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JAPAN
Mar 29, 1999

Allure, image of governor posts growing on Diet

Staff writers
JAPAN
Mar 29, 1999

Miyazawa plan takes effect in Hanoi

The government on Monday formalized an Official Development Assistance package for Vietnam, including up to 88 billion yen in yen-denominated loans, to support Hanoi's market-oriented reforms under the "Doi Moi" (renovation) policy.
JAPAN
Mar 29, 1999

Tokyo seeks boat explanation from Pyongyang

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Monday that Pyongyang should give a sincere explanation about its ties to two unidentified vessels that intruded into Japanese waters last week before fleeing to North Korea.
EDITORIALS
Mar 26, 1999

High stakes in Kosovo

Wednesday evening, NATO attacked a sovereign nation for the first time in the alliance's 50-year history. The initial strikes against Yugoslavia, carried out by B-2 "stealth" bombers and cruise missiles, were designed to suppress air-defense systems and other military targets and are the first steps...
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Mystery ships spark debate on defense

The government is considering legislative amendments to cope with any future intruding vessels, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi told a Diet committee Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

New war hall said to sidestep nation's guilt

An exhibition hall in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward dedicated to victims of the wars fought by Japan in the 1930s and 1940s will not challenge visitors to think too deeply about how Japan waged those wars and its responsibility for them.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 1999

Daihatsu told to fix faulty cars promptly

Daihatsu Motor Co. received a Transport Ministry recommendation Friday to take prompt action on defective cars that should have been subject to a recall.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Gubernatorial campaigns kick off

Campaigning for gubernatorial elections slated for April 11 in 12 prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, started Thursday, kicking off the first round of the quadrennial unified local elections.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

The Asahara Trial: Ex-Aum member mum on murder

Three former Aum Shinrikyo members were brought to the witness stand at Thursday's trial session of cult founder Shoko Asahara in connection with the 1995 kidnap and murder of a Tokyo notary worker, but one of them refused to testify.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Local Elections '99: Showdown in cash-dry Tokyo

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Local Elections '99: LDP tying up with opposition

and YOKO HANI Staff writers
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Mar 25, 1999

Cornucopia's savory memories

Spring is here, hard on the heels of Foodex '99, the food-and-beverage spectacular I mentioned two weeks ago during its four-day run at Makuhari Messe.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Mar 25, 1999

Shibuya's best-kept secret -- but you didn't read it here

Publicity can be both good and bad. It can help a restaurant or pub stay open and economically healthy. It can also, however, be the bane of an establishment as well. Too much attention has its downfalls.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 25, 1999

Kokotei: Kamakura cuisine with a view

For most city folk, the best thing about Kamakura is the reassurance that it actually exists. We don't need to go there so often: It's enough to know that, less than an hour away down the JR tracks, there really are quiet backstreets to wander in, temples and monuments exuding a whiff of history, brine...
COMMUNITY / CROSSING CULTURES
Mar 25, 1999

Glacial change hard for people more used to avalanche speed

Japan can't change. Change in Japan is glacial. Japanese are stuck in their ways. In Japan, disappointment is what you can expect if you expect change.
COMMUNITY
Mar 25, 1999

Teenage visions of the coming century

Ethiopian Eta Ferahu Tarekegne Gatahun loves lasagna and wants to set a sprint record. Sassy Melissa Corlett, a Hong Kong-born Brit, has no doubts that her future will be fantastic. Eka Sriamarwati, a young Balinese trance dancer, lists a tiny hair clip as her most prized possession. And in Tokyo, Nami...
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 1999

Fingerprints on cyberspace

Now, more than ever before, knowledge is power. The information society puts such a premium on sorting the wheat from the chaff, that relevant facts -- real knowledge -- are invaluable. There is a less recognized corollary of that truism: Data represent profit. Virtual mountains of data are accumulating...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

More nurses called for to avoid mishaps

A national union for nurses and other medical workers urged the government Wednesday to greatly increase the number of nurses to prevent the recurrence of medical accidents they say could be avoided with more medical help.
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Local Elections: Megaprojects now nightmare to explain

Staff writer
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 24, 1999

Degrees of separation

You could say they have an affliction. You've probably bumped into them on the street. That is, they bump into you, because they often walk with their eyes fixated on their task, oblivious to any obstacles in their path. You've definitely overheard them chatting on trains, in coffee shops, perhaps even...
LIFE / Travel
Mar 24, 1999

Kathmandu's bazaar of dreams

Some "old hands" are lamenting what they see as the passing of Asan Tole, that magical path through old Kathmandu where it seems Kipling's "the wildest dreams of Kew" really do come true.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 24, 1999

One bullheaded Buddhist

LOYALTY DEMANDS DISSENT: Autobiography of an Engaged Buddhist, by Sulak Sivaraksa. Parallax Press, 1998, 450 baht. Sulak Sivaraksa, upon reaching the age of 65, decided to look backward and ponder decades of constant activity in Thai society. The book opens with a foreword by the Dalai Lama, who states...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Japan to help Russia dismantle nuclear subs

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Mar 24, 1999

A downer day

A friend of mine, a medical doctor who has spent many years in this country, was here during Japan's recent press spectacular, the first official transplant operation. I asked what he thought of the frenzy surrounding this lifesaving achievement. I think his comments should have a far wider circulation...
COMMUNITY
Mar 24, 1999

Tantalizing tempura a crowd-pleaser

Tempura is probably the most internationally popular Japanese dish. It seems difficult to cook the dishat home, but actually, tempura is a very simple dish and tastes good with any kind of ingredients.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 24, 1999

Martin and the king of Siam

A RESOUNDING FAILURE: Martin and the French in Siam, 1672-1693, by Michael Smithies. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1998, 156 pp., 395 baht. Of the many mercantile adventures that marked European exploitations of Asia, one of the most entertaining is that of the French in Siam. This is a well-known...
JAPAN
Mar 24, 1999

Softbank, Microsoft plan online car-shopping venture

Softbank Corp., Microsoft Corp., and Yahoo Japan Corp. announced Wednesday that they will establish a joint venture in April, capitalized at $7 million, offering a car-shopping information service for Japanese customers.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Mar 24, 1999

Weaving a fall brocade of spindle trees

The spindle tree family (nishikigi-ka, Celastraceae) contains some very ornamental trees, shrubs and climbers, among which nishikigi, the genus Euonymus, is a large group encompassing some 176 species. They grow wild in the temperate to warm regions of the world and can be found in Australia, Europe...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 24, 1999

Frustration and anger produce great Korean fiction

A READY-MADE LIFE: Early Masters of Modern Korean Fiction, selected and translated by Kim Chong-un and Bruce Fulton. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998, 191 pp., $38 (cloth), $15.95 (paper). "What's driving me to drink isn't anger and isn't the dandies. It's this society -- our Korean society...
LIFE / Travel
Mar 24, 1999

Adventures in suspended reality

Porto Europa, just outside of Wakayama City, is without doubt a playful place to visit and offers a wide range of entertainment, action rides, cuisines and new technology games, but don't expect it to duplicate your last sojourn overseas.

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