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COMMENTARY
Apr 26, 2004

Democracy, Filipino style

MANILA -- Before I moved to Manila two years ago, a Filipino parliamentarian told me about election-related violence in his country. At that time I could hardly believe my ears. Now I have come to understand that ballot snatching, intimidation of voters and even assassinations are a sad reality in many...
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Apr 26, 2004

Commercialization of science comes at a cost

NEW YORK -- The 18th-century American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin declined to claim a patent on the stove he invented. His reason was simple: If whatever he devised made people a little more comfortable during the winter, he'd be content.
COMMENTARY
Apr 25, 2004

Denying terror a moral gain

LONDON -- The terrorist attacks on trains in Madrid in March, which killed more than 200 people and maimed or wounded hundreds more, were planned and executed by Islamic extremists from Morocco, probably with connections to al-Qaeda. It has been claimed that the attacks were inspired by opposition to...
Japan Times
Features / LIFE OR DEATH
Apr 25, 2004

Back from the brink after living 28 years on death row

He heard the footsteps approaching down the hall outside. He sat still, barely breathing. The other cells lay equally silent. None of the other condemned prisoners moved. No one spoke. Those footsteps meant only one thing: there was going to be a hanging.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Apr 23, 2004

Jazz retreat for night and day

Volontaire is a soothing retreat for jazz lovers that has stood its ground for the last three decades in Harajuku -- a neighborhood where bars change like the season's fashions. In Yuri Sakanoue's 27 years behind the counter, she has seen them all come and go. Unmoved, she has steadfastly maintained...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 21, 2004

The best gift a son could give

Les Invasions barbares Rating: * * * * (out of 5) Director: Denys Arcand Running time: 99 minutes Language: French Open April 24 [See Japan Times movie listings] In "Les Invasions barbares (Barbarian Invasions)," a dying father pulls his grown-up son to his chest and says, "When you...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 21, 2004

A look on the dark side of life

Sir Antony Sher was born near Cape Town, South Africa, in 1949. He moved to Britain in 1968 to attend drama school. His breakthrough performance was as Richard III for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1984-5. Since then he has received many acting honors and was knighted in 2000.
EDITORIALS
Apr 20, 2004

Remembering Saint-Exupery

Which is better: a mystery or a clue? Absence or a relic? Proponents of both sides had plenty to say this month after French researchers discovered part of the answer to a puzzle that's endured nearly 60 years: Whatever happened to Antoine de Saint-Exupery?
JAPAN / TALKING SHOP
Apr 19, 2004

Samsung exec taps Japan insights to cut through the verbiage

Kim Jong Shin learned Japanese while hauling fish to market part time, stewing in hot springs and touring 350 historical sites in all 47 prefectures.
Japan Times
Features
Apr 18, 2004

Hanging by a thread

Spurned by many top Japanese designers, patchy in quality and sprawling over a month at a mishmash of venues, the twice-yearly Tokyo Collections -- whose fall/winter 2004/05 shows end this week -- still lay claim to being the highpoints of Asia's fashion year. But are Tokyo's days numbered as the `Paris...
Japan Times
Features
Apr 18, 2004

New rich fashion a Shanghai style of sorts

SHANGHAI -- "There is nothing the Cantonese will refuse to eat, and nothing the Shanghainese will refuse to wear" is a popular Chinese adage harking back to Shanghai's 1930s heyday when it had a worldwide reputation for decadence and glamour.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 18, 2004

"C'mon Miracle": Mirah

Wielding the purest voice of anyone on the Pacific Northwest indie scene, Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn has become the token female singer-songwriter on Calvin Johnson's proudly lo-fi K Records label, and is probably more famous for her work with Phil Elvrum's psych-pop band The Microphones than she is for her...
JAPAN
Apr 17, 2004

Hostage drama highlights SDF's tough role in Iraq

The hostage crisis involving three Japanese civilians highlighted the worsening security situation in Iraq.
EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2004

