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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 20, 1999

The squirrel or the eagle?

Thirty-five years ago, during the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution," China's Chairman Mao Zedong announced the coming of an uncompromising global struggle between the City and the Village. China, in Mao's eyes the best country in the world, symbolized the sturdy and righteous Village. Haughty and...
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1999

Kobe airport foes submit petitions

KOBE -- A group of Kobe citizens opposed to the construction of Kobe airport presented two petitions to two government agencies in Tokyo, urging that the city's request to reclaim land for the project not be approved.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 1999

Enterprise Spirit: New camera sells on nostalgia

27th in an occasional series
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1999

Palette Town opens to public today

Organizers of a new theme park opening today in Tokyo Bay's waterfront development project expressed hope Thursday that the park will spark life in the Japanese economy.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 17, 1999

Last glimpses of a vanishing people

THE VANISHING TRIBES OF BURMA, by Richard K. Diran. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 240 pp., $60. Coffee-table photo books are usually too expensive, space-consuming or indistinguishable in content from the art of the glossy postcard for most of us to consider buying. Every once in a while, however,...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1999

Amuro's mother slain; brother-in-law suspected

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- The mother of pop singer Namie Amuro was slain Wednesday morning on an Okinawa road in what police suspect may have been a murder- suicide involving the younger brother of her widowed husband.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 17, 1999

When international relations get all steamed up

When asked what part of Japan they would most like to take back home, many foreigners respond by saying, "a Japanese bathtub."
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 17, 1999

Disputed territory is a paradise in peril

Any Japanese schoolchild can wax eloquent about the Hoppo Ryodo or "Northern Territories," the tiny islands Japan has demanded back from Russia since World War II. And with Japan keen to resolve its border dispute with Russia and wrap up a peace treaty by the end of next year, the issue looks likely...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Mar 17, 1999

'Managing' marine mammals to death

Part two of two parts
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Mar 16, 1999

Sounds to soothe the savaged beast

Never drink a bottle of tequila with champagne chasers and then try to demonstrate your gymnastic prowess, I advise, lying here in my hospital bed.
EDITORIALS
Mar 13, 1999

Is shorter always sweeter?

The U.S. publisher Viking recently hit on a bright idea. Biographies, always reliable sellers, were nevertheless getting too long, they thought. Lives of even minor luminaries were routinely checking in at 800 or more pages, sometimes in multiple volumes; there was no such thing as an incident trivial...
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 13, 1999

Eclectic pottery expands margins

Jun Kawaguchi is one of the funkiest, coolest ceramic artists I've ever met. The first time I met him I was taken aback, to say the least, by his short, spiked hair, green velvet jacket, and a pair of slacks with cartoon designs that looked like the Joker -- not your typical shibui Japanese potter.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

Experts disagree on bank recapitalization impact

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

The Asahara Trial: Ex-cultist didn't hate murder victim

A former Aum Shinrikyo follower convicted in 1996 of killing a fellow cultist testified Friday at the Tokyo District Court that he felt no anger or hatred toward his victim, though cult leader Shoko Asahara tried to induce those feelings in him.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Ishihara enters Tokyo race, splits LDP further

Prize-winning novelist and former Transport Minister Shintaro Ishihara formally declared Wednesday that he will run as an independent in the April 11 Tokyo gubernatorial election.
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ARCHIPELA-GO
Mar 10, 1999

The seductive stench of Yurakucho

"Shall We Meet in Yurakucho (Yurakucho de Aimasho)" was the title of a 1958 megahit number, sung by the king of Japanese blues, Frank Nagai. As Frank described it, Yurakucho was always misty with fog and the collective sighs of hundreds of lovers, the streets were damp with just-fallen rain and lined...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Organ donation more than a signature

Staff writer
CULTURE / Music
Mar 9, 1999

Multi-ethnic Mali lets voice be heard

"If you have listened to the music of some great West African voices like Youssou N'dour, Salif Keita or Mory Kante -- and liked them -- then you'll surely adopt Habib Koite and make him a part of your musical life forever."
CULTURE / Music
Mar 9, 1999

Musician serves up jazz du jour

If you are a jazz fan Web-surfing maniac, you might have discovered the Page d'admiratrice de Louis Sclavis (page of a Louis Sclavis admirer, www.netlaputa.ne.jp~/lili/) Web site. Fully dedicated to the French clarinetist, bass-clarinetist and soprano saxophonist, this site comes complete with photographs,...
EDITORIALS
Mar 4, 1999

Japan passes a medical milestone

The nation breathed an almost audible collective sigh of relief this week, thankful that a successful precedent has now been set for organ transplants. Apart from the media hullabaloo and a short-lived controversy over the diagnosis a couple of days before the verdict of legal brain-death was pronounced,...
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Mar 4, 1999

Zeni Geva's earthly angst gives way to cosmic vibes

Somewhere between the metal aggression of Black Sabbath and the guitar grind of the Swans, Zeni Geva was the rock equivalent of opera, a full-throttle exploration of the emotional spectrum's dark side. Long hair flying and vocals growling, guitarist and vocalist Kazuyuki Ishino, a k a K.K. Null, channeled...
JAPAN
Mar 4, 1999

Bilateral insurance talks slated for mid-April

Japan and the United States will hold working-level insurance talks during the week of April 12 to follow up on their 1996 bilateral agreement, but Tokyo does not intend to delay its plan to liberalize the so-called third sector in 2001, Vice Finance Minister Koji Tanami said Thursday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 3, 1999

Toilet humor is only natural, no instructions necessary

Come on. Admit it. Toilets are funny.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Mar 3, 1999

The lion kings of the northern seas

Though in Japan's southernmost islands temperatures are already reaching into the 20s C, which many would call summer weather, in the north the temperatures have been fluttering and dipping, generally remaining well on the frigid side and with the definite feel of winter. In fact, some of the major lakes...
JAPAN
Mar 3, 1999

Myanmar couple seeks new heart for baby

Staff writer
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Mar 3, 1999

Belize offers cay to a good vacation

Belize City (population 60,000) sucks. Crack addicts, muggers, deranged loafers, unprovoked verbal abuse of the anti-whitey variety. A spoonful of water from its rancid canals, if strategically distributed, would wipe out the People's Republic of China. Belize City's got the lot.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 2, 1999

Faith isn't enough for China's Catholics

CHINA'S CATHOLICS: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society, by Richard Madsen. Berkeley, CA.: University of California Press, 1998, 191 pp., $27.50 (cloth). The Catholic Church has had a long and powerful influence on China. Missionaries first traveled to the Middle Kingdom in the seventh century...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 2, 1999

Alexei Sultanov

Not long ago a famous American classical pianist gave an interview to a Japanese newspaper in which he complained, "I can't tell if a Japanese audience is enjoying the performance or if they're bored."
JAPAN
Mar 1, 1999

New high school courses to break with tradition

Breaking away from the nation's traditionally rigid and formatted educational system, high schools will begin focusing more on nurturing the unique abilities of each student in the coming century, according to the draft of the Education Ministry's new teaching guidelines, released Monday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 28, 1999

Fairy tales come to life amid the magic of Prague

I woke up this morning and opened the curtains expecting to see the usual view from my house of the Seto Inland Sea. Imagine how surprised I was to find instead, Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It was like a fairy tale: Prague Castle up on the hill overlooking pastel-colored baroque buildings...

Longform

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