"Thick ones make your legs look lots slimmer, " says Rie Takahashi, a student in rural Mie prefecture.

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"It is a system of irresponsibility, " says Masayasu Kitagawa, Governor of Mie prefecture.

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Mie Kajikawa, CEO of Cheer Blossom, a consulting service to sports organizations.

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In Mie Mr Kitagawa has introduced a system to evaluate the cost- effectiveness of major items in the prefectural budget.

ECONOMIST: Japan

Organisers Marine Industry Events (MIE) said it had been forced to cancel the show due to the economic climate and poor take-up of exhibitors.

BBC: Liverpool Boat Show cancelled by organisers

Masayasu Kitagawa, the governor of Mie prefecture and a pioneer of the new confrontational style, won celebrity last year by opposing the construction of a nuclear power plant.

ECONOMIST: Japan

Rob Mackenzie, managing director of MIE, said it had cancelled the show to "protect the integrity of what we know to be the enormous long-term potential for a major boat show in Liverpool".

BBC: Liverpool Boat Show cancelled by organisers

Important characteristics of Kabuki theatre include its particular music, costumes, stage devices and props as well as specific plays, language and acting styles, such as the mie, in which the actor holds a characteristic pose to establish his character.

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"There is only so much you can do, " shrugs Maruyama Mie, a Tokyo nurse, who says she will prepare for the new millennium as she would for an earthquake, by purchasing a week's worth of necessities and getting copies of her financial records.

CNN: Page 4