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COMMUNITY
May 2, 1999

Relaxation therapy for busy people

Shiatsu, acupuncture and moxibustion are for older men -- at least, that's what was believed.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 2, 1999

A remarkable lady

There should be trumpets. On May 8 at 10 a.m., Music for Youth will celebrate its 60th anniversary. The program with the New Japan Philharmonic will repeat MFY's first concert in 1939, which was designed to help young people enjoy and appreciate classical music. In this program, Schubert's "March Militaire"...
COMMUNITY
May 2, 1999

Not just a fancy rock collection

Kiyosumi Gardens' overgrown rock collection and pristine pond are a haven for the elderly who frequent it -- lunch box and camera in hand.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 1999

A promise of change for women

It sometimes seems that the government chooses vague-sounding titles and odd release times for white papers and other official documents that contain information likely to embarrass Japanese officials when dealing with their foreign counterparts. This was the case when the Prime Minister's Office issued...
COMMENTARY
May 1, 1999

Obuchi confounds the skeptics

The Lower House on Tuesday approved a legislative package for implementing the updated Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines and sent it immediately to the Upper House. The action came after agreement among the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party (the LDP's junior coalition partner)...
CULTURE / Stage
May 1, 1999

Expressing the microcosmos

Butoh dancer Goro Namerikawa, an ex-member of the Sankaijuku, and his troupe Art Amorphus will be holding a collaborative dance performance titled "Liminality" with Christophe Charles, a French composer and musician who has performed extensively in Japan and internationally. The event will take place...
CULTURE / Stage
May 1, 1999

Timeless tale grabs new audience

NEW YORK -- The final segment of Saeko Ichinohe's imaginative three-part dance project "The Tale of Genji" premiered at a theater at New York's Lincoln Center Plaza April 6, as part of a gala event that included a formal dinner and the Second Annual Cultural Bridge Awards.
CULTURE / Art
May 1, 1999

Unlocking the mysteries of violin-making

Violin-making is sometimes called a "lost art." More than 300 years ago, Italian great violin maker Antonio Stradivari succeeded in raising the craft of violin-making to the level of perfection. The master, however, died in 1737 without passing on the secrets of his acoustically perfect violins, even...
CULTURE / Art
May 1, 1999

To capture a moment

Photographer Jason Unrau does a lot of waiting at gigs. He glues his eye to the camera and anticipates the moment when it all comes together. If it does, he can create a picture which, as he likes to put it, "has sound."
CULTURE / Art
May 1, 1999

Chronicling Japan's modern century

Japanese-style painter Kiyokata Kaburaki's 93 years (1878-1972) spanned Japan's great modern transformation. As a popular illustrator he chronicled the changing Japanese lifestyle; as an artist he played an important part in the great wave of creativity in nihonga (Japanese-style painting) during the...
COMMUNITY
May 1, 1999

Atlus' latest offering is just talons of fun

The company that launched Print Club stickers, which had armies of schoolgirls everywhere collecting and swapping mini-photo stickers of themselves, believes it has got its hands on another hit. Atlus Co. in Tokyo has produced a machine that does your nails.
CULTURE / Music
May 1, 1999

Playing the oldies but goodies

Real classical Japanese music is a rare thing today. There is a wide-ranging repertoire for Japanese traditional instruments, but there are few performers who specialize in the classics of these genres, or whose musical education focused on those classics.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 1999

On the road to recovery

The outlook for the world economy is improving. The most recent World Economic Outlook, issued last week by the International Monetary Fund, forecasts 2.3 percent growth this year, and should climb to 3.4 percent in 2000. IMF First Deputy Managing Director Stanley Fischer opined earlier this week that...
JAPAN
Apr 30, 1999

Ishihara repeats junk bond pledge

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Friday his campaign pledge to establish a junk bond market -- a high yield stock market for small and midsize enterprises -- will be realized within the year.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 1999

March unemployment rate renews record high at 4.8%

Japan's unemployment rate in March rose to yet another record high of 4.8 percent, figures released Friday show, prompting the government to announce emergency plans to alleviate the situation.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 1999

Ready for 2000?: Shinkansen on track for Y2K compliance

Fifth in an occasional series on Japan's Y2K preparedness
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Apr 30, 1999

Buffalo Daughter reinvents new rock again

After more than a year of touring, remixing, producing and more touring, Buffalo Daughter has returned home to the more mundane matters of daily life. Bassist and Moog player extraordinaire Yumiko Ohno recently tied the knot with longtime paramour Zak (producer of the Fishmans among others) while DJ...
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 30, 1999

Kee Company travels down 'Narrow Road' of discovery

Matsuo Basho (1644-94) regarded as the father of modern haiku poetry, spent the latter years of his life hiking across Japan and recording his journeys in various travel sketches. The most famous of these travel journals titled "Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)," is a work of linked...
JAPAN
Apr 30, 1999

Atlus' latest offering fueling fingertip fetish

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 30, 1999

Japan sending envoy to Libya for post-sanction ties

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Apr 29, 1999

Break the stalemate with Russia

During a recent meeting in Moscow, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and Russian President Boris Yeltsin reaffirmed a 1997 Russo-Japanese agreement that the two nations will do their utmost to sign a long-pending peace treaty by 2000. Mr. Hashimoto, who enjoys a close personal relationship with...
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

Osaka feels blindsided, cheated out of summit

OSAKA -- Thursday's announcement by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi that next year's Group of Eight summit will be held in Okinawa, Fukuoka, and Miyazaki came as a bitter disappointment to Osaka officials, who until recently believed their city was the front-runner.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

State-employed Sony candidate upset with civil servant law

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

Nago to host G8; Fukuoka, Miyazaki get ministers

After weeks of heated debate and lobbying, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi decided Thursday that Japan will hold the 2000 summit of the Group of Eight major powers in the city of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

74% of firms project pension fund shortages

More than 70 percent of the nation's corporate pension programs at the end of March were either short on reserves or expecting a shortage soon, according to survey results released Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

Nago's selection seen as peace offering from state

The surprise decision by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to hold the main event of next year's Group of Eight summit in Okinawa apparently reflects the desire of the central government to improve ties with the prefecture under Gov. Keiichi Inamine.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 1999

Restructuring isn't the cure-all for Japan

It must be lonely at the International Monetary Fund. Fiscal disciplinarians are never the life of the party, but the fund's tight-fisted solutions to economic crises have antagonized governments from Malaysia to Moscow, from Bangkok to Brazil.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

Translation school moving onto the Net

Staff writer
COMMUNITY
Apr 29, 1999

And the Oscar goes to Splendor

Anais Anais by Cacherel first introduced me to the powers of perfume at age 12. No one told me you weren't supposed to overdo it. So not only did I leave no area of skin unscented, but I also fumigated every letter to my first boyfriend while he was away at summer camp. I began to realize the potent...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 29, 1999

D-I-V-O-R-C-E becomes final in one day

While divorce in Japan is increasing at what some people might call an alarming rate, it is still less common than it is in most Western countries, particularly the U.S., where it's projected that between half and two-thirds of all couples who marry this year will someday split.

Longform

Traditional folk rituals like Mizudome-no-mai (dance to stop the rain) provide a sense of agency to a population that feels largely powerless in the face of the climate crisis.
As climate extremes intensify, Japan embraces ancient weather rituals