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COMMUNITY
Sep 28, 2000

Disabled fight for freedom of movement

Disabled people should not take trains -- at least that's what Take Maruyama, who needs a wheelchair because of cerebral palsy, was told by his family when he was growing up in a small town in Tochigi Prefecture. Fortunately, he didn't listen.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2000

Quake of '23 gave Ikebukuro its Bohemian roots

When Ikebukuro Station opened on the Yamanote Line in 1903, the area around it was little more than pasture and vegetable fields.
LIFE / Travel
Sep 6, 2000

Walking the ridgetops in the Japan Alps

KARAMATSU PEAK, Nagano Pref. -- The sight of the red and green mountain huts nestled below the summit of Mount Karamatsu was a welcome one. It was there that I planned to rest my aching legs for the coming night.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 26, 2000

Hair ornament exhibitions

The Sawanoi Museum of Traditional Japanese Hair Ornaments in the western suburbs of Tokyo will hold a three-day event Sept. 8-10 commemorating Kushi no Hi (Comb Day). Stores and institutions with connections to combs and hair ornaments usually organize a variety of events on Sept. 4, as the numerals...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Aug 19, 2000

Autumn wind from Tsugaru fans Tokyo's waning summer

The last weeks of summer offer many hogaku concerts, both in Tokyo and around Japan, including two spectacular outdoor events.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 19, 2000

Honeymoon journey a sore memory

Summer glows with sunshine, and so do my memories.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2000

LDP snubs own to back ally's man

Kensaku Morita, who before the dissolution of the Lower House was a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker, is running as an independent in the Tokyo No. 4 constituency in Sunday's election because of what he calls an "unreasonable" decision by the LDP to back a candidate from one of the party's coalition...
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2000

Violence against JR staff most prevalent at Shinjuku

Of all the JR train stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Shinjuku Station is the most dangerous in terms of reported acts of violence against station employees.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 25, 2000

Strong traditions flow through Iwate sake

Talk about a late bloomer. From its location in the northeastern corner of Honshu, Iwate Prefecture exerts a tremendous influence on the sake world. Yet, sake was not even produced there on any real scale until well after 1678, long after Nada, Itami and Kyoto were well into their sake-brewing heyday....
COMMUNITY
May 24, 2000

Plutocrat's quiet country place preserved

Tonogayato Garden is located in Kokubunji, about 25 km from Tokyo Station. The garden is now owned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Parks Department but was originally owned by the Iwasaki family, of Mitsubishi fame.
JAPAN
May 1, 2000

Subway crash puzzles experts

Experts trying to find the cause of a fatal train crash near Tokyo's Nakameguro Station have succeeded in making a train wheel lift off the tracks at the spot where the accident happened, but they have yet to pin down the actual reason for the derailment that caused the crash, Transport Ministry officials...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 23, 2000

New York-style soup bars offer tasty stock options

New York-style coffee and bagel shops have been on the scene for years now, but another Manhattan staple is just beginning to spill into Tokyo's streets: soup cafes.
ENVIRONMENT
Apr 1, 2000

Magnolias thrive with sakura where once warriors bled

In late March when most deciduous trees are still bare, the buds of kobushi (Northern Japanese magnolia) shed their gray fur coats and burst into bloom. Each pure white flower has six petals faintly tinted pink peeping deep inside, sending forth a delicate fragrance. Farmers in northern Japan used its...
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2000

Broken tunnel drainage pumps halt bullet trains

OSAKA -- Three bullet trains on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line were delayed for up to 10 minutes Monday after drainage pumps in an undersea tunnel on the line in Kitakyushu were found to have temporarily malfunctioned, West Japan Railway Co. said.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2000

Passengers describe the sudden impact

Police, firefighters and subway workers shouted instructions to each other Wednesday as they attempted to rescue injured commuters and get them to hospitals in the immediate aftermath of a subway collision that ruptured Tokyo's morning rush hour.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2000

Subway crash claims four

Four passengers were killed and 33 others injured when a Tokyo subway train derailed and sideswiped a packed commuter train running in the opposite direction during rush hour Wednesday morning, police said.
LIFE / Travel
Feb 23, 2000

Heaven in Beppu's hot spring hells

The Lonely Planet's Japan edition pans it, but the onsen (hot spring) town of Beppu in Oita Prefecture provides a fun glimpse of somewhat dated Japanese sightseeing rituals -- and of course, with perhaps the most diverse array of hot springs in Kyushu, it has some great places to take a dip.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Jan 19, 2000

New opportunities

I have a letter from a 15-year-old girl in Germany. She has blue-gray eyes and dark blond hair. She speaks English, French and German. She tells me of her school and her hobbies. She has a cat called Blacky. She is looking for pen-friends in Japan.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2000

Regional Special: Okinawa

Isle's airport between reef and a hard place> Staff writer ISHIGAKI ISLAND, Okinawa Pref. -- Passengers stare dreamily from the plane. Some crane their necks for a glimpse of the cobalt coastline and Ishigaki's famed coral reefs. But all are jerked back to reality when the plane touches down and suddenly...
JAPAN
Dec 29, 1999

Chronology of cultists' legal battles

The following is a 1999 chronology of trial proceedings and other developments involving key Aum Shinrikyo defendants: Feb. 16: The Tokyo District Court sentences Hisako Ishii, 39, a close aide of cult founder Shoko Asahara, to 44 months in prison for abetting the flight of three cult fugitives wanted...
JAPAN
Dec 10, 1999

Prosecutors seek death sentence for Hayashi

Prosecutors on Friday demanded capital punishment for a former fugitive and Aum Shinrikyo member for the March 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people and injured thousands more. Yasuo Hayashi, 41, also stands accused of involvement in the June 1994 sarin attack in Matsumoto,...
JAPAN
Oct 21, 1999

Futenma debate near conclusion

Staff writers
JAPAN
Sep 1, 1999

Maizuru in Pyongyang's sights?

Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 30, 1999

Osaka recruits killifish for clean water campaign

HIRAKATA, Osaka Pref. -- Children and teachers from 42 elementary and junior high schools in Osaka Prefecture learned the importance of clean water through a study of the Japanese killifish at a lecture held here Monday by the prefectural government and freshwater fish experimental station.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 1999

Trains kill two on Joban, Mita lines

A man was instantly killed Friday morning when he threw himself onto the tracks of an oncoming JR commuter train on the Joban Line at Kameari Station in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward, police said.
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.

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