CONTENTS


BUZZ




DEPARTMENTS

Dispatches
Rev. W. Blake Gray
When a road grader cut a highway through a Costa Rican national forest, a clash over turtle-watching was just around the bend.

The Big Pachinko
Cheryl Chow
The unspeakable, literally, is growing to the point where some authors are bemoaning the death of black humor.

Escape
Colin Joyce
Getting picked up is sometimes the best way to travel.

*

OYAKO
A greatest-hits gallery of previously published parent-and-child portraits by Bruce Osborn

Style
Lucas Badtke-Berkow
Designer Hiroyuki Seike gets down to earth, wind and fire.




* RECOMMENDATIONS




FEATURES


The Conversation: Kuni Miyake
by Dave McCombs

Japan's chief negotiator for international trade in services Kuni Miyake explains why by the time you read this, Japan's telecommunications market will have become among the world's most open.




Russian Mafia in Asia
by Bertil Lintner

From the beachfront bars of Pattaya, Thailand to the hotel coffee shops of Macau, the Russian mafia is muscling in on Asia.




The Wages of Marrying Your Job
by Naoko Abe

As a top reporter at the Mainichi Shimbun, she reveled in the chummy, obligatory late-night drinking and the phone calls beckoning her back to the office on her day off. But at the end of the day, it just wasn't worth it.



Moral Manga
by Joji Sakurai

Shonen Magazine's Document comic series goes beyond manga into the real world of bad blood, war crimes and the denial of history.






CONTRIBUTORS *





CITYSCOPE

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

Performing Arts
by Gilles Kennedy
Japan's Theater Messiah Hideki Noda diagnoses the state of the stage and plots its salvation.


Art
by Louis Templado
If you had everything, where would you put it? Collector Teruhisa Kitahara comes close to having an answer.


Music
by Jeff McCulley
For the Scatman, it's plain to see that rapping comes so naturally.


Film
by Mark Schilling
Will Kazuyoshi Okuyama's $60 million filmmaking deal with Robert De Niro's Tribeca Pictures boom or bust?


Food
by Robbie Swinnerton
Eat your way splendidly through the seven continents.


Area Spotlight
Omiya: Bonsai heaven.



Survival
A guide to low-budget all-you-can eat feeds.


Nightlife
by Phil Miller
Club Asia pairs Internet access with sushi and Paht Thai.


For Kids
Grab your young ones and head for the hills, it's camping season.


Events
Get your hands on ceramics at pottery fairs in Tochigi and Ibaraki prefecture.


Festivals
There's no hostilities in this ancient battle of the bands at Sumiyoshi Jinja.


Books
by Dave McCombs
Road Warriors: Dreams and Nightmares on the Information Highway.


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