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EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 1999

A last push by the Taliban

The Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist movement that controls 80 to 90 percent of Afghanistan, has launched a long-anticipated summer offensive to recapture the rest of the country. The fighting has been fierce, involving more than 100,000 men on five fronts. Civilian casualties have been high, since...
JAPAN
Jul 26, 1999

Robot jester proves adept at drawing donations

OSAKA -- He can be funny and eloquent. But if someone dares to offer him only 1 yen he becomes abusive and calls them "stingy."
JAPAN
Jul 19, 1999

Yamaguchi-gumi don celebrates a decade at the top

Staff writer
LIFE / Travel
Jul 14, 1999

Memphis, where the 'King' still rules

In reference to the legacy of Elvis Presley, Neil Young once sang "The King is dead, but not forgotten."
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Setouchi Special: Bridge-linked isles hope for tourist blitz

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Setouchi Special: Sand, fruit and fun beckon in Ehime

IMABARI, Ehime Pref. -- Residents in Ehime Prefecture have long referred to their area as the "Orchard of Japan."
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 1999

Going for more than two dimensions

While most films out there these days prostrate themselves before the altar of entertainment, there are still a few that dare to set different goals. "Under the Skin," the debut feature by U.K. director Carine Adler, is one such work, a cathartic rhapsody of sex and grief that is based in messy reality,...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 1999

Former pop idol, manager arrested over spiked 'shochu'

Police arrested a former member of pop music group Four Leaves and his former manager Friday for serving a female friend a drink laced with stimulants.
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...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 23, 1999

A great connection

Perhaps your readers will be interested, he wrote.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

Dream school shuns educational norms

ONNA, Okinawa Pref. — A healthy techno beat pounds against the walls of the studio where dancers groove, their motions sharp as they study their moves critically in the mirror.
COMMUNITY
Jun 12, 1999

Don't throw in the towel on tenugui yet

Tenugui, rectangular cotton hand towels, are sometimes distributed by shops or firms as gifts for their openings or other occasions, mainly because they are inexpensive, lightweight and easy to carry. Those who receive them, however, are not usually thrilled to get towels printed with simple patterns...
JAPAN
Jun 4, 1999

Police shut down gangs after Tokyo-area shootings

Police ordered Japan's largest underworld organization, Yamaguchi-gumi, and Tokyo's Kokusui-kai syndicate to suspend the use of five of their offices in the wake of a series of shootings reported this week in Tokyo and neighboring areas, they said.
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Jun 2, 1999

Among the ruins of the Mayan Paris

You wouldn't have wanted to watch a ball game at the close of the season in the ancient Mayan city of Copan.
JAPAN
May 11, 1999

Electronic music sales rocking the boat

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
May 2, 1999

Everybody knows when the heat's on Frankie

They say "kids" grow up fast but you should see my kitten -- 6 months going on "sweet 16." This was my first experience with a cat going through puberty. I warn you never to come within 100 meters of any cat going through puberty, or you just may become the cat's object of desire.
COMMUNITY
May 1, 1999

Atlus' latest offering is just talons of fun

The company that launched Print Club stickers, which had armies of schoolgirls everywhere collecting and swapping mini-photo stickers of themselves, believes it has got its hands on another hit. Atlus Co. in Tokyo has produced a machine that does your nails.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 1999

Atlus' latest offering fueling fingertip fetish

Staff writer
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 29, 1999

D-I-V-O-R-C-E becomes final in one day

While divorce in Japan is increasing at what some people might call an alarming rate, it is still less common than it is in most Western countries, particularly the U.S., where it's projected that between half and two-thirds of all couples who marry this year will someday split.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Apr 28, 1999

Tyranny of temptation

The future was supposed to be darker. Technology, in the service of some vast, all-encompassing power, was going to enslave us. Human beings would be reduced to ciphers, forced to live anonymous, interchangeable lives.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 9, 1999

Lo-fi sounds to take you higher

The so-called lo-fi aesthetic that developed in the 1980s among American indie groups like the Replacements wasn't really an aesthetic at all. Independent record labels' hands-off policy had less to do with respect for artistic expression than it did with lack of liquidity.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 1999

First bullfight delights recruits, irks activists

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Sony unit to set up music-distribution service

Digital Media Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corp., will launch a music distribution service through a digital communication satellite broadcaster starting May 12, company officials said Thursday.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 24, 1999

Adventures in suspended reality

Porto Europa, just outside of Wakayama City, is without doubt a playful place to visit and offers a wide range of entertainment, action rides, cuisines and new technology games, but don't expect it to duplicate your last sojourn overseas.
JAPAN
Mar 18, 1999

Palette Town opens to public today

Organizers of a new theme park opening today in Tokyo Bay's waterfront development project expressed hope Thursday that the park will spark life in the Japanese economy.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Mar 10, 1999

Winners and losers

People in the food industry look to Foodex to find out how best to cater to their Japanese and foreign customers. What they see at Makuhari Messe are often more fantasy than fact, things that might be exported to Japan if the proper arrangements can be made. And that's what the foreigners are there for,...
JAPAN
Mar 4, 1999

Sony-Toshiba venture to power PlayStation2

Toshiba Corp. and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. announced Thursday they will establish a joint venture to produce a 128-bit central processing unit for Sony's next-generation video machine.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 1999

Sony lifts veil on next-generation PlayStation

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. gave a preview Tuesday of the new graphics and massive calculating power of its next-generation video game machine, announcing plans to release a successor to its No. 1 PlayStation this winter.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 1999

High court rejects Kadokawa smuggling appeal

Haruki Kadokawa's four-year prison term for cocaine smuggling and embezzlement stands, the Tokyo High Court ruled Monday, rejecting an appeal from the 56-year-old former president of Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 1999

JOC panel to probe Nagano over Games bid

Japanese Olympic officials said Wednesday they have launched an inquiry into possible misconduct by International Olympic Committee members during Nagano's bid to host the 1998 Winter Games.

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