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David Smith
For David Smith's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
WORLD
May 18, 2014
Children in targeted city defiant in face of Boko Haram
It is like schools the world over: ebullient children hurtle up and down the stairway as teachers try to keep some semblance of order. There are satchels and lunch boxes, colorful art, rows of wooden desks carved with graffiti by pupils. There is also a school motto: "Knowledge for success." This is Maitama Sule Girls Academy in hot and humid Kano, northern Nigeria, where the simple act of learning has become a show of courage and defiance.
WORLD
Dec 15, 2013
Some Afrikaners unmoved by Mandela death
Dirk Smit's reaction to the death of Nelson Mandela, it would be fair to assume, puts him in the minority of South Africans.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 24, 2013
Police, mine officials met before Marikana killings
On Aug. 16, 2012, the summertime sun streamed through the leafy canopy of central London's Green Park and into the windows of the headquarters of platinum mine company Lonmin PLC. But 8,800 km away there was a chill in the air as the company's biggest South African mine became a frenzy of activity.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 3, 2013
Power shifts to hero's eldest daughter
Nelson Mandela's grandson, Mandla Mandela, moved three sons' graves to his own village. Now the family is moving them back.
WORLD
Jun 22, 2013
Fighting the poachers on Africa's thin green line
Esnart Paundi rarely smiled for the camera. One old photo shows her wearing her ranger's camouflage fatigues and a pensive expression as she crouches beside a mound of bushmeat and three despondent poachers, one handcuffed. In another she is in a black leather jacket at her sister's home, leaning against the TV with a baby under her arm and sad eyes.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world