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CULTURE / Art
Apr 30, 2000

A century of Japanese-style painting

"Glue painting?" Rather unattractive.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 29, 2000

Life springs eternal in oshibana creations

Using one's own garden flowers to create oshibana (pressed-flower arrangements) and thereby eternally preserving the flowers' beauty is a joy many nature lovers would relish.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Apr 22, 2000

Inspiration that comes naturally

Nature, that miraculous giver of life, has been a source of inspiration for many Japanese artists, potters included, for many a century. Whether it be in floral motifs or the naturalness of their chosen materials or birds in flight, nature has played a conscious role in shaping the thoughts and vessels...
COMMUNITY
Apr 21, 2000

Life of soul in creative metamorphosis

The human soul dances to the music of creative time and life joins in the dance.-- Toshimi Horiuchi
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Apr 20, 2000

Ayurvedic delights for the face

Continuing on the topic of Ayurveda, here are some basic Ayurvedic principles for making your own simple beauty treatments. As detailed in my last column, the Ayurvedic system relies on a rather precise diagnostic system, and furthermore all diagnoses take into account the basic constitutional type of...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 17, 2000

Chance meeting provides valuable insights on Japan and environment

In early April I had a chance to meet with Rea Litty, an environmentalist from the Netherlands, and Fushi Zen, president of the Association for the Conservation of Humans Against the Natural Environment, and former director of Humans First!
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2000

EU knocking down the Tower of Babel

BRUSSELS — The European Union brings together 15 states with a total population of 380 million people. Thirteen other countries have applied to join. Europeans speak some 45 different languages, of which 11 are recognized as official languages for the purposes of EU business. But millions of European...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 6, 2000

Commercial success -- and cultural

In advertising, success doesn't always mean the same thing to everyone involved. For the client, it means increased sales of his product, while for the copywriter it means cultural impact, and though there's nothing that says these two successes can't coincide, there's also nothing that says they have...
COMMUNITY
Apr 6, 2000

Sisters doing it for themselves at any age

Seiko Kuboi stops at the end of the catwalk and poses with hand on hip, showing off her gold lame-edged jacket, long black skirt and black bolero hat. The crowd goes wild. "Whoo-hoo! Looking good! Great hat!" they scream in raucous appreciation.
COMMUNITY
Apr 4, 2000

Date club ads turn green Sendai pink with anger

SENDAI, Miyagi Pref. -- "Dial this number for beautiful office ladies." "Ring up for perky college coeds."
CULTURE / Music
Apr 2, 2000

IPO's Tokyo performance unforgettable and provocative

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra: Feb. 23, Zubin Mehta conducting in Suntory Hall -- Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21 (Ludwig van Beethoven, 1770-1827); Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major "Romantic" (Josef Anton Bruckner, 1824-96)
LIFE
Mar 30, 2000

A gathering of cultures and characters

Surrounded by trees, birdsong and a riot of cherry blossoms as you head up the hill into the nature preserve surrounding Tokurinji Temple, you can easily forget that a moment ago you were in the middle of Nagoya, one of Japan's largest cities. When you enter the temple grounds during the annual Hana...
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 30, 2000

Natural beauty care is more than just sweetness and light

Continuing in our sweets-for-the-sweet mood, try the following honey and sugar baths and full-body treatments for a wakeup call to body and spirit. All of these treatments are simple, inexpensive and amazingly effective. They are also delicious. Happy sweet spring!
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 26, 2000

Yoshihiko Ueda

People often ask Yoshihiko Ueda why he became a photographer. He replies that he has no clear memory of the beginning. "Perhaps it was almost coincidental," he said. His wife offers the explanation that his sister gave him a camera to console him when he was disappointed at failing boyhood examinations....
LIFE / Travel
Mar 20, 2000

Antarctica without the suffering

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand -- Writing of his experience while exploring Antarctica as a member of the ill-fated Scott expedition, Apsley Cherry-Garrard recalled, "Such extremity of suffering cannot be measured. Madness or death may bring relief. But this I know: We on this journey were already beginning...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2000

