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COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2014

Why the world shouldn't write off Iraq's army

There is little reason to think that the Iraqi army that the U.S. trained and equipped was professionally incompetent or unable to fight Islamic State forces recently. It simply chose not to fight.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2014

The U.S. has done enough damage in the Middle East

The notion that Iraq will 'destroy' the Islamic State at American behest is an illusion, and so is the notion that the U.S.-formed coalition can do it. Only Muslims themselves can resolve the Islamic crisis overtaking the Middle East.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 24, 2014

WHO voices confidence no wider spread of Ebola in Africa

The World Health Organization said on Thursday it was still trying to slow the rate of new infections but had "reasonable confidence" that the Ebola virus plaguing three West African countries had not spread into neighboring states.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 23, 2014

Rivalries growing with expansion of teams in Tohoku

Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the league's growth in Tohoku has been significant.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 23, 2014

New trade chief slapped by S&M scandal after only three days on job

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is saddled with another scandal after new trade chief Yoichi Miyazawa's staff admits paying a bill for u00a518,230 to a sadomasochism bar in Hiroshima.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 23, 2014

Gunman killed after shooting in Canadian Parliament; Harper safe

At least one gunman entered the Canadian Parliament buildings on Wednesday and many shots were fired just outside the room where Prime Minister Stephen Harper was addressing a meeting of legislators.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 22, 2014

Silver City: one man's dream of growing old in English

My friend dares to dream of a whole city for aged foreigners in Japan where everyone speaks the lingo.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 22, 2014

Daiwa closes convertible-bond principal trading desk in London

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. has closed its principal trading desk in London for convertible bonds as Japan's second-largest brokerage reviews the profitability of its operations abroad.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 22, 2014

Ebola raises airline bond risk, similar to SARS scare

The bond risk of ANA Holdings Inc. rose the most of any company in Japan as the spread of Ebola to two health workers in the U.S. rekindled memories of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2002 and 2003.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE KIDS' TABLE
Oct 21, 2014

Halloween barbecue site is an inferno for all the family

Looking for a way to indulge in the glorious fall weather and Halloween festivities, my 3-year-old daughter and I ventured out to meet one of her friends at Toyosu on Sunday afternoon.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2014

New ministers pledge no interruption to nuclear policy, female empowerment

On his first day in his new job, industry minister Yoichi Miyazawa said Tuesday he will soon be ready to visit communities near nuclear power plants, apparently pledging to maintain the momentum for reactor restarts.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 21, 2014

You say proto-this, I say post-that, let's call the whole thing 'skronk'

A famous quote of mysterious provenance (most likely the American actor and singer Martin Mull) has it that, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture," and anyone who has ever tried to write about music will know that language can be an inadequate tool.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Oct 21, 2014

Italy gives army troops a new job: grow cheap medical marijuana

Italy legalized marijuana for medical use last year, but the high cost of buying legal pot in a pharmacy meant few people signed up. Now, the government has found a solution: Get the army to grow it.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 21, 2014

Hong Kong court bans street occupations as police warn of 'riot'

Hong Kong's High Court issued an interim injunction banning protesters from occupying a road in the Mong Kok district as the police said assembly at the site may veer into "a riot."
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 20, 2014

China likely will never open all files on painful past, official says

China's ruling Communist Party will likely never open all the files on its recent painful past, including the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward, and sees no need to reassess those periods, a senior party historian said Monday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 20, 2014

Nigeria declared Ebola-free after containing virus

The World Health Organization declared Nigeria to be free of Ebola on Monday after a 42-day period with no new cases, in a success story with lessons for countries still struggling to contain the deadly virus.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 20, 2014

Abe's damage control may have been in time to ward off further woes

The relatively speedy fashion in which his two scandal-ridden ministers resigned may help Prime Minister Shinzo Abe weather the political storm he now faces.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2014

Women joining the top '1 percent'

A study by three economists concludes that economic inequality in America is becoming more gender neutral. In the early 1980s, women comprised at least 3 percent of the top 1 percent of wage earners. Now they're approaching 20 percent.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 20, 2014

Sidney Shapiro, famed U.S.-born translator and Chinese citizen, dies at 98

Sidney Shapiro, a famed U.S.-born translator who was one of the few Westerners to gain Chinese citizenship and become a member of a high-level parliamentary body, died over the weekend in Beijing, his granddaughter said. He was 98.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 18, 2014

Hideaki Anno: emotional deconstructionist

With dozens of the renowned filmmaker's works scheduled to be screened at the Tokyo International Film Festival over the next two weeks, we speak to the man behind the 'Evangelion' sci-fi franchise about his apocalyptic influences and prod him on the question that is on every fan's lips
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 18, 2014

A dark force targets youth at their jobs

In the ongoing discussion about workplace abuse, the media has advanced yet another new term. "Black baito" modifies the already popular phrase "black kigyō," which are companies that manipulate or ignore labor standards in order to get employees to work overtime without pay. "Baito" is an abbreviation...
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 18, 2014

The Abe conundrum and the pitfalls ahead

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a polarizing figure, lauded as the resolute leader Japan needs to revive its flagging fortunes and slammed for mishandling history issues in ways that undermine national interests.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Oct 18, 2014

Suicidal cells and the immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks

You may not have heard of Henrietta Lacks — an African-American woman from Baltimore who died of cervical cancer in 1951 — but you have benefited from her.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 18, 2014

If you'd nuked a city, you'd feel guilty too

The author T.C. Boyle in the preface to his book "Stories II" published last year made a convincing argument that runs counter to the conventional wisdom to "write what you know." Boyle said: "A story is an exercise of imagination — or, as Flannery O'Connor has it, an act of discovery."

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