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LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Feb 10, 2002

Home with the best

Being the youngest in a large family meant, in my case, becoming an auntie when I was still in my teens. And during my long self-exile in Japan, I patiently awaited the arrival of a new generation of travelers -- but then started feeling neglected as one nephew and niece after another circled the world...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 6, 2002

The Japa-Rican Dream

NEW YORK -- From a New Yorker's point of view, young Japanese actor Masayasu Nakanishi definitely has chutzpah. How many other people would go out of their way to flash their dreams and frustrations in public, especially when the defeats equal or outnumber the successes?
Japan Times
JAPAN / WORKING IT OUT
Feb 5, 2002

Are 'freeters' result of slump, source of next one?

Tomoko Noguchi, 22, got her first bar hostess job about three years ago, while studying to become an aesthetician at a vocational school.
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2002

Back on the trolley

The objects of nostalgia are always receding. In the stories of Nagai Kafu, for example, electric trolleys (also called trams or streetcars) are viewed as ugly symbols of everything that is new and un-Japanese. His characters ride them out of necessity, but walk or take a rickshaw whenever they can....
COMMUNITY
Jan 27, 2002

We've lost that food-loving feeling

Feeling hungry? Luckily, those of us living in the here-and-now can eat almost anything we want, anytime we want -- and as much as we like.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 23, 2002

Royal treatment for a princely collection

The queen of the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Krakow is undoubtedly the "Lady With an Ermine," one of the few surviving portraits by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Jan 23, 2002

Brian Wilson's 'Pet Sounds Tour'

For most people, whose impression of The Beach Boys probably begins and ends with pop ditties like "Help Me Rhonda" or "Surfer Girl," it might be difficult to fathom that the band's 1966 album, "Pet Sounds," is ranked right up there with "Sgt. Pepper."
BUSINESS
Jan 23, 2002

Drug approved for kidney ailment

OSAKA -- Tanabe Seiyaku Co. said Tuesday its hypertension treatment drug Tanatril has been approved for treatment of diabetic nephropathy, a kidney abnormality.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2002

Senior vice foreign minister to visit Seoul to kick off year of exchanges

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Shigeo Uetake will visit Seoul next week to help kick off a year of friendship exchanges between Japan and South Korea.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jan 15, 2002

The hippy haven that actually worked

In 1951, the Llwyngwern slate quarry in central North Wales closed down, causing many redundancies.
COMMENTARY
Jan 12, 2002

Japan's economic black hole

Realism is finally impinging on the economic debate here. The "structural reform" ideologues may remain blind to the contradiction between urging privatization and liberalization even as they are being forced effectively to nationalize a banking system suffering from past liberalization excesses. But...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 9, 2002

Back from the brink

The German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) said that people not drawing on 3,000 years of tradition are living on the edge of extinction. How, then, did Japanese craftsmen recover from the trauma of World War II, when their proud traditions, seemingly tainted by recent history, were thrown...
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2002

Ministry to help protein researchers succeed in global race for patents

The science ministry will form a team of experts in April to help research bodies obtain international patents and beat the competition in protein research linked to new drugs, ministry officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2002

Architect blames Japan cityscapes on obsession with wealth

Japan's cities have been criticized for lacking the harmony and consistence felt in other countries, especially in Europe. But that's not a result of poor city planning; the disarray of structures in Tokyo and Osaka simply mirror the country's postwar obsession with material wealth, according to architect...
JAPAN
Jan 5, 2002

Health law designed to cut 'lifestyle illnesses'

The health ministry plans to draft a law to make local governments design health promotion plans to prevent diseases related to smoking and other vices, ministry officials said Friday.
COMMUNITY
Dec 30, 2001

O-Shogatsu: a custom-made holiday

Yoshio Mamiya doesn't need reminding that o-shogatsu is almost here. For several weeks, the 78-year-old craftsman has been working 12-hour days, seven days a week at his studio in the Sanno district of Tokyo's Ota Ward, where he busily stitches away to meet his customers' demand to renew their domestic...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2001

Japan increasingly embraces dancing

Japan is increasingly embracing all kinds of dancing.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 27, 2001

Resolve to raise a toast to thinking globally

With only days to go before 2002, New Year's resolutions are in order -- in theory, anyway. Whatever we promise, one thing is certain: Resolutions, viewed from this side of Jan. 1, are always made with the best of intentions.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 26, 2001

Simply, the best

This was a year in which the most memorable screen image belonged to reality, not cinema. Indeed, as many have noted, the spectacle of airline jets ramming into the World Trade Center towers was all too reminiscent of a Hollywood blockbuster's money shot -- and that may have been the point. Terrorists...
LIFE / Lifestyle / LEARNING BY HEART
Dec 21, 2001

Children learn life's hardest lesson

On a recent Friday, I swung open the gate to my daughter's school yard. I was expecting to find the usual crowd of mothers milling outside in the garden. But I knew something was dreadfully wrong when a teacher solemnly ushered me toward a full, but silent classroom. Inside, the mothers sat, wiping their...
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2001

Fairer pension for women sought

The nation's public pension program, which has long favored the full-time housewife over the full-time working woman, may finally balance the scales, bringing a major impact to women's lifestyles.
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 9, 2001

Sustainability begins at home

OSAKA -- As an official of the Yasu Town Government in Shiga Prefecture, Yoshitaka Endo knew it would be easy to draw up a plan of action for improving the local environment. But from experience, he also knew such a plan would not work unless the townspeople viewed it as their own. So he called on local...
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Dec 7, 2001

Taking centerstage without clamming up

On his first visit to Urato Junior High School a year and a half ago, David Goldberg was awestruck. He was glad that he had followed his predecessor's advice to take a camera along. On the early morning 30-minute ferry ride from Shiogama City in Miyagi Prefecture to the island of Nonoshima, Goldberg...
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2001

In the footsteps of a master of deception

Following Rating: * * * * Director: Christopher Nolan Running time: 69 minutes Language: English Now showing
SUMO
Dec 2, 2001

Hawaii's heavyweight hero is living his dream

Musashimaru is one of only two top-ranked yokozuna currently in Japan's national sport of sumo (the other is Takanohana), and last weekend he won the autumn basho in Fukuoka -- a victory that will boost earnings already estimated at 60 million yen a year.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2001

Lee Teng-hui on a mission to save his vision of Taiwan

NEW YORK -- Taiwan will hold an election Saturday to choose members of the national Parliament, mayors and county magistrates. The outcome will have a lasting impact on Taiwan's future -- in particular on its relationship with China.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2001

Some like it chemical

Original Sin Rating: * * * Japanese title: Poison Director: Michael Cristofer Running time: 116 minutes Language: English Now showing
Japan Times
Events
Nov 27, 2001

Kyoto locals slam fall traffic jams

KYOTO -- The Arashiyama area, situated in the northwestern part of this ancient city, is famous for its colored leaves at this time of the year and the many temples that serve as sightseeing spots for enjoying the natural beauty.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?