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CULTURE / Music
Aug 27, 1999

The beat keeps getting stronger for music personality Barakan

"Being on the radio was always what I had wanted to do," a sleepy Peter Barakan told me while sitting in the InterFM lobby. It was 11 a.m. on a Sunday. He had just finished his show, "The Barakan Beat," and after offering me coffee, we sat and talked about what brought him to Japan and his success here....
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Aug 14, 1999

More than a humble piece of clay

Japan is a ceramic paradise, plain and simple.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 28, 1999

The little claimer that could

While companies, especially computer makers, have been eager to promote the Internet as a global bazaar and amusement park rolled into one, they are quickly learning that there's a little more to it than that. The tools that are supposed to help the customer are the same ones that can empower the unhappy...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 1999

Fear and loathing for Russian journalists

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Yury Stepanov, an editor at an independent program called Radio Lemma, was walking home at about 10:30 p.m. June 29 when he noticed a Toyota minivan blocking an alley near his home.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 23, 1999

Foreigner rock scene blooms in city's pubs

Shaft is pumping up another Saturday night gathering in a cranny of Tokyo. Just as the five musicians lope to the end of the first verse of their self-proclaimed rock anthem "Shaft of Light," the infectious dribble of sticks across bass drums reels the audience into the chorus.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 9, 1999

The random walk

Hoping to tap into that Amazon.com magic right here in Japan, Softbank (a software and publishing company), Seven-Eleven, Yahoo! Japan and Tohan, a book publisher and distributor, last week announced a joint venture to sell books online. e-Shopping! Books (who thinks up these names?) plans to open for...
JAPAN
May 31, 1999

Prange exhibit recalls Occupation's censorship

Staff writer
CULTURE / Art
May 20, 1999

Holland's top designer defies conformists

His comfortable tubs made reading in the bath fashionable again. His bold couches, like giant velvet butter-dishes, brought humor and flair to the living room. When he suggested yellow interiors make the home look sunny, the whole of Holland got out their paint brushes.
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...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 14, 1999

Where the roof of Europe scrapes the sky

The pictures in the tourist pamphlet showed an ideal mountain scene in the French Alps, almost too good to be true: a lake of purest blue in the foreground surrounded by bright green hills leading up to spectacular snow-capped mountains under cloudless skies. If this were real, I doubted I could afford...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 1, 1999

Can the education escalator be derailed?

There's a debate going on in government and in the media about revising the Japanese system of education. The forces for change want to do away with rote, test-based instruction, which they blame for all the youth-related problems we read about now, and replace it with something more individual-oriented...
JAPAN
Jan 6, 1999

Century of Change: Foreign press find Japan tough to figure

In 1890, an Irish-born writer of limited success found his spiritual home after arriving upon the shores of what was then considered by the West to be the world's most exotic country.
JAPAN
Aug 19, 1998

Lab seeks to forecast space weather

The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications said Wednesday it will start research on "space weather forecasts," a system to predict turbulence in the cosmos caused by solar activities.
JAPAN
Aug 17, 1998

Enterprise Spirit: Game distributor finds right outlet

20th in a series of occasional articles on venture businesses
JAPAN
Aug 14, 1998

Tonegawa water supply looking good

Major reservoirs in the Tonegawa River system have been filled near capacity this summer, Construction Ministry officials said. The reservoirs are the main source of water for 27 million residents in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 1998

Pioneering wildlife center gives hurt birds survival chance

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 11, 1998

Inflatable jacket softens cyclists' impacts with asphalt

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 10, 1998

Daiei backs out of JT redevelopment project

Major supermarket chain operator Daiei Inc. announced Monday it will not take part in a redevelopment project at the site of a former Japan Tobacco Inc. plant in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 1998

FM Setagaya starts broadcasting today

Tokyo's ninth community FM radio station hits the airwaves today at noon in Setagaya Ward.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 1998

Pigeon to sell German baby car seats

Concord GmbH, Germany's No. 2 maker of child car seats, will enter the Japanese market in September through a new contract with Pigeon Corp., a Japanese maker of baby products, the two companies announced Tuesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 1998

Town gives OK to Kansai airport traffic

OSAKA -- The legislature of Kaizuka, Osaka Prefecture, voted Monday to adopt a resolution allowing flights to and from New Kansai International Airport to pass over the city, even though local residents had adamantly rejected the idea.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 1998

GE Capital seals purchase of Lake

GE Capital Services Corp. of the United States has closed an acquisition deal with Lake Co., Japan's fifth-largest consumer credit firm, the two companies announced Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 1998

End of recruitment pacts sparks skipping to find jobs

Abolition of recruitment agreements between companies and new university graduates has helped ease the hectic job-hunting ritual, but class attendance is dropping as students take the hunt into their own hands, according to a survey released Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 1998

Japanese-Latin Americans urged to apply for U.S. redress

The U.S. government is urging Japanese-Latin Americans who were taken from their homes in Latin America and held in U.S. internment camps during World War II to apply for U.S. redress before the deadline expires.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 1998

Condo owners sue housing corporation

More than 1,600 owners of government-built condominiums filed a 15.5 billion yen suit Tuesday against the Housing and Urban Development Corp. over the major discounts it offered new buyers last year.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 1998

Teachers wanted for Odawara workshop

The Language Institute of Japan is seeking 100 English teachers to participate in its annual international summer workshop in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, from August 9 to 14.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 1998

ANA to discount Hokkaido fares

All Nippon Airways Co. will offer discount fares on winter flights between Hokkaido and Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya starting Oct. 1, the carrier announced Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 15, 1998

Plan for second Narita runway presented to Chiba, Ibaraki

The Transport Ministry and New Tokyo International Airport Authority have submitted a concrete plan to build a second runway at the congested Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 1998

Toyota's Prius hybrid heads for overseas environments

Toyota Motor Corp. said Tuesday it will introduce the Prius, equipped with its gasoline-electric hybrid engine, in the North American and European markets by 2000.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 1998

Volkswagen to introduce new Golf

Volkswagen Group Japan KK will introduce the fourth-generation Golf to the Japanese market in August after making significant changes to the popular compact car, an executive of the German automaker announced on Monday.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?