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LIFE / Travel
Oct 11, 2000

In the quiet domain of the stone Buddhas

As you turn into the quiet country road leading to Usuki's Buddhist rock carvings, a stone torii gate, riveted into the earth, deeply corroded by wind and rain, comes into momentary view. Standing in a field of rippling green paddy, it is an unintentional signal that you have entered a different time...
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Oct 7, 2000

Tales of romance and bloodshed come alive in Shinnai song

Some of the performing arts of Japan are so spectacular that they grab your attention and immediately make you feel a part of the music. Taiko drumming is one; rhythm speaks directly to our bodies, and the beating of a stick on a drum has a physical appeal to all, regardless of language or culture.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2000

Otsuka goes to beat of a different drum

Playing word association with the names of the stations along the Yamanote Line is, for the most part, quite a simple task. Akihabara -- electrical goods; Ueno -- bullet train and animals; Shibuya -- teenage fashion.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
Sep 16, 2000

Japanese music millennium: new music for the Heisei Era

As the days grow shorter and evenings cooler, the hogaku season begins to pick up. September, October and November are the best months for experiencing the arts in Japan as the creative impulses, stifled by the summer's oppressive humidity, break forth in an array of interesting concerts, recitals and...
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2000

Train conductors left behind as Toei Subway becomes automated

In another verse from the machine-replaces-man songbook, Toei Subway is replacing the conductor on half of its Tokyo lines with a bevy of machines, including a safety wall that has been making its way through Toei Mita Line stations across Tokyo this summer.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2000

The 'island' village among giants

Though it's one of Tokyo's busiest school districts, the area around JR Yoyogi Station lacks the lively atmosphere that marks other teenage haunts.
JAPAN
May 28, 2000

Drunk-driver mows down six people

A 28-year-old man drove his car onto a crowded sidewalk near the Roppongi Intersection in Tokyo's Minato Ward early Saturday morning, plowing into pedestrians, a confectionary shop, a taxi and injuring six people, police said.
JAPAN
May 15, 2000

Future of transport just round the corner

It's a sunny morning in the spring of 2013. As you ride a commuter train, an information panel on the wall announces a 30-minute delay caused by an accident. With your cellular phone, you search for an alternative route and make a reservation to get to your destination.
CULTURE / Music / HOGAKU TODAY
May 5, 2000

Classification, distinction and ecumenism

There is a tendency in Japan to adhere to strict classifications and distinctions. This is especially true in regards to music. Hogaku is one kind of music, Western classical is another. Pop and world music belong to yet other genres. Each genre is considered entirely separate, and performers, audiences...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Apr 30, 2000

Creating memories

Recently, in California, I was sitting next to an elderly woman on a bus. We exchanged a few words, and then I asked if she had always lived there. She said yes, but that she had traveled all over the world. She began counting the places and the list seemed endless. Among them was Japan. She paused when...
LIFE / Travel
Mar 29, 2000

Samurai, silk and soba in a classic castle town

Like many castle towns, the identity of Ueda, in Nagano Prefecture, is closely intertwined with its castle.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2000

Upkeep eyed in wreck

The wheels of the last car of a subway train and the track it was running on may have been improperly shaved and polished, possibly contributing to Wednesday's deadly accident, informed sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2000

Rail firm told to inspect all similar subway cars

A special committee under the Transport Ministry ordered the Teito Rapid Transit Authority to inspect all subway cars of the same type as the one that was involved in the fatal accident near Tokyo's Nakameguro Station on Wednesday morning.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Multitrillion yen expansion urged for Tokyo rail system

The 426-km railway network of the Tokyo metropolitan area should be extended or interlinked in a more efficient manner by 2015 to ease rush-hour congestion, according to a report submitted Thursday to Transport Minister Toshihiro Nikai. The plan, drawn up by the Transport Policy Council, recommends...
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2000

Another Century: Slump, aging Japan skew debate on foreigners

Staff writer One sector of Japan's immigrant community comes into view every Friday at around noon, when people wearing white caps walk into a single story prefabricated building in the city of Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture. This is Isesaki Jame-e Mosque -- a sanctuary since 1995 for about 500 Muslims living...
JAPAN
Dec 22, 1999

Ikebukuro and Shimonoseki killers are insane, lawyers argue in separate cases

Lawyers for Hiroshi Zota, who went on a rampage in September on a street in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, killing two people and injuring eight others, claimed Wednesday that their client was probably insane at that time.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 1999

Gas attack getaway driver gets life term

A former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive was sentenced to life in prison Friday for his involvement in the 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
JAPAN
Sep 22, 1999

Alleged Aum driver faces life for role in subway gassing

Prosecutors demanded a life sentence Wednesday for former Aum Shinrikyo fugitive Kiyotaka Tonozaki, who is charged with driving a getaway car for one of the cultists accused of releasing sarin in the March 1995 Tokyo subway nerve gas attack.
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...
COMMUNITY
May 19, 1999

Redevelopment fiasco leaves locals in limbo

KOFU, Yamanashi Pref. -- The home of Yutaka Endo (not his real name) resembles one in a lesser-developed nation. His living room walls are stained where the rain has leaked through cracks; the wind whistles through warped window and door frames.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 1999

Gubernatorial campaigns kick off

Campaigning for gubernatorial elections slated for April 11 in 12 prefectures, including Tokyo and Osaka, started Thursday, kicking off the first round of the quadrennial unified local elections.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 25, 1999

Kokotei: Kamakura cuisine with a view

For most city folk, the best thing about Kamakura is the reassurance that it actually exists. We don't need to go there so often: It's enough to know that, less than an hour away down the JR tracks, there really are quiet backstreets to wander in, temples and monuments exuding a whiff of history, brine...
JAPAN
Jan 13, 1999

Universal theme park faces developer pullout

With the recent pullout of a group of investors from plans to develop the area around Universal Studios Japan, there are growing concerns among potential investors that Osaka's hopes for a USJ-led economic revival face a serious setback.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell