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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2000

Japan as a global environmental model

Japan's miraculous postwar recovery and spectacular economic growth earned it worldwide admiration and led many to view it as a growth model. Subsequently, however, it became clear that Japan's economic growth came at a huge cost in terms of environmental degradation and human health.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2000

Residents of Nago proud to display town's charms

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — Many locals were excited on the eve of the Group of Eight summit here today, expressing hope that the event will attract international attention to what they boast is the most beautiful coastline in Okinawa.
CULTURE / Music / PLAY BUTTON
Jul 21, 2000

Just say yes! yes! yes! to Seagulls' 'No! No! No!'

Negative charisma has been a staple of rock from Jerry Lee Lewis to Courtney Love. With its latest album "No! No! No!" (Trattoria), Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her takes it to a whole new level.
COMMUNITY
Jul 19, 2000

Teachers share solutions to school concerns

People arriving in Japan in their professional capacities frequently see little more of the country than the interiors of taxis, hotel rooms and sterile offices, with the occasional tourist sight in central Tokyo thrown in.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2000

Wildcat threatened as projects encroach on last wilderness

Staff writer
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 19, 2000

Honeymoon journey a sore memory

Summer glows with sunshine, and so do my memories.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 19, 2000

Beat swords into plowshares

Given the tragic history of Okinawa, when the eight wise men of the world meet there it would be particularly appropriate if they turned their minds, in this International Year of the Culture of Peace, to the subject of ridding the world of war and genocide.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2000

Okinawa weaving tradition dying out

OGIMI, Okinawa Pref. -- Until recently, visitors to this village would have seen elderly women -- many in their 90s or older -- patiently making banana-fiber thread while sitting on sunny verandas and weaving it into traditional fabric.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 18, 2000

The art and artistry of translation

WORDS, IDEAS, AND AMBIGUITIES: Four Perspectives on Translating from the Japanese, edited by Donald Richie. A Pacific Basin Institute Book, Imprint Publications, 2000, 88 pp., $19.95. This volume is a faithful account of an important and stimulating series of colloquia held at the International House...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2000

Raising taxes invites economic catastrophe

Newspaper reports indicate that Japan's Tax Commission has used its role as an advisory panel to the prime minister to propose lowering the minimum taxable individual-income level. Raising taxes on the poor is justified by attempting to share the income-tax burden more widely. A wide range of allowable...
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2000

Animistic rituals run deep in Okinawa

KUDAKA ISLAND, Okinawa Pref. -- When the gods arrived by boat at the Okinawan islands during the fourth and ninth months of the Chinese calendar, they first set foot on the shores of Ishiki Beach, say residents of Kudaka Island.
JAPAN
Jul 17, 2000

Long life spans attributed to Okinawa diet

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- Legend holds that an ancient Chinese emperor dispatched a mission of explorers to find Horai, a heavenly island believed to exist in the ocean, with orders to find the elixir of life and bring it to him.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jul 16, 2000

Setsuko Arima

For the greater part of her life, Setsuko Arima has lived in the same district of Kanazawa-ku in Yokohama. She is devoted to the neighborhood, which is highlighted by the 13th century Shomyoji Temple, its garden with red bridges over a wide pond, and its background of an open field and wooded hills....
CULTURE / Books / POETRY MIGNETTE
Jul 16, 2000

When dream makers walk among us

Socrates' bestial laugh washes into the cosmic map where Blake digs with his spade and Sam stands bathed in the sparks of his youth Among colored shapes, Sam embraces the warmest softest things a woman's spirit in the shape of clouds in the shape of foam in the shape of a womb The white space of the...
CULTURE / Art
Jul 15, 2000

Singapore seeks its own artistic future

Singapore is known for being a clean country full of sunshine, greenery and delightful people. But although it offers great shopping, gourmet dining and sightseeing, it is not frequently associated with the art world.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2000

The sacrificed island's dream remains deferred

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. -- On Aug. 9, 1958, the entire nation was riveted to the first round of the National High School Baseball Tournament, which pitted Okinawa's Shuri High School against Fukui Prefecture's Tsuruga High School.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2000

Miyazaki Initiative caps talks

MIYAZAKI-- The Group of Eight foreign ministers ended their two-day gathering here Thursday by adopting a statement covering a wide range of international political issues and a comprehensive "Miyazaki Initiative for Conflict Prevention."
CULTURE / Books
Jul 13, 2000

Politicians ever eager to please

THE JAPANESE POLITICAL PERSONALITY: Analyzing the Motivations and Culture of Freshman Diet Members, by Ofer Feldman. St. Martin's Press/Macmillan Press, 2000, 182 pp. (cloth), unpriced. The popular conception of the Japanese politician is that of a man (almost always), who is pushed and prodded by...
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2000

Summers expresses support for Japan's policies

FUKUOKA -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers suggested to Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa on Saturday that Japan should stick to its present sound monetary and fiscal policies to lift its economy out of recession, a senior Japanese official said.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2000

Alternative school targets dropouts

KYOTO -- Parents whose sons or daughters stop attending school often research methods to encourage their children to return by reading books and attending lectures by experts.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 9, 2000

'Alien 5' now playing in your local neighborhood

A band of junior high-school students showed up at my door the other morning. "Can we interview you?" they asked.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2000

Monazite storage to see no charges

People found to be in possession of monazite are not likely to be charged for failing to store the low-level radioactive material safely because laws do not cover its storage, investigative sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2000

Nuclear safety report apologizes for Tokai

Commission vows to win back trust The Nuclear Safety Commission on Friday expressed regret over its inability to prevent last September's fatal nuclear accident in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Jul 8, 2000

Through the fires of experience to beauty

One afternoon a few months ago I had the pleasure of taking a visiting dignitary around Tokyo to view pottery. While we were riding around in his limousine and talking about Japanese pottery he said many times how sublime he thought it was.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 8, 2000

Quest for Huangshan of the heart

To the south of the Yangtse River in China's Anhui Province, near the medieval city of Wuhu, rise the Huangshan mountains: a series of jagged peaks and crags, not very high, as mountains go, but intensely dramatic. The clouds and mist that swirl around their pine-crested heights, the mysterious grottoes...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami