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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Apr 29, 2001

Revisit the glory and the pathos of the 47 ronin

KUNIYOSHI: The Faithful Samurai, by David R. Weinberg. Translations and essay by Alfred H. Marks. Foreword by B.W. Robinson. Leiden: Hotei Publishing, 2000. 192 pp., map, pictures, color plates, 12,000 yen. In 1701, one of the feudal lords in attendance to the shogun in the Edo castle was called upon...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 24, 2001

A tale of two Thai tribes

BAHN BOON YEUN, Phrae Province, Thailand -- Small, wild-haired figures in ragged clothes move barefoot through the moonlit mango grove. Some carry archaic muskets as long as spears, others squat beside soot-stained shacks murmuring to each other in the darkness. Inside a big wooden house at the heart...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 24, 2001

Lonesome locomotives left in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- There aren't many obstacles in the way of exploring Lebanon's crumbling train stations. But at St. Michel, once the hub of the nation's now-defunct rail network, a man eyeing my camera says I need permission to look around.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 18, 2001

Growing in new directions: Yanobe's star rises again

Just in case you didn't know already: Kenji Yanobe is back.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2001

Internet bank aims to win business with personal touch -- online

Go to a bank, look lost, and almost instantly an attendant will appear to ask how you are doing and if everything is OK.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2001

Japan may help fund effort to save Afghan artifacts

The Japanese government is considering contributing funds to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's plan to preserve remaining valuable cultural assets in Afghanistan.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 11, 2001

Signs of an artistically lived life

Living in a country where reading involves interpreting thousands of characters from four different writing systems, it is interesting to reflect on the economy of the English-language alphabet. Isn't it just a little amazing that everything from Shakespeare to the newspaper you are holding in your hands...
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2001

Rice farmer ends family tradition by turning to flowers, vegetables

AKITA -- Masakazu Miyakawa, 38, a resident of the village of Ogata in Akita Prefecture, sat in his flower seedling greenhouse one April night three years ago, worrying about his farm.
JAPAN
Apr 3, 2001

Spy satellite office set up by Cabinet

The government is gearing up to launch multipurpose information satellites as early as next year, setting up a new office Monday to push the long-awaited plan.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 3, 2001

Escape to the Victorian age in the town time forgot

SIDMOUTH, England -- If one holds the sepia-tinted postcard and stands in the same spot where the photographer stood at the start of the last century, one is stunned by the changes to the facades of the hotels and shops that line Sidmouth's seafront. There are virtually none.
COMMUNITY
Mar 29, 2001

The bubble rises skyward again, carrying a doughnut

This balloon's gondola is 6 meters in diameter and shaped so passengers can move around freely.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2001

Japanese doctor confirms Afghanistan statues destroyed

A Japanese doctor living in Pakistan said Saturday he has confirmed that the two world-famous Buddha statues in Bamyan have been destroyed by the country's Taliban authorities.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 18, 2001

This way to youthful adventure

For a few wine-toasted moments, it almost felt like a New York City art night. Sure, Tokyo is half a world away, but there were three new shows up in a big old warehouse, critics and collectors floating about, photographers snapping the smiles on the faces of the beautiful people and, most of all, the...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2001

Taliban fanaticism is not typical of Islam

LONDON -- The problem is that the world is actually a very provincial place. Most people in the non-Muslim parts of the world have never been in any Muslim country, so if Muslims anywhere in the world do something really stupid, they will readily believe that those actions are typical of Islam -- and...
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2001

Saving the forests through photos

KYOTO -- The blue mushrooms in the Australian state of Tasmania seemed like windows onto the soul of the forest to French photographer and environmentalist Jerome Hutin.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 11, 2001

Pint-size English students learning up a storm

Every Thursday at 4 p.m., a big storm comes and whips around my house with enough force to rattle the walls, loosen fixtures and send things crashing onto the floor. The name of the storm is Nami-chan and she's 4 years old.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 10, 2001

A real woman is hard to find

The problem with "women's movies" is this: Too often, they make you think that the world out there belongs to men. Otherwise, how could they keep painting the same old pictures of women struggling to gain self-respect, raise children, find true love, bond witheach other, etc.? In the real world, women...
LIFE / Travel
Mar 4, 2001

Shangri-La: Paradise beyond the clouds

LIJIANG, China -- The mystical land of Shangri-La, lost and found in recent years, has moved. It has also upgraded its attractions. This eastern Utopia still offers the tea shops, Tibetan lamas and snow-capped peaks of James Hilton's 1933 bestseller "Lost Horizon," but today's pilgrims can also sample...
COMMUNITY
Mar 1, 2001

Shiseido updates Braille manuals

Shiseido has updated the Braille and large-print versions of its skincare and makeup manuals and the Braille labels on its products, to make its cosmetic and skincare lines easier to use for those with sight-related disabilities.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2001

JVC touts smallest video in world

Victor Co. of Japan said Wednesday that it will launch the lightest and smallest digital video camera in the world in the next couple of weeks.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2001

New NEC PC able to pick up digital TV

NEC Corp. in March will launch Japan's first desktop personal computers capable of receiving digital satellite television broadcasts, the company said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 27, 2001

Soar with Madame Butterfly

MADAME BUTTERFLY: Japonisme, Puccini, and the Search for the Real Cho-Cho-San, by Jan van Rij. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 2001, 192 pp., 24 b/w photos, drawings, map, $24.95 (casebound). Giacomo Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" has become more than just a pretty piece of music. It has turned into something...
CULTURE / Film
Feb 20, 2001

Hollywood cliches without the thrills

Are Asian films ready for prime time -- that is, for the mall cineplexes of America?
CULTURE / Books
Feb 20, 2001

More to it than meets the eye: the private world of 'manga'

ADULT MANGA: Culture and Power in Contemporary Japanese Society, by Sharon Kinsella. Curzon Press, 2000, 228 pp., $19.95 (paper). "Manga" leads a double life in Japan. Its popularity as entertainment for the masses is well-known: Subway riders furtively flip through its pages, young people crowd into...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 17, 2001

Ukiyo-e treasures make brief return

The Baur Collection of ukiyo-e woodcuts by several of Japan's top masters is this country's own version of the Elgin Marbles. Perhaps this is why the 200 works are only on display so briefly. If you want to see these excellent examples of print art in their homeland, you have only a short time.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Feb 15, 2001

Bedfellows making a quick buck

The Yankees are sleeping with the devil. The Red Devils, to be exact.

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