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CULTURE / Music
Apr 1, 2001

Modern gagaku: Experiments with tradition

In the late 1960s, the National Theater of Japan made a decision to commission new music for gagaku (court music) orchestra and changed the destiny of traditional Japanese arts.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Apr 1, 2001

Just how much will a field yield?

Did you ever look at a field of rice, and wonder how many bottles of sake could be made from it? Maybe not. Regardless, it is not an easy question to answer, because there are way too many variables in the brewing process that affect yield. One is how much the rice was milled before brewing. Obviously,...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 1, 2001

Squid tentacles draw the crowds

OSAKA -- If asked to name Osaka's local specialties, most outsiders would say okonomiyaki (meat and vegetable pancakes) and takoyaki (octopus dumplings, or, as former Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama once introduced them to visiting world leaders, "samurai balls"). While it's true that these dishes originated in...
EDITORIALS
Apr 1, 2001

Not-so-brilliant green tea

Green-tea drinkers have been a little blue this past month in the wake of bad news from a group of Tohoku University researchers: Green tea, according to the Japanese scientists' recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine, may not be such a panacea after all. But consumers should not feel either...
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Trade panel concerned over U.S. Byrd Amendment

An advisory panel to the trade minister voiced concern in an annual report released Friday over a U.S. antidumping law that may violate the World Trade Organization's international trade rules. The Subcommittee on Unfair Trade Policies and Practices under the Industrial Structure Council calls in the...
COMMENTARY
Mar 31, 2001

The power of the camera

NEW DELHI -- For three years as Indian prime minister, the aging Atal Bihari Vajpayee was treated deferentially by the national media and intelligentsia. They portrayed him as a great leader, to whom there was no credible alternative. Even when his physical condition began to slip visibly, no questions...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

24 trillion yen set aside for research from '01

The government said Friday it will invest 24 trillion yen in scientific and technological research from fiscal 2001 to fiscal 2005.
BUSINESS
Mar 31, 2001

Ministers urge curbs on Chinese imports

The ministers of agriculture, trade and finance reached a basic agreement Friday on the need to invoke temporary curbs on surging imports from China of stone leeks, fresh shiitake mushrooms and rushes used to weave tatami.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 31, 2001

Graffiti blasts Beijing demolition

Under the cover of darkness and armed with a can of spray paint, Zhang Dali pedals his bicycle around the quiet Beijing streets with the intention of giving the city a new face -- sometimes two or three.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 31, 2001

Patching together a lifetime of art

For many centuries thrifty housewives have saved odd scraps of cloth and sewn them together to be re-used as patchwork. Their humble recycling ultimately produced the spectacular geometrically patterned quilts that now are valuable collectibles, and today many people around the world pursue patchwork...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2001

Sell public on ODA: white paper

Japan should make its official development assistance more efficient and transparent to convince the public that the funds are spent in the nation's interest, according to the fiscal 2000 white paper on ODA released Friday by the Foreign Ministry.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 30, 2001

Howls of poets and poodles

Old beatniks may die, but it doesn't look like they'll fade away anytime soon. Nearly half a century since the Beat Generation's heyday, the artistic and philosophical legacy of the Beats remains a massive mother lode of countercultural inspiration. Chuck Workman's documentary "The Source" traces the...
BUSINESS
Mar 30, 2001

State closes in on NTT monopoly

A state panel on information technology agreed Thursday to a review of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. to allow for fair competition in the telecom sector, while using IT to promote public welfare and regain economic competitiveness.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 29, 2001

Reform out of reach for Kim Dae Jung

SEOUL -- Some weeks ago, I attended an academic conference that attempted a critical evaluation of the performance of administration of South Korea President Kim Dae Jung three years after its inception. I sat on a panel with probably the most prominent liberal political scientist in South Korea today,...
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Mar 29, 2001

Bodegas Bilbainas -- an estate of grace

I couldn't have asked for a better location to write the last Wine Ways: on a sun-bathed veranda, caressed by a soft spring breeze, overlooking the broad, bustling Ramlas, Barcelona's magnificent promenade.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2001

IHI, Voith to form paper machine venture

said Tuesday that it will set up a joint venture with German paper machine manufacturer Voith Paper Holding GmbH next Monday for the design and installation of paper manufacturing equipment in Japan. To be capitalized at 490 million yen and headquartered in Tokyo, Voith IHI Paper Technology will be owned...
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2001

Japan wary about pushing U.S. on controversial Byrd law

Japan looks just like a knight throwing down the gauntlet without being fully prepared to actually fight.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2001

Canon plans new digital camera

Canon Inc. said Tuesday that it will release the world's smallest digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens in early April.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Hoya to ship glass to U.S. nuclear lab

Japanese glass maker Hoya Corp. plans to resume suspended shipments of glass slabs to the U.S. Energy Department's nuclear weapons research facility, believing the product will not lead to new nuclear development, the company said.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2001

Residents fail to close disease institute

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday rejected a complaint filed by residents seeking a court order to halt the operation of the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in their neighborhood.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2001

War flick touting Japan's role in Indonesia's birth irks Jakarta

A new Japanese film depicting the role of Imperial Japanese Army soldiers in Indonesia's war for independence from the Netherlands highlights a stark difference in views between Indonesians and Japanese over the republic's 1945 birth.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 27, 2001

Excelling in a formerly alien medium

White rappers used to be a joke until a credible one -- Eminem -- came along. In a similar way, Japanese artists' early efforts to master Western oil painting ended up looking extremely ersatz, clumsy or derivative; their paintings mere experiments or study pieces rather than true works of art. The urge...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2001

East Pakistan's bloody death, 30 years on

HONG KONG -- Tonight marks the 30th anniversary of the beginning of one of the most traumatic Asian events in recent times: the blood-soaked birth of Bangladesh. Bangladeshi voices will be raised to remind the world of what was an enormous crime against humanity. But they may not tell the full story....
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2001

Mori arrives in Russia for talks with Putin over isles

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Saturday started a two-day visit to Russia for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over a territorial row that has prevented the two nations from signing a peace treaty.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2001

Tokyo strives to preserve its dwindling greenery

Tokyo's final class this year on shiitake mushrooms took place earlier this month at Noyamakita Rokudoyama Park in the hills of Sayama, straddling the border between Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture.

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