Cyprus at a crossroads

If a U.N. reunification plan is accepted by both Greek and Turkish residents in referendums later this month, the island will be reunited, ending four decades of ethnic conflict. If it is rejected, the people of Cyprus will have missed a historic opportunity for both peaceful reconciliation and to join...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 14, 2004

Coen bros.' latest just makes the cut

In the Cut Rating: * * (out of 5) Director: Jane Campion Running time: 119 minutes Language: English Currently showing [See Japan Times movie listings] Intolerable Cruelty Rating: * * * 1/2 (out of 5) Director: Joel Coen Running time: 102 minutes Language: English Currently...
CULTURE / Film
Apr 14, 2004

Drawn to the future

Born in 1964, Fumihiko Sori joined Tokyo Broadcasting System, one of Japan's Big Four TV networks, in 1988. In 1996 he entered the film department of the University of Southern California and later assisted James Cameron with the VFX work for "Titanic." After returning to Japan he worked as a VFX supervisor...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 14, 2004

VIPs made to feel at home in the Hyatt's floating world

The Park Hyatt Tokyo is, as Coppola has described it, a quiet floating island 39 floors above the cacophony and chaos of Shinjuku. Occupying the top 14 floors of the 52-story Shinjuku Park Tower, the hotel exudes an aura of calm and comfort that has induced many CEOs and celebrities -- including Coppola...
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2004

Hostage nightmare continues

Patience is running thin as efforts to have three Japanese hostages in Iraq freed drag on with no apparent progress. The crisis appeared to have been nearing a resolution on Sunday morning when the kidnappers issued a statement saying that they would release the civilians within 24 hours. But the deadline...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 11, 2004

Chosuke Ikariya: the professional amateur

In his autobiography, Chosuke Ikariya, who died two weeks ago at the age of 72, mentions that when he won a Japan Academy Award in 1999 for his performance in "Odoru Daisosasen (Bayside Shakedown)" he felt guilty because he had never taken acting that seriously. It sounds like the requisite modesty of...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 11, 2004

Keeping ghosts in the family

STRANGERS, by Taichi Yamada, translated by Wayne Lammers. New York: Vertical, Inc., 2003, 204 pp., $19.95 (cloth). Orphaned as a child, a middle-aged TV script writer wanders back to Asakusa where he was born. "A forlorn air hung about the area . . . streets empty even at midday . . . the atmosphere...
Japan Times
Features
Apr 11, 2004

Women in noh

Backstage at a noh theater in downtown Tokyo, the play was about to begin.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2004

Opposition blames dispatch for crisis

Opposition parties on Friday reiterated their criticism of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi following the kidnapping this week of three Japanese civilians by militants in Iraq, saying the dispatch of Self-Defense Forces personnel to Iraq caused the crisis.
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2004

Rehatched Tamagotchi pets can play dating game

Every parent knows how exhausting it can be answering newborn babies' every beck and call: the constant feedings, diaper changes and rocking them to sleep while they wail.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 9, 2004

Chelsea's performance makes Abramovich look foolish

LONDON -- There was a wonderful cameo of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich captured on television after Wayne Bridge scored the winner at Arsenal to send the Blues into the Champions League semifinals.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 9, 2004

BayStars sweep toothless Tigers

Catcher Ryoji Aikawa drove in a pair of runs Thursday to lead the Yokohama BayStars to a 4-0 victory over the Hanshin Tigers and a three-game sweep of the defending Central League champions.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Apr 8, 2004

Thomas, Bird bury hatchet over messy ending in Indy

NEW YORK -- Contrary to popular perception, Tuesday's Knicks-Pacers game at Conseco Field House was not the first time Isiah Thomas and Larry Bird were under the same roof since Indiana's president elected to fire his shocked coach and replace him with Rick Carlisle.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Apr 8, 2004

Namco has a hit on its hands

It's not often that I review games that I can't pronounce; but on a recent visit to Namco's corporate offices in Tokyo, I could not get my lips around the name "Katamari Damashii."

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat