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JAPAN
Jul 20, 1999

Slovakia, Japan pursue U.N. Security Council reform

Staff writer
CULTURE / Books
Jul 20, 1999

A stunning rumination on the interconnectedness of things

GHOSTWRITTEN, by David Mitchell. London: Sceptre/Hodder & Stoughton, 1998, 436 pp. (paper). Staff writer Contemporary writers love to skate between different genres, styles and settings. And "Ghostwritten," the first novel by Englishman David Mitchell, is filled with such formal trickery. It is a...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 20, 1999

Screening for image and reality

THE DOUBLE SCREEN: Medium and Representation in Chinese Painting, by Wu Hung. London: Reaktion Books, 1996, 296 pp., with 170 illustrations, 20 in color, 14.95 British pounds. Just what is a traditional Chinese painting? This is the question asked and answered in this magisterial work of imaginative...
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...
JAPAN
Jul 19, 1999

Adachi Ward joins Aum ban

Tokyo's Adachi Ward will neither accept resident registration applications from Aum Shinrikyo followers nor allow them to use ward-run facilities, Adachi Mayor Tsunetoshi Suzuki said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 1999

Apparently, all roads lead to Vladivostok

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia -- No, Peter and Eileen Crichton were not to be mistaken for the U.S. couple making a millennial tour of five continents in a lemon yellow Mercedes-Benz "off-roadster." Nor did they have anything to do with the two Germans who had just crossed Russia in a 1963 Citroen 2 CV.
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 1999

Booking a vacation

Summer is here and, with it, the prospect of vacation. People are already packing: passports, bathing suits, cameras . . . and books. Not many leave without at least one paperback stuffed into their bags, if only out of a vague sense that books are to August as rain is to July -- a defining element....
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 1999

How globalization can undercut security

Globalization is already a fact of life in the international-missile and military-armaments "community."
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 17, 1999

Ennosuke, the man of 1,000 faces

Ennosuke Ichikawa, the champion of "Super Kabuki," heads the annual summer program at the Ginza Kabukiza, with a troupe of capable young actors whom he has trained personally. Supporting Ennosuke are such veteran actors as his younger brother Danshiro, Karoku Nakamura, Shikan Nakamura and Sojuro Sawamura....
EDITORIALS
Jul 15, 1999

Sierra Leone tests the world

After nine years of savage fighting, there is peace in Sierra Leone. In Togo last week, African nations mediated an agreement between the government and Revolutionary United Front guerrillas that offers the small West African nation of 4.5 million people a future. There are no guarantees, however. A...
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 1999

Designer rewrites the jean map

They look and act like ordinary blue jeans. When they're dirty, you throw them in the washing machine. The color will fade with numerous washings, and like any other denim, they may shrink a little in the dryer.
COMMUNITY
Jul 15, 1999

Behold! The 'fashion bible' cometh

Long before there were Versace minis, Gucci stilettos and Chanel nail polish in Vamp, Vogue was there -- watching, documenting and dictating the trends to the fashion-savvy masses.
ENVIRONMENT / GARDENING FOR ALL
Jul 14, 1999

Sendai garden lets it all hang out

Garden designers around the country could take a few ideas from the Sendai Yasoen (Wild Flower Garden) by using more native plants in their own designs.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jul 14, 1999

Substitutes

A woman tells us she is a vegetarian in the real sense -- no meat, fish or animal byproducts, even gelatin. In England she could buy dried mixes that could be reconstituted by adding water and then used to make sausages (Sosmix) and burgers (Veggie Burger Mix). She wonders if there are any similar products...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jul 13, 1999

Cuban music revolution heats up airwaves

Within the world music genre, success -- in terms of sales -- doesn't compare with the likes of mainstream pop and rock categories. What world music successes there have been have had a rather short shelf life, and were mainly cultivated by the major record companies.
COMMENTARY
Jul 9, 1999

National symbols deserve legal recognition

The percentage of those who approve the performance of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's government has been rising, reaching 47.8 percent according to one of the media's opinion surveys. Compared to a similar survey taken at the time of the inauguration of the government, the percentage those who do not...
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Jul 8, 1999

Wines you'll still love the morning after

As far back as the 11th century, Norse explorers, in what was to become America, had already perceived the winemaking possibilities of this vast, verdant land. Seven centuries later the sagacious American statesman Thomas Jefferson began dabbling in grape-growing. One might assume, then, that by now...
JAPAN
Jul 7, 1999

Sony quits North America cell phone market

Sony Corp. announced Wednesday it will withdraw from the cellular phone business in North America, citing dwindling market share and profits due to intensifying competition.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 1999

Favor sought for protecting corporate accounts

The Financial System Council is recommending that corporate deposits for use in settling business transactions be protected after the introduction of a reduced guarantee scheme in April 2001.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 1999

Economic progress hoped for at China summit

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jul 7, 1999

Will wiretapping hurt the news?

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

NTT Communications to buy stake in JSAT

In a bid to strengthen its foothold in international telecommunications, NTT Communications Corp. will make a capital investment in Japan Satellite Systems Inc., top officials of the two firms announced Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Setouchi Special: Museum a journey into Hirayama's art

SETODA, Hiroshima Pref. -- A museum dedicated to one of Japan's most prominent artists, Ikuo Hirayama, traces the artistic growth of the famous native and his travels throughout the world.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Panel urges sweeping investor protection law

A financial service law should be designed to cover all relevant sectors to better protect investors and improve efficiency in financial services, an advisory panel to the finance minister said Tuesday in an interim report.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Honda says next hybrid car will be world's most efficient

Honda Motor Co. unveiled a hybrid engine system and lightweight aluminum body structure Tuesday for a new car to be released this fall that the automaker claims will achieve the world's lowest fuel consumption among mass-produced gasoline-powered vehicles.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jul 6, 1999

From combat to sport and art

ARMED MARTIAL ARTS OF JAPAN: Swordsmanship and Archery, by G. Cameron Hurst III. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998, 244 pp., with b/w photos. Though people today are more inclined to study the martial arts of Japan than such culturally expected forms as tea ceremony and flower arrangement, books...
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

June sales show minivehicles still hot

Unit sales of minivehicles in June marked their ninth consecutive month of year-on-year increase with 165,466 units, up 29.2 percent compared with the same month last year, an industry association said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 1999

State posts '98 surplus despite revenue shortfall

State tax revenues for fiscal 1998 totaled 49.42 trillion yen, falling 747.1 billion yen short of estimates and slipping below 50 trillion yen for the first time in 11 years, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 2, 1999

Sleater-Kinney rocks solid, but dig that crazy backbeat

Is Janet Weiss the best rock drummer in the world? That question crossed my mind last January when I saw her and her ex-husband Sam Coomes, collectively known as Quasi, open for Elliott Smith. Though Coomes is the focus of the duo since he writes and sings almost all the songs, Weiss's contribution was...

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo