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LIFE / Travel
Mar 8, 2000

The Horai in Atami: A reputation so good it's true

The pride of Horai is Hashiri no Yu, an outdoor bath reached via a steep lantern-lit path. While the maid prepared our room for dinner, we soaked in the waters of the onsen, watching the island hills change from misty gray through pink, blue and purple to black, as the sun set over the bay.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2000

U.S. left its mark on Japanese education

HONOLULU -- Japanese-U.S. cultural relations are filled with ironies. Perhaps the greatest is that many of the thousands of foreigners hired by the Japanese government during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) are far better known in Japan than they are in their own countries. A second fascinating irony is that...
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 6, 2000

Never mind lions, look at the birds

When thinking of traveling in South Africa, many people imagine safari-style ventures into the bush to spy elephant, rhino and cheetah.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 5, 2000

Er, dyu know wot they mean?

My man Toshi and I discussed the new Oasis single on the way to the opening concert of the band's world tour at Yokohama Arena last Tuesday. What is Noel Gallagher telling people to "let out" in the chorus of "Go Let It Out?" I think he's talking about people's illusions of the real world, how you've...
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2000

Farm ministry searched after arrest

Police searched the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry and several dozen other places Friday in connection with charges that a former ministry official received about 500,000 yen in cash for helping an agricultural cooperative receive favors related to government-backed projects.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 4, 2000

Twisted tradition that's knotty but nice

A kimono is never complete without an obijime (narrow braided sash cord). Although the color and pattern of the kimono and obi (belt) are what catch the eye on first glance, an obijime is essential to pull the whole look together.
EDITORIALS
Mar 3, 2000

'But it couldn't happen here'

There is no refuge from the senseless gun violence that plagues the United States. Homes, offices, places of worship, city streets and even schools -- no place is safe. This week, there was an especially horrifying episode: the shooting of one first-grader by another. The details tell a tragic story,...
LIFE
Mar 2, 2000

Breaking from shame into song

When Tama Ozaki left for India at 19, she felt that she would never want to come back to Japan. "I was in a real emergency situation at the time," she says in a warm but powerful voice. "I was eating compulsively, and drinking too. I was completely unhappy."
COMMUNITY
Mar 2, 2000

All in the name of the perfect cut

We live in an age where technology pushes us to be faster, more efficient and more connected than ever. We make phone calls while walking down the street. We send e-mail messages from handheld electronic organizers. We have oceans of informations just on the other side of a mouse click.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 29, 2000

Pilgrimage for the 21st century

EXPLORING KANTO: Weekend Pilgrimages from Tokyo, by Michael Plastow. New York: Weatherall, 1996, 262 pp., with color photos and maps, $19.95. A long journey of exalted purpose is one of the dictionary definitions of pilgrimage. One makes such a demanding endeavor for personal or, if you will, spiritual...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 26, 2000

Fair and flea market pot-hunting

"How can I learn more about Japanese pottery?" is a question I'm often asked. The answer is simple: Get out and see as much as you can.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 25, 2000

End of rugby road for Suntory warrior Ennis

For the past 20 years, Glenn Ennis has loved throwing his weight around the rugby pitch.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 24, 2000

Luxembourg's grape history: wine country since day one

Mother Nature used her wintry palette to redefine Luxembourg in mere minutes, lacing its naked boughs and barren lawns with soft, tufted snow. This, too, is wine country.
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2000

'Restrant' cooks up new jobs for castaway workers

Staff writer Starting a new business in the midst of a protracted recession would seem a brave -- if not reckless -- move to most. But in the case of a restaurant that opened Thursday in Tokyo's Uguisudani district, the recession is its very raison d'etre. Restrant Genki Kosaten, a Japanese-style tavern,...
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2000

Nursing coverage denies smaller group home operators

Staff writer When the government first announced its planned public nursing-care insurance program, group homes were to be covered. The definition of "group homes," however, is causing problems for some small operators, including the Tanoshiya nursing home in Urawa, Saitama Prefecture. When the system...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 24, 2000

