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CULTURE / Art
Aug 5, 1999

Thatched huts for the 21st century

TSURUI VILLAGE, Tokushima Pref. -- Still hidden away in Shikoku's remote Iya Valley, the thatch-roofed home made famous in Alex Kerr's "Lost Japan" is taking out a new lease on life -- one that may alter this country's approach to conservation and development.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Aug 4, 1999

How to keep the main clause interesting

Many years ago when she was studying for the TOEFL exam, my wife asked me to explain the difference between a main clause and a subordinate one. She somehow had it in her head that as a native speaker I would instinctively know what those words meant.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 1999

Time-honored craft may be blowing away

In Japan the sound of a furin (wind bell) tinkling in the breeze is believed to invoke a sense of coolness during a hot and humid summer.
JAPAN
Jul 29, 1999

Industrial output rose 3% in June

Monthly industrial output grew 3 percent in June, marking the first month-on-month rise in three months, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 1999

Osaka man brings color to a gray industry

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jul 28, 1999

Cohen wants cooperation

The United States, Japan and South Korea want cooperation -- not confrontation -- with North Korea, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen said Wednesday, urging Pyongyang to show restraint in attempting to launch another missile.
COMMENTARY
Jul 24, 1999

The 'Third Way' once again

LONDON -- "The Third Way" has become the height of intellectual fashion. But what on earth is it?
CULTURE / Art / ARTS AND ARTISANS
Jul 24, 1999

The food that never lets you down

Eventually, a bowl of steaming noodles will go soggy, the lettuce in a salad will go limp and turn brown and a piece of sushi will dry up.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 1999

Economy not so rosy: EPA chief

The economy most likely contracted in the April-June period, despite logging remarkable growth of 1.9 percent during the first three months of the year, Economic Planning Agency chief Taichi Sakaiya said Friday at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 1999

Literary critic Eto, 66, commits suicide

Renowned literary critic Jun Eto was found dead Wednesday night in an apparent suicide at his home in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, police said. He was 66.
JAPAN
Jul 22, 1999

'Kimigayo' controversy leaves students indifferent, confused

Staff writer
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 1999

Tax cuts put Japan on track

The Japanese economy is now out of the worst phase of the recession. But the process of achieving recovery and even- tual prosperity has not been entirely smooth. First, we cannot yet claim that firms in various industrial sectors have earnestly initiated their restructuring with real zest. Second, fiscal...
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....
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jul 14, 1999

Lost and found fnords

The Net is a terrific reference tool. There, I said it, the obvious. It's like stating that you should use a saw to cut down a tree. But have you ever tried to do an online search for the currency of Bhutan in the 18th century, who did the music for "The Third Man," the meaning of CLEP, DHCP or DQMOT...
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 1999

Living without fear

The toll from natural disasters is increasing. Since the 1960s, the economic cost of catastrophes has increased nine times. Last year, over 700 "large loss" disasters caused nearly $100 billion in economic losses. Were that the only price to be paid. According to the International Federation of Red Cross...
COMMUNITY
Jul 8, 1999

Lepidoptera farming for fun and profit

SEATTLE -- In 1994, Lt. Sheri Moreau took early retirement from the navy and put to the test her belief that "your goal in life should be to figure out what you most love to do, then figure out a way to make a living doing it." With a goal of connecting with nature and wildlife, she began her second...
JAPAN
Jul 6, 1999

Setouchi Special: Sand, fruit and fun beckon in Ehime

IMABARI, Ehime Pref. -- Residents in Ehime Prefecture have long referred to their area as the "Orchard of Japan."
CULTURE / Music
Jun 29, 1999

Beating powerful drums of tradition

Honoo Taiko, an all-female Japanese taiko drumming troupe from Ishikawa Prefecture, is ready to set the stage ablaze July 12 as they kick off their seven-city world tour in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 1999

Nonaka hints at second extra budget

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka hinted Friday that the government may need to compile a second extra budget for fiscal 1999 later this year.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 1999

Author says Nanjing death toll politically inflated

Akira Suzuki, prize-winning author of the controversial book "Nanjing: How the World Was Fed Facts and Fakes," reasserted at a press conference Thursday that the Nanjing Massacre death toll of 300,000 cited by the Chinese government lacks credibility from a historical standpoint.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jun 23, 1999

On the fringe of the fray

I had dinner with two friends last week and eventually the conversation came around to the Web (I generally try to avoid the topic in polite conversation but what can you do?). Anyone overhearing our conversation might have thought we were a trio of hopeless geeks, or digerati wannabes, but the truth...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Jun 23, 1999

A great connection

Perhaps your readers will be interested, he wrote.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 1999

Dam plebiscite worries still run deep

TOKUSHIMA — The Tokushima Municipal Assembly's passage of an ordinance Monday to hold a plebiscite on the controversial Yoshino River dam project was realized after three groups in the assembly in favor of the vote reached a compromise with New Komeito.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Jun 19, 1999

From court to village across the centuries

During the upcoming early summer weeks, one can experience a wide variety of fine hogaku concerts, including sublime gagaku court music, a lively group of kagura performers from Iwate Prefecture, contemporary koto music played by several fine young women performers, a large-scale biwa presentation and...
EDITORIALS
Jun 18, 1999

Candidates off and running

It was only a matter of time, but it still seems too soon. In the past week, Mr. George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, and Mr. Al Gore, the vice president, officially opened campaigns for the U.S. presidential elections to be held in November next year. The two men are not the only candidates in the...
LIFE / Style & Design / BEAUTY EAST AND WEST
Jun 17, 1999

Do you have that not-so-fresh feeling?

After writing the column on flowers and flowery teas and all things bloomingly lovely and springlike, I came across an article about the current trend for all things "fresh." The feeling of now, it seems, is freshness. The millennium approaches, and with it the newness of the year 2000, and the 21st...
JAPAN
Jun 15, 1999

Dream school shuns educational norms

ONNA, Okinawa Pref. — A healthy techno beat pounds against the walls of the studio where dancers groove, their motions sharp as they study their moves critically in the mirror.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 1999

Jobs, extra budget packages slated for current session

The current Diet session will be asked to approve a supplementary fiscal 1999 budget and other legislation that would finance a package of job-creating measures and implement steps aimed at reviving Japan's industrial competitiveness, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Friday.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 9, 1999

Adventurer forced to the last resort

I'm not into resorts Period.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan