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EDITORIALS
Mar 10, 2016

The 3/11 disasters, five years on

The five years since March 2011 show that massive public spending alone won't rebuild people's lives.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 9, 2016

Minamisoma mayor sees future for Fukushima 'nonnuclear' city in energy independence

Turning to the use of solar and wind power in tandem with energy-saving measures, Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai is aiming for his city to be energy self-reliant by 2030.
EDITORIALS
Mar 9, 2016

Troubles at Takahama nuclear plant

Have nuclear plant operators taken the lessons of Fukushima to heart? Recent evidence suggests the answer is no.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 9, 2016

Picking up where Abenomics policies left off

Given a shrinking population, a slowing China, sexism and an inefficient corporate system and labor market, Japan is going to have a rocky road ahead no matter what it does.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 9, 2016

The Greek auteur who cooked up 'The Lobster'

When a gifted director ditches their native tongue and starts working in English, it can be a fraught process. For every Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, there's a Wong Kar-wai or Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, whose career still hasn't recovered since he parlayed the Oscar triumph of his 2006 drama "The...
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 9, 2016

LDP ponders bid by inspirational sports writer in Upper House election

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is considering fielding famed sport journalist and educator Hirotada Ototake, who was born without limbs due to a congenital disorder, as a candidate for an Upper House election this summer, reports said Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 9, 2016

Japan detention center deaths cast doubt on 'appropriate medical steps'

Niculas Fernando died at a Tokyo immigration detention center sometime between 9:33 a.m. and 10:44 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2014, according to the coroner.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 8, 2016

Fujiwara wants the dirt to stick

White often seems to be used in contemporary art in Japan as a kind of short cut to signify "beauty," "purity" or "spirituality." Simon Fujiwara's show "White Day" at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery is, as the title suggests, overwhelmingly white, but it's designed not to stay that way.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Mar 8, 2016

Curry's achievements not receiving universal praise

"Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player who struts his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more."
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2016

How South Korea is failing half of its population

Park Geun-hye's failure to act on this $13 billion problem hurts growth in Asia's fourth biggest economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2016

It's weird science against cancer

Tackling cancer requires unconventional ideals because cancer is an unconventional enemy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 8, 2016

Despite Xi's 'iron hand' warning to polluters, city residents still choking under smog

Embracing a groundswell of public outrage about toxic air ahead of annual legislative meetings last year in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping threatened to punish polluters with an "iron hand."
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Mar 8, 2016

Larger than life

Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2016

Trump has a point about American decline

The U.S. may not be able to reverse its decline, but there are steps that can halt it before it gets worse.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 7, 2016

BOJ's Kuroda says impact of next sales tax hike to be less than in 2014

Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said Monday that the impact of a sales tax increase scheduled for April 2017 would be much less than that which resulted from the hike in 2014 — sending Japan into a recession.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2016

Drugmaker wins big in Japan as its gamble leads to landmark cancer drug

Ten years ago, representatives from Japan's Ono Pharmaceutical Co. went from hospital to hospital, attempting to convince doctors to test a new product under development: drugs that helped the body's immune system fight cancer. But nobody would listen.
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Mar 5, 2016

Our new school's on song despite cabals

Almost exactly five years ago, on March 11, 2011, an earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami wreaked havoc in the northeastern Tohoku region. Here where I live amid the faraway mountains of Nagano Prefecture, all of us connected with the C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust wondered what we could do to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 5, 2016

Explaining the unexplainable to children with 'The Extraordinary Voyage of Kamome'

This month marks the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. A number of books aimed at children and young adults have appeared in the ensuing years based on those tumultuous events. In "The Extraordinary Voyage of Kamome," a bilingual picture book suitable for children...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 5, 2016

Romak adjusting to game in Japan

Surviving the first few days of spring training is the initial step for most first-year foreign players in their adjustment to life in NPB. Japanese clubs don't pull many punches during camp early on, and feature a much heavier workload than teams in MLB and other western leagues.
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2016

From Schengen to 'Brexit,' risks to the euro are stacking up

It is not only European Central Bank stimulus that has the potential to hurt the euro.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 3, 2016

Indonesia's early tsunami warning buoys down when big quake hit

All 22 of the early-warning buoys Indonesia that were deployed after the 2004 tsunami disaster were inoperable when a massive undersea earthquake struck off the country's coast on Wednesday, a national disaster mitigation agency official said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2016

'Oyster Factory' dredges up the dreams and fears of Japan's rural workers

Japanese documentaries tend to be blandly inoffensive, especially those dealing with sensitive topics. Typically, a velvet-voiced narrator sets the scene and a sympathetic interviewer lobs questions to her subjects as gently upbeat music plays in the background.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 2, 2016

'The Lobster' offers a sci-fi solution for 'sexless Japan'

Back in the 1990s, an unmarried woman in Japan who was 25 or older might have been called a "Christmas cake." The term equated them with the seasonal cakes that were sold for half price after Dec. 24, and it contained an explicit warning for women: Catch a man before you turn 25 because that's your official...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2016

With leaders distracted, EU's tower of Babel falls

While Europe's weak and divided leaders remain distracted by internal debates, the union that provided the framework for post-World War II prosperity will start to unravel.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2016

In Yemen, a humanitarian pause urgently needed

A humanitarian pause is badly needed in war-torn Yemen, where a majority of the population in urgent need of medical care.
EDITORIALS
Mar 1, 2016

It's never just one bite of the Apple

While the court battle between Apple and the FBI is being fought in the U.S., the resolution of the case will have international implications.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo