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LIFE / Travel
Jun 14, 2000

The best mechanics in the world

Canada's Inuit have many talents, but one of the most impressive is their mechanical ability. With or without training, they have a reputation as the world's best natural mechanics.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jun 13, 2000

Beyond the Buena Vista Social Club

Ever felt you missed out on an opportunity? When working as a talent scout for a record company in the U.K., I once stumbled upon U2 in the band's infancy. Somehow negotiations never got started and they were soon snapped up elsewhere. After that, in U2's words, I never did find what I was looking for....
CULTURE / Art
Jun 10, 2000

Filmmaker lights a fire under corruption

Well known for kaiju (monster) films populated by giant luminaries such as Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan, Toho Inc. now brings us "Cross Fire," an sf thriller about a pyrokinetic office lady at odds with Japanese corruption. Adapted from a novel by best-selling author Miyuki Miyabe, the movie is directed...
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2000

Poll to pit Young Turks against old nepotism

Minoru Fujimoto, 31, has wavy, dyed brown hair. He is one of the new breed of "smiling" Japanese Communist Party members, whose appearance may surprise longtime party supporters who are used to more traditional-looking candidates.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 7, 2000

A beginning

A recent column question dealt with a problem that faces many parents today: Their children have completely lost interest in school. These are often bright, motivated students who are dissatisfied with the system. Foreigners tend to feel that Japanese kids are too occupied, that something is planned...
JAPAN
Jun 7, 2000

G8 chiefs' wives to pray for peace at memorial

The wives of the leaders of the Group of Eight nations will visit a peace memorial in Okinawa while in the prefecture for the G8 summit slated for July 21-23, government sources said Tuesday.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 6, 2000

Some rules were made to be broken

THE IRON BOOK OF BRITISH HAIKU, edited by David Cobb and Martin Lucas. Iron Press, 1998, 112 pp., 6.50 British pounds. A NEW RESONANCE: Emerging Voices in English-Language Haiku, edited by Jim Kacian and Dee Evetts. Red Moon Press, 1999, 201 pp., $14.50. Reading these anthologies of English-language...
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 6, 2000

Inspecting society's 'little people'

Ever since the first performance of Nikolai Gogol's "The Inspector" took place on April 19, 1836, Russia and the world have been fascinated by Khlestakov, a character in the play who poses as a government inspector and gets away with murder.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jun 3, 2000

Drumming to a Japanese beat

The drum is easily Japan's most popular instrument.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 3, 2000

Paintings that invite you to linger longer

The first thing you notice are the fingers. These are big, long fingers, four of them radiating outward from each half of a stretching oil on canvas diptych the artist calls "Double Fist."
LIFE / ALTERNATIVE LUXURIES
Jun 1, 2000

Our planet, our teacher

In conversation with writer Masanori Oe, one hears the word "discovery" quite often. It's no wonder. Since the days of his translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead into Japanese and his film documentaries on the psychedelic movement in New York City in the late 1960s, he has pioneered new directions...
BUSINESS
May 30, 2000

Palmtops to be fourth pillar of Sony's electronics lineup

Sony Corp. said Monday that it will make palmtop mobile personal computer terminals a major part of its electronics product lineup.
ENVIRONMENT
May 29, 2000

Japan getting into some very deep water

"Deep seawater" is a magic word that seems to make consumers believe any product made with it will be healthier and of higher quality.
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
May 24, 2000

Fresh or aged, the coffee is kicking at Satei Hato

On a nondescript side street, a short walk from Shibuya Station's jangling cell phones and glaring white lipstick, Satei Hato first catches your eye with the dramatic vases and fresh flowers that grace its entrance. Intrigued, you discover a space much larger than you anticipated, filled with the warmth...
BUSINESS
May 16, 2000

Deutsche Securities faces penalty

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended Monday that financial regulators punish the Tokyo branch of Deutsche Securities Ltd. for illegal soliciting and two other financial violations.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
May 13, 2000

Celebrating the cream of Japanese pottery

Believe it or not, a new museum has opened in Japan. In the midst of hearing about this or that institution shutting its doors for good it's refreshing to hear of one opening its doors for the first time, especially one entirely devoted to pottery.
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2000

Healing with grassroots harmony

Japanese-Jamaican-Korean fusion? Korean-flavored Japanese rock with a bit of Memphis blues thrown in? It's hard to put a label on the multiethnic multigenre sounds of the Pak Poe Band.
BUSINESS
May 4, 2000

IBJ portal promises to take e-commerce in new direction

The Industrial Bank of Japan plans to develop an Internet-based system that will enable companies to import and export products as well as settle payments online, sources close to the project said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 4, 2000

Cameras clash over digital divide

The Japanese camera market is splitting into opposite directions, with high-tech digital models catching consumers' fancy while old-fashioned range finders are staging a strong comeback.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 4, 2000

Enough to drive a person to distraction

Is he staying or is he going? This is the question being asked ad nauseam about Japan's national soccer coach Philippe Troussier.
JAPAN
May 3, 2000

Harmonica craze hits high note

Considering he's been out of work for over seven months, you'd expect Yusuke Ozaki's harmonica playing to hit a melancholic note.
JAPAN
May 2, 2000

Asian Wall Street Journal goes bilingual

Competition in the newspaper industry is intensifying, and The Asian Wall Street Journal, as part of efforts to woo more readers in Japan, is addressing the challenge with a new look that started with its April 3 editions.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 30, 2000

A century of Japanese-style painting

"Glue painting?" Rather unattractive.
COMMUNITY
Apr 26, 2000

Celebrating the other Korakuen: Okayama

If I were asked to describe this garden with just one word, I would definitely choose "fantastic."
CULTURE / Art
Apr 22, 2000

World of freeze-framed flowers at Mitsukoshi

Despite a long history dating back to the 16th century, when botanists in England and Italy began systematic collection of specimens, the art of flower pressing still tends to be treated as a mere hobby or handicraft in many countries. In Japan, too, although the number of oshibana (pressed flower) artists...
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 21, 2000

Legacy of Kanzaburo Nakamura commemorated at the Kabukiza

The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is presenting a special program this month in memory of Kanzaburo Nakamura XVII, who died 12 years ago, at the age of 78. The afternoon program features the well-known jidaimono (historical play) "Shunkan" and Mokuami Kawatake's sewamono masterpiece, "Shinza the Hairdresser,"...

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