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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2014

Relax, Ebola's not going to cause 'World War Z'

Author Max Brooks explains why the current outbreak of Ebola is nowhere near as bad as a real-life incarnation of his 2006 novel, 'World War Z,' about a fictional plague.
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2014

Ruling denying welfare for foreign residents finds homegrown, biased support

The landmark Supreme Court ruling in July that found permanent residents of Japan legally ineligible for public assistance is already having an impact. Moves are afoot both at the national and local levels to try to scale back or remove welfare payments to foreign residents.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Oct 16, 2014

Mavericks sign Togashi to contract; D-League assignment expected

The Dallas Mavericks have signed free agent guard Yuki Togashi to a contact, the NBA team announced on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 16, 2014

Tokyo International Film Festival contender 'Pale Moon' gets to the root of all evil

The bad news? Japan has only one entry in the Competition section at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival. The good news? The submission, Daihachi Yoshida's "Pale Moon," is a major contender for the $50,000 Tokyo Grand Prix.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2014

Kyoto's top treasures, all under one roof

Kyoto is at its most brilliant and beautiful in autumn, with its World Heritage scenery colored in red and golden leaves. This year, it's also a time when visitors have the rare opportunity to learn about the essence of Kyoto culture at the Kyoto National Museum.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2014

Pleasure in the History of Fashion: From the Akira Ishiyama Collection

Akira Ishiyama (1918-2011), a Japanese researcher of Western fashion, dedicated nearly 70 years of his life to fashion history, accumulating a wealth of valuable books and 18th- to 19th-century fashion plates and illustrations portraying the popular styles of their times. This extensive collection of...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2014

Mitsubishi Aircraft to roll out first passenger jet after four-year delay

It has almost four years late in arriving. Now, with a helping hand from bullet train specialists, Japan's first passenger jet is about to make its debut.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 16, 2014

Japanese golfer tests Pyongyang's links to check dictator's legendary score

Who would have the temerity to challenge Kim Jong Il's superhuman abilities?
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 16, 2014

China blocks BBC website as Hong Kong tensions rise

Chinese censors have blocked the website of Britain's national broadcaster, the BBC said in a statement late on Wednesday, as tensions rise in Hong Kong between pro-democracy protesters and police.
WORLD
Oct 16, 2014

Michael Jackson tops Forbes list of highest-earning dead celebrities

Five years after his death, singer Michael Jackson is generating a fortune and is the top-earning dead celebrity, raking in an estimated $140 million in the past year for his estate, according to Forbes magazine.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 15, 2014

Tale of panic and pain strikes an operatic chord

At a time when Japan is being rapped over the knuckles by the U.N. for hate-speech rallies against ethnic Koreans, a movie like "The Tenor: Lirico Spinto" takes on special significance. Directed by Kim Sang-man, "The Tenor" (released here as "The Tenor: Shinjitsuno Monogatari") is a collaborative project...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 15, 2014

Tonnerre: 'Being nice is one way to get a girl, but it's not enough to keep her'

What do you do when you're a has-been musician with thinning hair, staring at middle age and years of loneliness ahead? The good news — at least for Maxime (Vincent Macaigne) in "Tonnerre" — is that you've got a kind old dad (Bernard Menez), a dog and a rambling house in the titular French city,...
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Oct 15, 2014

Brazil rout leaves Japan scrambling to be ready for Asian Cup

Japan coach Javier Aguirre faces a race against time to find a squad capable of putting up a strong Asian Cup title defense, the Mexican admitting he needs at least two more matches to weigh up his options ahead of next year’s tournament.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 15, 2014

Web page on 'comfort women' donations taken down by Foreign Ministry

The decision by officials to delete the Web page, which carried a 1995 appeal for donations to a government-linked fund for former 'comfort women,' drew immediate protest from Seoul.
Reader Mail
Oct 15, 2014

Official ways for spreading Ebola

With fears about the spread of the Ebola virus in the headlines, I feel that it's important to point out that both the Japanese and U.S. governments have installed an excellent infection-spreading system at their borders.
Reader Mail
Oct 15, 2014

Nuclear village fooling itself

Regarding the Oct. 14 Reuters article "As nuclear waste piles up, South Korea faces storage crisis": Duh?! When will all the nuclear-village idiots across the globe realize that radioactive waste from aging nuclear power plants will need safe storage for up to 100,000 years? Such waste cannot be collected...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Oct 15, 2014

Is it time to bid bye-bye to 'haro'?

When was the last time someone Japanese used your presence as an excuse to say 'haro' whilst furtively glancing sideways at their companions to confirm they just made the funniest joke ever?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 15, 2014

For Americans abroad, old 'Duke' flicks can transport us home

As expats, our Americatown is the corner DVD shop, where we know who we are and have roots.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 15, 2014

'Polygraph' blurs realities in a dark blend of blood and beauty

The 1980s murder at the center of "Le Polygraphe" echoes that of an actress in the Canadian city of Quebec — a killing for which the chief suspect for a time was the renowned Quebecois dramatist Robert Lepage, who cowrote the play in 1987 with actress, author and theater director Marie Brassard. Postmodern...
WORLD
Oct 15, 2014

Conflicts the Kurds are currently involved in

Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran all have large Kurdish minorities seeking varying degrees of autonomy from central government after decades of state repression. Here is an overview of their status.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Oct 14, 2014

WBC bantamweight champion Yamanaka stays hungry for improvement

Having just turned 32 a few days before, boxer Shinsuke Yamanaka said with a bitter smile that having a birthday for an athlete at his age wasn't necessarily a pleasant thing.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2014

Saudi Arabia's oil enigma

Saudi Arabia is sometimes likened to a central bank managing the global oil market, adding or withdrawing supplies to control prices. But that vastly overstates the degree of influence, let alone control, that the kingdom exercises over the market.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 14, 2014

Archrivals Giants, Tigers ready for Climax Series showdown

The Yomiuri Giants worked out in a mostly empty Tokyo Dome, with neither fans nor the Hanshin Tigers anywhere in sight. The Big Egg will be rocking the next time they're in it, as they square off with their oldest rivals for the right to participate in the Japan Series.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 14, 2014

Six concepts for the future of nuclear power

The Generation IV International Forum was created in 2000 to do research on new types of nuclear reactors to replace water-cooled models that make up the majority of today's global nuclear fleet. The group has chosen the following systems to focus on.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 14, 2014

As nuclear waste piles up, South Korea faces storage crisis

Among the usual commercials for beer, noodles and cars on South Korean TV, one item stands in marked contrast.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 14, 2014

Hundreds of Hong Kong police use sledgehammers, chain saws to dismantle protest barriers

Hundreds of Hong Kong police used sledgehammers and chain saws to dismantle pro-democracy barricades near government offices and the city's financial center Tuesday, a day after clashes broke out as anti-protest groups tried to reclaim roads.

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