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EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2000

The showdown in Indonesia

This week, the old order and the new squared off in Indonesia. An official inquiry concluded that the violence that erupted in East Timor last year was planned, carried out and abetted by a group that included top-ranking members of the country's military. The report incriminated 40 members of the armed...
COMMUNITY
Feb 3, 2000

Tarento Shepherd bids farewell after two decades in show biz

When they walk into a room, heads turn, tongues wag, fingers point. They've got something no one can define but everyone recognizes. If anybody's got it, it's gaikokujin tarento Joan Shepherd.
COMMUNITY
Feb 3, 2000

A mountain-high price for goat chic

Admit it. You don't know what or who pashmina is. And you certainly would never let anyone touch your shatoosh. Never fear: If you have not encountered these words until recently -- or ever -- you are not alone.
COMMENTARY
Feb 2, 2000

Is the U.S. on the right track?

As we enter the Year of the Dragon, U.S. bilateral relations with key states in Northeast Asia generally appear on track. Ties with America's two key allies, Japan and Korea, remain steady, as the Trilateral Cooperation and Oversight Group process has helped to keep all three in sync when dealing with...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 2, 2000

Valentine's in Japan, oh how sweet it is

Here's a fun fact to sweeten your life: The average Japanese consumes about 1.1 kg of chocolate per year.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2000

High-tech juggernaut is a dangerous ride

Apparently, sales of dog food by the U.S. shopping giant Wal-Mart were bigger than the worldwide sales chalked up by e-commerce last year. Even if that is true, the current media frenzy about e-commerce makes it hard to countenance. There is a danger that this current fashion for one particular technology...
LIFE / Travel
Feb 2, 2000

The last paradise

Special to The Japan Times In the early years of the last century, the wife of a French colonial doctor in Laos wrote in her journal, "Oh! What a delightful paradise. The fierce barrier of the stream protects this country from the progress and ambition of which it has no need. Will Luang Prabang be,...
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Feb 2, 2000

Maintaining traditions

A gentleman is doing research on fireflies and asks about a service that provides fireflies for parties. He tells us he lives on a small hill surrounded by trees with a huge expanse of rice fields below. Ideal for fireflies, he says, but they are exceedingly rare; his son has seen more on a single night...
COMMUNITY
Feb 1, 2000

Dance craze swinging into action

The 1996 hit movie "Shall We Dance?" has helped the Japanese appreciate the charm of ballroom dancing. Yet despite the surging popularity of dance schools across the country, social dance continues to play a minor role in the local nightlife. Now, some devotees are promoting swing, a more casual version...
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2000

Defense official held in 300 million yen bilking

OSAKA -- An official of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency has been arrested for attempting to swindle 300 million yen out of a company executive by offering a bogus business transaction with the Defense Agency, prosecutors said Tuesday. Tatsuro Kitamura, 43, a labor relations official at...
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 31, 2000

Fighting the illegal wildlife trade

PRETORIA -- Praised as the best wildlife law-enforcement agency in all of Africa, South Africa's Endangered Species Protection Unit combines perilous undercover investigation and hardline law enforcement with a passion for one of Africa's most precious resources -- its wildlife.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2000

Galleon to virtually re-enact first contact with Europe

Staff writer Visit the Osaka Maritime Museum when it opens this summer, and you might want to take along a waterproof poncho, motion sickness pills and a sword. This has nothing to do with the location of the all-glass, globe-shaped museum, which floats like a giant mirror ball on the waters of Osaka...
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 29, 2000

Maintaining Shiiba's proud history

A good chance to enjoy a glimpse of visual and performing arts of rural old Japan will come to Tokyo Feb. 19-20. The Kioi Small Hall will present a special program titled "Traditional Performing Arts of Shiiba, Miyazaki" to introduce rarely seen dances and chants performed in front of a profusely decorated...
EDITORIALS
Jan 28, 2000

A warning from cyberspace

Welcome to the digital world. That was not the actual wording of the message hackers left on Japanese government Web pages this week, but it was the meaning for anyone who bothered to read between the lines. This week's incidents were an embarrassment, or at most a nuisance. Next time, the damage could...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2000

