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Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 20, 2015

Tabloids revel in South Korea's MERS misery

Schadenfreude, a word of German derivation, is defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "a feeling of enjoyment that comes from seeing or hearing about the troubles of other people." A more succinct definition would be "malicious glee."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 20, 2015

The new face of Japanese sci-fi chases an augmented world

Japanese science fiction has a long history. The genre could be considered to stretch back as far as the eighth-century tale of time traveler Urashima Taro or 10th-century story of moon-princess Kaguya-hime, but it was the rapid changes brought on during the Meiji Era (1868-1912) that generated one of...
Reader Mail
Jun 20, 2015

Egyptian court sentences have followed rules

Regarding the article titled "Mass death sentences now a part of life in Egypt" in the June 5 edition, let me first clarify that the defendants who were previously or recently condemned by the Egyptian High Court are being tried before a normal court, and not an extraordinary court. In all cases, the...
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 20, 2015

China shows idyllic side to life on disputed reef

A Chinese website has published photographs from one of the reefs under China's control in the disputed South China Sea showing female sailors posing on ocean break walls, vegetable gardens being watered and even pigs in a pen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2015

Crystal Kay returns with a confident ballad to soundtrack 'Wild Heroes'

Shortly after Ariana Miyamoto was crowned Miss Universe Japan, the country's first ever mixed-race beauty queen, Crystal Kay took to social media to voice her approval: "You go girl, I'm proud of Japan."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 19, 2015

Noah takes inspiration from Hokkaido on 'Sivutie'

The way Ayuko Kurasaki, who creates music as Noah, describes her childhood home of Chitose in Hokkaido is so lovely that I'm surprised it isn't being used in tourism ads.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 19, 2015

Actresses enter a parallel universe; three species of romance; CM of the Week: Big

The comedian-turned-scriptwriter Bakarhythm specializes in surreal "what if" situations. In the new drama "Kamoshirenai Joyutachi" ("Maybe Actresses"; Fuji TV, Tues., 10 p.m.) he focuses on three famous Japanese actresses and places them in a parallel universe where they didn't become famous.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2015

SoftBank to focus on future tech, Son tells shareholders

Telecommunications may be SoftBank Corp.'s main business, but the telecom giant said it will focus more on the next big technologies — the "Internet of things," artificial intelligence and advanced robots — in the coming years.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jun 19, 2015

Age no obstacle as Wakisaka chases dream

Four years before Japan midfielder Homare Sawa became the first player in soccer to appear in six consecutive World Cups, Yasuo Wakisaka was the only player to participate in all four world championships of another version of football, American football that is.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2015

Hate crimes are not uncommon in the United States

U.S. law enforcement authorities are investigating the slayings of nine people by a white gunman Wednesday night at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, as a hate crime.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2015

Publisher behind Kobe child killer's autobiography defends decision to go to print

Brushing aside mounting criticism, a Tokyo publisher has defended its decision to release a controversial autobiography penned by a former teenage serial killer, billing it as helpful to elucidate — and even deter — heinous juvenile crimes in society.
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2015

Stop dodging key security questions

The government and the ruling bloc should reflect on why public understanding of its security bills remain elusive.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2015

Twelve years on, Iraq's nightmare continues

Iraqis are experiencing far greater difficulties now than they ever did under Saddam Hussein.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 17, 2015

'Selma' shows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s eloquence in the face of racial violence

Gone are the days when films made by women were touted as such and labeled "women's films." No critic or distributor would dare do anything so ignoble to "Selma," the first major motion-picture portrayal of American civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As befitting the subject, it's a hard-hitting,...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2015

Oil is not inexorably fading from the world stage

The age of oil will endure for the forceable future.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jun 15, 2015

Carp outfielder Schierholtz adjusting to life in Japan

There wasn't much time for Nate Schierholtz to really prepare himself for Japanese baseball. He'd opted out of his deal with the Texas Rangers on March 28. By April 19, he was already on the other side of the world in a red No. 57 jersey and hitting third for the Hiroshima Carp.
Japan Times
SOCCER / Women's World Cup / SOCCER SCENE
Jun 15, 2015

Japan has room for improvement at Women's World Cup

Japan has made it through to the knockout phase of the Women's World Cup with the minimum of fuss, but the reigning champions will have to move up a gear if they are serious about defending their title.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2015

Jeb Bush runs from Romney's ghost as he readies U.S. presidential bid Monday

When Republican Jeb Bush gathered donors in Miami for an April retreat, it was clear he planned a less-scripted, more-inclusive U.S. presidential campaign bearing little resemblance to that of the unsuccessful 2012 nominee Mitt Romney.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 14, 2015

China to drop entry permit requirement for Taiwan residents

China plans to drop the entry permit requirement for Taiwan residents visiting the mainland, the official Xinhua News Agency cited a senior Chinese politician as saying on Sunday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / Women's World Cup
Jun 14, 2015

Brazil joins Japan in second round

Brazil became the second team to qualify for the knockout round of the women's World Cup on Saturday and England picked up a big win, but France suffered a shock defeat that could make its life at the tournament tougher.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 13, 2015

Above and below the Yamaguchi plains

Three meters above my head, the rectangular offering box of Motonosumi Inari Shrine seems impossibly out of my reach. For the 23rd time, I wind back my arm and attempt to lob my chosen donation between the narrow slats. For the 23rd time, the coin takes on a trajectory I'm certain I didn't intend ......
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 13, 2015

Pipe dreams of a 'grand bargain' in East Asia

As the 50th anniversary of the normalization of ties between Japan and South Korea approaches, it seems there is little to celebrate.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 13, 2015

Cultural historian James Vardaman reflects on his journey into Japanese publishing

Between two sips of coffee, Waseda University professor James M. Vardaman comes clean to me about his decades of addiction.

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