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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 29, 2003

"Synkretizm: A Mountain Thinking the River Fire."

Voodoo, with its mix of West African mysticism and French Catholicism, plays a vital role in the lives of Haiti's rural poor, but it gets a bad rap elsewhere. For the faithful, the communion of saints and shamans offers even the most piteous peasant his own sliver of paradise. But to outsiders, voodoo...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jan 29, 2003

A true master of the art of making photographs

I remember once playing a little mind game with Tokyo-based photographer Torin Boyd. We were sitting in a Kabukicho bar, looking through his portfolio. Every time I said something about "taking pictures," in his response he substituted the verb "make" for the verb "take," as in "I made this picture last...
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

Shiokawa set to bolster budget review

Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa said Tuesday he wants to strengthen the government's review of the use of budget money in fiscal 2003 as a Cabinet-wide initiative.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2003

Teachers snub new guidelines

More than half the elementary and junior high school teachers responding to a poll disfavor new guidelines introduced last April by the education ministry, saying the reduced curriculum is lowering children's academic abilities, according to a survey by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2003

Panel members at odds over Monju ruling

Members of the Atomic Energy Commission on Tuesday voiced mixed views over a high court ruling the previous day that nullified the government's approval in 1983 of the Monju fast-breeder reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 29, 2003

The end of art history and the last laugh

Since 1984, the National Museum of Art, Osaka, and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, have been examining trends in contemporary art in a series of exhibitions titled "A Perspective on Contemporary Art." Pay a visit to the latest in the series, though, and you might be forgiven for wondering exactly...
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2003

Obiuary: Jean-Jacques Origas

Jean-Jacques Origas, a French scholar of Japanese literature and expert in Japanese-language teaching, died Sunday at a hospital in a Paris suburb, sources in Japan who were close to him said. He was 65.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

LDP mulls letting insurers cut yields

A group of legislators in the Liberal Democratic Party has started considering ways to enable life insurers to cut guaranteed yields to policyholders, including a proposal for the Financial Services Agency to order financially troubled firms to make the cuts, it was reported Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 29, 2003

And this year's ceramics winners are. . .

Awards. We all love them, whether they are for movies, music, or for sports personalities. The art world here in Japan is no different, and there are many awards to honor those who have excelled in their respective art forms.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

Sony executive Ohga decides to retire

Norio Ohga, Sony Corp.'s chairman of the board, said Tuesday he will step down for health reasons.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

Retail, wholesale sales drop a combined 3.7% in 2002

Domestic wholesale and retail sales fell a combined 3.7 percent in 2002 to 582.27 trillion yen, declining for the 11th straight year and by the largest margin since 1999, the government said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 29, 2003

Skymark aims to profit from shuffle

Skymark Airlines Co. said Tuesday that President Takashi Ide has been replaced by Masayuki Inoue, formerly of British Airways, as part of a shakeup at the executive level.
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2003

Can we trust 'Davos man'?

The rich, the powerful and the famous last week descended once again on the Swiss village of Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). This year, the assembled luminaries pondered the loss of "trust" that has sapped institutions worldwide. The question is a vital one. Of the many...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2003

Ling Ling jets off to Mexico to mate with three pandas

Ling Ling, the only giant panda at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, departed Monday for Mexico for a third attempt at breeding with female pandas there, following two previous failures.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2003

Woman, 85, killed with roller skate

Police arrested a Dutch man Sunday evening for allegedly killing an elderly woman in Tokyo by hitting her on the head with a roller skate, police officials said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2003

Carmakers saw global output increase in 2002

Despite a shrinking domestic market, Japan's five major carmakers all increased global vehicle production in 2002, thanks to strong demand in North America, Europe and Asia, according to data released by the firms Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2003

Tepco plans to enter gas wholesaling via Tokyo Gas pipelines

The Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to enter natural gas wholesaling in fiscal 2004 by leasing pipelines owned by Tokyo Gas Co., Tepco sources said Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2003

Scholarship funds available for media-related research

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan is accepting applications for FCCJ Swadesh DeRoy scholarship funds to support students conducting research on media-related subjects involving Japan.
COMMENTARY
Jan 28, 2003

Court sends LDP a message

Two recent moves by judiciary and law-enforcement authorities are a grave warning against the Liberal Democratic Party's pork-barrel politics. One is the Supreme Court rejection of an appeal by former Construction Minister Kishiro Nakamura against a Tokyo High Court ruling that found him guilty of taking...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2003

Nonbinding water forum declaration to tout private funds and rice paddies

The government has compiled the rough draft of a declaration to be adopted at an international conference on water issues in March, calling for a greater injection of funds and technology to make safe drinking water available to more people worldwide.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2003

BOJ debate focused on inflation target

The Bank of Japan Policy Board discussed the theory of inflation-targeting at its meeting Dec. 16-17, with several members agreeing it would be an inappropriate policy lever to pull in an attempt to overcome deflation, according to minutes of the meeting released Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2003

No reprieve for Empress' home

The Tokyo District Court on Monday dismissed a plea by local residents for a provisional injunction to prevent the former home of Empress Michiko from being demolished.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2003

Appliance sales slipped 8.5% in 2002

Sales of home electrical appliances at big retailers totaled 2.46 trillion yen in 2002, down 8.5 percent from a year earlier for the second consecutive year of decline, the Nippon Electric Big-Stores Association said in a preliminary report Monday.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2003

Okuda pushes yield cuts by insurers

Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), said Monday he may tolerate a cut in the guaranteed yields offered by life insurers to their policyholders.

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