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JAPAN
Dec 13, 1999

New travel agency serves Tokyo's gays

Staff writer During his trip to the west coast of Australia in January, Shigenobu Umeki, a 40-year-old magazine editor, stayed at so-called gay accommodations, run by gay owners and staffed by gay workers. "I am always conscious of my sexual orientation when talking to people out of fear that they are...
JAPAN
Dec 10, 1999

Shinagawa gives parents, pupils choice in education

Staff writer In an innovative attempt to make public schools more competitive, Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward has introduced a program through which parents can choose their children's elementary school from several in their area. The new program, which begins in April, will allow children who are ready to...
JAPAN
Dec 9, 1999

Tokyo to host conference on future role of U.N.

Staff writer Some of the world's leading experts on development, security, governance and the environment will meet in Tokyo in mid-January for an international conference on the role the U.N. will play in the 21st century. According to a provisional program, the Millennium Conference will be held for...
JAPAN
Dec 8, 1999

'Knock' to keep low profile during Y2K celebrations

OSAKA -- While celebrations to usher in the new millennium are being scheduled at a number of venues here, one of Osaka's most visible officials may not be among those taking part. It is speculated that Osaka Gov. "Knock" Yokoyama, who is currently embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal, will have...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 1999

Losing the battle in Seattle

Last Tuesday, a crowd in downtown Seattle assembled in front of a McDonald's restaurant. First, a French dairy farmer, defending European agricultural export subsidies, denounced the World Trade Organization. Next, a Brazilian farmer, harmed by those same European export subsidies, excoriated the WTO....
COMMENTARY / WASHINGTON UPDATE
Dec 4, 1999

The buzz in Washington: New Millennium parties and would-be new presidents

WASHINGTON -- I experienced some interesting feelings as I typed in the date on this piece. We writers and pundits will have an emotional ride during the next few weeks as we put pen to paper -- or fingers to keyboard -- for the last time in this century and millennium. The temptations are rife: to be...
EDITORIALS
Dec 1, 1999

ASEAN's confidence returns

Southeast Asia is back. That is the message sent by leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last weekend after their annual two-day summit. With member economies set to expand between 2 and 3 percent this year and looking forward to "higher and sustainable growth" in the future, the heads...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Dec 1, 1999

Kawabata and great truths

FIRST SNOW ON FUJI, by Yasunari Kawabata. Translated by Michael Emmerich. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 227 pp., $24. This collection of stories, plus an essay and a dance-drama, was originally published in 1958 as "Fuji no Hatsuyuki." It is late Kawabata -- most of the major works had already appeared,...
JAPAN
Nov 18, 1999

2000 may be watershed year for yen

Staff writer
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Nov 17, 1999

A Web DJ saved my life

Let's look at the headlines from Net music news. Maestro, hit the rewind:
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 17, 1999

An eyewitness to early Meiji

REMEMBERING AIZU: The Testament of Shiba Goro, edited by Ishimitsu Mahito, translated with an introduction and notes by Teruko Craig. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999; 160 pp., $37 (cloth), $19.95 (paper). A popular account of the beginnings of the Meiji Period (1868-1912) has it that the...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 1999

Three views of some troubled history

In March 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army took possession of the Dutch East Indies. The occupation lasted until Japan's surrender in mid-August 1945, although the disarmament and repatriation of Japanese troops took several months more to accomplish.
LIFE / Food & Drink / WINE WAYS
Nov 11, 1999

Whatever the varietal, the grape has to be great

Had any good wine lately? I'm sure you have, but make a note of Baron de Ley Reserva 1995. It is aged in oak for 24 months and is a typical yet wonderful Rioja red that's characteristic of those made from the elusively flavorful tempranillo grape, an indigenous Spanish varietal noted for its plummy,...
EDITORIALS
Nov 10, 1999

Cracking down on loan sharks

Japan's continuing credit squeeze is turning the spotlight onto small-business loans from commercial moneylenders -- so-called "shoko" (commerce and industry) loans that carry extremely high interest rates because they require no collateral, only a third-party guarantee. To collect loans, the lenders...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Nov 10, 1999

Pre-holiday planning

It seems a bit early to be writing about Christmas, but there is a lot of planning to do if you must ship things home, or even pack them to take with you. That's why the Tokyo charity-oriented International Ladies Benevolent Society now schedules its ILBS Christmas Fair even before we have ordered the...
JAPAN
Nov 9, 1999

In and around Kanto

Dining show to boost refugee cause>Refugees International Japan is staging its 10th annual Art of Dining Exhibition at the Westin Tokyo hotel in Yebisu Garden Place on Monday to raise funds for needy refugees all over the world.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Nov 3, 1999

Marketing witchcraft

"The Blair Witch Project," which will finally appear at a theater near you this month, is one of the scariest movies of the '90s.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
Nov 3, 1999

For better or worse

November? Already? How different it is for little kids who think there is a generation between one Christmas and another. November is a stepping stone to the yearend holiday celebration, which this year will have both special meaning and reasons for concern. Regardless of assurances, people wonder what...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 2, 1999

And a drum shall lead them

THE ROUSING DRUM: Ritual Practice in a Japanese Community, by Scott Schnell. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, pp.364 with b/w photos xxvi and maps. $59.00 (cloth); $33.95 (paper). Interpretations of that folk festival, the "matsuri," vary. Kunio Yanagida, the founder of folklore studies in Japan,...
CULTURE / Art
Oct 30, 1999

New angles on contemporary art

One of the foremost exhibitions of contemporary art in Japan, the International Contemporary Art Festival, will be held at the Tokyo International Forum Nov. 3-7.
JAPAN
Oct 28, 1999

Short-sighted policy hinders disabled voters

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 27, 1999

Canadian educators push quality academics at the right price

Staff writer
COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Oct 24, 1999

Farewell to Russia's final Romanov

Few years in recent Russian history have been as turbulent as 1999. In five months, from May till October, the country has seen three different prime ministers, an Islamic fundamentalist invasion in Dagestan and five terrorist assaults against Russian cities that cost the lives of 300 civilians. In the...
JAPAN
Oct 22, 1999

Keene to lecture on Emperor Meiji

Donald Keene, an expert on Japanese literature, will give a lecture in English titled "Emperor Meiji and War" on Oct. 30 at Ueno Gakuen University in Tokyo's Taito Ward.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 20, 1999

Ghosts and goblins and kids, oh my!

Just after the ghosts and goblins of Halloween disappear, we will enter yet another spooky holiday: Nov. 3 -- Culture Day.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 1999

Clans gather for a bit of Scottish tradition in Japan

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 15, 1999

Groups host Canada education fair

An education fair will be held at the Canadian Embassy today and Sunday in Tokyo's Akasaka district. The fair will be the first sponsored by the Canadian Education Centre Network in conjunction with the Canadian Education Alliance, two nonprofit organizations officially supported by the embassy.
JAPAN
Oct 14, 1999

Auto firms pin sales hopes on show

Staff writer
JAPAN
Oct 8, 1999

Inter FM to air Net Aid concerts

Inter FM will broadcast Net Aid live on Sunday from London, New York and Geneva.
CULTURE / Music
Oct 8, 1999

Have no fear, the real Soul Train has arrived

So what's up! It's been a little while since I had a chance to talk to my Tokyo soulmates. But have no fear, I am still here.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past