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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 25, 2015

Frenemies, screenagers, kidults — kondo your English with these trending terms

How up-to-date is your English vocabulary? New words reflect a changing society and, as a result, new words are coined every day. Reading English newspapers and media from around the world can help you keep up with the changes. Here are some words I picked up recently on my travels.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2015

Stepping back from the edge

There is a solution to the crisis in Ukraine, which is to leave well enough alone before something really bad happens.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 2, 2015

Questions raised over keeping teen suspects anonymous

The involvement of three teen-aged suspects in the death of a boy in Kawasaki is fueling debate about the anonymity granted to minors in cases of this kind.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 28, 2015

Shibuya's same-sex move kicks off debate

On Feb. 13, Asahi Shimbun's daily Vox Populi, Vox Dei column mentioned Morizo and Kiccoro, the official mascots of the 2005 World Expo held in Aichi Prefecture. These two "woodland fairies" supposedly hailed from Seto, which issued them the same resident cards (jūminhyō) held by everyone who lives...
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 27, 2015

U.K. authorities linked 'Jihadi John' to militant killed by U.S. drone in Somalia

British authorities have linked Mohammed Emwazi, a Londoner identified by U.S. national security sources as "Jihadi John," the knife-wielding militant who appeared in videos depicting the beheadings of Western hostages, to another British militant killed in Somalia in a U.S. drone attack.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Feb 25, 2015

Under Japanese law, breaks are sacred and standby counts as work

If your employer is keeping you waiting long hours on standby without paying you and calling it 'break time,' they are breaking the law.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Feb 23, 2015

Badges of honor: What Japan's legal lapel pins really mean

I finally have a lapel badge. After almost two decades of working in Japan-related law jobs, this is a big deal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Feb 20, 2015

Gay marriage push in Japan faces constitutional barrier

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has fought to alter the Constitution on matters of security, is less eager to oppose its principles when it comes to same-sex marriage.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 14, 2015

Media total up the targets for terrorist attacks

The 67-second video on YouTube opens with a black slate that reads, "A Message to Japan." The video then shows a kneeling journalist, Kenji Goto, clad in an orange outfit.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Jan 31, 2015

Crime and punishment: Abe's Mideast crisis

In general, crime prevention is a good thing — it helps stop crime. By punishing people for minor transgressions, you stop them from committing larger misdemeanors and discourage crime overall. If the principle is applied blindly, however, it can produce some awkward results.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jan 26, 2015

Nous ne sommes pas Charlie: Voices that mock authority in Japan muzzled

Why is there no equivalent of Charlie Hebdo, 'The Daily Show' or 'Monty Python' in Japan?
WORLD
Jan 24, 2015

Car found in Florida canal tied to 1978 missing persons case

A badly decayed car found in a south Florida canal may be the key to unlocking the fate of two teenagers who mysteriously disappeared nearly four decades ago, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2015

Managing North Korea's collapse

Regardless of whether the North Korean regime collapses with a bang or a whimper, ensuring that the country's nuclear weapons are not used, moved or exported is a task that will require the capabilities of the U.S. armed forces.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 17, 2015

Mags go big for Kobe gang's 100th

This year will see the observance of various centennials, including the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign in the Dardanelles; the Second Battle of Ypres; and the sinking of the RMS Lusitania with the loss of 1,198 lives.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 10, 2015

Code + culture: New Internet artists from Japan

If the Internet is an ocean, why do we spend so much time floating on its surface? What's really going on down there? Not just in the deepest, darkest trenches, but among the forgotten protocols, faulty algorithms and emerging parameters outside the busy shipping lanes and far from the crowded life rafts...
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 / World
Jan 7, 2015

Hate flying? You have only yourself to blame

Ultimately, the reason airlines cram us into tiny seats and upcharge for everything is that we're online shopping on exactly one dimension: the price of the flight.
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.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 4, 2015

If Obama won't bring U.S. torturers to justice, why not compensate torture victims for life?

If President Barack Obama won't bring U.S. torturers to justice, why not compensate torture victims for lost wages, medical expenses, counseling and other costs of their detention?
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Jan 3, 2015

The biggest terrorism threat in Japan

Remember how the government said Japan needed a state secrets law to protect it from acts of terrorism?
Reader Mail
Dec 31, 2014

The shocking reality of slavery

I was shocked to read the Dec. 21 editorial "End the global slavery scourge," which includes the revelation that there are 35.8 million people enslaved across the world in new, horrifying ways.
EDITORIALS
Dec 31, 2014

A watershed year for Japan

Japan is at a crossroads in many ways as the nation greets the 70th year since it set out on the path of rebuilding after its defeat in World War II.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Dec 23, 2014

Who was music being made for in 2014?

When looking back on the year in music, the big question music fans should be asking themselves is, "Who was music being made for in 2014?" Looking at the broader picture, we can find the answers writ large across the Japanese music scene.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2014

Now, why not return Guantanamo to Havana?

To improve on President Barack Obama's decision to re-establish normal relations with Havana, the U.S. should return Guantanamo to Cuba, a measure that is long overdue.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 22, 2014

Jeers, apologies and silence: Japan's 2014 in quotes

First of all, we're sorry. Everybody is sorry. This was the year that everyone apologized and everyone was sorry about something. The Asahi Shimbun was sorry so many times (even when maybe they shouldn't have been) that we're omitting them from the list. There's not enough space.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 14, 2014

American in North Korea reportedly denounces U.S., seeks asylum in Venezuela

A U.S. citizen who illegally entered North Korea delivered a lengthy denunciation of U.S. domestic and foreign policy Sunday and said he was seeking political asylum in Venezuela, the North's official media said.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan