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COMMENTARY / World
Sep 28, 1999

Pakistan's Sharif fights for his political life

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif faces a rising political storm in his nuclear-capable country, just halfway through his five-year term in office. The significance of Pakistan's worsening political environment has been noted by the United States, which has campaigned for over a year...
COMMUNITY
Sep 23, 1999

A woman on the narrow road

One might not imagine that Lesley Downer -- author of books on Basho's travels, Japan's richest family and now geisha -- started out in the culinary arena.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Sep 22, 1999

Where the women are

No presses need to be stopped to inform you of the growing number of women on the Internet in Japan. And the sizes of our headlines won't increase to tell you that number will continue to rise steadily, if not dramatically, over the next few years
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Sep 22, 1999

Borrowing scenery for a lord's lagoon

A short distance from the center of Wakayama City, on an inlet very close to the sea, is a flat piece of land called Suiken, where a well-preserved daimyo garden known as Yosui-en stands.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 1999

Obuchi calls for loosening limits on SDF deployments

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi said on Friday that he would seek to lift legal restrictions so that Japan can fully participate in U.N. peacekeeping operations, in an extraordinary Diet session expected to begin in October.
CULTURE / Art
Sep 16, 1999

Indigo, a color to dye for

It's hard not to associate tie-dye with an image of long-haired grass-smoking, free-lovin', barefoot hippies dancing around in colorful dyed shirts and long skirts to the clang of a "far out" tambourine beat.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Sep 15, 1999

The family that surfs together ...

There is something mildly unsettling about the cyberpolice's fixation with child pornography. At the Internet Content Summit, held last week in Munich and hosted by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, kiddie porn was repeatedly denounced by participants. To judge from the general tone of the comments, it embodied...
JAPAN
Sep 14, 1999

RCC to buy collateralized land on the cheap

The state-run Resolution and Collection Corp. has decided to buy real estate put up as collateral for loans that soured from 35 financial institutions at one-twentieth combined book value.
JAPAN
Sep 10, 1999

Analysis: Kan's fading star may reflect DPJ's fate

Staff writers
JAPAN
Sep 8, 1999

Volunteers describe carnage in East Timor

Volunteers who arrived in Tokyo from East Timor earlier this week told their stories Wednesday of pro-Indonesia militias going on rampages, disturbing the voting in an independence referendum, torching homes and shooting civilians in the violence-torn province.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Sep 1, 1999

Defying changes

Volunteer organizations come and go, often depending on who runs them. Many times a group will cease to exist when the person who held it together leaves Japan. Fortunately, there are still many people who give their time to volunteer organizations. Their number, however, has decreased as more professional...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 31, 1999

Buddhist riffs that are and aren't poetry

For some time now, the trappings (if not the tenets) of Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy have been making their way into the popular Western consciousness.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 28, 1999

Rooting for a new life on the open road

After a bad day, I pamper myself by mapping out, hour by hour, scene by scene, a fantasy date with Jean Reno.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 1999

Bank customers detail need for new deposit safety net

A safety net is needed to protect deposits in business transaction accounts and to ensure fast refunds if banks fail after fiscal 2000, a cross section of bank customer representatives said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 12, 1999

Auto sector shakeup has parts makers playing catchup

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Aug 11, 1999

Like it is

Language is enriched by people who don't speak it very well, using phrases made up of words that contain the meaning of what they want to say but not the usual form. The result is sometimes quite effective. How about this one reporting a break in the summer heat: The weather is going down a bit, or this:...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Aug 9, 1999

A learning experience

It is interesting to follow the drinking culture of Japan. In times when "Japaneseness" is being emphasized, sales of "Nihon-shu" (sake) and "shochu" (an indigenous distilled beverage that uses a variety of things that will ferment but mainly sweet potatoes) tend to increase. Beer is seldom affected...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 5, 1999

Jambalaya! Cooking to die for in the Big Easy

A visitor to New Orleans in the early part of this century described the city as "a paradise for gluttons," and considering that the Big Easy has the highest number of restaurants per square kilometer in the United States and its denizens have the lowest life expectancy in the country, it's easy to see...
JAPAN
Jul 27, 1999

Nissan parts makers merge

Two major auto parts makers in the Nissan Motor group formally signed an agreement Tuesday to merge on April 1, company officials said.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 1999

Toyota's consolidation not telecom pullout, exec says

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 18, 1999

Becoming a black belt in things Japanese

When foreigners arrive in Japan for the first time, they are full of wonder. Many of us aren't familiar with the Japanese language or kanji and have only read about Japanese culture in magazines or books. We all start out with a "white belt" in things Japanese.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jul 17, 1999

Chilling out with the ghosts of summer

The summer months have traditionally been a time when Tokyoites tried to avoid the urban heat either by escaping to the mountains, beaches or, if that was not possible, venturing out during the evening to sit on the riverbank, drink cool, refreshing beverages and listen to ghost stories.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 1999

Osaka puts on job fair to help the unemployed

OSAKA -- In a bid to help job-seekers in the Kansai region, where the unemployment rate exceeds the national average, Osaka Prefecture Wednesday kicked off Job Information Fair '99, featuring 200 computers listing 15,000 jobs.
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jul 6, 1999

How to get your teenage kicks in the 'teahouses' of Tokyo

I'm not one to hang around kiddies' playgrounds (honestly!), but when I strolled into Shimokitazawa's Shelter last week I was instantly teleported into a school disco, and it kinda felt good. But keep that to yourself, OK.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 23, 1999

Sightseeing for harried business travelers

Most tourists bypass Nagoya en route to Kyoto or the shrines of Ise, but if you're visiting on business and have some free time don't just snooze in your hotel room: Get out and explore.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 23, 1999

Vices and virtues of Pompeii exposed

Imagine if an entire town could disappear yet be preserved intact, sealed timeless in eternity. Then imagine that surprised excavators nearly 1,700 years later uncover this natural time capsule to reveal what life was really like in the ancient world.
COMMUNITY
Jun 17, 1999

Trials and triumphs of black beauty

"Black is beautiful" was one of the most culturally charged American political slogans of the 1960s. Thirty years later, former model and educator Barbara Summers proves just how true those words are in her coffee-table book titled "Skin Deep: Inside the World of Black Fashion Models."
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...

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