Wrap up the year with superb art, hearty food, film, live rock and more. Plus a bizarre new manga, pachinko wars and the wise words of visiting columnist Greta Golvatanik.

DISPATCHES Vladimir Galin What did the Moscow gangster do when his daughter performed badly in class? He beat up her teacher. THE BIG PACHINKO Bob Johnstone He's outrageous--Tokyo's Internet pirate is burning up the Web. Memoirs Donald Richie The film set of a lavish historical drama proves a humbling experience for one of Japan's most literary observers. STYLE Lucas Badtke-Berkow Bags and bags of classic, cutting-edge style.

OYAKO photograph by Bruce Osborn

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The Conversation: Eloise Cunningham
by Steven L. Herman

Tokyo's most tenacious musicologist discusses growing up in Meiji Japan, her controversial protest of the atom bomb and her wartime role as a breaker of Japanese naval codes.

Flash of Genius

Story and photographs by Martin Richardson

The exhilarating collaboration between cellist Yo-Yo Ma and kabuki star Tamasaburo was a potential creative minefield. But from the clash of kabuki and Bach emerged an affirmation of the interconnectedness of all art.

The Murder and the Mystic
by David E. Kaplan

photographs by Shinichi Ito

To her host of rich clients in Japan, the psychic was known as the "Genius Fortune Teller." To the Honolulu jury who found her killer guilty, he was a frustrated con man. But was there more to the tragic double-murder than the police investigation revealed?

CONTRIBUTORS

What's on in Tokyo this month. Full listings and commentary

Art by Ralph Kiggell The pornographic "spring pictures" of Utamaro are the rich, lurid output of an exceptional artist. But the odds are high that you'll never, ever see them. Performing Arts by Gilles Kennedy "I did dream of moneybags tonight," wrote Shakespeare. So did his worshipers at the Globe Theater, who have spent millions and are the worse for it. Music by Mark Robinson Beware: Tokyo trio Guitar Wolf are so bad they're brilliant. Film by James Bailey Looking ahead--on the fifth anniversary of Matushita Electric's disastrous foray into Holloywood. Food by Robbie Swinnerton Sample Tokyo's best steamboat cuisine in exotic Shin-Okubo. Plus loving Italian and rustic late-night soba. Area Spotlight From hostessed extravagance to good-value restaurants and pachinko-parlor color, Akasaka-mitsuke has a new look.

Survival by Dan Papia Slake your thirst for aqua with our very healthy advice. Nightlife by Phil Miller Time for Phil to rouse you from the doldrums for a year-end blast. For Kids Fun in the rink with the little ones. Events Foreign book sales, charity events and Christmas tree lighting. Festivals It's that time of year again, so we'll party with the 47 masterless ronin until their heads roll. Books by Richard Lloyd Parry Japan Almanac 1996, by published by the Asahi Shimbun Back Home --