Search - shop

 
 
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 14, 2000

Adjusting traditions

Before we get too far from the holidays, I wonder how many of you were aware of yet another dilemma for Japanese trying to follow traditions in a world where they no longer fit. Among the most spectacular sights of Golden Week that we are suppose to see are the carp streamers hoisted on long poles and...
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2000

Malaysia's Islamists counting on Chinese to tip balance of power

KOTA BAHRU, Malaysia -- Malaysia's opposition theocratic Islamic Party (PAS) sees Chinese support as crucial to its bid to head an alternative broad-based multiracial coalition party capable of taking over the federal government of Malaysia in future, and is working very hard to dispel their fears of...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 11, 2000

French with a difference

We have no shortage of bargain-basement French-accented bistros scattered around the metropolis. But for my money, Tete-a-tete is the cream of the current crop. I could reel off about a dozen cogent reasons why I rate this little place so highly. But there's only one that you really need to know -- it...
ENVIRONMENT
May 10, 2000

Trees and taste at Mito Botanic Garden

Mito, in Ibaraki Prefecture, is well known throughout Japan for natto (fermented soybeans), an acquired taste. It is also known for Kairakuen Garden, one of the Three Famous Gardens in Japan, which I've written about before. Just a couple of kilometers south of Mito in the lush green countryside, there...
EDITORIALS
May 4, 2000

A swashbuckler sheathes his sword

Mr. George Soros, "the man who broke the British pound" in 1992 and forced Britain from the European exchange-rate mechanism, is going to wind down his aggressive investment funds. Citing market volatility and dwindling returns, he decided last week "to bring an epoch to an end." He is abandoning the...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 3, 2000

Following old paths

Last Sunday we considered flowers -- peonies, azaleas and wisteria -- and the best places to see them during our Golden Week holidays. Here is one more outing to add to your flower calendar. The Tokyo Garden Show 2000 is being held through May 7 in the large open space in front of the picture gallery...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 27, 2000

Ohmatsuya: Down on the farm, just off the Ginza

You could call Ohmatsuya rustic -- but only in the most Ginza sense of the word. It sits just one floor above the brand-name bustle of the street, inside a modern multistory building little different from any others occupying that premium patch of real estate. Step inside, however, and you could have...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 26, 2000

The home of Japanese porcelain

Arita is a fine spot for porcelain pots -- and cups, vases, buttons, wall sockets and even denture-holders. Need a cartwheel-sized ashtray (useful at Japanese banquets), or a 1.8-meter-high urn to brighten up a castle somewhere? You'll find them in all shapes, sizes and colors in this peaceful town,...
COMMUNITY
Apr 23, 2000

JR East's No. 20 'just your average station'

Like many Yamanote Loop stations, Gotanda's name speaks of the area's past. Gotanda literally means 5,000 sq. meters of rice paddies, "tan" formerly being a measure for land area equivalent to 1,000 sq. meters.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Apr 23, 2000

On to Hawaii -- maybe

It is not surprising that I often become quite involved with readers and their problems. Take June Wong, who grew up in Hawaii but had to come to Japan to learn the hula. She was impressed by a group of Japanese women dancers and joined them. "I love my teacher and every one of my hula sisters," she...
JAPAN / Society
Apr 21, 2000

Racism in business rampant: groups

A group fighting to eradicate discrimination in Japan reported on a number of recent cases of discriminatory practices by businesses across the country on Thursday at a gathering in Tokyo and called for legislation to ban such practices.
COMMUNITY
Apr 20, 2000

The TW200 takes a ride on the wild side

If the TW200 was a person rather than a motorbike, it would be flooded with offers to star in before-and-after ads for a trendy esthetic salon.
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2000

URL burial is grave news

Is there anyone who still really thinks the Internet is not transforming the world -- or at least those spreading patches of the planet that are connected to it? Every day, some new swath of mental territory falls prey to the Web, as if a gigantic, benevolent spider had suddenly taken control of humanity...
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Apr 13, 2000

Labels: required reading for wine appreciation

When a standard 750-ml/75-cl bottle of wine looms before you in a wine shop, a supermarket or on a restaurant table, a story is about to unfold. The bottle shape usually provides at least a clue to the producing region and the labels should be able to fill in all the basic data and sometimes more. In...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Apr 13, 2000

Fish, sake and crowds come together at Uoshin

Like the indigenous beverages of most countries, sake developed along with its national cuisine. Indeed, there are great differences in Japanese cuisine from region to region, small country though Japan may be, and these differences are reflected in the subtle differences in the sake.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 9, 2000

BayStars' Rose picks right up where he left off with hot bat

How about that start by Yokohama BayStars cleanup hitter Bobby Rose? In the 'Stars first six games of the season, five of which they won, Rose went 14-for-21, belted four home runs, including a grand slam, drove in 12, scored nine, hit four doubles and compiled a .667 batting average, .750 on-base percentage...
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2000

Sisters doing it for themselves at any age

Seiko Kuboi stops at the end of the catwalk and poses with hand on hip, showing off her gold lame-edged jacket, long black skirt and black bolero hat. The crowd goes wild. "Whoo-hoo! Looking good! Great hat!" they scream in raucous appreciation.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Apr 5, 2000

Nemuro rolling down a road to nowhere

We may think of America as the land of the automobile, but for a place that both produces them and is constantly involved in road works for them, we need look no further than Japan.
COMMUNITY
Apr 4, 2000

Date club ads turn green Sendai pink with anger

SENDAI, Miyagi Pref. -- "Dial this number for beautiful office ladies." "Ring up for perky college coeds."
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 4, 2000

Group struggles to replant beeches

SHIROISHI, Miyagi Pref. -- Mountains are special for Shizue Hata, the 54-year-old owner of a small Chinese dumpling shop in this quiet city of 40,000.
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Apr 4, 2000

You still think music is fun? Crank the volume, this is war

My first successful venture in creative writing took place when I was 12. To avoid being picked on by bullies I would provide the school psychopaths with inventive ways to victimize other kids.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2000

Toyota, NTT Com to invest in stores' e-trade venture

Toyota Motor Corp. and NTT Communications Corp. (NTT Com.) said Thursday that they will invest in an e-commerce venture designed by five Japanese convenience store operators.
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 30, 2000

The fun of slipsliding away

You persevered. You sweated, ignominiously landed on your backside and ignored the relentless pounding of fall after fall so that you could master the art of snow boarding. But now that you feel as cool on the slopes as you thought you looked when you first zipped up your baggy shell pants, you are helplessly...
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2000

Prosecutors indict Cresvale executive over bogus securities

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday indicted a former executive of Cresvale International Ltd. on charges of selling customers securities that turned out to be irredeemable, prosecutors said.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 22, 2000

Chinois chic in Tokyo's 'experimental' cyber cafe

Can't be bothered with waitresses? Not in the mood for a menu? Just want to grab a hot beverage and snack, plug in and kick back?
CULTURE / Music
Mar 18, 2000

Shakuhachi tips and tunes to welcome in the spring season

If you want to learn more about the shakuhachi and various performance techniques, observe a variety of instruments for sale and hear a selection of original pieces played by young performers, then I recommend the Senshu Kobo Sunday Clinic and Open Lesson.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?