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COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2014

China's reach for leverage

China's random and sporadic acts of provocations over territorial disputes seem to fail to intimidate its opponents in the Asia-Pacific region, but each push and probe tests retaliatory assets and calls into question the U.S. capacity, and will, to come to the aid of a beleaguered ally.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2014

World-weary and resigned, yet the samurai spirit soldiers on

Since the emergence of conceptual art in the 1960s, artistic skill and superlative craftsmanship came to be derided as almost artistic embarrassment, a suspect accusation leveled at the supposed old guard who took pride in their technical proficiency. Think of Joseph Beuys and Andy Warhol, their artistic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 3, 2014

'Welcome to Edo! Children Depicted in Ukiyo-e Prints'

Though the most famous of ukiyo-e prints and paintings often feature women, actors and scenery, children were also a common subject. In fact, in Japan, images of children, usually depicted in everyday activities, were some of the top-sellers of the 17th to 19th centuries.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / DEALING WITH DEMENTIA
Jul 3, 2014

Early onset dementia poses special problems

Early onset dementia affects people younger than 65, but experts say the belief that dementia only strikes seniors obfuscates the plight suffered by younger patients.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / DEALING WITH DEMENTIA
Jul 2, 2014

Dementia burden weighing on more families

Despite government efforts to improve the lives of people with dementia, the illness takes a heavy toll on patients and those who care for them.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jul 2, 2014

Health studies explode the myth of the 'safe' nuclear power plant

There remains one final myth regarding nuclear power plants in Japan: Namely, that in the absence of a major accident, a normally operating nuclear power plant is safe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2014

'Nanpu (Riding the Breeze)'

Movies about women who fly off to foreign climes to reboot their lives are a thriving subgenre, though the heroines are mostly from well-off countries, Japan included. Women from the more troubled parts of the world may also cross borders to start new lives, but their motives are less often self-discovery...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2014

'Ironclad: Battle for Blood' (Ironclad Blood War)

If extraterrestrials visited England in the year 1221, they would have taken one look and gone home. Life was horrible then — full of marauding, armored men, hell-bent on driving the pointy ends of swords into each others' midriffs. That's how "Ironclad: Battle for Blood" portrays medieval living among...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2014

'Bilocation'

Director: Mari Asato
EDITORIALS
Jul 2, 2014

Abe guts Article 9

With its Cabinet decision to allow Japan to exercise collective self-defense, the Abe administration has effectively gutted Article 9.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 2, 2014

Southeast Asia fears fallout of Mideast chaos

Four gun-wielding rebel fighters sit relaxing on a wall, their faces concealed by scarves and ski masks. All are Indonesians who came to Syria to join the Islamist insurgency, the cameraman says, speaking Indonesian peppered with Arabic phrases.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2014

Abe wins battle to broaden defense policy

The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe authorizes a reinterpretation of war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution, allowing Japan for the first time since World War II to come to the aid of an ally under attack.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 1, 2014

Critics: What defines the conditions for military force?

Japan is at a historic crossroads in amending its long-held pacifist defense posture, a move that it may never reverse, and critics charge that the Abe administration's criteria for exercising the right to collective self-defense will prove ineffective.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Jul 1, 2014

Gunma's 'Brazil Town' offers a carnival of cuisine

This month A Taste of Home is taking a field trip to Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture. Oizumi, an otherwise ordinary town, is home to roughly 4,000 Brazilians — about one-tenth of the local population. Most of them work in nearby factories (Subaru is a big one). But some of them are working to make life a...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Jul 1, 2014

Cupid aims his arrow at loveless Tokyo drinkers

While bars often use tactics such as offering healthy low-calorie food items or fruity cocktails on the menu to attract female customers, Aisekiya in Akabane resorts to an extreme that most sane businesses would not risk: Women can drink as much as they want — without paying a single yen. But the izakaya...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society / FOCUS
Jul 1, 2014

Beijing quietly tightening grip on Hong Kong

Since Britain handed back colonial Hong Kong in 1997, retired primary school teacher and Falun Gong devotee Lau Wai-hing has fully exercised the freedoms China promised this city of 7.2 million.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 30, 2014

Japan on verge of legalizing war as Komeito bends

Japan is set Tuesday to legalize waging war even when not under direct attack. It is a drastic departure from its postwar position that the war-renouncing Constitution prohibits exercising the right to collective self-defense.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Jun 30, 2014

Kamei breathes new life into Giants

Yoshiyuki Kamei was added to the Yomiuri Giants' roster on May 31 and he started his season with a bang. His first hit of the year came that night, and it was a tiebreaking home run in the 12th inning of a game in which the Kyojin had been held hitless for the first 10 frames. Yomiuri went on to win...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2014

Who'll pay for the Iraq sins?

Will the purveyors of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq ever do penance for their sins of warmongering?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 30, 2014

Japan tourism still suffers from a credit card gap

Tourists want two things: to be able to use their smart phones and their credit cards in Japan.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 29, 2014

Rodriguez fires Colombia by Uruguay, into last eight

A sensational display from James Rodriguez fired Colombia into the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time on Saturday with the attacking midfielder scoring twice in a 2-0 victory over Uruguay including a contender for goal of the tournament.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2014

Shamelessness of neocons

How do we impress on U.S. neocons-cum-chickenhawks — and their Australian-British fellow-travelers — the enormous disparity between the vision dreamed for Iraq, the goals pursued, the means used and the results obtained?
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2014

Beijing's struggle to control a military district

China's ability to bring North Korea into line may depend on the outcome of an epochal struggle to bring the Shenyang Military District, which borders North Korea, under central authority.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 28, 2014

U.S. says will no longer make, buy anti-personnel land mines

The United States said on Friday it would no longer make or buy anti-personnel land mines and that it would strive to eventually join the global treaty banning the weapons, but it stopped short of agreeing to destroy its stockpile of 3 million mines.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 27, 2014

Collective defense deal near

The ruling coalition closes in on three new standards that would let the Japanese military use force in cases other than when Japan is under attack.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2014

Suzuki Motor's CEO, 84, spurs succession fears

After almost three decades helming Suzuki Motor Corp., investors are becoming increasingly concerned at the lack of clarity over who will succeed the carmaker's octogenarian chairman and president.
BASKETBALL
Jun 27, 2014

Upcoming bj-league season set for Oct. 4 start

The 2014-15 bj-league season, the league's 10th, is set to tip off on Oct. 4.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 27, 2014

Restaurant chains to make splash at Italian expo

Three restaurant operators from the Chubu region will participate in Expo 2015 Milano in Italy next year to promote Japanese food culture to the rest of the world.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo