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LIFE / Travel
Aug 12, 1999

Making a pilgrimage to an expo

KUMANO, Wakayama Pref. -- Ordinarily, I am not an "expo" kind of person.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Aug 12, 1999

Nihonshu's sweet spectrum

Perhaps the best way to buy sake is to have tasted enough to know exactly what you are looking for, and find that label. Advice and recommendations go a long way too. But we all need to foray into the unknown and try new things at times.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1999

Auto sector shakeup has parts makers playing catchup

Staff writer
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 12, 1999

Morocco: Moroccan fare to make the belly dance

The inquiry, from a regular reader, sounded more plaintive than optimistic. Is there anywhere in town that serves real, authentic Moroccan food?
EDITORIALS
Aug 11, 1999

Predictably capricious

True to form, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has astounded his country and the world. Demonstrating that nothing is more important to the mercurial Russian leader than the fate of his regime and his family -- it is hard to distinguish the two -- Mr. Yeltsin this week dismissed Prime Minister Sergei...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Aug 11, 1999

What's that sound?

Two years ago I wrote about how the Fuji Rock Festival's website saved me a two-hour trip to the festival. Early reports accurately painted a grim picture of chaos created by a freak typhoon, so I decided to stay in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 1999

Heavyweight trio set to slash Net connection fees

Softbank Corp., Tokyo Electric Power Co., and Microsoft Corp. of the United States jointly announced Wednesday in Tokyo that they will set up a joint venture to begin high-speed Internet connection services next summer in the Kanto region, with dramatically low fixed-rates for home users.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 1999

BT touts venture as 'family of alliances'

British Telecommunications PLC's recent agreement on capital participation in Japan Telecom Co. is part of its strategy to form a "family of alliances" that will help it become the most successful carrier in the global market, BT chief executive Sir Peter Bonfield said Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 1999

Tokyo asked to ban violence on women

A government panel on women's issues Wednesday called on the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to specifically ban violence against women and to say in an ordinance that domestic violence infringes on human rights.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 1999

Japanese, Chinese students to debate wartime history

Japanese and Chinese college students will meet in Tokyo for eight days starting Saturday to exchange opinions on the war and the differences in the two nations' interpretations of wartime history.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 11, 1999

Journeying to the feet of the gods

POKHARA, Nepal -- There are few places where you can relax more completely than Lake Phewa, in the second city of Nepal. You will not be able to resist its tranquil waters, the birds singing in the lush greenery, the cascade of hills and beyond them the snow-covered Himalayas and Mount Machhapuchhare...
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Aug 11, 1999

Nopporo's wild north woods

Nopporo Woodland Park, located approximately 15 km east of central Sapporo in Hokkaido, is huge, with a total area of 2,051 hectares. It is rare to find such a large and wonderful park so close to a major city in Japan. The citizens of Sapporo, Ebetsu and Hiroshimacho are privileged to have this natural...
LIFE / Travel
Aug 11, 1999

Celebrating opening of old doors

NEWPORT, R.I. -- It's hard to faze the sophisticated residents of Newport, R.I., but Konishiki succeeded. The former ozeki was the star attraction at the Black Ships Festival here July 22-25.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Aug 11, 1999

Like it is

Language is enriched by people who don't speak it very well, using phrases made up of words that contain the meaning of what they want to say but not the usual form. The result is sometimes quite effective. How about this one reporting a break in the summer heat: The weather is going down a bit, or this:...
EDITORIALS
Aug 10, 1999

Accomplices in our own destruction

A series of storms are wreaking havoc across Asia. Torrential rains have drenched the region, killing thousands, swamping hundreds of thousands more (millions have been affected in China) and creating a string of humanitarian disasters. It is tempting to throw up our hands in helplessness when faced...
JAPAN
Aug 10, 1999

Environmental groups urge rethink of Philippines dam

Two nongovernmental organizations on Tuesday called on Tokyo to rethink its support for a dam under construction in the Philippines, saying assessments of the project's impact are flawed.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 10, 1999

Goodbye yuckie duckies, hello hollering herons

Have you been shopping lately? The price of rubber ducks is outrageous. While remodeling my bathroom, I paid over 1,000 yen for a mother duck and three chicks for my bathtub. And they were pink! I think someone's been tampering with the rubber duckie formula because within minutes of tubbing with these...
CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 1999

Strangers on the crossroads of life

Each generation has its own way of telling love stories on the screen. What is supremely romantic to one strikes the next as supremely corny (until it begins to fondlylook back, as Meg Ryan's character does in "Sleepless in Seattle," at "An Affair to Remember" and other genre classics).
JAPAN
Aug 10, 1999

State specifies guidelines for Hinomaru, 'Kimigayo'

Following Monday's approval of legislation legally recognizing the Hinomaru as Japan's national flag and "Kimigayo" as the anthem, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka announced Tuesday guidelines regarding the official symbols for government organizations to follow.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 10, 1999

Dive into the dazzling Philippines

Ask scuba divers what attracts them to the sport, and they'll probably tell you that it's the exotic underwater world. A dive in Japan, however, often means endless train rides, big crowds, small spaces and exorbitant sums of money -- all too similar to the everyday world.
EDITORIALS
Aug 9, 1999

Rethink North Korea policy

The four-way Korea peace talks are again in the news as negotiators from North and South Korea, the United States and China return to the table in Geneva. Few people are holding their breath, and no one should. Diplomacy has hit a bind as Pyongyang keeps the world guessing about its intentions to develop...
JAPAN
Aug 9, 1999

Flag, anthem now official

The Diet enacted controversial legislation Monday that legally recognizes the Hinomaru as Japan's national flag and "Kimigayo" as its anthem.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 1999

Flag-anthem law no end to controversy

Staff writer
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 1999

Japan makes its mark in U.S.

ALFRED BALITZER Special to The Japan Times The town of Kanab, population 4,500, is located on a two-lane highway between Zion National Park and Lake Powell in southern Utah. The country is filled with breathtaking scenery -- tall, lonesome bluffs, massive rock formations the color of copper, natural...
COMMENTARY
Aug 8, 1999

Uncle Sam doesn't need draft registration

WASHINGTON -- The Cold War has been over for a decade, but you wouldn't know it after looking at U.S. security policy. Spending on the military is rising; all 18-year-old men must register for the draft. However, a House appropriations subcommittee has voted to kill the Selective Service System, along...
COMMENTARY / World / GUEST FORUM
Aug 7, 1999

For the Japanese, the future is now

There has been much soul-searching among the Japanese in recent years, following the collapse of the bubble economy and the recession it triggered. Economic woes aside, a crisis of confidence exists at the most fundamental level. People have come to doubt not only the ability of society as a whole, but...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 7, 1999

Nationalism to the rescue

LONDON -- A French philosopher remarked some years ago that national politics had become "a secondary activity." What he meant was that, with the globalization of finance and economic forces, and with the citizens of the world linking up across borders (700 million people will be linked to the Internet...
EDITORIALS
Aug 7, 1999

A summer of new health threats

During what is proving to be one of Japan's hottest summers in recent memory, most people are concentrating on ways to beat the heat. Heat-related ailments pose a great health risk, especially among the very young and very old. It appears, however, that this summer the public should be paying even more...
EDITORIALS
Aug 6, 1999

First a tally, now the trading

Almost two months after voting for the national assembly took place, Indonesia has its election results. Wednesday, President B.J. Habibie endorsed the final tally of the national election commission over the objections of several small parties who claimed ballot fraud. The holdouts represented less...
JAPAN
Aug 6, 1999

A-bomb doctor inspires Chernobyl aid worker

Staff writer

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan