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JAPAN
Sep 17, 1999

Nuclear utilities' Y2K assurances difficult to sell

Staff writer
JAPAN
Sep 16, 1999

Softbank, Best Denki to build e-store

Best Denki Co. and Softbank Corp. on Thursday agreed to establish a joint venture on Oct. 19 that will sell household electronics and other merchandise and services over the Internet, the companies announced.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 1999

Opinions sought on release of alien registration data

The Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau is seeking public opinion on the imminent release of private information contained within alien registration documents.
JAPAN
Sep 9, 1999

Obuchi, Kato and Yamasaki kick off LDP campaigns

The presidential race for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party officially began Thursday as Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato and former LDP policy affairs chief Taku Yamasaki filed their candidacies with the party's election management commission.
JAPAN
Sep 8, 1999

LDP race not just about winning

Staff writer
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Sep 1, 1999

Walking into the millennial sunrise

If you still haven't made up your mind about where you're going to be come sunrise of the year 2000, here's one to contemplate. How about Barrow, Alaska followed by a leisurely stroll 14 km to Point Barrow at the utmost north of the Americas?
JAPAN
Aug 30, 1999

Imperial Hotel announces anniversary events

To commemorate its 110th anniversary since it opened on Nov. 3, 1890, in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, the Imperial Hotel Ltd. has announced special programs for its guests.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Aug 28, 1999

Fall's ceramic finds fire up auction

The summer drought of pottery exhibitions is slowly ending and the wonderful autumn season, so full of good exhibitions, is about to start. Come September, exhibitions too numerous to list will fill gallery spaces throughout Japan and pottery enthusiasts will have their hands full -- with a few good...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 28, 1999

Getting past the glitter in daily life

In Japan heavily forested mountains cover over 70 percent of all the land, and the Japanese have taken advantage of wood since ancient times.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Aug 20, 1999

Meanies: '10% weird,' 90 percent addictive

There are certain shambolic punk rock moments, usually involving beer or hard spirits, when an otherwise imbecilic song becomes an anthem. In a drunken haze, the driving force of the Buzzcocks' "Orgasm Addict," G.G. Allin's "Expose Yourself to Kids" or anything by the Ramones rises to the level of "The...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 5, 1999

Thatched huts for the 21st century

TSURUI VILLAGE, Tokushima Pref. -- Still hidden away in Shikoku's remote Iya Valley, the thatch-roofed home made famous in Alex Kerr's "Lost Japan" is taking out a new lease on life -- one that may alter this country's approach to conservation and development.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Aug 4, 1999

The usual suspects

Several months ago, I wrote about day trading and the thousands of investors who see it as the avenue to quick riches ("Easy money," Feb. 2). They use new technology to scamper through markets in ways that were impossible for ordinary citizens only a few years ago.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 1999

Wiretap legislation enters final debate

The Upper House Judicial Affairs Committee held a first public hearing Wednesday on controversial bills to allow law enforcement authorities to monitor communications during investigations of organized crime.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 1999

Justice Ministry to exempt media from wiretaps

The Justice Ministry has decided in principle to exempt the media from being wiretapped in a bill currently before the Diet, ministry sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 1999

One year down as Obuchi firmly hits political stride

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi expressed his determination Friday to successfully stage the 2000 summit of the Group of Eight major nations in Okinawa, indicating his readiness to stay at the helm for at least another year.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 21, 1999

'A grotesque gap'

The United Nations Development Program's annual Human Development Report is usually a pretty grim document. Sure, life is improving for most people, but the poorest seem to get poorer and the gap between haves and have-nots is continually widening. The richest 20 percent of the world's population has...
JAPAN
Jul 7, 1999

Will wiretapping hurt the news?

Staff writer
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 7, 1999

Technoborrrring

With rare exceptions, no one likes being called a Luddite. Steve Talbott, the thoughtful, somewhat skeptical philosopher who writes the Netfuture e-mail newsletter, for example, takes offense at being labeled "pessimistic." I thought it was a fair beef, but he devoted considerable space in his last missive...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 1999

Pair arrested over Net-based sales scam

OSAKA -- Two men were arrested here Friday on suspicion of posting false advertisements to sell computers and watches on an Internet Web site and swindling money out of potential customers, police said.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 23, 1999

On the fringe of the fray

I had dinner with two friends last week and eventually the conversation came around to the Web (I generally try to avoid the topic in polite conversation but what can you do?). Anyone overhearing our conversation might have thought we were a trio of hopeless geeks, or digerati wannabes, but the truth...
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

The Japan Times to hold seminar

"The 1st Japan Times Special Seminar" will be held on July 8, featuring speeches exploring the enjoyment of reading English newspapers and introducing The Japan Times' operations.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jun 19, 1999

From court to village across the centuries

During the upcoming early summer weeks, one can experience a wide variety of fine hogaku concerts, including sublime gagaku court music, a lively group of kagura performers from Iwate Prefecture, contemporary koto music played by several fine young women performers, a large-scale biwa presentation and...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 16, 1999

Vocal as we wanna be

"The process of tying two items together is the important thing," wrote Vannevar Bush in a seminal essay titled "As We Think," published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1945. Bush described a hypothetical device that would allow the storage and retrieval of data, the memory of mankind. It would be constructed...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jun 12, 1999

Open door to a world of dreams

David Wheeler, shakuhachi performer, teacher and writer on Japanese music, will be presenting a shakuhachi recital June 19 at Hamarikyu Asahi Hall.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 1999

Sri Lankans find way to share the scholarship

In the small southern Sri Lankan town of Kataragama, high school student Gamini Nawaratne eagerly awaits his monthly mail from Japan.
JAPAN
Jun 9, 1999

Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge walk set for August 1

The Japan National Tourist Organization is organizing a walk over the 4-km-long Kurushima Kaikyo Bridge, the world's first triple suspension span, on Aug. 1.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 1999

Half of ESC reform proposals to be used, state says

About half of the 234 measures that the Economic Strategy Council, an advisory panel to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, has proposed are likely to be carried out, according to a report released by the government Friday.
JAPAN
May 28, 1999

Lower House panel passes wiretap bills, snubs opposition

The Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee ignored an opposition boycott and approved a package of controversial bills Friday evening that would allow law enforcement authorities to wiretap private communications during investigations into organized crime.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 27, 1999

High adventure

Have you decided where you are going to spend New Year's Eve? It should be someplace where you wouldn't mind staying if any of our normal, every day support systems should fail. One unconcerned gentleman has made reservations for a flight over Antarctica. Experts will be on board the 747 to explain about...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 23, 1999

Slim down for summer with the chopstick diet

When my mother announced she would finally be coming to visit me in Japan this September, I asked her if she had any questions. She replied, "Yes, do I have to eat with those sticks?" This is when I realized that perhaps a lesson in "chopsticking" would be helpful. Mom, this one's for you: Chopsticks...

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past