MITI broadens yen-loan eligibility

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry announced Friday it will broaden the range of countries and projects the government yen-loan scheme targets to aid economic reform in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. The special yen-loan scheme was established in 1998 on the initiative of...
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2000

Residency awarded to lucky dozen

Twelve foreigners who have overstayed their visas will be allowed to stay in Japan after applying for residents' status in September, Justice Minister Hideo Usui said Friday. The 12 are part of a group of 21 who publicly approached immigration authorities in September. It is the first time the government...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 27, 2000

Culinary fire power, Szechwan style

They've never been big on central heating over in the Middle Kingdom. In rural Sichuan, when the icy winter gales blow in from across the Gobi desert, there's only one prescription for keeping the cold at bay: spicy food -- especially the fiery local hotpots -- at regular intervals and in generous quantities....
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Fukaya plans U.S. trip sometime before G8 meeting

Takashi Fukaya, the international trade and industry minister, is considering a trip to Washington in February or March for talks with top U.S. officials on the new round of global trade liberalization negotiations, sources at his ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Forgeries force Takashimaya to reissue 300,000 credit cards

OSAKA -- The Takashimaya department store chain has reissued about 300,000 credit cards in the wake of reports last year of forgeries, it was learned Wednesday. More than 10 cases of fraud involving forged Takashimaya credit cards had been reported every month since last spring, and the number rose...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

U.N. drug program calls for more funds

Staff writer The head of the United Nations Drug-Control Program hopes Japan will devote more of its U.N. contribution to the program, claiming it is cost-effective in the domestic war against narcotics. Pointing out Japan's declining contribution to the Vienna-based UNDCP, Executive Director Pino Arlacchi...
EDITORIALS
Jan 24, 2000

Saddam Hussein unrepentant

Last week marked the 10th anniversary of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, a move that launched the Persian Gulf War. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein lost the war, but he seems to be winning the peace. He has successfully blocked international efforts to enforce compliance of the treaty he signed and the United...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2000

Taiwan turns table on terrible temblor

In the early hours of Sept. 21, 1999, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Taiwan. Within 45 seconds, over 2,000 people lost their lives and property damage amounted to billions of dollars. Fortunately, the epicenter was not in a densely populated metropolitan area, for the loss of life and property would...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jan 23, 2000

Mary Cogan

Amongst many distinctions of different kinds, Tokyo has one that merits affectionate attention. Tokyo hosts the only Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Asia.
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2000

A mother's place is in the Diet

Babies are always news, but an even more special baby than usual is expected in Japan in April. Its mother is a news-maker herself: Diet member and former Olympic speed skater and cyclist Ms. Seiko Hashimoto. Dubbed a "superwoman" of Japanese athletics, Ms. Hashimoto competed in seven consecutive Olympics...
CULTURE / Art
Jan 22, 2000

Traditional dyers fit to be tied

These days, kasuri, indigo kimono with splashes of sober white patterns, can only be seen in TV samurai dramas, yet until the beginning of the 20th century they were the most popular and common of daily clothing.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 22, 2000

Veteran of Hagi continues rediscovery

Most of the great potters who rediscovered and revived old potting styles in the early to mid years of the 20th century have passed on into the great kiln in the sky. Yet there is one legend who is still potting: Hagi ceramist Kyusetsu Miwa XI.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 22, 2000

Ginza's Satani Gallery closes doors with clearance sale of collection

It was immediately evident that something was very different.
CULTURE / Music
Jan 21, 2000

Fashion segueing into sound

A special guest at a Ryuichi Sakamoto concert summons a host of international possibilities -- David Sylvian or Bowie, perhaps? Instead, the audience at Sakamoto's recent Christmas concert got designer Yohji Yamamoto clutching an acoustic guitar. Yamamoto's foray into music (he has recorded with rootsy...
JAPAN / Media
Jan 20, 2000

Of the people, for the people: the mass appeal of konbini

Though Japan is famous for importing technology from the West and then sending it back in cheaper and better form, business practices remain homegrown. The shining exception is convenience stores, an American concept that has been so successful here that one could say it subsidized the rest of the Japanese...
COMMUNITY
Jan 20, 2000

Multifaceted legacy is rock solid

The public will never know what Ronald Winston looks like. Until he dies, that is.

Longform

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