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COMMUNITY
Aug 9, 2000

Echoes of the past in an oasis of beauty

The Japanese lords of yesteryear certainly lived in grand style. Famous gardens in Japan are like very expensive works of art. Luckily the Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, cannot be sold at Christie's.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 9, 2000

Kyoto welcomes back the dear departed

Bon, the Buddhist Festival of the Dead, is celebrated throughout Japan, but exact dates vary from region to region. Kyoto traditionally observes Bon Aug. 7-16, and, not surprisingly, given its more than 1,200 years of history and strong Buddhist traditions, the town has some unique ways of paying tribute...
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Aug 8, 2000

Keepers of the flame take Gypsy sounds to the world

Under Soviet communism, the ethnic and folk music of Eastern Europe was often hijacked as a form of propaganda. Words were changed to express patriotic sentiments and slogans of peace. In Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, the country's dictator for 25 years, would bus out thousands of peasants to sing such...
CULTURE / Books
Aug 8, 2000

White guys to the rescue

OUTPOSTS OF CIVILIZATION: Race, Religion and the Formative Years of American-Japanese Relations, by Joseph M. Henning. New York and London: New York University Press, 2000, 243 pp., $35 (cloth). U.S. foreign policy has a mission. Many American politicians or diplomats would be proud rather than hesitant...
COMMENTARY
Aug 7, 2000

Updating the nuclear debate

LONDON -- Appearing before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary William Cohen has confirmed that he and his colleagues see the threat to the United States of long-range missile attack as growing. The intention to develop a national missile defense system against is therefore still...
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2000

Bill for SDF ship inspections slated for fall

The ruling tripartite coalition has agreed to submit a bill to the Diet in the fall that would allow the Self-Defense Forces to inspect ships when enforcing U.N. sanctions, government officials said.
COMMUNITY
Aug 6, 2000

Founder of ballooning in Japan plans pioneering flight

A licensed hot air balloon pilot herself, Ichiyoshi Sabu's wife knows about fear. After her husband came close to losing his life trying to fly over Mount Everest, she put her foot down. No more daredevil stunts, she declared; you've a family to think of. This explains why he will be ground master of...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 6, 2000

Yankees Day at Tokyo Dome on Sept. 3

The Nippon Ham Fighters have announced their annual Yankees Day promotion will be held on Sunday, Sept. 3, when the team will play host to the Chiba Lotte Marines in a Pacific League game to begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Tokyo Dome. AIWA Co., Ltd., will sponsor the event and, as usual, the Nippon Ham club...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 6, 2000

Fuji Rock fest hits its stride

After only four years, it might seem premature to subtitle the Fuji Rock Festival a "summer classic," but the event's institutional status was boosted this year by the fact that it was held at the same location as it was the year before. The Naeba Ski Resort was never the organizers' first choice --...
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 6, 2000

'Rakugo' artist takes sit-down shtick to Edinburgh festival, with subtitles

OSAKA -- Traditional comic storyteller Koharudanji Katsura will be participating in an international festival in Edinburgh this month, reciting a "rakugo" piece in Japanese.
JAPAN
Aug 4, 2000

FRC approves bank guidelines

The Financial Reconstruction Commission formalized guidelines Thursday on the granting of licenses to new banks, emphasizing the need to shield them from potential business risks posed by their parent companies.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2000

Steam trains staging a rural comeback

NIITSU, Niigata Pref. -- Greeted by cheers Tuesday from about 1,000 rail fans, steam locomotive D51-498 chugged into Niigata Prefecture's Tsugawa Station and stopped alongside the C57-180, known as "the Lady" for her beautiful appearance.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2000

Weak are victimized as loan guarantors

Yoshikazu Kudo (not his real name) and his wife have both been deaf from birth. For decades they have lived at ease in an old but neat house built by Kudo's brother in Musashino, Tokyo. But things changed after the husband of Kudo's late sister disappeared, leaving behind over 80 million yen in debts....
CULTURE / Books
Aug 1, 2000

Sowing authentic 'seeds of peace'

HIROSHIMA WITNESS FOR PEACE: Testimony of A-Bomb Survivor Suzuko Numata, by Chikahiro Hiroiwa. Translated by Tadatoshi Saito. Tokyo: Soeisha Books/Sanseido, 1,000 yen. Thirty-six years ago, not two decades after an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Kenzaburo Oe was already writing about the imperative...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 1, 2000

Best of Asian music on offer

Asian Music Week 2000 in Yokohama (the 21st Asian Composers League, Conference and Festival) will be held at Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall and elsewhere in Yokohama Aug. 3-9, featuring a variety of music by Asian composers and performers. Programs will include many Japan premieres and world premieres as...
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2000

Female civilians get intro to SDF boot camp

NARASHINO, Chiba Pref. -- The First Airborne Brigade is widely known as Japan's toughest Ground Self-Defense Force unit. But a recent two-day training session for "new recruits" did not appear to be as rigorous as its reputation.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2000

Testing times for Sino-Pakistani friendship

ISLAMABAD -- There was a familiar ring to recent allegations in U.S. newspapers, reportedly based on intelligence sources, that China is continuing to aid Pakistan's plans to build long-range nuclear-capable missiles. It is not the first time such allegations have surfaced in the United States, especially...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 25, 2000

Japan unveils Olympic baseball squad

Eight professionals, including Seibu Lions star Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kintetsu Buffaloes slugger Norihiro Nakamura, have joined 16 top amateur players in Japan's baseball squad for the Sydney Olympics in September.
CULTURE / Music / MUSIC NOMAD
Jul 25, 2000

From the streets of Tokyo to Royal Albert Hall

The night before they left for Europe, Japanese group Cicala Mvta (pronounced Chicala Muta) played for about 50 people in Tokyo -- about par for the course for them. When they arrived in London the next day, theirs was the hottest ticket in town. Sort of.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2000

Mori seeking contact with Kim Jong Il

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori indicated his readiness Sunday to have direct contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as Tokyo pursues normalized ties with Pyongyang.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2000

Summit Mori's career high?

NAGO, Okinawa Pref. — Concluding the Group of Eight summit with a smile under the scorching sun, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori may boast he has cleared a key hurdle for his administration — but it is just one hurdle of many.
EDITORIALS
Jul 23, 2000

As mighty as the mouse

Here is an odd thing: The more people use electronic means of communication -- PCs, Internet-linked cell phones and organizers, and the like -- the more stationery stores there seem to be and the more customers they attract. These are not all mauve-haired old ladies in kimono either, although if you...

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?