Japan, human rights and the WTO

The 135-member World Trade Organization has announced that it will start global negotiations on trade in agriculture beginning March 20. There is yet to be agreement on the negotiating format, scope of discussions and time frame. But we do know the talks will take years -- and that they will be very...
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 16, 2000

Sweet indulgences without the calories

Sugar and spice and everything nice . . . this column and the next will be dedicated to all those readers with a sweet tooth. There is a virtual candy store of recipes for health and beauty which make good use of sugar and other sweets. Honey, sugar and molasses may all be put to the service of your...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2000

Scorched in the fires of Iga

The influence on contemporary Japanese pottery from medieval kilns is still profound and deep, even though we have one foot into the 21st century. These high-fired unglazed stonewares can be found in potting centers commonly referred to as the Six Old Kilns (rokkoyo) -- the only problem is that this...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 11, 2000

Antique restorer teaches old furniture new tricks

Western antique furniture has an ambivalent reputation. Some people are so enchanted with it that they become collectors, while others simply think of it as old, dirty -- and often unreasonably expensive.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 8, 2000

The Horai in Atami: A reputation so good it's true

The pride of Horai is Hashiri no Yu, an outdoor bath reached via a steep lantern-lit path. While the maid prepared our room for dinner, we soaked in the waters of the onsen, watching the island hills change from misty gray through pink, blue and purple to black, as the sun set over the bay.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2000

Historical accuracy vs. public good

KANAZAWA, Ishikawa Pref. -- Celebrated Japanese novelist Yasushi Inoue once wrote: "Whatever the circumstances, the beauty of (Kanazawa's) castle walls should always be preserved."
COMMUNITY / How-tos
Mar 5, 2000

The arts

A woman who first came to Japan some 40 years ago remembers that in those days there were many dinner clubs that featured dancing and floor shows. One act she has never forgotten: A Chinese family sat in a row at a table with the grandmother in the middle and the youngest at the two ends. They were dressed...
COMMUNITY
Mar 3, 2000

Heavy and light in minority fiction

The first Akutagawa Prizes of the year 2000 have been awarded to two works about minority life in Japan. "Kage no Sumika" by Gengetsu, a second-generation Korean-Japanese, deals with life in Osaka's Korean community, while "Natsu no Yakusoku" by Fujino Chiya sketches the daily life of a group of young...
CULTURE / Art
Feb 26, 2000

Religious art meets shamanism

People in the village of Monobe, Kochi Prefecture, nestled deep in the mountains, have passed down from generation to generation a mysterious folk religion that worships paper gods.
COMMUNITY
Feb 18, 2000

Polishing the bitter tears into sweet

Hardly a day passes without some sadness or bitterness touching our lives. Sometimes the waves of grief and pain are relentless.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 16, 2000

Requiem for Asia's resplendent tiger

TIGERS IN THE SNOW, by Peter Matthiessen, with introduction and photographs by Dr. Maurice Hornocker. North Point Press, 154 pp., $25. The tiger is one of nature's most provocative metaphors for power, independence, grace and spirit, but a world consumed with symbols is hardly noticing as the animal...
CULTURE / Music
Feb 15, 2000

Fear and loathing of Las Vegas

I wake up and I'm in bed with a broken wine glass, a forgotten fag that has left a deep black scar on the futon and a hangover the length, breadth and depth of Death Valley; but what worries me most is that the sheets are covered in blood and the smell of burning flesh is wafting over me . . .
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 13, 2000

Nicola Cerrone

The warmth and blue skies of Italy and the sunshine and freshness of Australia make a winning combination. These elements come together in Nicola Cerrone, young, winsome and friendly.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 13, 2000

At the cultural crossroads of art

Paris in the '20s, a journey on the Orient Express: "Art Deco and the Orient," now at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, conjures up the Jazz Age, when everything from ocean liners to coffee cups was touched by the glamour of Art Deco.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 8, 2000

Music of An-Chang Project best-kept secret of Okiniwa

The new album by Jun Yasuba's A-Chang Project, "Harara Rude," should be heralded as a major new album of Okinawan music. However, Yasuba is at present unknown to even Okinawan music aficionados. It took her two years to sell 500 of the first An-Chang Project albums, "Yarayo-Uta no Sahanji," and at present,...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb