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Aug 7, 2015

August 8, 2015

JAPAN / History / 70 YEARS AFTER THE WAR'S END
Aug 7, 2015

Nagasaki's 'providential' nightmare shaped by religious, ethnic undercurrents

August is high season for tourism in Nagasaki. One morning last week at the Nagasaki Peace Park, the venue for an annual televised ceremony to commemorate the Aug. 9, 1945, atomic bombing of the city, throngs of tourists wearing name tags hanging from their necks were shuffling in and out of buses, snapping pictures in front of the iconic Peace Statue.
Reader Mail
Aug 7, 2015

Onishi's death wish for Japan resonates today

Please make sure that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gets a copy of the story titled "The top-secret flights that ended the war" in the Aug. 2 edition. What if madmen like Vice Adm. Takijiro Onishi had had their way? Would 20 million Japanese have perished during the Allied/Russian invasion of Japan in the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Aug 5, 2015

Mount Koya sites exemplify 'parallel universe' where war criminals are martyrs

Japanese leaders who continue to condone the country's wartime actions inhabit a 'parallel universe' whose version of WWII history is at odds with the rest of the world's.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 5, 2015

A more complex portrayal of Emperor Hirohito

Emperor Hirohito, who is posthumously known as Emperor Showa, had a procession of public images during his long reign from 1926 to 1989 — though none were quite accurate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 5, 2015

Tom cruises through 'Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation'

Tom Cruise is 53. I repeat: Tom Cruise is 53. In seven years he will officially be eligible for retirement and a cushy 401(k) plan. That will probably be what's going on in the minds of most people who watch "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation," the latest but not last installment in the "Mission:...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 4, 2015

Dinh Q. Le's art of nuanced criticism

Dinh Q. Le says he's not angry about the American war in Vietnam anymore. This makes our interview a lot easier; we are both of Vietnamese descent and there is a chance that talking about the war could polarize us very quickly, even though we are one generation removed from those that fought.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 4, 2015

Art nouveau's jewels in the crown

As Parisians of the late 19th century reveled in the heady optimism of economic prosperity and enjoyed the innovations spurred by the ongoing Industrial Revolution, Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress and muse of the time, became enamored by two trendsetters: Rene Lalique, then a jewelry maker,...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / THE DOPING EPIDEMIC
Aug 4, 2015

Conte expects Salazar to be banned

Several weeks before doping allegations of epic proportions brought widespread media attention over the weekend, Alberto Salazar's name was at the center of serious doping allegations that also triggered major coverage.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2015

Abe losing to his demons

On the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat and surrender, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has a wonderful opportunity to set a new path for Japan, for Asia and the world. But will he take it?
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Aug 3, 2015

No student should be without the Japanese double-negative

The pattern X-nai+noun wa nai/inai expresses that, in fact, everyone is/does X.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Aug 2, 2015

Claiming the right to be Japanese — and more

If Japan cannot get over the conceit of having to 'look Japanese' to be treated as one, then it cannot make 'new Japanese,' and the country will continue to sink into an insolvent economic abyss.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Aug 2, 2015

Getting Japan's youth engaged in disaster preparedness

Even though earthquake-prone Japan has seen numerous warnings that massive, devastating temblors could strike at any time, including in the Tokyo metropolitan area and in the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast, data shows the nation's youth don't seem to have the same sense of preparing for a disaster...
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 2, 2015

Turkey takes in Uighur refugees; angers China

The folded piece of paper with a photo of a 4-month-old baby tells a story that likely loomed over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Chinese hosts during his visit to Beijing last week.
WORLD
Aug 2, 2015

Extraordinary measures used to fight militant Islam in 'stans'

Authorities in Central Asia's former Soviet "stans" are taking draconian measures to stamp out militant Islam, but their harsh methods and the absence of democratic politics risk provoking a backlash that could bring even greater instability.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Aug 1, 2015

The top-secret flights that ended the war

Seventy years after the atomic bombings, time stands still on the Pacific island of Tinian.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 1, 2015

Your home may be your castle, but not all of it is yours

When we were thinking about buying a condominium some years ago, we looked at older units and brand new ones, and one of our least favorite features was pebbled or fogged window glass, which was ubiquitous. Early on, when we didn't know any better, we asked a real estate agent how much it would cost...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Aug 1, 2015

Wine joins whisky in Japan's 'Napa Valley'

The small town of Yoichi in Hokkaido has become famous recently as the setting for much of an NHK TV series titled "Massan" that was screened every day, Monday to Saturday, from September 2014 to March this year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 1, 2015

New translation of the world's oldest novel

'The Tale of Genji," written by Murasaki Shikibu around 1,000 A.D., is regarded by many as the world's first novel and is arguably the most influential work of Japanese literature ever written, inspiring countless other works of drama, fiction and fine art.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Aug 1, 2015

Steamer races German submarine; suspected foreign spies arrested; Indoor angling curbs urged; Tokyo regrets Iraq invasion of Kuwait

100 YEARS AGO
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Aug 1, 2015

Master recording of Hirohito's war-end speech released in digital form

A recording of Emperor Hirohito's voice declaring Japan's surrender in World War II has been brought back to life after 70 years, in a previously unavailable, higher quality recording of the historic broadcast that was made available to the public Sunday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2015

Gangsta-lite Compton is ready for its close-up

It can be a letdown when LA Hood Life & Hip Hop Tours customers pass the Welcome to Compton sign and see an ice cream truck, tidy bungalows and the lot where the new Wal-Mart Supercenter's going up.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2015

A lovers' food fight and a dreamy walk on the beach in July's best videos

Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2015

The dangerous rise of Buddhist chauvinism

Buddhist chauvinism now threatens the democratic process in both Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

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