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LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 14, 1999

Yeast developments give rise to wonderful new possibilities

Yeast has been one of those great technical advances in the sake world -- one factor that separates great ginjo of today from the run-of-the-mill sake of yesteryear. Over the last 10 years or so, dozens of new yeast strains have been developed and incorporated into sake brewing.
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1999

Stores attempt to invent new holiday

Staff writer
LIFE / Travel
Oct 6, 1999

Fall in Kyushu unique after all

AKIZUKI, Fukuoka Pref. -- "Japan," I am frequently informed, with looks of grave importance, "has four seasons." I always wonder if I should feign amazement at this fact, or be silly and ask whether this is because Japan is an island country and all foreigners hate natto. But I can never be told enough...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Oct 2, 1999

New audiences for Japanese music

It takes a lot of planning and creative effort to successfully present a public concert, and hogaku is no exception.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 1999

Taiwan quake shakes China's mandate

BEIJING -- Chinese news coverage of the killer earthquake in Taiwan has been both muted and sporadic, ranging from solicitous concern for the rogue province to no news at all. When the earthquake did get print or air time in the week following the temblor, coverage tended to focus on what mainland authorities,...
JAPAN
Sep 29, 1999

NPA Secretariat hits Kanagawa cops

Measures taken by the Kanagawa Prefectural Police that could be seen as attempts to cover up wrongdoing in its ranks were "inappropriate" and the responsibility of those in charge is grave, the head of the National Police Agency Secretariat acknowledged Wednesday.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Sep 23, 1999

Osaka still has reasons to be proud of its brewing culture

Osaka has long been a great center of commerce and activity, but likely doesn't stand out as a major brewing center in the minds of most people. True, it has never been nearly as significant as its Kansai cousins -- Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara -- but the sake brewing culture was, and still is, strong there....
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 23, 1999

Through the lens of kyogen

Mansai Nomura gave his first kyogen performance at age 4, appeared in Akira Kurosawa's "Ran" at age 17 and began lecturing in aesthetics at Tokyo University when he was 25. No wonder he hadn't much time for my tardiness.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 1999

Australia's belated epiphany

SYDNEY -- As an Australian-led multinational rescue mission landed at burned-out Dili on Monday, a shocked nation is asking: How could Indonesia have permitted such horror? And could we have done more to prevent this Asian holocaust?
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 1999

Eyes on the ball at APEC

Ever since 1993, when U.S. President Bill Clinton turned the annual meeting of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum into a gathering for heads of state, critics have had a field day. Expectations have usually outpaced results, forcing participants to justify their attendance at what has been...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 17, 1999

Ten reasons why English is an evil language

English is an evil language. If it wasn't, all Japanese people would speak fluent English upon graduating high school. After all, seven years of English study should be enough.
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.
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...
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.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 1999

U.N. readies for new challenges

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Sep 2, 1999

Another stab at peace in Congo

One month after six of the seven parties fighting in the Congo signed a peace agreement, the remaining holdout has joined the ceasefire. Peace is desperately needed in the long-suffering nation, impoverished by decades of looting by former strongman Mobutu Sese Seko and then wracked by civil war after...
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Sep 1, 1999

Walking into the millennial sunrise

If you still haven't made up your mind about where you're going to be come sunrise of the year 2000, here's one to contemplate. How about Barrow, Alaska followed by a leisurely stroll 14 km to Point Barrow at the utmost north of the Americas?
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 1999

Thailand's hard journey into modernity

FOUR REIGNS, by Kukrit Pramoj, English version by Ms. Tulachandra. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1996, 663 pp. Kukrit Pramoj (1911-1995), politician, writer, classical dancer and film actor ("The Ugly American") wrote this book in 1953. The first English translation appeared in 1981.
JAPAN
Aug 27, 1999

IOC warns Osaka over bidding conduct

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 26, 1999

Earthquake concerns Turkish restaurateur

Staff writer
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 1999

No mystery to doing business in China

It seems that many so-called China experts try to enhance the value of their services by attributing a certain amount of "inscrutability" to the Chinese that only they can decipher. Besides being a patently offensive assertion, this is also grossly misleading.
EDITORIALS
Aug 13, 1999

'Going in the wrong direction'

Only three weeks after drawing back from the brink of war, India and Pakistan have clashed again. This time, the setting is disputed marshland near the Arabian Sea. On Tuesday, India shot down one of Pakistan's marine reconnaissance planes, killing all 16 people aboard. Pakistan responded the next day...
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.
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

ANA hijacker deemed fit for trial

Tokyo prosecutors this week will indict a 28-year-old man arrested in last month's hijacking of an All Nippon Airways jetliner and the slaying of its captain, having deemed the accused mentally fit to stand trial, sources said Wednesday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Aug 9, 1999

A learning experience

It is interesting to follow the drinking culture of Japan. In times when "Japaneseness" is being emphasized, sales of "Nihon-shu" (sake) and "shochu" (an indigenous distilled beverage that uses a variety of things that will ferment but mainly sweet potatoes) tend to increase. Beer is seldom affected...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 5, 1999

Thatched huts for the 21st century

TSURUI VILLAGE, Tokushima Pref. -- Still hidden away in Shikoku's remote Iya Valley, the thatch-roofed home made famous in Alex Kerr's "Lost Japan" is taking out a new lease on life -- one that may alter this country's approach to conservation and development.
EDITORIALS
Jul 31, 1999

Renewed hope for the ARF

This year's meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum could not have been more timely. China and Taiwan were engaged in a vicious exchange as Beijing threatened war against the island it regards as a renegade province. Tensions in Indonesia were high as political parties rejected the results of the June national...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 28, 1999

The little claimer that could

While companies, especially computer makers, have been eager to promote the Internet as a global bazaar and amusement park rolled into one, they are quickly learning that there's a little more to it than that. The tools that are supposed to help the customer are the same ones that can empower the unhappy...

Longform

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