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Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 3, 2015

Military veteran protecting Oregon classmates was shot seven times

An Iraq War veteran and mixed martial arts fighter whose son turned 6 on Thursday was shot seven times as he blocked the Umpqua gunman from entering a classroom, possibly saving lives during the mass shooting in southern Oregon.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 2, 2015

Inconsistent play has Arsenal fans feeling very uneasy

It is part of life for Arsenal supporters to be in an almost permanent state of confusion.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2015

Asia urgently needs greater mobility for skilled workers

It is imperative that ASEAN lays out an ambitious road map toward freer movement for the region's high-skilled citizens.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 2, 2015

Battle brews over Ishin no To funds as party works through split

An ugly fight over political funds totaling as much as u00a51.33 billion breaks out as the No. 2 opposition party negotiates a bitter internal split.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 1, 2015

Refugee Film Festival comes as world's eyes are on crisis

Last month, a heartbreaking photograph of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi's dead body washing up on the shore of Turkey was published by media outlets worldwide. He had fled his home in war-torn Syria with his mother, brother and father. Only his father survived the journey.
EDITORIALS
Oct 1, 2015

Valid concerns over My Number

Public worry is high over the coming My Number system, and with good reason.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2015

Reappearance of old faces on Toshiba board questions commitment to reform

Scandal-hit Toshiba Corp. appointed new board members at an extraordinary shareholders meeting, vowing to improve its corporate culture and governance.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 30, 2015

'A Most Violent Year' conjures up the moral ambiguity of '70s cinema

Early on in my career in the music business, an older, wiser artist gave me some advice that has always stuck with me: A contract is only as good as your lawyer. In other words, when it comes to anything short of a fingerprint on a murder weapon, it doesn't matter what the law says, only having the money...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 29, 2015

'Signs of Life: The Works Originated in Shiga'

Oct. 3-Nov. 23
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 29, 2015

New Zealand to create giant South Pacific sanctuary, banning fishing and mining

Waters north of New Zealand are set to become one of the world's largest ocean sanctuaries, covering an area roughly the size of France, with a full ban on fishing and mining, New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key said at the United Nations on Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 28, 2015

Abe's military push proves to be losing trade as defense stocks sink

Equity investors looking to profit from Japan's move away from pacifism might find that easier said than done.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 28, 2015

Let's discuss the changing meaning of words

If you say 'yabai' in Japanese when you eat something, does it mean 'very tasty' or 'rather poisonous'?
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Sep 26, 2015

Circumnavigating joys in Kaminoge

Decades ago, I strolled around the quiet neighborhood of Kaminoge in Setagaya Ward with professor Shuichi Kato, the scholar who convinced me to come study in Tokyo. I vividly recollect, on my first day in Japan, encountering the fragrance of tiny orange kinmokusei (fragrant olive) blossoms as Kato spoke...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 26, 2015

Working the politics of an idol marriage

Last week the media obsessed over that story about the 17-year-old girl who was sued by a talent agency for violating the terms of her contract, which stipulated that while she worked for them as a member of an idol singing group she could not be involved in any romantic relationships.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 26, 2015

Abe government targets the liberal arts

Over the past several weeks I have received many emails from all over the world asking me if reports about government plans to pull the plug on humanities and social sciences departments at Japanese national universities are accurate or just a bad joke. At this point it's not clear exactly what the government...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 25, 2015

Emi Meyer ups her standards on jazzy new album 'Monochrome'

Singer-songwriter Emi Meyer says she's never been one for covers — though she admits a one-off performance of Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks" went over really well with a South Korean audience recently.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 24, 2015

Dramatist Robert Lepage's 'Needles and Opium' gets a shot of modernity

Variously described as "the alchemist of modern imagistic theatre" and a "revered actor and director" by The Guardian, Robert Lepage's hyper-imaginative, highly visual work for theater, films and Cirque du Soleil stands out so much that the term "Lepage magic" has even become part of the arts vocabulary....
EDITORIALS
Sep 24, 2015

The coming crisis in housing

The government's policy on housing should veer away from encouraging new construction and focus more on developing the market for secondhand houses.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 24, 2015

Fish scales key to how teeth got their bite, scientists say

The origins of the enamel that gives our teeth their bite is no ordinary fish tale.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 23, 2015

An unlikely partnership between women blooms in 'Rasen Ginga'

A fresh, incisive take on a common if little-filmed type of relationship, especially in hierarchy-loving Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 23, 2015

A mopey, dopey 'Twilight' for hipsters

Part of the reason for the great financial crash of 2007 was bad lending practices. Basically, anything that walked through the door on two legs and not drooling would be given a home mortgage, regardless of the risk. It seems like such irrational behavior has also infected movie producers: Since the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 22, 2015

'Top Hat' musical takes film classic to happy new heights

"There may be trouble ahead / But while there's moonlight and music /
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2015

Crimea's happy now, but for the persecution

Most of Crimea's inhabitants are happy, but for a minority the move to Russian control over the peninsula has been miserable.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2015

Thai military delivers oppression, not happiness

The longer Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha and his cronies rule, the less likely Thailand is going to enjoy stable democracy.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 22, 2015

Bitcoin firm head pleads guilty to first-of-kind Ponzi scheme

A Texas man pleaded guilty to defrauding people out of $4.5 million in what the U.S. said was a first-of-its-kind Ponzi scheme involving investments in the virtual currency bitcoin.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language
Sep 21, 2015

When translation gets tough, bow to the 'Green Goddess'

For me personally, the most frustrating part of translating Japanese into English is looking up the definitions of words I don't know.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past