Search - u_times

 
 
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Dec 8, 1999

Beyond coping

Certain products come in many shapes and sizes, and a reader must thank the Italian Trade Commission in Tokyo for the successful ending of her search. She was looking for a special kind of Italian support hose made by IBICI and she wondered where she could buy them in Japan. It could be an endless search,...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 1999

Ghosn pushes shared goals to revive Nissan

Staff writer Carlos Ghosn knows exactly what he wants and precisely how he is going to achieve it. Handed the massive task of turning Nissan Motor Co.'s fortunes around, the Brazilian-born executive of French car manufacturer Renault also realizes that simply cutting costs, jobs, suppliers and reducing...
JAPAN
Dec 7, 1999

Isuzu nears agreement on China bus venture

Staff writer GUANGZHOU, China -- Isuzu Motor Co., a Japanese truck and bus maker, will reach a basic agreement with local authorities, possibly by the end of the month, over a joint venture to produce large buses here, a local government official said Tuesday. Zhang Guang-nin, deputy mayor of Guangzhou,...
JAPAN
Dec 6, 1999

Pearl Harbor: Memo sheds light on Japan's failure to make a 'declaration' of war

It is popularly believed in Japan that the country would have been spared the disgrace of carrying out a "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor if Tokyo's final memorandum to U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull in Washington had been delivered prior to its launch as planned. But a former diplomat says he has...
COMMENTARY
Dec 5, 1999

Right to life, liberty and free ATM use

WASHINGTON -- A few years ago, an ATM machine malfunctioned in the elite Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Georgetown. Americans lined up to collect $20 bills being handed out in place of $5 notes.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 5, 1999

Down Under music with Asian flair

The renowned Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe vividly recalls gifts he received as a young boy growing up in 1930s rural Tasmania, given to him by family friends on return from Japan. One gift was a much-thumbed children's version of the "Tale of Genji," the other a cardboard-cutout castle.
JAPAN
Dec 3, 1999

Neon no aurora for flyboy cabby

Staff writer Tokyo's nighttime neon casts a flickering rainbow through Masaharu Satoh's taxi -- a poor substitute for his former life, but it will do for now. Putting on his sunglasses and cap, with a tug of the steering wheel, Satoh takes off into the clouds, the hustle and bustle and high-rises reduced...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Dec 1, 1999

Catching up

Recently I quoted letters from a university English writing class commenting on a column about General MacArthur. That prompted a letter from longtime resident G.A. Chandru who has done much over the years to promote his adopted city of Yokohama as well as Indian culture and products. A few years ago...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 1999

'Trade is better than aid'

In one month's time, we shall leave the 20th century behind. The first half of it saw the world almost destroyed by war -- partly as a result of its division into rival trade blocs. The second half has seen an unprecedented expansion of world trade, which has also brought unprecedented economic growth....
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 1999

Global cop or rogue power?

WASHINGTON -- Completely unnoticed by most Americans, the Washington elite has become ensnared in a yet another false, narcissistic foreign policy debate. Yet when French President Jacques Chirac stood side-by-side with Chinese President Jiang Zemin recently and denounced U.S. nuclear and antiballistic...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 28, 1999

Work full-time and raise a bonsai? No thanks

The other day I mentioned to my husband that I might like to take a class in growing bonsai trees. I don't even know why I mentioned it. I had been growing some pretty good mold in the bathroom and refrigerator so perhaps it seemed like a good time to move on to something more challenging.
COMMENTARY
Nov 27, 1999

Tough times again for Ozawa

While I was away from Japan on a recent overseas trip, the nation was plunged into political confusion following Liberal Party leader Ichiro Ozawa's threat to leave the ruling three-party coalition. Ozawa suggested that his party could quit the alliance -- which also includes the Liberal Democratic Party...
CULTURE / Music
Nov 27, 1999

Finding freedom through 'Affirmation'

The liberty and experimentation of the 1970s still hold a nostalgic place in the memory of jazz pianist and composer Tomoko Ohno. It is a period, she says, that "most people remember fondly."
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Nov 27, 1999

Unwelcome companions

Thanks to e-mail, a vast assortment of unsolicited information comes my way. Some of it is even interesting and occasionally I share it with you. My amazement is not so much with the information I am sending your way today as it is with the person who noticed it and then did the necessary projection....
CULTURE / Music
Nov 26, 1999

Proyecto Uno -- viva Zapata!

Everybody knows that foreign artists can only have a hit in the States as long as they sing in English. Conversely, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony are credited with spearheading a "Latin boom" not only in America, but all over the world, by singing poppish variations of Afro-Cuban styles...
EDITORIALS
Nov 25, 1999

Racing toward the unwired world

I n 1990, there were 11 million mobile phones in the entire world. Today, there are 50 million in Japan alone. Nearly 400 million people around the globe carry the various makes and models of wireless phones; those ranks swell by about 1 million more every week. Experts predict that within five years,...
EDITORIALS
Nov 23, 1999

Terror for the 21st century

A few weeks ago, New York was hit by an outbreak of the West Nile virus. Five people died and another 50 were sickened before authorities were able to respond. West Nile fever is a rare, encephalitic virus that is common in Africa and Asia, but had never before been diagnosed in the Western Hemisphere....
JAPAN
Nov 20, 1999

Accidental oceanographer takes Kyoto Prize for lifework

Staff writer
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Nov 20, 1999

Still hope for the musically challenged

Several years ago a number of high-level Japanese politicians and government leaders, including the prime minister, visited the United States for a series of discussions with their American counterparts. After the serious meetings concluded, the participants all joined an informal party with their hosts....
CULTURE / Music
Nov 19, 1999

Got juice? Cleve does

If my man Cleveland Williams' 35th birthday party at Boogies in Roppongi this past week was not the coolest off-the-hook, mind-blowing, no-holds-barred, woman-chasing, brain-cell-damaging event of the year so far, then I fear the party that might top it. It's a good thing parties like this only happen...
CULTURE / Books
Nov 17, 1999

An 'overseas Vietnamese' goes home

CATFISH AND MANDALA: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam, by Andrew X. Pham. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999; 344 pp., $25. After Vietnam's "American War" ended, the victorious Viet Cong captured and imprisoned Andrew X. Pham and his family as, along with scores...
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Nov 17, 1999

On the mystery of the mooses, or meese

One of the basic rules of biodiversity is that species diversity increases toward the tropics and decreases toward the poles.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 1999

Bangladesh envoy promotes corporate interaction

The new Bangladeshi ambassador to Japan, who arrived to take up his post recently, said Wednesday that he hopes to play a role in helping to bring representatives of the two countries' private sectors closer together to enable them to cooperate in a variety of fields.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Nov 17, 1999

Hemingway's dead; long live the future

Hemingway once said that good writing begins with the simple production of but one true sentence. OK. Here's something that's true. Hemingway is dead.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Nov 17, 1999

Getting things done

From time to time I have been asked to remind people that although Japan is a very safe country, there are times when it is not. The yearend has always been a time when people should be especially careful. In old Japan, all debts had to be paid by the end of the year, but even a cursory perusal of today's...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 1999

Regional Special: Sanin

'Inaka' taps city disenchanted to repopulate>Staff writer
JAPAN
Nov 16, 1999

Review of space program urged in wake of rocket crash

Government officials pledged efforts Tuesday to rebuild Japan's space program in the wake of Monday's failure of the launch of an H-II rocket carrying a multipurpose satellite.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 1999

Forester decries ranger shortage, U.S. whaling

Staff writer
COMMENTARY
Nov 13, 1999

End of the House of Lords?

LONDON -- In the broader scheme of things, it is only a small incident. The final removal last week of 656 hereditary dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts and lords from the law-making machinery of the British Parliament can hardly be described as earth-shattering. Nor is it a surprise, having been long...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Nov 11, 1999

A toast to you, the brewers, and all the hard work you do

There are at present about 1,700 sakagura, or sake breweries, in Japan. This number is dropping somewhat quickly, with several kura going under each year. But for those 1,700-odd kura brewing again this year, just about now is when the brewing season begins.

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