Search - u_times

 
 
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 10, 2015

Dull and authentic beats out polished TV

Another New Year's break, another two-week onslaught of inconsequential television programs based on the variety show model of comedians talking about themselves, watching videos of other people doing supposedly interesting things and playing games whose main entertainment function is humiliation. The...
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 10, 2015

The people's Emperor speaks truth to power

Emperor Akihito began the new year with a statement that pointedly referred to two major controversies: war memory and nuclear energy. His thoughts on these demonstrate why he is so admired by the public and underscore the crucial role the 81-year-old monarch plays in contemporary Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jan 10, 2015

Cataloging the creatures of the unknown

"Yokai dwell in the contact zone between fact and fiction, between belief and doubt ... Yokai begin where language ends," says Michael Dylan Foster in the introduction to "The Book of Yokai," summing up what words often fail to conjure. His book takes readers on a journey into the inexplicable, mysterious,...
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Jan 10, 2015

Ours is to reason why

Middle-age man: Look how much your uncle has changed in these photos over the past 10 years. He's put on a bit of weight.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 10, 2015

Sushi apocalypse feared for wild species

Let's hope that farm-raised tuna becomes commercially viable and that conservation efforts allow stocks to replenish. If not, there's the risk that the last wild bluefin tuna will be caught.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2015

Abe pays respects to victims at French Embassy

Expressing solidarity with the people of France, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday signed a book of condolences at the French Embassy's residency building in Tokyo as police near Paris hunted the gunmen behind a massacre at Charlie Hebdo magazine.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 9, 2015

Female inmates OK'd to give birth without handcuffs

Pregnant female convicts will in the future give birth without having to wear handcuffs, after the father of a baby born to an inmate in Kasamatsu prison, Gifu Prefecture, lobbied against the rule.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 9, 2015

'Small fry' who went rogue: How Paris attack suspect turned killer

When French anti-terror prosecutor Jean-Louis Bruguiere first clapped eyes on Cherif Kouachi 10 years ago, his first impression was that he was a "small fry."
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 9, 2015

U.S. jobless claims dip; 2014 layoffs lowest in 17 years

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week and job cuts declined sharply in December, suggesting the labor market is tightening.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 8, 2015

Redzepi: 'I think the restaurant staff in Japan are some of the best on Earth'

Last year, while still only halfway through the extensive planning process, Noma chef Rene Redzepi sat down with The Japan Times in the extensive test kitchen above his Copenhagen waterfront restaurant and outlined his reasons and vision for Noma in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 8, 2015

Noma sets the table for a feast in Tokyo

As the clock inches toward midday on Jan. 9, the eyes and attention of gourmets around the world will be focused on Tokyo. The reason: The curtain is rising on one of the most hotly anticipated restaurant openings ever.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 8, 2015

Vast fossil fuel reserves 'must be left in the ground': study

A third of the world's oil reserves, half of gas reserves and 80 percent of current coal reserves should not be used in the coming decades if global warming is to stay below an agreed 2 degrees Celsius target, scientists said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 7, 2015

Passion and prejudice in 1930s Ireland

"Jimmy's Hall" is a glimpse into Ireland in 1932 when the country was in a relative lull between wars, turmoil and strife. Director Ken Loach has consistently worked to bring the lives of the United Kingdom's working class to cinema screens. "Jimmy's Hall" is his second foray into Ireland following "The...
Reader Mail
Jan 7, 2015

Making the homeless invisible

Regarding Tomohiro Osaki's Dec. 30 article, "Shibuya shuts parks, thwarting soup runs": For the past 22 years, I have been delivering rice balls to the homeless in the Shibuya Station area through the Tokyo Union Church.
Reader Mail
Jan 7, 2015

An 'addiction' worth keeping

I wish to express concern regarding Tomohiro Osaki's Jan. 5 front-page article, "Patriotic few battle addiction to peace." Already the headline is problematic. Using the term "addiction" to describe Japan's pacifism implies that it is somehow a harmful thing that must be eradicated.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 7, 2015

Second reported set of murders by a North Korean could strain China ties

A North Korean murdered a Chinese family of three last year, Chinese media has said, the second recently reported killing of Chinese citizens by North Koreans. The incidents could strain ties between Pyongyang and its sole major ally.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 7, 2015

Sony's Walkman makes comeback in high resolution, for $1,200

Sony Corp. is bringing back the Walkman, with a new model of the music player pioneer that comes with high-resolution playback and Bluetooth-connected headphones.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2015

Inside Obama's secret effort to salvage U.S.-Russian ties

The Obama administration has been working behind the scenes for months to forge a new working relationship with Russia, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's showing little interest in repairing relations or halting his aggression in Ukraine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Jan 6, 2015

Embark on a Peruvian adventure without boarding a flight

Sitting in the wood-clad, dimly lit dining room of the Miraflores restaurant, I begin to feel like I'm planning a year volunteering abroad. A glance at the Peruvian flag on the wall, the figurines on the bar counter and the map plastered across the door, and I imagine gleefully imposing myself on whichever...
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 6, 2015

Suga downplays U.S. comments on upcoming WWII statement

The Liberal Democratic Party will step up efforts this year to revise the Constitution, a long-cherished goal of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 6, 2015

Facility offers rare day care for children with special needs

Finding suitable child care facilities is a daunting task for most working families in Japan, but when it comes to children with severe medical problems and disabilities, the options are virtually nil.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 6, 2015

Grand jury member in Ferguson police shooting case sues prosecutor, demands to speak out

A member of the grand jury that declined to indict the white Missouri police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black 18-year-old sued the prosecutor in the case on Monday, criticizing the way evidence was presented to grand jurors and seeking court permission to speak publicly about the way the case...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 5, 2015

Think tank gives Japan-U.S. diplomacy an Okinawan voice

Shocked by indifference in Japanese and U.S. government circles toward the island's interests, a lawyer has taken matters into her own hands.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2015

Toronto traffic validates carbon tax opposition

For opponents of a carbon tax, traffic in the Greater Toronto Area, which includes fast-growing suburbs, offers plenty of ammunition.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 5, 2015

Why Japan should embrace Angelina Jolie's 'Unbroken'

The attacks on Angelina Jolie's just-released film 'Unbroken' — which is much less about Japanese brutality against an American POW than the resilience of the human spirit — appear part of a revisionist recrudescence under the Abe administration.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 5, 2015

Survival of 'freedom, democracy'

From top to bottom, Japanese society seems to be growing more introverted and to be shedding its openness toward the outside world. Can the ideal of 'freedom and democracy' survive this trend?

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers