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CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Nov 7, 2000

A fine fuzzy day out at Rocktober

The inaugural Rocktober festival on Sunday, Oct. 15, at Shiokaze Park in Odaiba, confounded my expectations: I had a great time.
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Nov 7, 2000

U.S. vote goes all the way to the wire

I used to say, "The only thing certain in our elections are that they will end on time." Well, the election of 2000 tops them all. Not only is it still "too close to call," this election is unlikely to end on time. Let me explain why. It all centers on Washington state and a new election law it initiates...
CULTURE / Art
Nov 5, 2000

Redefining to rescue Kyoto

KYOTO -- When people talk about traditional Kyoto culture, all the "a" verbs come out -- everyone appreciates it, everyone admires it, many adore it. So why is it disappearing so rapidly?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Nov 5, 2000

Norman Tolman

A household name, not only in Japan, amongst print artists, painters and art collectors, Norman Tolman appreciates art in realms beyond his own strict specialties. Japanese architecture, pots and fabrics naturally fall within his orbit. He can rearrange the interiors of other people's homes to delight...
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2000

Web site gets volcano evacuees online and in touch

Hiroyuki Noda never imagined that he would become a messenger for fellow Miyake Island residents when he bought a personal computer six years ago to keep books for his inn and diving shop.
COMMUNITY
Nov 2, 2000

Exhibiting style around Japan

Just ahead of the Tokyo collections, in which over 50 designers will show their spring/summer 2001 collections this week and next, here are some things to do if your name's not on the invite list or if you are looking for a fashion-related event to attend on a rainy day.
EDITORIALS
Nov 2, 2000

When the people rise up

It has been an extraordinary year for people power. Mass protests have overturned governments round the world, checked blatant abuses of power and offered hope that the 21st century may prove to be an era of genuine democracy. In each case, however, the government that was turned out had already ridden...
EDITORIALS
Oct 29, 2000

Glamour in a good cause

There was a gathering at the United Nations in New York last Monday that nobody paid much attention to. The World Series and a high-wattage Senate race were distracting New Yorkers. A murderous flareup in the Middle East and a surreal encounter in Pyongyang were distracting the rest of the world.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 2000

With shield gone, Mori may be next

Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's decision Friday to accept Chief Cabinet Secretary Hidenao Nakagawa's resignation was apparently aimed at containing further damage to his administration, which was battered recently over his comments regarding a controversial proposal to North Korea.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 28, 2000

'International' festival is dominated by national talent as budgets pared

Tokyo International Festival of Performing Arts 2000 kicked off Oct. 13 with the production "Melancholy Baby" at Aoyama Enkei Gekijo, one of the main venues hosting the festival. In truth, though, there is little "international" about this year's festival, through mid-December.
EDITORIALS
Oct 28, 2000

Shortsighted electoral reform

The heavy-handed tactics the ruling parties employed to railroad a controversial Upper House electoral reform bill have left an ugly blot on the nation's parliamentary history. No substantial debate was conducted in the Diet. In the Upper House, the opposition parties boycotted discussion because of...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2000

What price NATO's new philosophy?

CAMBRIDGE, England -- While you were on the beaches of Hawaii or Hainan or wherever else you spent the summer, the secretary general of NATO, or U.S.-led NATO as Beijing calls it, spelled out the new philosophy of that organization, as it was expressed in the Kosovo war. Referring to Kosovo in a speech...
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...
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...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 26, 2000

ASEM fails to live up to hype

The third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Seoul last weekend was long on ceremony and performance, but short on substance. While impeccably hosted by South Korea and held in a glittering new conference center in southern Seoul, the conference lacked "soul." For all the talk of Partnership for Shared...
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2000

When leaders fail to lead

LONDON -- Countries and peoples that make peace after years or even generations of enmity require very strong leaders. Just as it needed a Charles de Gaulle to tell the French to stop fighting the Algerians, a Konrad Adenauer to tell the Germans to love the French, a Harry Truman or a Douglas MacArthur...
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.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 22, 2000

Young talent surfaces at Tokyo Designers Week

If you happened to be in the Aoyama, Shibuya or Daikanyama districts of Tokyo over the last week you may have noticed a brightly patterned bus zooming around. It was transporting whoever was interested in going to the many spots in this area that were exhibiting the work of Japanese and international...
COMMUNITY
Oct 22, 2000

Country gold in them thar Kyushu hills

MOUNT ASO, Kyushu -- When he had just turned 20, "Good Time" Charlie Nagatani made a decision that must have seemed even more foolish than it was whimsical.
JAPAN
Oct 20, 2000

Mourning Empress refuses to celebrate 66th birthday

The Empress turned 66 on Friday, but no celebrations are scheduled to mark her birthday as the Imperial family is still mourning the passing in June of the Empress Dowager, the Imperial Household Agency said.
EDITORIALS
Oct 19, 2000

Back to step one in the Middle East

After two days of intense negotiations, Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed this week to a ceasefire that would end the bloodiest unrest the region has experienced in decades. Neither Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak nor Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat has evinced much enthusiasm for...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2000

A prize for all South Koreans

This century's last Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to South Korean President Kim Dae Jung. The honor caps a checkered career that includes adduction from Japan by intelligence agents, years of imprisonment under the threat of execution and, most recently, a historic summit meeting in June with North...
COMMUNITY
Oct 19, 2000

Kyushu reaches out to Asia through education

FUKUOKA -- For years it's been said that Kyushu's economic nerve center, Fukuoka, is one of Japan's most promising areas when it comes to forging new business and cultural links overseas. The city's proximity to the East Asian continent, as well as government and business activity, have all contributed...
LIFE / Digital / SURFERSPUD
Oct 18, 2000

One homestead, two squatters

www.arab.net/palestine/history/pe_zionism.html To understand the beginnings of the decades-old Jewish-Muslim conflict in the Middle East, Spudberg decided to first look up the definition of a word for which he only understood the connotations. Arabnet quickly and clearly defines "Zionism" in a historical...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2000

South Korea grapples with rapprochement

SEOUL -- Some days ago I received an e-mail from a friend I hadn't heard from for a while, who teaches North Korean affairs at one of the major universities in Seoul. "I am worried," he wrote. "This is not a good time for South Korean scholars dealing with North Korea to express their views freely."...
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2000

Turning the clock back

The Middle East continues its descent into violence. The immediate task is ending the bloodshed that has occurred throughout Palestinian territory and restoring order. The question hovering over the carnage is whether the peace process can be resurrected. Nearly 100 people have been killed in a little...
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Oct 15, 2000

Rexroth revolution comes home to Japan

Yokohama-based essayist and poet Morgan Gibson has been and continues to be one of the most prolific contributors to Japan's English literary scene. Of his own work he had poems published in the 1970s in pioneering journals like One Mind and Kyoto Review and later, in the '80s, in publications like Blue...

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.