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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Jun 2, 2002

Snobbery will not be permitted

Once upon a time, wine in Japan was a hushed affair, conducted with starched linens and stiff-backed chairs. Elusive first-growth Bordeaux and top Burgundy accompanied the tense, dutiful rituals of business negotiations. The mood was earnest; the cost high. It sometimes seemed as if the highly codified...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CUP COUNTDOWN
May 31, 2002

Hooligan phobia triggers siege mentality

KAWAGUCHI, Saitama Pref. -- Soccer fans hoping to stop for a cup of coffee on their way to or from World Cup games at Saitama Stadium won't be able to do so at Katsura cafe here. Whenever matches are being played -- and hooligans might be in the area -- the cafe will be closed.
JAPAN
May 30, 2002

Hermes denies Japanese sales block

French luxury brand Hermes on Wednesday denied a recent report by an Austrian weekly magazine that its boutique in Vienna is limiting the number of handbags that can be purchased by Japanese customers to two per person.
JAPAN
May 9, 2002

Law slow to ease bite of small business failures

The immediate goal of lawyer Toshi Yoshinari is to keep his clients from getting a divorce.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 30, 2002

Fashion world banking on teenage girls' yearning to grow up

In an effort to capitalize on the Golden Week holiday period, many department stores across the country are targeting preteen and early teen girls with a series of brand-name clothing promotions, fashion shows and makeup classes.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 7, 2002

The trickle-down effect

It's late in Tokyo's Yurakucho district, and the pachinko parlors clustered here have shut off their garish neon signs. The consoles through which the game's trademark metal balls are sent cascading have gone quiet, and the hard-core players who hang on until closing time are scurrying out onto the pavement...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Mar 24, 2002

Let your taste buds do the browsing

At some point, it happens to all of us. You stand in front of the wine shelves and stare at the labels. You struggle to remember the last great vintage in the Rhone Valley, Rioja or Tuscany. You see the name of a winery you've liked in the past, but can't recall if it was the Syrah or the Zinfandel (it...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 3, 2002

Gone fishing

Fly-fishing is like pachinko. You know how some people get a rush from watching things go into little holes? Well, replace the smoke, noise and flashing lights with tumbling brooks, mountains and fresh air and you've got fly-fishing.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Feb 17, 2002

Great sake only a hop, skip and a jump away

There are a plethora of pubs in Tokyo where you can enjoy good sake, but all too often we only read about those in the center of town. The truth, of course, is that there are plenty of great venues outside the Yamanote loop and beyond. Here are a few worth the short or midrange trip:
COMMUNITY
Feb 17, 2002

'Konbini wars' coming to a street corner near you

A young woman running late for a job interview realizes she's forgotten her lipstick. Minutes later, a 70-year-old steps into a store to buy some oolong tea and finds he's out of cash. Turn the clock forward to midnight, and a bachelor steps off the last train home wondering where he can find a bite...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 30, 2001

Delicious plum choices from 2001

In a city the size of Tokyo, it is simply impossible to visit every single new restaurant or to keep track of changes at all the established places. For that reason, the Food File does not presume to assign year-end rankings or pronounce its best-of lists for the year, especially since, in the end, it...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2001

Locals fear U.K. hooligans will rain on World Cup parade

OSAKA -- Amid nationwide jubilation on Dec. 1 over the birth of a daughter to the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, coffee shop owner Koji Fukushima of Osaka felt he had little to celebrate.
Japan Times
Events
Nov 27, 2001

Designer gives throwaways 'a second life'

KYOTO -- Dresses from sail-cloth, bikinis from Red Army parachutes, trousers from post bags, shirts from table cloths and accessories from car inner-tubes.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 4, 2001

Thrift store retail that wags the dog

WASHINGTON -- Jeanie Naumann, manager of Wagging Tails Thrifts and Gift, says she can hardly believe it herself. It seems she just had to open the store, and the donations, volunteers, customers and profits started rolling in.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 28, 2001

Isola blu: The upper crust of Ginza

Our appreciation of Isola's superb pizza is already a matter of record: "A work of art . . . As close to perfection as you will ever need to get," we said -- and we have no reason to revise our opinion. When it comes to the location, though, the Food File is far less effusive. Isola is such a long haul...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Sep 23, 2001

The city within

There are three things that stir the heart of every true Tokyoite: sento (public baths), mazelike roji (alleys) and matsuri (festivals). Over the last couple of decades, all three have been gradually fading from the city scene, though there are still pockets in the megalopolis where they can be found...
JAPAN
Sep 23, 2001

Banker-turned-'barista' predicts big things for gourmet coffee

Kouta Matsuda's obsession with world food began in his childhood, when he traveled around the globe with his father, a trader.
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Sep 23, 2001

Wine loving in the city, from dusk till dawn

This week brings good news for wine lovers whose schedules tend toward the late end of the Tokyo grind. Nissin World Delicatessen has extended its hours to 8:30 p.m., and a new Shirogane wine bar is pouring until the wee hours.
JAPAN
Sep 1, 2001

Evacuated Miyake islanders get to grips with urban jungle

Motome Miyazawa's voice booms across rows of taro plants at a farm in Hachioji, western Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2001

Cellphones set for e-wallet role

The nation's first commercial service allowing cellular phones to serve as e-wallets will start in the spring after a trial service using 10,000 monitors that is set for November, telecom carrier KDDI Corp. and five other companies announced Wednesday.
JAPAN / WEEKEND WISDOM
Aug 12, 2001

Copying Kyoto is way to revitalize Japan, fashion critic says

KYOTO -- If Japan wants to revitalize the sluggish economy and turn its prospects around, there are plenty of indications that Kyoto's way of life as well as its way of doing business are the answer, according to Hiromi Ichida, a fashion critic who has lived in the ancient capital for more than half...
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2001

Seoul fashion moves into Osaka

OSAKA -- A total of 126 vendors from the Tongdaemun apparel market in Seoul, said to be Asia's largest fashion mart, started operations Saturday at the Asia and Pacific Trade Center (ATC) in Osaka's Suminoe Ward.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2001

Bath salt vendors flout norm, chase smell of success

OSAKA -- The Japanese affinity with hot spring resorts has long provided a market for firms selling bathing salts containing various minerals and ingredients.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 21, 2001

Ruin yourself in extravagance with food

Today I will give you a tour of Osaka, Japan's third largest city that doubles as the nation's largest pachinko parlor. If you've ever wondered what it's like to walk around inside one of those pachinko game machines, I suggest taking a walk through Umeda or Nanaba at night. With all the neon and blinking...
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
May 27, 2001

Worth jumping off the train for

With the proliferation of bars and restaurants serving decent nihonshu, there is no need to make a big deal out of searching for a "proper" sake pub. Dotted throughout the sprawling underground shopping areas that lie below many of the major stations in Japan are little sake havens. Take, for example,...
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 13, 2001

Sit back, relax and let life pass you by

Summer's on its way, and none of us need any encouraging to make the most of it. There's no better way to celebrate the onset of the hot weather than with a leisurely lunch in the open air. Nothing too heavy, nothing too complicated -- this is the season to start lightening up the diet, anyway. Here...

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