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JAPAN
Oct 29, 2000

Japan hopeful ahead of North Korea talks

Japan and North Korea will hold talks in Beijing from Monday, with the focus of discussions likely to be on North Korean demands for compensation for Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 29, 2000

No shortage of fruits and vegetables at university

The first thing I do when I have a new class of university students is separate them into fruits and vegetables. This is because when you stand up at the podium and look out at a hundred students with black hair and black eyes, it's like addressing a crowd of straight pins with black heads. It's practically...
CULTURE / Music
Oct 29, 2000

Two chamber orchestras go for Baroque

Johann Sebastian Bach, who died in 1750, 250 years ago this year, has been lovingly remembered with significant performances of his great masterworks throughout the year. Recently eminent ensembles from Europe presented performances of the monumental "Saint Matthew Passion" almost simultaneously here....
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2000

Adult smokers at record-low 32.9%

The proportion of Japanese adults who smoke has fallen to a record low for the fifth consecutive year, dropping to 32.9 percent from 33.6 percent last year, according to the latest survey by Japan Tobacco Inc.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Oct 28, 2000

Coal-crusted, ash-glazed, long-fired

From aspiring lawyer to automatic washing machine salesman to master potter, life has been an interesting but rocky road for Shigaraki ceramist Shiho Kanzaki.
COMMENTARY
Oct 28, 2000

Luck gets Clinton out of a Balkan jam

Seldom have events more dramatically demonstrated that it is better to be lucky than smart. The popular uprising that ousted Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic happened despite, not because, of Clinton administration policy. A U.S. foreign policy based on humility, as suggested by Republican presidential...
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2000

Palau president to visit Japan

Palau President Kunio Nakamura will visit Japan as an official government guest next month in a symbolic move aimed at deepening Japan's relations with Pacific island countries.
JAPAN
Oct 27, 2000

Japan-funded dam is a threat, Filipino lawmaker says

A Philippine congressman on Thursday called on Japan to put pressure on Japanese organizations funding the San Roque Dam in the Philippines to make sure that environmental considerations are taken into consideration.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Oct 27, 2000

'Tis fall, and the brewers gather around their vats

In sync with the new colors and cooler weather of fall, the brewing season begins. Except for a few dozen brewing factories operated by the largest sake-brewing companies, sake is brewed in the colder months, generally from the end of October to the beginning of April. Larger brewers' facilities keep...
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Oct 27, 2000

How to find the very best goat eggs

"Any goat eggs today?" I asked with mock anxiety, and a face to match.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Oct 27, 2000

'Soul music' comes naturally to OOIOO

Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth once described her position as a woman between two boys with guitars as like being in the center of a circle jerk. Yoshimi P-We, the Boredoms' minxy drummer, could probably relate. As the rhythm section for the Boredoms' musical onslaught, she is at ground zero between both...
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2000

Net becoming venue for political participation

In the United States, the Internet has become a key communication source in the political equation, as evidenced by President Bill Clinton's televised e-mail "net conference" in August.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2000

Former chief of Net firm held in exec's abduction

A former president of Liquid Audio Japan, an Internet-based music delivery firm, was arrested with four other people Wednesday on suspicion of kidnapping and confining a former executive of the firm.
JAPAN
Oct 26, 2000

Police raid Todai lab linked to apprehended Aum cultist

An Aum Shinrikyo member under arrest was recently hired as a contract employee by a corporation affiliated with the Science and Technology Agency and had been involved in the development of computer systems at the University of Tokyo's graduate school, police said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Oct 25, 2000

Mori recants as friends, foes slam abduction plan

Retracting comments made earlier by his government, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori admitted during Tuesday's Diet session that a controversial proposal for finding Japanese nationals allegedly abducted by North Korean agents was not merely the personal opinion of a ruling party lawmaker.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Oct 25, 2000

Chrysanthemum by any other name

The chrysanthemum (kiku) is the seal of the Imperial family, and along with the cherry blossom (sakura) is symbolically used as the national flower by the Japanese people. Chrysanthemums have been cultivated in Japan since the Heian Period (794-1185). In the olden days autumn used to be called the "chrysanthemum...
LIFE / Food & Drink / KISSA KULTUR
Oct 25, 2000

A Thrush perches between two worlds

One foot in the past, one foot in the present.
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2000

Western policies ignore Serbia's history

Japan can be criticized for its simplistic, one-track mind at times. But over problems like Yugoslavia, the one-tracked Western mind, hardened by ideology and moralistic bias, can do far more harm.
JAPAN
Oct 24, 2000

Honohana cultists admit to fraud

Four former members of the Honohana Sanpogyo foot-reading cult on Monday pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring with cult founder Hogen Fukunaga to swindle 15 people out of 750 million yen.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 24, 2000

Creating soundtracks for modern pop culture

Dodgeville, Mich. Ever heard of it? Perhaps not. It's just another small Midwestern town you pass through on your way to the big city. It certainly wouldn't occur to you it's where one of America's most talented and hardworking composers was born.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2000

More women wanted for education boards

The Education Ministry has decided to seek a revision in an education law that would require local governments to include more women and younger people on their education boards so that a greater diversity of opinions will be reflected in local education policies, ministry sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2000

Free trade agreement with Singapore targeted for 2001

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and visiting Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong agreed Sunday to formally launch negotiations on a bilateral free-trade agreement in January and conclude the negotiations by the end of 2001.
COMMENTARY
Oct 23, 2000

LDP is up to its old tricks

The current 150th Diet session is in unprecedented chaos over an electoral reform bill to revise the Upper House voting system. The bill would change the roster system for candidates nominated in the proportional-representation segment of the Upper House polls. Currently, parties predetermine the ranks...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2000

Market stirs echoes of Komagome's past

The name Komagome, which literally means "horse inside," is believed to have derived from the fields and stables where livestock was kept.
JAPAN
Oct 22, 2000

Mori criticized over kidnap-resolution plan blunder

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's remarks Friday that a secret proposal was made to North Korea in 1997 over the alleged kidnapping of Japanese nationals by Pyongyang have baffled the Foreign Ministry and drawn criticism both from the opposition camp and leading members of the ruling coalition.

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