Search - works

 
 
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Apr 14, 1999

It's the little things

Cultural contrasts! Everywhere there are traps. I was late when I left home yesterday so I quickly kicked off my slippers as I ran out the door. Later, I returned with a Japanese friend. She laughed when she saw my slippers. "We would never do that!" she said. Do what? I asked. Of course. I should have...
JAPAN
Apr 13, 1999

BOJ remains optimistic in economic report

The Bank of Japan is sticking to a slightly upbeat assessment of the economy, reiterating in a report released Tuesday that economic conditions appear to have stopped deteriorating at present.
LIFE / Food & Drink / NIHONSHU
Apr 8, 1999

Soaking up the atmosphere enhances the sake experience

Sake pubs tend to have certain similarities of theme running through them. Whether it be a modern expression of these threaded themes or a more classical version, the look, feel and menu are often not all that different. While it all works for a reason, over the last few years there has been a trend...
LIFE / Travel
Apr 7, 1999

Preserving a pocket of Fiji

LEVUKA, Fiji -- Thirteen-year-old Una Turaganicolo's strong, clear voice filled her family's timber-frame home, rising to the corrugated roof visible through the rafters. Her sister, Rose, hummed along as she battled with her math homework by the light of a flickering candle.
LIFE / Travel
Apr 7, 1999

Where does the rain go?

SUVA -- Lounging by the pool of one of Fiji's most expensive resort hotels last month, an American tourist cracked open a bottle of "Fiji" mineral water and knocked it back like a draught of ice-cold beer. "Thank God for water," he sighed, examining the label of a brand that has made its developer, Canadian...
CULTURE / Art / ARTS AND ARTISANS
Apr 3, 1999

Block-printed paper beauty

Chiyogami is colorful handmade paper printed with Japanese traditional patterns or designs, and is usually used by girls for making kimono-clad dolls, small boxes, or bookmarks.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Apr 3, 1999

Shamisen ballads bridge the musical and spiritual

Kioi Hall's large hall will be used for a concert of classical Japanese music April 6, for the first time since its opening in 1995.
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 2, 1999

Spellbound by Decoufle's grand illusion

Wit, magic and illusion took over the stage at Kanagawa Kenmin Hall on March 26-28 when Philippe Decoufle and his Compagnie D.C.A. closed the Contemporary Arts Series with "SHAZAM!" The opening filmed sequence of performers vanishing and reappearing through a series of frames, laid the tone of the piece:...
JAPAN
Mar 31, 1999

Local Elections '99: Mikami would ax megaprojects, not staff

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 30, 1999

Local Elections '99: Masuzoe on mission for elderly care

Staff writer
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Local Elections '99: Showdown in cash-dry Tokyo

Staff writer
COMMUNITY
Mar 25, 1999

Nurturing the inner child within us

"Emotional intelligence" is what interests Gabriele Frohlich: the connection between the brain and the heart.
COMMUNITY
Mar 25, 1999

Teenage visions of the coming century

Ethiopian Eta Ferahu Tarekegne Gatahun loves lasagna and wants to set a sprint record. Sassy Melissa Corlett, a Hong Kong-born Brit, has no doubts that her future will be fantastic. Eka Sriamarwati, a young Balinese trance dancer, lists a tiny hair clip as her most prized possession. And in Tokyo, Nami...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Mar 24, 1999

Degrees of separation

You could say they have an affliction. You've probably bumped into them on the street. That is, they bump into you, because they often walk with their eyes fixated on their task, oblivious to any obstacles in their path. You've definitely overheard them chatting on trains, in coffee shops, perhaps even...
CULTURE / Art
Mar 20, 1999

Japanese custodians of French 'Liberty'

On the occasion of French President Jacques Chirac's visit to Japan in 1996, an exchange of national treasures was agreed upon for the 1998-1999 "Year of France in Japan." Following this agreement, Kudara Kannon, a 7th-century 2-meter wooden bodhisattva from Nara's Horyuji Temple, was sent to France...
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 1999

A welcome step forward

Once again, the United States has shown that engagement with North Korea works. After four rounds of talks in as many months, a deal has been struck in New York with the North Korean government on access to an underground site suspected of housing a secret nuclear-weapons project. Japan, South Korea...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 1999

'99 budget clears Diet in record time

The 81.9 trillion yen fiscal 1999 state budget was passed by the Diet in record time Wednesday evening, buttressing the government's efforts to yank the nation out of one of its worst recessions.
COMMENTARY
Mar 17, 1999

What real bank reform means

Japan seems to like the new and shiny. Tack the word "shin" (new) onto the name of a product -- anything from a detergent to a political party -- and automatically you gain an edge over the opposition.
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Mar 13, 1999

Eclectic pottery expands margins

Jun Kawaguchi is one of the funkiest, coolest ceramic artists I've ever met. The first time I met him I was taken aback, to say the least, by his short, spiked hair, green velvet jacket, and a pair of slacks with cartoon designs that looked like the Joker -- not your typical shibui Japanese potter.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 1999

GDP contracted 0.8% in third quarter

The nation's economy shrank at an annualized rate of 3.2 percent in real terms during the October-December quarter of 1998, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of contraction, the Economic Planning Agency announced Friday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 10, 1999

Clouds looming on the Diet's horizon

The situation in the Diet looks calm for now. The debate on the fiscal 1999 government budget, the most important item before the Diet, is proceeding smoothly. The budget bill has already cleared the Lower House and is expected to pass the Upper House around March 20, well before the start of the new...
JAPAN
Mar 8, 1999

State moves to draft stronger consumer protection law

Staff writer
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 5, 1999

Stylistic zenith of wild flurries

Ryuichi Arisaka has perfected the choreography of the distraught. For his company Agua Gala, in collaboration with French artist Olivierde Schrynmakers, Arisaka created the piece "Industrial 03" which premiered Feb. 25-27 at the Japan Foundation Forum.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 1999

Myanmar couple seeks new heart for baby

Staff writer
LIFE / Travel / NATURE TRAVEL
Mar 3, 1999

Belize offers cay to a good vacation

Belize City (population 60,000) sucks. Crack addicts, muggers, deranged loafers, unprovoked verbal abuse of the anti-whitey variety. A spoonful of water from its rancid canals, if strategically distributed, would wipe out the People's Republic of China. Belize City's got the lot.
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Mar 2, 1999

Twin with a twisted heart

The indomitable, incorrigible and completely insane Aphex Twin -- who has just released his latest single "Windowlicker" with its controversial video -- can never be branded boring.
JAPAN
Mar 2, 1999

Dam plan rivals urged to review project together

A nongovernment environmental organization on Tuesday urged Tokushima Prefecture and the Construction Ministry to involve citizens in a review of a controversial dam project and ensure an adequate environmental impact assessment is carried out.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Feb 25, 1999

If you must be snowbound, try a cozy winery in Europe

As winter wanes I'm reminded of its vinous pleasures in places along my latest wine route, such as Austria, Slovenia, Belgium, Luxembourg and, just before Christmas, Germany, where I visited Adolf Schmitt, an outstanding wine maker whose estate is one of those in the wine association Saar-Mosel-Winzersekt...
JAPAN
Feb 8, 1999

Cabby from China learning way around Japan

Ghost, half-human and spy — Shigeru Oyama has been called all these things growing up half-Japanese in postwar Beijing.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 1999

Will government bonds help? It's a trick question

Debate on how Japan can pull itself out of its worst postwar economic slump has entered a new stage.

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