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CULTURE / Film
Aug 10, 1999

Strangers on the crossroads of life

Each generation has its own way of telling love stories on the screen. What is supremely romantic to one strikes the next as supremely corny (until it begins to fondlylook back, as Meg Ryan's character does in "Sleepless in Seattle," at "An Affair to Remember" and other genre classics).
EDITORIALS
Aug 9, 1999

Rethink North Korea policy

The four-way Korea peace talks are again in the news as negotiators from North and South Korea, the United States and China return to the table in Geneva. Few people are holding their breath, and no one should. Diplomacy has hit a bind as Pyongyang keeps the world guessing about its intentions to develop...
EDITORIALS
Aug 8, 1999

Bringing peace to the Balkans

The avowed aim of the Sarajevo summit Aug. 6 was simple in its grandeur: to promote peace and prosperity in the war-ravaged region and prepare it for eventual membership in the European Union and NATO. Whether the means and the commitment exist to achieve this lofty goal remains to be seen.
COMMENTARY
Aug 8, 1999

Uncle Sam doesn't need draft registration

WASHINGTON -- The Cold War has been over for a decade, but you wouldn't know it after looking at U.S. security policy. Spending on the military is rising; all 18-year-old men must register for the draft. However, a House appropriations subcommittee has voted to kill the Selective Service System, along...
EDITORIALS
Aug 6, 1999

First a tally, now the trading

Almost two months after voting for the national assembly took place, Indonesia has its election results. Wednesday, President B.J. Habibie endorsed the final tally of the national election commission over the objections of several small parties who claimed ballot fraud. The holdouts represented less...
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Aug 6, 1999

Number Girl's gotta have it

If Tokyo's live houses have provided little in the way of new musical inspiration recently, the provinces have picked up the slack with a vengeance. Sapporo's burgeoning hip-hop scene has produced new rap heroes the Blue Herb, while Kyoto, with DJs 1945 and Nobukazu Takemura, is becoming the home of...
CULTURE / Art
Aug 5, 1999

Thatched huts for the 21st century

TSURUI VILLAGE, Tokushima Pref. -- Still hidden away in Shikoku's remote Iya Valley, the thatch-roofed home made famous in Alex Kerr's "Lost Japan" is taking out a new lease on life -- one that may alter this country's approach to conservation and development.
JAPAN
Aug 5, 1999

Japan readies policy advice for Vietnam

Staff writer
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
Aug 4, 1999

Brazil to suspend favorable auto tariffs early

Staff writer
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Aug 4, 1999

The usual suspects

Several months ago, I wrote about day trading and the thousands of investors who see it as the avenue to quick riches ("Easy money," Feb. 2). They use new technology to scamper through markets in ways that were impossible for ordinary citizens only a few years ago.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 1999

Tokyo probes Sumida Ward hospital infections

Metropolitan authorities have inspected a hospital in Tokyo's Sumida Ward after it was found that seven inpatients were infected with serratia bacteria, of whom three died last week, officials said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 1999

Time-honored craft may be blowing away

In Japan the sound of a furin (wind bell) tinkling in the breeze is believed to invoke a sense of coolness during a hot and humid summer.
JAPAN
Jul 30, 1999

One year down as Obuchi firmly hits political stride

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi expressed his determination Friday to successfully stage the 2000 summit of the Group of Eight major nations in Okinawa, indicating his readiness to stay at the helm for at least another year.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 30, 1999

'Y5K' travels a sacred journey through levels of self-realization

The Hopi Indians have a prophecy based on an ancient icon thousands of years old called "The Sacred Rock." On the rock is an etching that represents the cycle of mankind's journey, depicting the development and eventual destruction of civilization.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 1999

Dumping claims stifling steel exports, Tokyo says

Japan aired its concerns Thursday to the United States that the recent series of antidumping claims by the U.S. steel industry against steel imports has substantially paralyzed Japanese exports of most major steel products, government officials said.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 28, 1999

The little claimer that could

While companies, especially computer makers, have been eager to promote the Internet as a global bazaar and amusement park rolled into one, they are quickly learning that there's a little more to it than that. The tools that are supposed to help the customer are the same ones that can empower the unhappy...
JAPAN
Jul 27, 1999

Pyongyang missile posturing an extreme concern: report

North Korea's ability to produce missiles that can reach any part of Japan is a cause for extreme concern and an issue that directly affects Japan's security, the Defense Agency said in its 1999 white paper released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 27, 1999

Asia tensions undermining global security: Akashi

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jul 26, 1999

Ministry declares emergency to fight tuberculosis

Alarmed by the recent resurgence of tuberculosis, the Health and Welfare Ministry on Monday declared a state of emergency to combat the disease and raise public awareness about the nation's former No. 1 killer.
COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 1999

The pendulum swings again

As Japan pulls out of a deep economic slump, it is time to ask who created the mess. But as with the war guilt question, don't expect an easy answer. Japan does not like to pin blame when its elite is involved. The guilty remain in place; the chances of another disaster remain intact.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 1999

Business leaders urged to tap younger generation

OYAMA, Shizuoka Pref. -- The elderly leaders of most top Japanese firms may be hindering the success of their companies, and should allow the vision of a younger generation to lead business, said some executives at this year's annual gathering of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren)....
JAPAN
Jul 22, 1999

Literary critic Eto, 66, commits suicide

Renowned literary critic Jun Eto was found dead Wednesday night in an apparent suicide at his home in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, police said. He was 66.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 1999

Airbus predicts Japan will need 660 planes by 2020

Japan needs to buy some 660 aircraft, amounting to $92 billion, during the coming 20 years to meet growing passenger demand, Airbus Industrie said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 1999

Flag, anthem march through Lower House

Breaking a long-standing political taboo, the Lower House, by a vote of 403-86, approved a bill Thursday to legally recognize the Hinomaru as the national flag and "Kimigayo" as the anthem.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 22, 1999

The new alfresco hits the pavement

It was not so long ago that alfresco dining here meant choosing between a raucous, roof-top beer garden or the cosy, elbow-rubbing confines of a funky pavement yatai. And if oden or ramen and a glass of cheap sake was not quite what you had in mind for a romantic evening out, too bad.
EDITORIALS
Jul 21, 1999

A fuzzy blueprint for recovery

The government's latest economic white paper has a strong message to the nation: Let us put the slump behind us as quickly as possible and get the economy back on a firm footing. The annual report, released last Friday by the Economic Planning Agency and subtitled "Challenge for economic revival," represents...
CULTURE / Film
Jul 20, 1999

'Neighbors' move from paper to screen

When I first heard that Studio Ghibli was going to base its next film on Hisaichi Ishii's "Hohokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun (My Neighbors the Yamadas)" -- a must-read for millions in the Asahi Shimbun" -- I had my doubts.The best gag manga have a pinch of comic acid that often gets leached away in the...
CULTURE / Music
Jul 20, 1999

Lotus Sutra gets rhythm on Ono's 'Gyo'

As much as it is tempting to believe the adage "like father, like daughter," sometimes a person like Toshiro Ono comes along to turn the saying on its head.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 1999

Anthem and flag just need some tweaking

The battle over whether or not to pass legislation giving the de facto national anthem "Kimigayo" and the Hinomaru flag official status has been a black-and- white, yes-or-no affair. There have been some legalistic, even occasionally Clintonesque, arguments presented in the Diet on the definition of...

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’