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LIFE / Travel
Aug 23, 2000

Among the ghosts of the kamikaze

CHIRAN, Kagoshima Pref. -- An aerial view of the Satsuma Peninsula, glimpsed from a light, low-flying craft such as a glider, would reveal a pastoral landscape of striking warmth, with green volcanic peaks, white stucco-faced houses and time-worn hot-spring inns tucked away down leafy lanes. In this...
COMMUNITY / BODY AND SOUL
Aug 21, 2000

Homocysteine a new heart attack threat

Even if your regular medical checkup shows a low cholesterol level, don't celebrate too soon: Recent medical research has revealed another bad guy in the blood.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2000

Addressing the growing role of NGOs

The post-Cold War era has witnessed the rise to prominence of many types of nonstate players on the international stage, including international, regional and subregional organizations, trade regimes, multinational corporations and nongovernmental organizations. The last group has perhaps drawn the most...
COMMUNITY
Aug 20, 2000

You only live once

LONDON -- Virgin Group boss Sir Richard Branson is one of the world's most well-known and visible entrepreneurs. Recently knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, the word "tycoon" would normally apply to a businessman with his financial and political clout.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2000

Suffer the stolen children

Mahatma Gandhi, asked what he thought of European civilization, replied, "I think it's a very good idea."
JAPAN
Aug 19, 2000

Lawyers resign from beleaguered Nepalese man's case

Five lawyers representing a Nepalese man acquitted of robbery and murder by a district court resigned Friday to protest the Tokyo High Court's decision not to appoint them as his defense team during the state's appeal of the ruling.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2000

Tanaka says no to factions, holds on to freedom

One of the questions surrounding a group of Liberal Democratic Party members trying to stand up to the old guard is who the group would support in the next LDP presidential race.
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2000

NTT urged to sell DoCoMo stake to promote competition

A trade ministry advisory panel has released a draft report Thursday that calls for terminating Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.'s monopoly on local telephone networks.
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2000

LDP reformists to take issues to voters outside Tokyo, Ishihara says

Since issuing the call for reform of the Liberal Democratic Party more than a month ago, Nobuteru Ishihara has been bombarded with questions from reporters and political observers:
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2000

Secondhand comic book firm tapping into American interest in 'manga'

Savoring his success dealing in secondhand comic books and character items in Japan, Masuzo Furukawa, president of Mandarake Inc., is now eyeing an overseas market he believes is thirsting for Japanese "manga" culture.
COMMENTARY
Aug 18, 2000

World War II lessons go unlearned

On Aug. 15, 1945, Japan unconditionally surrendered to the U.S.-led Allied Powers, ending World War II. An estimated 3 million Japanese military personnel and civilians died in the war.
COMMUNITY
Aug 17, 2000

Paper wings that bear dreams aloft

It is a bright, sunshiny day in Musashino Central Park in Tokyo's Musashino City, but the wind is a little strong for the participants in the Japan Paper Airplane Association semifinal flyoffs.
COMMUNITY
Aug 17, 2000

Preparing to teach for the next 500 years

It is remarkable that in 150 years of mainstream education, there has been little serious investigation into how the human brain learns. An exception is the work of Bulgarian scientist Dr. Georgi Lozanov, who began studies and experiments in the 1950s.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 17, 2000

Support the economy -- take a vacation

If all you knew about Japan was what you saw on Japanese TV, you might think the Japanese are the most well-traveled citizens in the world. No other broadcast culture offers as many travel programs in which happy-go-lucky celebrity guides see the sights, interact freely with the natives and, most importantly,...
JAPAN
Aug 17, 2000

Mount Bandai may erupt soon: agency

The Meteorological Agency warned Wednesday afternoon that Mount Bandai in Fukushima Prefecture could soon have a minor eruption.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2000

People-to-people ties will reunite Korea

Probably the most clear-cut dissimilarity between Germany when it was divided and the present state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula is the status of cross-border people-to-people contacts and relations. In the long years of Germany's division, a multitude of communication channels existed between...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Aug 17, 2000

IAAF playing it for laughs with Sotomayor decision

"We're all created equal. Some are just more equal than others."
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2000

Record paper production expected

Paper production in Japan will likely rise to a record high this year, reflecting an information technology-led economic recovery, industry officials said Tuesday.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2000

Making a run for the horse mackerel

Abundant, easy to catch and good to eat: an apt description of the scrappy little Japanese horse mackerel. Records show that the fish has been a Japanese favorite since the Nara Period, over 1,000 years ago, and it still has its aficionados today. Many Japanese anglers pursue this popular fish in preference...
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Aug 16, 2000

Of Rubber Ridley and his Gardens

The Gardens: That is how many locals refer to them. Just The Gardens. As if there were no other, as Bonnie Tinsley wrote in "Visions of Delight."
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 16, 2000

Taking a seat in the no-joking section

Smoke, as they say, gets in your eyes. Not to mention your clothes, hair, nose, lungs, taste buds, teeth, gums and (if you are a smoker) your pocketbook.
COMMENTARY
Aug 15, 2000

LDP faces the ethics test

Kimitaka Kuze was recently forced to resign as chairman of the Cabinet-level Financial Reconstruction Commission for receiving illegal benefits and payments from companies. This dealt a heavy blow to the credibility of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and stirred a strong sense of distrust in Japanese politics...
COMMUNITY
Aug 13, 2000

Women! Enhance your lifestyles with Webgrrls

Talking with American Khristine (Khris) Schaffner lowered the heat in Tokyo's Nishi-Shinjuku by several degrees. She has that kind of tall, willowy, pale blonde beauty that acts as a psychological cooler even if she is talking 10 to the dozen and making a complete fool of herself over a Starbucks chocolate...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2000

Rash media prolonging hostage crises

HONG KONG -- Recent hostage crises in Fiji and Sulu have been made more protracted by unprincipled journalism.
CULTURE / Art
Aug 13, 2000

Getting interconnected at Kim's

Interconnectivity is a technology buzzword, but Kim Gordon -- rock star of Sonic Youth fame, originator of the X Girl label, and now artist and curator of "Kim's Bedroom," currently at Parco Gallery -- has presented it as the locus of her first curatorial foray. Gordon has assembled an eclectic group...
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 13, 2000

A Dance of hope: Rediscovering the artistry and power of Choi Seung-Hee

On March 20, 1926, a 14-year-old Korean girl was in Seoul, watching a performance of the internationally renowned dancer Baku Ishii and his troupe.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 2000

Base cuts beyond SACO sought

ITAMI, Osaka Pref. -- In order for the U.S. and Japan to maintain friendly relations, America must reduce its military presence on Okinawa, which is little more than a colonial outpost controlled by the U.S. military, said leading Okinawa politician Tokushin Yamauchi during a recent symposium.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes