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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,...
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."
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...
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

Slovak ambassador praises yen loans

The new ambassador of the Slovak Republic hopes that Japan will help his country shift from a centrally planned socialist economy to a democratic, market-oriented industrial economy.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 10, 1999

And the winners aren't ...

A stunned Webmaster rises from his seat, shaking his head in disbelief. As he makes his way to the aisle, fellow programmers and designers pat him heartily on the back and shake his hand. After accepting his trophy from a cybercelebrity, he stands there speechless, and finally says with a trembling voice,...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 1999

Japan, U.S. to consult on antidumping law

Staff writer
COMMUNITY
Mar 10, 1999

A delicious way to pork out with family

There is only one more recipe left before this column ends, so I tried to think of some important Japanese dish which I have not written about in the last three years. Then I realized that my favorites -- tonkatsu and tempura -- were still on the waiting list. Both are dishes we eat about once a month....
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...
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Mar 10, 1999

Garden weathers stormy decades

The Kyoto Botanic Gardens were first opened to the public on Jan. 11, 1924. Located in Sakyo Ward in northern Kyoto City along the banks of the scenic Kamo River, they are run by Kyoto's prefectural government.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 1999

Kobe urged to woo foreign investment

Staff writer
CULTURE / Books
Mar 8, 1999

The view from the 20th floor

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS IN JAPAN, edited by Charles Pomeroy, Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1998, 367 pp., 3,700 yen (cloth). The image Japan projects abroad comes not only from the government or big business; it also arises from a certain private club occupying the 20th floor of a building overlooking the...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Mar 5, 1999

Help, maybe

Recently the Franciscan Chapel Center, whose volunteer groups are active in many areas of need in our community, has provided a considerable amount of information for this column. Among them are columns that have dealt with providing rice balls for the homeless, exposed Japan as the leading source of...
JAPAN
Mar 5, 1999

Shevardnadze asks for infrastructure help

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze asked trade chief Kaoru Yosano on Friday to help the former Soviet Union state develop a port and other infrastructure by utilizing trade insurance and yen loans, an official of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 1999

Japan should foster risk-takers, MIT president says

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 3, 1999

Greek ambassador backs UNSC bid

It is interesting to see that Japanese citizens and not just politicians and government officials are discussing the nation's roles in the world as the 21st century approaches, the Greek ambassador said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Mar 3, 1999

Sorry about that

My sympathy is with a reader who used a previous column as a guide when he had his U.S. driver's license translated and took it to his Japanese licensing bureau for the easy exchange I had promised. He had studied the "Rules of the Road" handbook and didn't expect any problems with the required written...
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.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 1999

Colombian president to visit in May

Colombian President Andres Pastrana will from May 10 to 13 make his first visit to Japan since his swearing-in in August, the new Colombian ambassador said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 1999

Leaders of five parties call for Constitution review panel

The secretaries general of five political parties asked the Lower House on Tuesday to create a research panel to review the Constitution.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 1999

Dam plan rivals urged to review project together

A nongovernment environmental organization on Tuesday urged Tokushima Prefecture and the Construction Ministry to involve citizens in a review of a controversial dam project and ensure an adequate environmental impact assessment is carried out.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 1999

Parties to request Constitution review panel

The secretaries general of five political parties agreed Monday to request creation of a research panel to review the Constitution.
JAPAN
Feb 26, 1999

More Maishima dioxin tests urged

Dioxin found buried on Maishima Island is approaching dangerous levels and thus more environmental testing must be carried out, a scientist with Greenpeace Australia warned.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Feb 25, 1999

If you must be snowbound, try a cozy winery in Europe

As winter wanes I'm reminded of its vinous pleasures in places along my latest wine route, such as Austria, Slovenia, Belgium, Luxembourg and, just before Christmas, Germany, where I visited Adolf Schmitt, an outstanding wine maker whose estate is one of those in the wine association Saar-Mosel-Winzersekt...
JAPAN
Feb 24, 1999

Ministers urge quick review of safe, daily dioxin intake

Cabinet members attending the first ministerial-level conference on dioxin policy agreed Wednesday that a quick review is needed of the tolerable daily intake of the carcinogen in order to form the basis for future policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 1999

A new bridge over the Pacific revealed

Is friendship between nations possible? Can Japan and the United States be friends as the U.S. is with Canada and Britain, or are they forever destined to have a relationship that turns on a calculation of mutual advantage?
COMMUNITY
Feb 23, 1999

Contest lets diplomats flex their Japanese-ness

Heard the one about the foreigner who wanted to get to Nakano and ended up in Nagano? She's actually pretty smart, and has no qualms about telling her embarrassing mishaps to complete strangers -- several hundred of them, in fact.
COMMUNITY
Feb 21, 1999

Steady Yoyogi belies its myriad past

Aristocrats, farmers, soldiers, pilots, Olympians, crows and bums -- Yoyogi Park has seen them all. From posh feudal abode to farm field, runway to international welcome mat, this park has had a variety of visitors and inhabitants.
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 1999

Haunting the high street

As the Internet insinuates itself deeper into daily life, one key facet of its future role -- electronic commerce -- continues its explosive growth. Estimates of the amount of business conducted in cyberspace vary from $30 billion annually to nearly twice that. But one thing is certain: It is increasing...
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 20, 1999

Tamasaburo romances rough guys

The Kabukiza Theater in Ginza this month is featuring Tamasaburo Bando, one of Japan's foremost onnagata (women's role) actors, in three numbers: first with hislongtime partner Nizaemon Kataoka, then with Kankuro Nakamura. Other great names on the playbill are Danjuro Ichikawa, Kichiemon Nakamura, Tomijuro...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Feb 17, 1999

Designing for dollars

Say what you will about Jeff Bezos, president of Amazon.com, but he is a savvy guy. He and his company may not be worth the gazillions of dollars that the market is throwing at them, but he deserves credit for making the market believe in him.

Longform

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