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JAPAN
Aug 18, 1999

Japan reinforces Turkey quake team

The government sent 17 more rescue workers to Turkey on Wednesday, including four Kobe firefighters who helped in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 18, 1999

Yes, there was a Nanjing Massacre

Did the 1937 Nanjing Massacre really happen? This might seem like an absurd question, but then the recently elected governor of Tokyo is on record as having denied that the looting, rape and assembly-line murder reported by eyewitnesses ever took place. The Dr. Feelgoods of Japanese history, Yoshinori...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 15, 1999

Food with an attitude coming to a table near you

Irritated? Feel like having an argument? Argue with your food. And don't presume that just because you'll get the last bite, that you're going to win the argument every time. Linda Matthie-Jacobs, author of two cookbooks about "food with an attitude," has followed up her previous "Fire 'n' Ice" cookbook...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 1999

Angola: A catastrophe in the making

One of the consequences of the Balkan conflict has been the distraction of international attention from other equally serious conflicts worldwide. Such is the case of Angola, a country that for the last several years has been plagued by a ruthless civil war. While world nations and international aid...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 1999

Erratic leader dismays Russian far east

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin's sacking of his fourth prime minister in 17 months left Far Eastern residents shaking their heads and complaining that the aging president is unfit to rule the country.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Aug 14, 1999

More than a humble piece of clay

Japan is a ceramic paradise, plain and simple.
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...
COMMENTARY
Aug 13, 1999

Ozawa's future appears bleak

Japan is engulfed in severe political turmoil as the Diet session closes today. Things have turned out as I have been predicting since last fall regarding the coalition strategies of Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka, the chief strategist in Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's administration.
EDITORIALS
Aug 12, 1999

Symbols to unite that divide

The government has finally put the Hinomaru flag and the "Kimigayo" anthem on the statute book. This has hardly put the matter to rest, however. By rushing the flag-and-anthem bill through the Diet Monday, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party chose to ignore the feelings of a large segment of the public...
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Aug 12, 1999

Virginia's wines gaining praise with a little help from Valhalla

The day after the Fourth of July, I had the pleasure of visiting two outstanding wineries in Virginia: Rockbridge Vineyard, founded in 1992 in Raphine, near Roanoke; and Valhalla Vineyards, started in 1993 on a mountain within the Roanoke city limits, and the city's first winery.
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 / 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?
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.
JAPAN
Aug 9, 1999

Flag-anthem law no end to controversy

Staff writer
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...
JAPAN
Aug 6, 1999

A-bomb doctor inspires Chernobyl aid worker

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Aug 5, 1999

China's East Wind blows ill

Earlier this week, China test-fired a ballistic missile. The practical significance of the test is minimal; it does little, if anything, to change the regional balance of power. Its timing, on the other hand, could not be worse. The launch sends the wrong message to every government with interests in...
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1999

UNDP hopes to work more with Japan

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 3, 1999

Nissho Iwai announces major restructuring

Nissho Iwai Corp., a major trading firm struggling under heavy financial burdens, will carry out a drastic restructuring that will halve its textile business, company sources said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Jul 31, 1999

Provocation or extortion?

The latest North Korean crisis, now that the mysterious underground facility at Kumchang-ri has proven to be nothing more than a huge hole in the ground, centers on the reportedly imminent launch of another multistage long-range missile. The last launch, on Aug. 31, 1998, involved an overflight of Japan...
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 1999

Time-honored craft may be blowing away

In Japan the sound of a furin (wind bell) tinkling in the breeze is believed to invoke a sense of coolness during a hot and humid summer.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 1999

Putting art back into everyday life

The Kanazawa Citizen's Art Center belies the truth of the expression that you cannot put new wine into old skins.
COMMENTARY
Jul 30, 1999

Selling out in Nagata-cho

"Japanese politics today lacks principles," former Health and Welfare Minister Junichiro Koizumi said when I met him recently as a member of a journalists' group. Koizumi also criticized government budget outlays of 80 trillion yen, against national and local tax revenues of only 50 trillion yen. He...
JAPAN
Jul 30, 1999

World Bank hit for pushing medical waste incineration

The World Bank should stop funding medical waste incinerators and ensure that its projects only allow burning of medical waste when unavoidable, according to a report presented Friday by a nongovernmental organization in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 1999

Osaka man brings color to a gray industry

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Jul 27, 1999

Morocco's visionary passes away

An extraordinary group of world leaders assembled in Morocco last weekend for the funeral of King Hassan II, who died last week of a heart attack at the age of 70. The turnout, ranging from U.S. President Bill Clinton and his predecessor, Mr. George Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and South African...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 1999

Fear and loathing for Russian journalists

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- Yury Stepanov, an editor at an independent program called Radio Lemma, was walking home at about 10:30 p.m. June 29 when he noticed a Toyota minivan blocking an alley near his home.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 1999

Cohabitation still confounds

PARIS -- The French attach so much importance to their government institutions that they change them more often than any other people. They've had five republics and 16 constitutions in the past 200 or so years!
EDITORIALS
Jul 22, 1999

Pointless and reckless in Taipei

It is still unclear why Mr. Lee Teng-hui, the president of Taiwan, said earlier this month that relations between his government and China's mainland government should be conducted on a "special state-to-state" basis. (Any hopes that he had been misquoted were shattered when he repeated the comments...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji