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COMMENTARY / World
May 25, 2000

Japan's national security policy ignores public sentiment

The impression that one gets when looking at the evolution of Japan's security policy in recent years is that the Japanese public has consented to steps taken by Tokyo. After all, that is the fundamental expectation that democracies nurture. Following this reasoning, Tokyo should be developing a security...
EDITORIALS
May 14, 2000

The rites of spring

Anyone poking about in newspapers or on the Internet lately might have come across a couple of essays expressing a view that seems to pop up seductively in public discourse whenever the weather turns warm. Like a view of cool woods from the window of a stuffy classroom in spring, this idea offers the...
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2000

After the tour, the real work begins

During his nine-day whirlwind trip of seven major nations that ended last weekend, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori laid the groundwork for a G8 summit scheduled for July in Okinawa, a meeting that he will chair as head of the host government. His main purpose, of course, was to get acquainted with leaders...
CULTURE / Art
May 7, 2000

Jewels of the printmaker's art

"I call these my jewels," said Joanna H. Schoff, as we bent to catch a gleam of silver in the softly lit museum. Treasures indeed, but instead of the brilliance of diamonds we were looking at far gentler beauties: rare gems of Japanese printmaking from the 1800s.
COMMUNITY
May 5, 2000

Two Murakamis mull quake in Japanese life

A look at recent best-seller lists reveals several familiar faces. "Eien no Ko," a two-volume novel about the long-term effects of child abuse, is back with the broadcasting of a TV dramatization (Monday nights on NTV). There's another mystery by Nishimura Kyotaro and a book for improving one's English,...
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Apr 26, 2000

Stirring up the dust of a Classic era

This column marks the one-year anniversary of Kissa Kultur. What started as a way to help freelancers find interesting spots to enjoy a coffee between jobs has now become a fascinating historical dig through postwar Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Apr 23, 2000

A nation of chatterboxes

People who at first glance seem to be carrying on animated conversations with themselves, complete with bows and gestures and sometimes so loudly they annoy anyone near them, are a common sight nationwide. Of course, they are not conversing with imaginary listeners. As most of us know because we are...
CULTURE / Art
Apr 23, 2000

Collection shows Warhol's scope

Andy Warhol's death, 13 years ago, was an ignominious one: A man who had access to the best medical care, Warhol died after a routine but botched gall bladder operation.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Apr 19, 2000

E-nough already

Ahh, a blast of sanity from Scandinavia. The Swedish government recently announced that the Patent and Registration Office would no longer allow companies to register with the suffix .com in their names. And no se., www. or @ marks either.
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 2000

Stop to listen -- and to help

Those words of advice are intended for every member of the nation's police forces. The case of the three Saitama prefectural police officers just dismissed and expected to be indicted for falsifying documents is only the latest in a series of incidents suggesting that many police have forgotten, or never...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 8, 2000

Bicultural relations of the palate

FUKUOKA -- Think about how you enjoy red wine. With a tasty pasta dish or rich gamey stew, perhaps? Well, how about sushi? Few would answer yes to this one -- unless they were culinary ninja, as creative director Daisuke Utagawa of Washington, D.C.'s first sushi restaurant Sushi-Ko, describes himself....
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Apr 6, 2000

The alchemical way of self and bamboo

"The etymology of the word 'God' in English is totally different from the Japanese word kami, and has a completely different sense," says master charcoal burner Hironori Takebayashi, in his deep, laconic voice.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2000

Sharpening Japan-U.S. strategic ties

U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen's recent visit to Tokyo demonstrates the immaturity of the U.S.-Japan alliance, particularly from a strategic point of view.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 26, 2000

Once around again

Except for a few well-seasoned apartment buildings, the street I moved to 10 years ago was lined with old-style houses. Now only one remains. It is still a quiet street in an upscale neighborhood, but nearby are several small industry suppliers engaged in cutting, shaping and shipping metal forms. They...
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2000

Monju ruling infuriates plaintiffs

OSAKA -- Antinuclear activists expressed shock and outrage Wednesday over the Fukui District Court's ruling against local residents' efforts to permanently close the Monju fast-breeder reactor, and both plaintiffs and their lawyers vowed their nearly 15-year battle was not over.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 22, 2000

Won't be fooled again

When asked about the dot-com economy, Tim Dyson was succinct and acid -- almost contemptuous. "There's only one metric," he said. "Stock price."
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 2000

Mr. Chen's historic victory

In a historic election Saturday, Taiwanese voters gave Mr. Chen Shui-bian of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party a convincing victory. In electing Mr. Chen, the Taiwanese people defied threats from Beijing and brought an end to 50 years of Nationalist rule in Taiwan. His win in Taiwan's second...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 20, 2000

Troubling truths about India's bomb

INDIA'S NUCLEAR BOMB: The Impact on Global Proliferation, by George Perkovich. University of California Press, 1999, 597 pp., $39.95 (cloth). In many ways, the remarkable thing about India's nuclear bomb test on May 11, 1998 is not that it occurred, but that it didn't happen sooner. Ever since India...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 19, 2000

Found language and fragmented identity

Yuriya Julia Kumagai's first volume of poetry, "Her Space-Time Continuum," originally written in English and published in 1994, used text layout, language "found" in everyday life, as well as literary theory and language poetry techniques to shape her own idiom. This hybrid approach reflected the speaker's...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2000

Installation launches attack on grandma

There are those who get a warm fuzzy feeling when they are reminded of the trappings of their middle-class childhood: the lace curtains over the sitting room window that wafted in the afternoon breeze; the old wooden wardrobe that sat in a corner of a bedroom; the bowl of peppermints at Grandma's.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2000

An Australian ethnic model for Japan?

Sophisticated and exquisite, the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia was my home for the month of February. I have been coming to this city since 1976, and I now see it as a clear symbol of the profound transformation that has overtaken a country that was once a backwater of various repugnant...
LIFE / Travel
Mar 8, 2000

Steaming winter away in Yamagata

Water's three states converge at ground level in Yamagata Prefecture in winter: The white stuff never seems to stop falling, and the hot spring water never fails to bubble up, sending steam into the chilly air.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2000

Handling the bugaboo of post-POW stress

It is well-known that U.S. presidential aspirant John McCain, a former U.S. Navy pilot, was struck by North Vietnamese fire over Hanoi during the Vietnam War and subsequently spent five and a half years in various prisoner-of-war camps. He still bears physical scars from the experience, notably the fact...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2000

Tough new laws stir outrage in Australia

SYDNEY -- Johnno, a 15-year-old Aboriginal boy, steals a few pencils and some paint. The magistrate has no option but to send him to prison for four weeks. After three weeks behind bars, Johnno hangs himself.
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 1, 2000

Always more

In recent columns I explored purchasing English-friendly computers in Japan. Here is a little more information submitted by a reader who thinks it will be useful for those needing extended language capabilities for their computers, but first he has something to say about agreements, both local and international,...
COMMUNITY
Feb 27, 2000

'Dalit' priest researches caste system in Japan

As a child the Rev. Busi Suneel Bhanu had no inkling of his status in the Indian caste system. Enlightenment came in his early teens, when a teacher voiced shock on being told that Suneel was "Dalit," the name used for those Indians regarded as "untouchable" because of the traditional nature of their...
COMMUNITY
Feb 20, 2000

Off to Iraq with leads for pencils

Having spent time with student nurse Erika Ito, I would very much like to meet her mother. Firstly I would shake her hand and say: "Congratulations, job well done! You have one terrific daughter." Then I'd patent the secret of her success, and make us all as fortunate.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 20, 2000

All of life in Daumier's cartoons

A picture is worth a thousand words, and no one knows that better than Honore Daumier. His life story reads like a strand in a novel by Victor Hugo. The poor son of a failed poet and glazier, young Daumier chanced his luck as an artist in Paris in the 1830s. He studied the new technique of lithography,...
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.
EDITORIALS
Jan 20, 2000

Indonesia on the brink

Indonesia threatens to become engulfed by violence. Religion, nationalism and feelings of victimization have triggered conflict across the immense archipelago. Clashes between Muslims and Christians have prompted calls for an Islamic jihad, or holy war. Some fear the breakup of the world's fourth-most...

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