Italian home cooking from a solo artist

It's always depressing when news comes in that another good restaurant has bitten the dust. In the past month we've found out that two of the best (in their own ways) have given up the ghost. So it was with not a little trepidation that we hiked off into nether Ebisu to see if our long-time favorite...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Feb 23, 2000

Private eyes

On the Net and off, personal data is a currency, an entity that can be bought, sold, bartered and, yes, stolen. Ideally, this information connects companies with potential clients and consumers with products and services. Ads with the precision of surgical airstrikes are swell for advertisers, but on...
EDITORIALS
Feb 20, 2000

Criminals in the least likely places

Like the media abroad, Japan's press and television are criticized for sensationalized crime reporting - with one important difference. Critics say they are too slow and too timid in reporting criminal behavior by the nation's police forces. At a time when random crimes of violence are occurring with...
CULTURE / Music
Feb 19, 2000

Retracing Takemitsu's 'Steps'

In 1967 a performance occurred in New York City which changed hogaku forever. Under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra commemorated its 125th anniversary by commissioning pieces from composers around the world.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 19, 2000

A tradition that's all pinned down

To decorate one's hair with morning glories, complete with a tiny snail on one leaf, may not be everyone's idea of chic. However, if they are fashioned by Tsuyoshi Ishida out of sheer silk, it is another matter.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2000

Challenging the 'Washington consensus'

We live in an era of unparalleled affluence. More people enjoy better lives than at any time in human history. High priests of economic orthodoxy credit the diffusion of market capitalism for this bounty. Poverty persists, but the conventional wisdom is that time and the right policies will spread the...
COMMENTARY
Feb 15, 2000

Stop the public-works fiasco

In a Jan. 23 plebiscite, voters in Tokushima City, Tokushima Prefecture, gave a thumbs down to a government project to build a gatelock dam on the Yoshino River. My opinion is that the project should be halted because residents do not want it. It's as simple as that.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 12, 2000

A new talent blooms in the Kyoto school

Some eight years, when Chieko Oshie was a student at the Kyoto City University of Art, she went out walking on the grounds and chanced upon a wild burdock plant in bloom. It was something in the colors that caught her eye, and the plant became a favorite of the young student's fancy. When autumn came...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 10, 2000

Back streets in not-so-far towns

One of the great joys of sake tippling, especially after having searched the town for a while, is finding a new gem of a place. Just when you think you've seen just about any manifestation a sake pub could take, you stumble on something charming and warm, wondering how it could have escaped your attention...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 10, 2000

Whiter than white, cooler than cool

You can't miss Rokko An. It's the flash new place in Nishi-Azabu with the brilliant white concrete facade, on the left as you wend your way down toward Hiroo. From dusk till 4 in the morning it gleams out from a long, low picture-window right across Gaien Nishi-dori from (and totally in contrast with)...
LIFE / Travel
Feb 9, 2000

New Zealand lunkers rise to flies

Few places in the world rival the South Island of New Zealand either for superb fly fishing or for stunning scenery, and the Ahuriri River in the Canterbury District is the sort of place every fly-fisherman who hasn't been wants to go to, and where those who have been long to return.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 9, 2000

Getting away from the skiers in Kyushu and Kyoto winter

When snow falls and the chill winds blow, skiers are happy but others are inclined to stay home. To lure people away from their warm hearths, the tourism industry offers special winter prices and attractions. This is an excellent time to explore areas of Japan that are on your travel list.
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2000

A voice of reason for cleaner air

A few days have passed since the Kobe District Court issued its landmark ruling that the central government and a local expressway corporation should reduce vehicle exhaust emissions on National Highway No. 43 in the city of Amagasaki in Hyogo Prefecture. Sufferers from pollution-related asthma and other...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 6, 2000

Philip Harper

To be billed as Japan's only foreign sake brewer conveys a claim unusually intriguing. Even the man in question, Philip Harper, expresses some surprise at the way things have gone for him as he gets close to achieving the status of master brewer in Japan.
COMMUNITY
Feb 6, 2000

The best parents are both parents

David Brian Thomas (who with a name like that can only owe his heritage to Welsh Wales) carries two photos in his wallet. One shows a baby; the other a gravely sweet 3-year-old -- the age Thomas last saw his son seven years ago.

Longform

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