Reigning world bronze medalist Koji Murofushi has agreed to compete in the men's hammer throw at the Prague International next week before wrapping up his U.S. training tour, athletics sources said Thursday.

Longform

Juzo Itami’s “Tampopo” was released Nov. 23, 1985, and though it wasn’t a hit at the time, it has gained a cult following in the years since.
Eat, slurp, love: 'Tampopo' turns 40