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BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Oct 12, 2014

Playoff system selling Japanese baseball short

The Hanshin Tigers and Hiroshima Carp on Sunday played a hotly contested, tense, and entertaining game full of momentum shifts and almost everything anyone — anyone who likes pitching and defense at least — would want out of a playoff game in which one team's season was on the line.
EDITORIALS
Oct 12, 2014

Freedom of the press in South Korea

Criminal action taken by Seoul prosecutors against a Japanese journalist for questioning the whereabouts of President Park Geun-hye on the day in August when a South Korean passenger ferry sank raises serious questions about South Korea's commitment to freedom of the press.
JAPAN / History / IMPERIAL ANNALS
Oct 11, 2014

Selective history: Hirohito's chronicles

Between July 30 and Aug. 2, 1945, when most of Japan's cities, including Tokyo, lay in smoldering ruins from U.S. aerial bombing and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were days away from being incinerated by American nuclear weapons, Emperor Hirohito sent an envoy to several Shinto shrines to pray for the "crushing...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Oct 11, 2014

Digital manga giving print a run for it money

Manga is a central part of Japanese pop culture, appealing not only to kids but also to salarymen and women on their daily commute. Even former Prime Minister Taro Aso declared his love for the medium.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 11, 2014

Bernd Haag: 'Learn a new language and start to think global'

Name: Bernd HaagAge: 52
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Oct 11, 2014

Give a dog a bad name

Dad, dad. Look at that cute cat.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 11, 2014

Thrashing San Marino of no value to anyone

It was the most pointless exercise in football — literally. San Marino, the worst European team ever to play international football, came to Wembley in its usual lambs-to-the-slaughter role and lost 5-0 on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2014

Putin's Herculean, bizarre birthday presents

As he turned 62 last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin was said by official pollsters to be more popular in Russia than ever before. Gifts and dedications to the president took on the most bizarre forms ever.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2014

Mourning Excalibur, the dog Ebola didn't kill

A petition to save the pet dog of a Spanish nursing assistant who has contracted Ebola received more than 370,000 signatures before it was sedated and killed. Yet there are no reports of people clashing with police to persuade their governments to do more to help stop the the spread of Ebola in Africa. A university study seems to confirm this preference we have for cute animals over adult humans.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Oct 10, 2014

Don't be afraid to take the kids out

Autumn in Japan. The days grow shorter, the air grows cooler and two of my favorite events occur: The changing of the leaves and Halloween celebrations —the best American cultural export ever, as far as I'm concerned.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 10, 2014

No charges over Palin family drunken Alaska birthday brawl: police

Anchorage prosecutors declined to file criminal charges over a bloody, booze-fueled brawl involving the family of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin at a birthday party, police said on Thursday as they released a report describing the melee.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2014

The Yamatane Museum presents a brilliant show

Gold and silver have long been used in Japanese painting for their decorative value, on works ranging from intimate handscrolls to large-scale screens. But as the current exhibition at the Yamatane Museum of Art makes amply clear, in the last century or so tradition has been improved upon as modern and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 9, 2014

RBMA co-founder hopes to support Japan's neglected artists

The Japan Times spoke to Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) co-founder Many Ameri from New York, the site of last year's academy, and now home to an annual Red Bull music festival. Here are some excerpts from the conversation:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 9, 2014

Japan's rich heritage of video game music explored in 'Diggin' in the Carts'

With Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) putting its focus on Japan this year, a couple of documentaries have sprung up online that delve into the music scene here.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / SEEN AT CEATEC
Oct 8, 2014

Looking for something special? Gaze-tracking tech knows the answer

When you go shopping, your eyes naturally scan the products on shop shelves and racks and eventually pause or return to an object of desire.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 8, 2014

Harmonic slips in time, identity and language

World War II-themed films by elderly Japanese directors with direct experience of the war are not only becoming scarcer, but are also distinctly different from those of younger filmmakers trying to appeal to a mass audience. Kazuo Kuroki's 2006 film "Kamiya Etsuko no Seishun (The Blossoming of Kamiya...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 8, 2014

Nymphomaniac Vol 1: ‘A labyrinth of intellectual and sensual digressions’

‘Nymphomaniac”: The title itself is a provocation, not that we should expect anything less from Lars von Trier, the director who has specialized in nothing but.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 8, 2014

Me, Myself and Mum: 'Not only is this guy a total control freak, he looks splendid in drag'

Guillaume Gallienne is little known outside his native France, but pundits inside the Japanese movie industry are predicting that in a year or two, Gallienne will be huge. In 2015, you could be saying to your friends: "Ah yes, Gallienne. Of course, I've followed his work for ages."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 8, 2014

iNumber Number: 'Reeks of blood, mud and sweat'

"iNumber Number" is the final film in the World Extreme Cinema (WEC) event at the Human Trust Cinema Shibuya, in Tokyo, and suffice to say, it takes the "hit me on a gut level" statement to a new dimension. WEC was designed to showcase raw talent from the world's indie scene — prepare to be shocked....
Japan Times
TENNIS / MATCH POINT
Oct 8, 2014

Nishikori good enough to become No. 1

Kei Nishikori's victory in the Rakuten Japan Open final on Sunday was not just a testament to his exceptional physical ability, but further evidence that he has the mental toughness to go all the way to the top.
EDITORIALS
Oct 8, 2014

Ingenuity key to Nobel success

The achievements of Nobel winners Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura highlight why scientific freedom and daring research should be encouraged in Japan.
Reader Mail
Oct 8, 2014

Protecting kids from predators

Regarding Tomohiro Osaki's Oct. 1 front-page article "Nation reflects on crimes against kids": While recognizing the existing cultural hurdles entrenched in Japanese culture — especially those which pertain to an ingrained work ethic that frowns upon fathers in particular playing a role in parenting...
Reader Mail
Oct 8, 2014

Okinawa's 'indefinite' burden

At the Oct. 1 plenary session of the Diet's Upper House, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe explained that U.S. Air Station Futenma on Okinawa must be relocated [further north] to Henoko because the air station must not remain fixed where it is forever.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 8, 2014

Aeon starts large-scale rice production as companies replace farmers

Aeon Co., the nation's largest supermarket chain, now plans to become the nation's largest rice grower.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 8, 2014

Romney in 2016? Scenario not entirely out of the question

Mitt Romney, day in and day out, hears it wherever he goes, whether at campaign events for Republican congressional candidates, restaurants, or private dinners, the message is the same — run for president in 2016.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 7, 2014

Bianchi crash caused by ‘bad luck,’ claims Suzuka Circuit spokesman

The crash that left French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi in a critical condition with severe head injures was down to bad luck rather than poor judgement by Japanese Grand Prix race officials, a track spokesman said on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL
Oct 7, 2014

Fukushima Firebonds sign Jones to bolster backcourt

The Fukushima Firebonds have signed guard Verdell Jones III, bj-league sources have told The Japan Times.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech / SEEN AT CEATEC
Oct 7, 2014

Toshiba unveils a humanoid robot that could be a sign of the times

If you visit the Toshiba booth at CEATEC this week you’ll be greeted by ChihiraAico, who can communicate in sign language . . . and who just happens to be an android.

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