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COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2000

Japan looks for a purpose

The 1990s is said to have been a "lost decade" for Japan. That may be true. In May 1991, Japan's economy plunged into a slump that would be called the "Heisei Recession." In October 1993, the economy "bottomed out," but ever since then it has remained in the doldrums. The protracted slump has had extensive...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 1999

Seafood contamination scare overblown

Special to The Japan Times Recently, concern has been expressed in Japan about the contaminants found in whales and other marine mammals. It has been reported that contaminant levels are dangerously high and the government should take steps to reduce the risk to consumers' health. It may be helpful to...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 1999

Stores hit by Y2K stockpiler feeding frenzy

Staff writers With just two days left before 2000 kicks in, shoppers crowded supermarkets and department stores Thursday, making last-minute purchases of water, food, oil heaters and other stockpiles to prepare for the possible breakdown of lifelines. Daiei Inc., the nation's largest supermarket chain,...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Dec 29, 1999

An open ethOS

The latest tale of cyber-riches involves the Linux crowd. A recent string of IPOs earned shareholders obscene amounts of money. Red Hat, a distributor of the Linux operating system, is worth about $15 billion. VA Linux, a company that sells computers that use Linux, made history: Its shares leaped 700...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Dec 22, 1999

The accidental ambassador

Stop me if you've heard this one: A mustachioed fun-loving Turkish guy throws up a personal Web page that, in simple, bad English, depicts him as a regular Renaissance stud muffin, who loves to travel, plays numerous instruments, is single, and -- the kicker -- he states, "I like sex." He offers a picture...
LIFE / Travel
Dec 22, 1999

Sun shines again for the city on the Neva

If it wasn't for me, the terrace of the bar would be deserted. The leaves on the plane trees are just beginning to take on their autumn colors, a breeze off the River Neva is blowing in through the massive gateway to the Peter and Paul Fortress and directly in front of me rises the almost sheer golden...
JAPAN
Dec 17, 1999

Netherlands to mark 400 years with Japan

When the world ushers in the last year of the millennium on Jan. 1, the Netherlands and Japan will be celebrating another historic landmark. 2000 marks 400 years since the Dutch trading ship Liefde landed on the shores of Oita Prefecture. To mark the occasion, more than 400 events will be held in Japan...
JAPAN
Dec 10, 1999

Shinagawa gives parents, pupils choice in education

Staff writer In an innovative attempt to make public schools more competitive, Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward has introduced a program through which parents can choose their children's elementary school from several in their area. The new program, which begins in April, will allow children who are ready to...
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...
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Nov 26, 1999

Salon Music goes back to basics, but still way ahead of the curve

One of the great curiosities of the Japanese music scene is the tendency to eat up the latest indie rock innovations from the U.K. or U.S., leaving home-grown talent unknown and uncelebrated.
JAPAN
Nov 4, 1999

'The Body' admits he can't get used to media attention

Jesse "The Body" Ventura has taken on sharpshooters in the jungle and bloodthirsty fighters in the ring. The one thing the governor of Minnesota, who is on a 10-day visit to Japan, can't get used to is the media frenzy that swarms around him.
COMMUNITY
Oct 22, 1999

Creator of offbeat manga happy to break the rules

Manga artist Sekaiichi Asakura has three types of fans: Those who enjoy his work purely for the humor; those who read philosophy and world religion into his comic strips; and those who claim that they are as weird as him.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 22, 1999

They still want you to want them

An enduring myth about rock is that the best artists crash before they settle into a professional rut. Jazz, blues, and folk musicians are allowed the dignity of improving with age, while rock 'n' rollers descend into redundancy.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 20, 1999

Ghosts and goblins and kids, oh my!

Just after the ghosts and goblins of Halloween disappear, we will enter yet another spooky holiday: Nov. 3 -- Culture Day.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 1999

Clans gather for a bit of Scottish tradition in Japan

Staff writer
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 15, 1999

Kim Itoh puts the future on the map

This year's Tokyo International Festival of Performing Arts, ongoing through Oct. 31, is a scaled-down version of previous festivals, with only six official participants and few of international interest. While this shifts the onus to domestic dance companies such as Min Tanaka and Kenshi Nomi, expectations...
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1999

Convenience stores in race for Y2K compliance

Staff writer
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 8, 1999

Waking dream in 'City of Virgins'

NEW YORK -- How do you transport a quintessential Japanese play to the United States and still make it feel genuine?
JAPAN
Sep 20, 1999

Tear-stained faces are just another fad

RYAN NAKASHIMA Staff writer
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1999

Public favors flag over anthem, poll shows

Roughly 90 out of 100 residents polled by The Japan Times in Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima this week said they recognize the Hinomaru flag as a national symbol, but almost 40 opposed "Kimigayo" as the national anthem.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 1999

Yamaguchi-gumi don celebrates a decade at the top

Staff writer
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 1999

Booking a vacation

Summer is here and, with it, the prospect of vacation. People are already packing: passports, bathing suits, cameras . . . and books. Not many leave without at least one paperback stuffed into their bags, if only out of a vague sense that books are to August as rain is to July -- a defining element....
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Honda says next hybrid car will be world's most efficient

Honda Motor Co. unveiled a hybrid engine system and lightweight aluminum body structure Tuesday for a new car to be released this fall that the automaker claims will achieve the world's lowest fuel consumption among mass-produced gasoline-powered vehicles.
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."
JAPAN
Jun 3, 1999

Annual international dinghy race not enough: sailors

YOKOHAMA — A recent officially supported international friendship dinghy race held off Yokohama saw nine nations represented in a crowded field of 17 vessels.
COMMUNITY
Jun 3, 1999

Getting to the point of good health

Consider these facts:
EDITORIALS
Apr 18, 1999

Goodbye to all that

Sometimes -- make that usually -- the range of rational reactions to life on this planet seems dismally narrow, beginning with bafflement, passing through exasperation and rage, and ending in sorrow. We may distract or console ourselves with the doings of babies and small animals, the pleasures of music...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 14, 1999

Where the roof of Europe scrapes the sky

The pictures in the tourist pamphlet showed an ideal mountain scene in the French Alps, almost too good to be true: a lake of purest blue in the foreground surrounded by bright green hills leading up to spectacular snow-capped mountains under cloudless skies. If this were real, I doubted I could afford...
COMMUNITY
Apr 8, 1999

If it could happen to Superman . . .

Founded in 1995, the Japan Spinal Cord Foundation (provisional, since members are still raising the money necessary to legalize the foundation) has just achieved a major breakthrough. For months, members had been trying to make contact with an established similar organization, the American Paralysis...
JAPAN
Mar 22, 1999

Gist of lawmakers' past initiatives

Bills initiated by Diet members in recent years:

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