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LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Apr 17, 2001

Travel from lions to sharks by luxury train

It is 2 p.m. on a cloudless, Friday afternoon. Windhoek's colonial-era station simmers sleepily in the hot sun of Namibia, southwest Africa.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2001

Reflections on the Asia crisis and Western solutions

Perhaps it was a good job that Supachai did not stand in Thailand's January elections, saying he wanted to devote all of his time to preparing to take over at the WTO.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Apr 15, 2001

Love and commiseration, all in a day's work

Show-biz synergy reaches critical mass Saturday with the premiere of "Ashita ga Arusa" (NTV, 9 p.m.). The title, which translates as "there is a tomorrow," meaning you should work hard because the future is always staring you in the face, was also the title of a popular song by Kyu Sakamoto in the '60s....
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Apr 15, 2001

Let's raise a glass to the final batch

The sake brewing season is drawing to a close. Except for the handful of large breweries that brew year-round in climate-controlled factories, most sakagura (breweries) will be finishing up their brewing sometime this month. Naturally, there will be ceremonies connected with significant activities within...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 15, 2001

Style as something you buy rather than cultivate

I always leaf through Katei Gaho in my dentist's waiting room. In fact, it's the only place I've ever had a chance to peruse it. Printed on the heaviest glossy paper money can buy, the magazine is more notable for its heft than its content, which is beautifully photographed clothing and household goods...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 14, 2001

Russia's dark clouds have silver linings

LONDON -- Forty years ago Thursday, Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to go into space. Last month, the decrepit space station Mir plunged back into the atmosphere, incinerating among other things the photograph of a youthful, happy Gagarin (he died in a plane crash in 1968) that had hung on...
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2001

The great Tiger Woods debate

Semantics and politics make a familiar pair. Every other day, it seems, something crops up in the mine-strewn worlds of domestic or international politics that makes us stop and think about the meaning of words. One day it's a foreign president's legalistic musings about the meaning of "is," the next,...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Apr 14, 2001

Sylvie Gramegna

"Small and beautiful" is the description people use when they speak of Luxembourg. This little country, tucked between Belgium, Germany and France, has for centuries been a meeting place of Germanic and Latin cultures. It is known for being open to the movement of people and the different influences...
EDITORIALS
Apr 13, 2001

Diplomacy does the trick

The United States and China have resolved their crisis. Diplomats crafted a statement that allowed both sides to save face and permitted the 24 members of the U.S. spy plane to go home. The peaceful resolution of the standoff is a victory for diplomacy. Just as important, however, both governments now...
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2001

Whaling should not overshadow trade talks: Clark

While Wellington and Tokyo must agree to disagree over Japan's whaling program, the issue should not impede trade ties, visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2001

Issei's love of America tempered

A loyal American who cherishes Japanese values inherited from his issei parents, Henry Ikemoto's life bridges two cultures.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Apr 12, 2001

Environment takes back seat to U.S. economic recovery

U.S. President George W. Bush continued his personal campaign to change previous U.S. policy two weeks ago by renouncing the nation's commitment to limit industrial emissions of carbon dioxide. He did it shortly after Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman had given the...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2001

Will Pyongyang split U.S., South Korea?

SEOUL -- The recent shakeup in Seoul's foreign policy and security team in the aftermath of the Washington summit represents a double effort to patch up relations with the United States, while persuading North Korea to come back to the bargaining table. Both tasks require supreme diplomatic skill.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 12, 2001

From ridiculous to sublime: the arguments of a fossil fool

Last month, the White House announced that U.S. President George W. Bush would not support the Kyoto Protocol because it "is not in the United States' economic best interests." The protocol is aimed at reducing human emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, that contribute to global...
CULTURE / Film / SHORT TAKES
Apr 11, 2001

Nostalgic views of youth and rebellion

Almost Famous Rating: * * * * Japanese title: 'Ano Kono Penny Lane To' Director:Cameron Crowe Running time: 122 minutes Language: English This spring's pure pop treat is a largely autobiographical tale by Cameron Crowe, a superior piece of '70s nostalgia that deals with his own memories of working...
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2001

The hazards of reform -- British-style

LONDON -- Forget sagging stock markets and omens of world recession. Forget global warming and U.S. President George W. Bush's rejection of the Kyoto treaty on carbon emissions. Forget, even, the foot-and-mouth disease that is currently paralyzing Britain's farming and tourist industries and has caused...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 11, 2001

So far, so good for Tigers' foreign contingent

Most everyone (including this writer) picked the Hanshin Tigers to finish last in the Central League standings in 2001 for the third straight season. However, nine games into the schedule, the team does not look so bad. There are some good looking young players (rookie shortstop Yoshinori Okihara, for...
CULTURE / Music / HIGH NOTES
Apr 11, 2001

Hang on the Box's 'Yellow Banana'

All-girl Beijing band Hang on the Box is one of the few punk rock bands right now who literally wear their credentials on their sleeves, dressing the part as well as playing the music. They wouldn't look out of place in 1976 London. It's all a bit naff, you might think. But remarkably, Hang on the Box's...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 11, 2001

Signs of an artistically lived life

Living in a country where reading involves interpreting thousands of characters from four different writing systems, it is interesting to reflect on the economy of the English-language alphabet. Isn't it just a little amazing that everything from Shakespeare to the newspaper you are holding in your hands...
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Rice farmer ends family tradition by turning to flowers, vegetables

AKITA -- Masakazu Miyakawa, 38, a resident of the village of Ogata in Akita Prefecture, sat in his flower seedling greenhouse one April night three years ago, worrying about his farm.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Ainu-language picture book, CD released

Efforts by an independent TV producer in Tokyo to hand down the traditions of the Ainu and their history have come to fruition via an illustrated storybook and a compact disc.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Spring is couple's harbinger of sorrow

Yukitomo and Mitsuko Hiraga do not anticipate the onset of spring with the same relish as most others. Each April, as cherry trees in full bloom welcome freshmen to colleges, the couple are reminded of their son who died soon after taking the first step toward his dream.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 7, 2001

Daiei's foreign legion helps snap Hawks' losing streak at five

The Daiei Hawks snapped their losing streak at five on Friday after beating the Chiba Lotte Marines 4-1 at Chiba Marine Stadium thanks to a strong showing from their foreign contingent.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2001

A view of the world from sidewalk level

Nami Kawase finds it hard to sit down. The world is too exciting. There are too many people to talk to, even if she can't speak their language.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 7, 2001

Japan tied with India in Oceania tennis tournament

Japan and India were tied at one match each after the first day of their Davis Cup Asia Oceania Zone Group One second-round tie at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2001

A springtime dilemma

It has become an annual event. At about the same time that the cherry blossoms in Tokyo are at their peak, Japan faces a big foreign-policy headache: how to respond to the United States-led efforts to censure China at the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
LIFE / Lifestyle / JET STREAM
Apr 6, 2001

Opening the doors to the world

"How many Islamic people are there in the world?" Andrea Landis asks a class of 11th-graders at Ohara High School.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 5, 2001

Everything comes together in 'Black & White' world

"Black & White" Platform: PC, Internet Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Lionhead Studios Rating: * * * * 4.5 out of 5 stars Peter Molyneux is a genius.
JAPAN
Apr 5, 2001

Local governments update operations

Moves are afoot to dismantle the entrenched vertical structure of the administrative system as prefectural governments and municipalities try to cope with the decentralization of the central government.

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