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Japan Times
Features
Feb 15, 2004

Shelters from the storm

Japan's small 'snack' bars may be a mystery to most, but to their loyal and mainly male customers they are cozy havens where they can unwind with friends and share life's ups and downs with a mama-san who's always there for them
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2004

'Cool' hunter leads foreign visitors along cutting edge of Japan fashion

Loic Bizel leads visitors through alleys packed with wild-haired youngsters, makes his way into tiny boutiques tucked beneath stairwells and points out fatigue-inspired jackets, hand-painted sneakers and plaid miniskirts.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 13, 2004

New subway signals start of a new era

At 4:57 on the morning of Feb. 1, a navy-blue and yellow train pulled out of Motomachi-Chukagai Station bound for Yokohama Station, connecting with through services from there to Shibuya via the Tokyu Toyoko Line.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2004

Fire rages at Akihabara electronics store

A fire broke out Tuesday at an electronics store in Tokyo's Akihabara district and two firefighters were slightly injured in tackling the blaze, police and firefighters said.
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Feb 6, 2004

Spanning eras at Edo's vibrant hub

First of three parts Nihonbashi -- "Bridge of Japan" -- is the most famous and important bridge of Edo Period Japan. Designated by Shogun Ieyasu in 1603 as the hub of the country's highway network, with all distances measured from there, the small wooden structure with a 50-meter span was where journeys...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2004

Hand-held e-book readers to hit market soon

Hand-held e-book readers that allow users to download text from the Internet will hit the market soon.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 30, 2004

If it's got eight legs, eat it

TOTTORI -- Ever felt like traveling just to gratify your tastebuds? To Italy for real pizza, for example, or to India for authentic curry. Well, if your craving is for crustaceans, then you can look rather closer to home. Delicious snow crabs are now in season, and there's no better place to sample them...
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2004

Mos Food to suspend sales of U.S. beef

Fast-food chain operator Mos Food Services Inc. said Tuesday it will suspend sales of burgers made with U.S. beef after each shop's current inventory runs out, possibly beginning in February.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 27, 2004

Rural life's slow death

Matsunoyama town has almost everything its residents could want: spellbinding scenery, gorgeous terraced rice paddies cloaking the hillsides, splendid new roads and magnificent public facilities.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Jan 23, 2004

Spinning funky music on Naeba's Snodeck

Let me say right up front that I don't much care for snow. While Tokyo constantly disappoints by failing to deliver a white Christmas, that's about as far as my interest goes. And though I have enjoyed the thrills and spills of skiing a few times (before the advent of the snowboard, I admit), the experience...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 20, 2004

Don't mention the L-word

There you go again. That trick of saying "I love you!" just before hanging up the phone.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2004

Woman's calling: listening to strangers

"Come unload your troubles," reads the tiny cardboard sign in Japanese. "Will listen. No charge." And here in the middle of Tokyo's busy Ginza shopping district, people actually sit and talk.
JAPAN / TALKING SHOP
Jan 13, 2004

Prada Japan's Italian chief knows the merits of vagueness

Davide Sesia, representative director of Prada Japan Co., is on the prowl.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 13, 2004

Prize trouble, study in Oz, and a recap

Student rants Let us begin on a note of tolerance and goodwill, with two similar reactions to the letter from student J. in southern Japan with fellow student troubles (Lifelines; Nov. 25, 2003).
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 9, 2004

Scrutiny will increase if Eriksson becomes Chelsea manager

LONDON -- Will he stay or will he go?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 8, 2004

100 yen video games score millions for software entrepreneur

At a time when playing just one game costs 200 yen on many arcade machines, a Tokyo company is bent on offering gamers a staggering value-for-money option via its 100 yen PC game software.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2004

Sumo ranks' crime patrols also good PR

The night echoes with the heavy footsteps of sumo wrestlers, moving slowly and casting sharp glances, but their opponents this time will not stand before them under the bright lights of the elevated clay "dohyo" ring.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 3, 2004

A long walk home with an 'o-baa-chan'

"O-baa-chans" in Japan never fail to surprise me. They are treasure houses of information. The other day, I saw 83-year-old Harada-san on the ferry as we were both coming home to the island. Harada-san and I are distant neighbors the way people are distant cousins. We don't see each other often, but...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 1, 2004

Salaryman blues? Don't worry, be happy on less

Few people may think economist Takuro Morinaga and investment guru Robert Kiyosaki have anything in common.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2003

Mobile commerce market taking off

Taking the 15-minute walk from her home to her office in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, every morning, Noriko Kato, 29, looks at the tiny screen on her DoCoMo 505i mobile phone to check her e-mail and sometimes access her favorite shopping site, run by Netprice Ltd.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2003

Meiji Shrine girds for turnout of 3.5 million

Even by Tokyo standards, it's a mob scene. Over a span of just three days, roughly 3.5 million people will crowd onto the gravel-covered paths of Meiji Shrine and inch their way toward the altar to toss coins, offer prayers and buy charms in a tradition repeated across Japan every New Year's.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 27, 2003

Homeless activist makes plea to save the trees

As you clear up after Christmas and prepare for New Year, spare a thought for American Vincent Dodson. He is spending his "holiday" as he passes every day, sleeping rough in the park beside the JR Yamanote line near Shibuya Station, and demonstrating against what he describes as "the wantonly wasteful...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 26, 2003

Slip into slo-mo Shiga-style

OMIHACHIMAN, Shiga Pref. -- Tired of group-tour hell? Does a four-cities-in-five-days' trip to Europe, or being herded like hyperactive cattle through the temples of Kyoto make you wish you could take a vacation from your vacation?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 23, 2003

What three things would you take to a foreign country?

Like Survivor, but not set on a desert island — it's a vast sprawling metropolis with unfamiliar terrain, terminology and script. Armed only with compass and guidebook, knowing they must do battle with taxi drivers, ticket machines and shop attendants, Melanie Burton asked our intrepid travelers what...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 21, 2003

Moved by the spirit of song

It was shaping up to be a Japanese Christmas like any other.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 19, 2003

Candy firms jump on CD bandwagon

Giveaways attached to packets of candies and chocolate are nothing new in Japan. Recently these omake have commonly taken the form of wonderfully detailed little toys and figurines in themed, collectable sets such as animals, anime characters, dinosaurs, birds, cars or motorbikes.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 19, 2003

'Tis the season to eat, drink -- and be opinionated

'Tis the season again when the Food File anoints itself as demiurge, handing out gongs and accolades, winnowing the worthy from the weak, and pronouncing unashamedly subjective opinions about the past 12 months. So here's our annual toast to all those restaurants and stores -- most of them new, but also...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 14, 2003

Suns didn't rise for Johnson like last season

NEW YORK -- The healthier Antonio McDyess (not necessarily the Knicks) gets, the more extraneous Kurt Thomas becomes, logic dictates.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?