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CULTURE / Books
Sep 15, 1999

Turn-of-the-century frolic shows nothing new under the sun

Postmodernism is a publisher's dream. Copy out "Don Quixote" verbatim and you get a cultural reinterpretation, joked Jorge Luis Borges; give an old book a new cover and you get a tribal reclamation, proclaim the editors of this Race in the Americas imprint.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Sep 15, 1999

The family that surfs together ...

There is something mildly unsettling about the cyberpolice's fixation with child pornography. At the Internet Content Summit, held last week in Munich and hosted by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, kiddie porn was repeatedly denounced by participants. To judge from the general tone of the comments, it embodied...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 1999

Don Quijote sees itself as lord of discount 'jungle'

Staff writer
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Sep 15, 1999

Roaming the world's watery dunes

As the typhoon season cuts between summer and autumn, many species are on the move. This is the season of migration for land birds and seabirds. While the land birds island-hop between Northeast and Southeast Asia, some of the seabirds are embarking on journeys that may span entire oceans. Streaked shearwaters...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 15, 1999

Young at heart, but never free of Johnny

On Aug. 30, former idol singer and tell-all autobiographer Hiromi Go staged an unannounced live show from the back of a tractor trailer parked near the Hachiko intersection in Shibuya. The five-minute performance, which featured four other dancers, stopped traffic and clogged up the area as pedestrians...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Sep 15, 1999

Obtrusive nails, squeaky wheels

Not so very often I recall the following words of advice from my dear old mother, a tiding of the heart delivered straight from parent to child.
COMMENTARY
Sep 15, 1999

A growing appetite for safety

LONDON -- Genetic biologists -- especially those working for big U.S. companies such as Monsanto -- and U.S. trade negotiators are furious with Europeans because they are not prepared to accept that hormone-injected beef and gene-modified soybeans, rape-seed oil and other genetically modified crops are...
JAPAN
Sep 15, 1999

Runners hit by heatstroke in Tachikawa relay

Fifteen men and women fell victim to heatstroke Wednesday while running in an "ekiden" relay marathon in Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa, western Tokyo, shortly after noon. Thirteen were taken to the hospital.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 1999

Ford to focus on image rather than numbers

In a move to change its marketing strategy, Ford Japan Ltd. will concentrate on building its brand image rather than pursuing numerical sales targets, senior officials of the company announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 1999

Regional Focus: Hokkaido

Otaru pins revival hopes on mega-mall complex> Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 14, 1999

Airlines prove Y2K-compliance with test flights

Test flights conducted at midnight Monday proved Japan's major airlines and aviation control systems can cope with the Year 2000 computer problem, Transport Minister Jiro Kawasaki said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 14, 1999

Japan, China consider upgrading security forum

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 13, 1999

Work starts on contentious Kobe airport

KOBE -- Nearly 30 years after it was first proposed, construction of the controversial Kobe airport officially began Monday morning off Port Island amid protests and doubts about its economic feasibility.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 1999

Hayami warns firms to prepare for forex fluctuations

Corporations should take measures to become less vulnerable to fluctuations in the yen-dollar exchange rate, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami reiterated Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 1999

Taiwanese youths becoming Japan fans

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 13, 1999

BOJ senses revival in exports, output

The economy is showing some improvements in exports and production, but clear signs of a self-sustained recovery have yet to be observed, the Bank of Japan said in its monthly report released Monday.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 1999

Japan welcomes Pyongyang proposal, offers talks

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka expressed willingness Monday to resume talks with Pyongyang toward normalizing relations between Japan and North Korea.
JAPAN
Sep 13, 1999

Man arrested over bogus bank accounts

OSAKA -- Osaka police have arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion he used forged health insurance certificates to open bank accounts under false names, officials said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 12, 1999

Fashion and its victims

How does one get inside a girl's head? This rueful question must have occurred to many people recently on hearing reports of the death of a 25-year-old woman in Kanagawa Prefecture after she tripped and fell while wearing sandals with 10-cm-high cork soles. To observers of the elevated-shoe fad over...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 1999

Permanent bureaucracy in Washington

WASHINGTON -- There is nothing as permanent in Washington as a federal agency. Once created, government bureaucracies are almost impossible to kill, no matter how outdated. Consider the desperate attempt of the Selective Service System and its allies to reverse the House Appropriation Committee's decision...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Sep 12, 1999

Praiseworthy

My earliest memories of Honolulu include my introduction to Japanese food; it had not yet become a cuisine. It was at a tiny Waikiki restaurant where each day a cook created four or five special lunches on two gas burners. One was for sauteing and frying, the other for simmering, steaming and warming....
JAPAN
Sep 10, 1999

Analysis: Kan's fading star may reflect DPJ's fate

Staff writers
JAPAN
Sep 10, 1999

Kan secures required nominations

Naoto Kan, incumbent leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, secured endorsements from more than 20 DPJ lawmakers Friday and met supporters to prepare for the party's presidential race.
EDITORIALS
Sep 9, 1999

An end run in Okinawa

The long-stalled government attempt to find a new home for the U.S. Marine Futenma Air Station in Okinawa is coming back to life. The Okinawa Prefectural Government has apparently narrowed down the candidate sites to a couple of locations on the eastern shores of the main island. The government of Prime...
JAPAN
Sep 9, 1999

Experts differ over forces behind positive GDP data

Staff writers
JAPAN
Sep 9, 1999

Man arrested over bodies found in Arakawa

A homeless man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering three men whose bodies were found Thursday in the Arakawa River in Tokyo's Edogawa River, police said.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 1999

Cloned beef goes on sale with labels

Experimental sales of beef clearly marked as coming from a cloned cow began Thursday at five selected retailers in Tokyo and the cities of Niigata and Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 1999

GDP grew 0.2% in April-June quarter

The economy grew 0.2 percent for the April-June quarter -- an annualized rate of 0.9 percent -- marking the second straight quarter of growth, according to gross domestic product figures released Thursday by the Economic Planning Agency.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Sep 9, 1999

The healing power of the grape

What's your pleasure? Wine? Or Pepto-Bismol? Since returning two weeks ago from some fascinating times in sundry climes -- 60 days worth -- I've been particularly mindful of human health, not least my own. Travel can be tiring, and lower physical resistance. This airport, that airport. This station,...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 9, 1999

Sipping sake's diversity, one cup at a time

Accessibility is key when it comes to learning about sake. You can read about it until you're blue in the face, but if you can't access it and sample various types, there's not much point.

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it