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July 13, 2025
 

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David McNeill

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David McNeill
David McNeill is a Tokyo-based writer from Ireland. He writes for several international publications and teaches political science at Sophia University. His new co-authored book is "Strong in the Rain: Surviving Japan's Earthquake, Tsunami and Fukushima Nuclear Disaster."
Christopher Nolan's film about the creator of the atomic bomb, "Oppenheimer," was released in theaters worldwide this summer and received mostly strong reviews. However, distributors still have not announced whether the film will be shown in Japan's cinemas.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 28, 2023
Will Japan ever see 'Oppenheimer' screened in its cinemas?
Christopher Nolan’s film about the creator of the atomic bomb still doesn't have a Japan release date. There’s more than one possible reason for that.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 26, 2021
Mapping the cyber-activism of Japanese rightists
Jeffrey J. Hall's 'Japan's Nationalist Right in the Internet Age' brings academic rigor to exploring how neo-nationalist groups use the internet to bypass the mainstream media.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 12, 2018
Don't worry about slipping up in spoken Japanese, you're only carrot after all
Come commiserate with perpetual learners of the language over a shared ability to fill an everyday conversation with gaffes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 10, 2018
'Liv': The truth of war in a pair of cornflower-blue eyes
In the landmark Western "The Searchers" (1956) directed by John Ford, John Wayne plays embittered Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards, in obsessive pursuit of Comanche Indians who have kidnapped his niece. Such is Edward's hatred for Native Americans we spend the movie convinced he will murder, not rescue,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 22, 2017
Defiant Cambodia Daily is down but not out
Tokyo-based publishing family hopes to resurrect paper that was forced to shut last month amid claims it owes Cambodia a huge tax bill.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2017
Strategic approach: Washington's shifting nuclear policy in the Asia-Pacific region is putting Japan in a difficult position
A global ban on nuclear weapons was approved earlier this month at the U.N. headquarters in New York. A total of 122 countries signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. None of the signatories, however, possesses a nuclear bomb.
JAPAN / Society
May 13, 2017
In Fukushima, a land where few return
The evacuation orders for most of the village of Iitate have been lifted. But where are the people?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 22, 2016
Nationalism: a long shadow over Asia's precarious future
In 1945, year zero for "Nationalism in Asia", most of the region it describes was impoverished, backward and exhausted. After the calamitous Pacific War, China, India and Indonesia were in a final showdown with the great European colonial powers that had exploited them for decades. Korea had shrugged...
MORE SPORTS
Aug 20, 2016
Inside Japan's racehorse breeding empire
Harry Sweeney has his hand up a horse's backside. The mare looks put out by this intrusion. Her eyes dart about nervously and she shifts her weight before accepting five thick human digits probing her insides. After feeling the uterus and the swelling of the ovaries, Sweeney's arm, slick with mucus and...
JAPAN / Media
May 28, 2016
Shooting the messenger: journalism under siege in Japan
Journalists who refuse to toe the official line are under pressure, experts say
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 16, 2016
Travesty of justice: legal reform unlikely despite erroneous convictions
Two elderly men fighting for decades to clear their names are poised to receive high-profile retrials in 2016 and yet their ordeals are unlikely to trigger wide-ranging reform to the country's justice system, experts say.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2015
Growing influence of Japan Conference reflects resentment at Tokyo's postwar settlement with Washington
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in April delivered a speech to the U.S. Congress — the first by a Japanese leader — that lauded deepening trade ties and the military alliance with the United States.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 26, 2015
Nous ne sommes pas Charlie: Voices that mock authority in Japan muzzled
Why is there no equivalent of Charlie Hebdo, 'The Daily Show' or 'Monty Python' in Japan?
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2014
Elderly Henoko activists injured in base relocation protest
Two elderly protesters have been hurt trying to block trucks from entering Camp Schwab in Okinawa Prefecture, near the construction site of a bitterly contested American base.
JAPAN / History / IMPERIAL ANNALS
Oct 11, 2014
Selective history: Hirohito's chronicles
Between July 30 and Aug. 2, 1945, when most of Japan's cities, including Tokyo, lay in smoldering ruins from U.S. aerial bombing and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were days away from being incinerated by American nuclear weapons, Emperor Hirohito sent an envoy to several Shinto shrines to pray for the "crushing...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 14, 2014
From Yokosuka rape to U.S. court victory, 'Jane' commits her 12-year ordeal to print
Rape victim Catherine Fisher reveals the story behind her 12-year fight with the U.S. military and Japanese authorities in her new book, 'I am Catherine Jane.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2014
Mei Shigenobu's words continue the fight for her mother's cause
On her 8th birthday, Mei Shigenobu's mother sat her daughter down and told her that she was the leader of the Japanese Red Army Faction, a group of revolutionary Marxists fighting to violently overthrow global capitalism. It was part of a very unconventional childhood.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 28, 2014
Tooling up for war: Can Japan benefit from lifting the arms export ban?
The Paris-based Eurosatory is one of the world's biggest defense and security industry trade shows, drawing specialists from nearly 90 countries to view the latest in military hardware. Among the tanks, drones, military helicopters and police riot vehicles that were exhibited last month, 13 Japanese...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 10, 2014
Stakes high as ailing U.S. Navy sailors take on Tepco over Fukushima fallout
If successful, this U.S. court case opens up the possibility of Fukushima-related claims from not just American military personnel and their dependents but potentially thousands of Japanese who experienced the fallout.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 22, 2014
Noam Chomsky: Truth to power
Often dubbed one of the world's most important intellectuals and its leading public dissident, Noam Chomsky was for years among the top 10 most quoted academics on the planet, edged out only by William Shakespeare, Karl Marx, Aristotle.
Tokyo hit by torrential rainfall at rush hour
People line up at Shibuya Station in Tokyo as they try to avoid the heavy rain on Thursday.
Foreign drivers in Japan to face tougher license conversion rules from October
According to the National Police Agency, there were 75,905 people who converted their foreign driver’s license to a Japanese one in 2024, up from 48,885 in 2019.
Nissan clinches $4.5 billion bond deal after orders soar
Nissan Motor has raised $4.5 billion through a junk bond sale in U.S. dollars and euros, part of which carries a record-high coupon rate.
Chinese fighters came within 30 meters of Japanese spy aircraft, Tokyo says
A Chinese JH-7 fighter jet makes an near an Air Self-Defense Force YS-11EB surveillance aircraft over the East China Sea this week in this image released Thursday.
What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
An emoji used to say it all. Now it might say too much.
Apple’s Craig Federighi shows off a set of emoji at a conference on June 13, 2016. While the small pictures have proved helpful in conveying nuance in our texts, younger people are using them less often.
‘Our ultimate goal is to save every single Japanese video game’
After nearly shuttering earlier this year, the Tokyo-based Game Preservation Society continues its work to save the early history of Japanese gaming.
Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary
The museum's curators selected a wide array of works from the archives for the milestone exhibitions. Among other photos, Nobuyoshi Araki's work from the series "Winter Journey" (1990) was included in the "Continuity and Change" exhibition that concluded in June.
New IG Arena set to dial down temperature at Nagoya Basho, in a good way
With IG Arena getting glowing early reviews as the Nagoya Basho’s replacement venue, it may be a while before fans wax nostalgic about the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium.
Once a niche, anime is now mainstream content for Netflix and other streaming services
Though Netflix remains the dominant choice globally for anime viewers, Amazon Prime Video has also invested heavily in anime, steadily adding titles to their catalogue.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning
Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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