By BEN HAMAMOTO
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

Machiavelli once said something to the effect of, “If you’re going to do something terrible, make it the first thing you do, that way, anything you do after that point will seem good by comparison.” After watching “Memoirs Of A Geisha,” I couldn’t help but think of that advice.

By BILLIE LEE
Nichi Bei Times Correspondent

SAN JOSE -- With the closing of Dobashi Market on Fourth Street in Japantown about the end of January 2006, a large chunk of the history of Japantown will go with it.

By KATHY AOKI
Nichi Bei Times

President George W. Bush knows selecting a United States Supreme Court Justice is difficult. Getting John Roberts nominated and confirmed took work but when Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination Bush’s best laid plans went awry. Samuel A. Alito was nominated to succeed Sandra Day O’Connor.

By JEFF ASAI
Nichi Bei Times

What did the Japanese flower say to the bee? Wasaaaaabi?

If this is the kind of joke that amuses your Japanese American friends, I have good news for you; we are living in an age of Asianization.

By KAI YOSHIDA
Nichi Bei Times

To tell the story of the Hukilau restaurants is to tell a story of 1) food and 2) friends. Everything about the business, from its beginnings to the way it’s currently operated, centers around these two things.

By SAYAKA MATSUMOTO
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

BERKELEY -- For the past decade, the Berkeley High School Yellowjackets have dominated the world of girls' high school basketball.

By SAYAKA MATSUMOTO
Nichi Bei Times Contributor

Ann Shiraishi just celebrated her 20^th birthday a week ago, but her birthday wasn’t the only milestone she was celebrating this year.

By KAI YOSHIDA
Nichi Bei Times

When the Dang family decided to open their own business, it made sense to incorporate the two places where they grew up: San Francisco’s Japantown and Hawai‘i.