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JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Nostalgia buffs pay homage to 1918 brothel-turned-restaurant

When Tadafumi Yoshizato was in junior high school, his friends hocked his watch so they could go to Osaka's Tobita Shinchi district to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. Now, Yoshizato, a 61-year-old illustrator, goes to enjoy pleasures of a more nostalgic nature.
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 1999

Banking on the euro

The euro was designed to create economies of scale. A single European currency zone was expected to maximize the reach of companies looking to exploit the new supermarket by rationalizing planning and production costs. Proof of the idea's appeal -- and its inevitability -- is the wave of mergers and...
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Japan to urge firms to acquire Russian technology

The government will encourage Japanese companies to acquire the advanced space and military technology of former Soviet republics for nonmilitary use, officials said Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Gubernatorial campaigns kick off

Campaigning for gubernatorial elections slated for April 11 in 12 prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, started Thursday, kicking off the first round of the quadrennial unified local elections.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

The Asahara Trial: Ex-Aum member mum on murder

Three former Aum Shinrikyo members were brought to the witness stand at Thursday's trial session of cult founder Shoko Asahara in connection with the 1995 kidnap and murder of a Tokyo notary worker, but one of them refused to testify.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Meiji Life to offer diabetes coverage

Meiji Life Insurance Co. said Thursday it will offer diabetes and hypertension sufferers insurance coverage beginning April 2.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Local Elections '99: Showdown in cash-dry Tokyo

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Local Elections '99: LDP tying up with opposition

and YOKO HANI Staff writers
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Japan says it 'understands' use of force

Japan "understands" the use of force NATO undertook against Yugoslavia to prevent a further humanitarian catastrophe, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said Thursday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Mar 25, 1999

Cornucopia's savory memories

Spring is here, hard on the heels of Foodex '99, the food-and-beverage spectacular I mentioned two weeks ago during its four-day run at Makuhari Messe.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Sony unit to set up music-distribution service

Digital Media Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corp., will launch a music distribution service through a digital communication satellite broadcaster starting May 12, company officials said Thursday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 25, 1999

Shibuya's best-kept secret -- but you didn't read it here

Publicity can be both good and bad. It can help a restaurant or pub stay open and economically healthy. It can also, however, be the bane of an establishment as well. Too much attention has its downfalls.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 25, 1999

Kokotei: Kamakura cuisine with a view

For most city folk, the best thing about Kamakura is the reassurance that it actually exists. We don't need to go there so often: It's enough to know that, less than an hour away down the JR tracks, there really are quiet backstreets to wander in, temples and monuments exuding a whiff of history, brine...
COMMUNITY
Mar 25, 1999

Nurturing the inner child within us

"Emotional intelligence" is what interests Gabriele Frohlich: the connection between the brain and the heart.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

$4.5 billion in aid pledged to Philippines

Aid donors to the Philippines concluded a two-day Consultative Group meeting Thursday in Tokyo, pledging $4.5 billion in economic aid for 1999 to help Manila combat its economic difficulties.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Greenpeace slams court over arrests, raid

Greenpeace Japan criticized the Tokyo District Court Thursday for not clarifying reasons for the arrest and detention of three Greenpeace activists who staged a demonstration at the March 18 Tokyo Toy Show to protest the use of polyvinyl in toys.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Tepco investors lose lawsuit over atomic reactor

The Tokyo High Court Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by five shareholders of Tokyo Electric Power Co. fighting the resumption of operations at a Tepco atomic reactor in Fukushima Prefecture following an accident in 1989.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Tokorozawa produce not a health threat: ministries

The level of dioxin in produce grown in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, is not substantially above the national average and does not pose any threat to human health, according to a set of emergency government studies released Thursday.
COMMUNITY / CROSSING CULTURES
Mar 25, 1999

Glacial change hard for people more used to avalanche speed

Japan can't change. Change in Japan is glacial. Japanese are stuck in their ways. In Japan, disappointment is what you can expect if you expect change.
COMMUNITY
Mar 25, 1999

Teenage visions of the coming century

Ethiopian Eta Ferahu Tarekegne Gatahun loves lasagna and wants to set a sprint record. Sassy Melissa Corlett, a Hong Kong-born Brit, has no doubts that her future will be fantastic. Eka Sriamarwati, a young Balinese trance dancer, lists a tiny hair clip as her most prized possession. And in Tokyo, Nami...
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 1999

Fingerprints on cyberspace

Now, more than ever before, knowledge is power. The information society puts such a premium on sorting the wheat from the chaff, that relevant facts -- real knowledge -- are invaluable. There is a less recognized corollary of that truism: Data represent profit. Virtual mountains of data are accumulating...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

More nurses called for to avoid mishaps

A national union for nurses and other medical workers urged the government Wednesday to greatly increase the number of nurses to prevent the recurrence of medical accidents they say could be avoided with more medical help.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

60 Japanese advised to leave Yugoslavia

Sixty Japanese citizens in Yugoslavia were urged to leave the NATO-targeted country Tuesday when the government issued an advisory to evacuate, according to the Foreign Ministry.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Local Elections: Megaprojects now nightmare to explain

Staff writer
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 24, 1999

Degrees of separation

You could say they have an affliction. You've probably bumped into them on the street. That is, they bump into you, because they often walk with their eyes fixated on their task, oblivious to any obstacles in their path. You've definitely overheard them chatting on trains, in coffee shops, perhaps even...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

MSDF quits chase after boats flee to international waters

Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers early Wednesday gave up chasing two mystery trawlerlike vessels that had intruded into the nation's territorial waters in the Sea of Japan before fleeing toward North Korea, Defense Agency officials said.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Philippines to get $500 million in new aid

Japan announced an additional $500 million in aid to the Philippines at the beginning of a two-day international meeting Wednesday in Tokyo to draw up measures to help the country cope with its economic difficulties.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Local Elections: Yokoyama campaign offers nothing concrete

OSAKA -- Earlier this week, ahead of today's start of the official campaign period for the Osaka gubernatorial election, Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama announced a 22-point bundle of campaign promises, pledging to make the prefectural government "bright."
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Coalition agrees on deputy minister numbers

The Liberal Democratic Party and Liberal Party agreed Wednesday to introduce 26 deputy minister posts in January 2001, when the government must slim down the administration.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 24, 1999

Kathmandu's bazaar of dreams

Some "old hands" are lamenting what they see as the passing of Asan Tole, that magical path through old Kathmandu where it seems Kipling's "the wildest dreams of Kew" really do come true.

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