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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 19, 2013

Loco in Yokohama

I remember heading to the pub years ago, after teaching English at a high school, to swap horror stories with my peers. Baye McNeil's "Loco in Yokohama" is, in that sense, a trip down memory lane.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 19, 2013

Imagining civil servants who actually serve

As a comedy, Nippon TV's 'Dandarin' not only pokes fun at bureaucratic privilege, but also wags its finger at Japan's storied management style, which succeeds on the backs of put-upon employees.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Oct 19, 2013

Ian Philip Tozer: 'Like good wine, age helps'

If you want to create something with longevity in my business (which I do), you have to balance creative inspiration with reliable and constant back-of-the-house grunt work.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Oct 19, 2013

Guantanamo's fate tied to Afghan exit

The approaching end of the U.S. war in Afghanistan could help President Barack Obama move toward what he has said he wanted to do since his first day in office: close the American prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Oct 19, 2013

Feds return to work dreading unread email trove

There were a few times in recent weeks when Sophia Casey found herself mindlessly walking toward her laptop, ready to scan for new work messages as she's always done at nights and on weekends. Then she would see the computer — powered down, closed and unplugged — and remember: furlough.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 19, 2013

Top-two primary systems could counter American extremist tendencies

The latest game of political chicken that drove Washington to a government shutdown and the very edge of the debt ceiling gave new life to the omnipresent complaint of elder statesmen and centrist wise guys: If only congressional districts weren't so gerrymandered in the decennial redistricting process,...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2013

Lack of U.S. vision hurts TPP

If President Barack Obama is really shopping for a legacy, then he should widen his gaze and look to the global stage. There is no need to rush the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks.
EDITORIALS
Oct 18, 2013

Revitalizing the SDP

Under its newly elected leader, the Social Democratic Party must go beyond shouting 'Protect the pacifist Constitution!' if its mission is to build a more equitable Japanese society.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 18, 2013

Sugano basks in glow of Game 2 brilliance

Tomoyuki Sugano stood on the mound at Tokyo Dome in the top of the ninth inning of his first postseason game with a three-run lead, over 45,000 people screaming — Yomiuri Giants fans in support, Hiroshima Carp fans in opposition — and the bases full of other team's players.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 18, 2013

Controversy over Hodgson's joke a bunch of hogwash

The feel-good factor lasted 24 hours.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 17, 2013

'Trance'

The central premise of Danny Boyle's latest, "Trance," is a guy involved in an art heist who gets struck on the head and then can't remember what he did with the purloined painting. This is clearly some sort of advanced conceptual prank, a cheeky allegory for the amnesia the film itself will produce...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Oct 17, 2013

Rihga Royal opens new restaurant; Yona Yona Beer Kitchen on tap

Rihga Royal opens new restaurant
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2013

Exchange student who gave life hailed

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye praised exchange student Lee Su-hyon, who died 12 years ago Thursday attempting to save a Japanese man who had fallen off a Tokyo train platform onto the tracks.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2013

Emergency service hops language barrier

An emergency call for an ambulance could easily result in an unnecessary tragedy if the caller doesn't speak Japanese fluently.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2013

Missing the light at 'Roppongi Crossing'

I've always thought that the "Roppongi Crossing" exhibitions try too hard. They take themselves too seriously and usually end up missing the point. Held every three years at the Mori Art Museum, the shows bring together heavily curated selections of contemporary art in an attempt to take the artistic...
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 16, 2013

The wonderful world of Japanese law: Yōkoso to endless discovery

Having kindly published my intermittent ramblings on Japanese law and the occasional other subject over the years, The Japan Times has seen fit to give me a monthly column.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 16, 2013

Nara's Chapman gets off to fast start for expansion team

Each season brings new standouts to Japan, what with nonstop expansion since the league's inception in 2005.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2013

Behind Washington's firestorm

The story behind the story of the U.S. budget showdown is that prolonged slow growth threatens historic changes to America's political and social order.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 15, 2013

Some fear McConnell-Reid bitter rift could endanger U.S. fiscal deal

When Washington is in crisis and every other option has fallen to pieces — whether on rescuing Wall Street, rewriting national security rules or agreeing on a budget — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, are usually the ones who put it...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Oct 15, 2013

Pitched battle of perception surrounds Guantanamo prison

Weeds now grow where nearly two dozen kneeling and blindfolded men in orange jumpsuits were photographed as guards in fatigues looked on.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 15, 2013

NSA said collecting millions of email address books, 'buddy lists' daily

The U.S. National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal email and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Oct 13, 2013

Djokovic beats del Potro to retain Shanghai Masters title

Novak Djokovic defended his Shanghai Rolex Masters title with a stirring 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday night.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 13, 2013

What we talk about when we talk about the Olympics

If you're lamenting the number of kōji (工事, construction works) clogging Tokyo streets and coating your lungs with toxic fumes, you can lump at least part of the blame on the Olympics, slated to happen in the summer of 2020. And take comfort in the fact that in the years leading up to the last time...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2013

The chilling biology of the debt-ceiling standoff

The showdown over the U.S. debt ceiling demonstrates that human beings are systematically incapable of understanding how precarious our currently familiar condition really is.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years