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ENVIRONMENT
May 15, 1999

Desert dome fosters research into arid climes, desertification

TOTTORI -- A huge glass dome structure near Japan's largest sand dune houses a research institution to combat desertification -- a serious threat to the global environment. Tottori University's Arid Land Research Center is also developing ways to promote sustainable agriculture in arid areas.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
May 14, 1999

U.F.O. travels the globe in style

With their natty suits and sleek musical grooves that fuse jazzy samples with dance beats, U.F.O. has epitomized a certain perception of Tokyo as fashionable and cosmopolitan, ever since "I Love My Baby (My Baby Loves Jazz)" catapulted across the world's dance floors in 1991.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
May 11, 1999

Got those Irish, Delta, Okinawan blues

CELTIC CHARM -- The Chieftains and fiddler Eileen Ivers will perform together and separately in Tokyo this month.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Reform of Diet debate questioned

Staff writer
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Assembly rejects Ishihara's vice governor nominee

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's attempt to appoint his right-hand man vice governor was blocked Monday by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, casting a shadow over his relations with the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito-controlled body.
JAPAN
May 10, 1999

Hyogo opens support center for foreign firms

KOBE -- The Hyogo Investment Support Center held its opening ceremony Monday afternoon at the Kobe International House in central Kobe.
JAPAN
May 7, 1999

Dioxin: Levels high in incinerator-happy Japan

Last in a series Staff writer
JAPAN
May 7, 1999

Ishihara's old secretary unlikely to get position

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly is likely to shelve or vote down Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's nomination of his former secretary as vice governor, political sources said Friday.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
May 5, 1999

Looking for something?

Run a Web search and what do you get? Often it's a lot more than you bargained for. I'm not talking about the reams of irrelevant, redundant and irretrievable data that often gets tangled in your throw net. (You should know by now that you're bound to get a certain amount of this stuff no matter how...
JAPAN
May 4, 1999

Daiei says aloha to Ala Moana for $810 million

Debt-ridden supermarket chain Daiei Inc. has finished negotiations to sell the upscale Ala Moana Center mall in Hawaii to major U.S. shopping mall operator General Growth Properties Limited Partnership, company officials said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 4, 1999

Childhood memories of Calcutta under the Raj

CHILDHOOD DAYS: A Memoir, by Satyajit Ray, translated by Bijoya Ray. New Delhi: Penguin Books (India), 174 pp., with b/w photos and pen drawings by Satyajit Ray, Rs 200. The memoirs of film directors are often confined to early memories. Ingmar Bergman writes of his childhood, Akira Kurosawa gets up...
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...
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.
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

Translation school moving onto the Net

Staff writer
JAPAN
Apr 29, 1999

MSDF tries out new sea patrol tactics

Staff writer
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Apr 28, 1999

Tyranny of temptation

The future was supposed to be darker. Technology, in the service of some vast, all-encompassing power, was going to enslave us. Human beings would be reduced to ciphers, forced to live anonymous, interchangeable lives.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 1999

Africa's image worries ambassadors

Ambassadors from five African nations said Tuesday that their continent's image and perception in Japan is too negative and that mutual understanding about Africa is needed at a grassroots level.
JAPAN
Apr 27, 1999

Ishihara calls for foreigners' rights

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said Tuesday that the Constitution should be amended to recognize the rights of foreign nationals settled in Japan on a long-term basis.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 27, 1999

The Tokyo guide for Tokyo-lovers

A View of the City, by Donald Richie, with photographs by Joel Sackett. London: Reaktion Books, 143 pp. No one is indifferent to Tokyo. Most people dislike it. It's huge, it's ugly, it's loud, the water's metallic, and movies arrive six months late. But a few people like Tokyo.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 1999

Analysis: Defense changes dodged public debate

Staff writers
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Apr 25, 1999

Getting around

Last week, when I wrote a few paragraphs about the new Getty Museum in Los Angeles, I thought, How inadequate! There is so much more, and so brief a mention cannot begin to give even the concept of so huge a complex. Perhaps all I can do is make you want to go, and perhaps that is enough. Fortunately,...
JAPAN
Apr 23, 1999

Ready for 2000?: ANA plugging away at 'millennium bug'

Third in an occasional series on Japan's Y2K preparedness
JAPAN
Apr 22, 1999

Scholar criticizes biased slant in history textbooks

Japanese high school students are subjected to ideologically biased history lessons through their textbooks, a Santa Lucian scholar researching Japanese school textbooks said Thursday.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 1999

'Sokaiya' Koike sentenced to the max nine months

The Tokyo District Court sentenced "sokaiya" corporate extortionist Ryuichi Koike to the maximum nine-month prison term Wednesday for extorting 12.4 billion yen in loans and payoffs from the nation's four top securities houses and Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 1999

Hokuriku Special: Russian village goes modern

NIIGATA -- Niigata Russian Village at the foot of the Gozu mountain range will make a new start at the end of this month with additional attractions, including a record-large hot air balloon and a theater featuring the latest technology to lure more tourists to the theme park.
EDITORIALS
Apr 18, 1999

Goodbye to all that

Sometimes -- make that usually -- the range of rational reactions to life on this planet seems dismally narrow, beginning with bafflement, passing through exasperation and rage, and ending in sorrow. We may distract or console ourselves with the doings of babies and small animals, the pleasures of music...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 1999

Learning to break the cycle of poverty

Lack of education, particularly among children, continues to be one of the main challenges to the well-being and quality of life of children worldwide, concludes a recent Oxfam International report titled, "Education Now: Break the Cycle of Poverty." According to this report, there are currently 125...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 17, 1999

Life lessons in pottery and prints

KOBE -- Traditional Japanese art aficionados in Kansai will have a rare chance to learn the finer points of both Bizen pottery and ukiyo-e woodblock prints through a double exhibit of John Wells' Bizen works and Peter Ujlaki's ukiyo-e collection at the Community House and Information Center (CHIC) on...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Apr 17, 1999

New version of the old koto makes music for the future

While Japanese traditional instruments boast long histories (up to 1,200 years in some cases, since their importation from the Asian continent) most reached their present forms hundreds of years ago and have not changed since.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 1999

Ready for 2000?: Gartner Group sees no big Y2K failures

This is the first in an occasional series on Japan's Y2K preparedness.

Longform

A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake