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Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 22, 2013

Vetting firms 'rush' through security clearances

When Ileana Privetera started working for the contractor USIS, the firm that vetted National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and Washington Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis, it sounded like the perfect job. A mother, she would have flexible hours for her family, and she would be helping the country...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 22, 2013

Rajan's war on inflation puts onus on Singh

Indian central bank chief Raghuram Rajan's surprise move to raise the policy interest rate adds pressure on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take politically challenging steps to boost economic growth as elections near.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 21, 2013

Upgrading from four wheels to two or three

Careening through the winding streets of Chennai, India, in the back of black and yellow auto-rickshaws, I am always amazed by the drivers' audacity — or perhaps a better term would be "death wish." These are the subcontinent's equivalent of New York's exuberant cabbies, but these drivers are much...
Reader Mail
Sep 21, 2013

Yokota reminiscent of Futenma

Regarding the Sept. 16 article "Inose revives push to let civilian airliners use Yokota air base": The aerial photo accompanying the article shows that Yokota Air Base looks exactly like Futenma Air Station on Okinawa. Both foreign bases are located in densely populated residential areas.
Reader Mail
Sep 21, 2013

Tokyo needs better accessibility

Regarding the selection of Tokyo as the host of the 2020 Olympics: A lot of Japanese rejoiced to hear that Japan was selected to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. While the mass media is highly likely to focus on facilities in which the games are supposed to be held, I think that a lot of...
Reader Mail
Sep 21, 2013

Are Japanese minds closing?

Japan's science and technology universities, including all engineering departments, should heed what the president of Shiga University, Takamitsu Sawa, had to say about the critical link between innovations in manufacturing and the humanities. Creativity takes inspiration from the heart as well as the...
Reader Mail
Sep 21, 2013

Education costs influence majors

Regarding Takamitsu Sawa's Sept. 17 commentary "Lack of liberal arts education is sapping Japan's creativity": What Sawa is talking about is the difference between education and training. Although they overlap, they are not the same. Nevertheless, universities are increasingly being ranked on their graduates'...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 21, 2013

Amateur sleuths pursue callous California killers

In "You Only Live Twice" (1964), the 12th in Ian Fleming's series of James Bond novels, a perplexed Tiger Tanaka, MI5's Japanese secret police liaison, informs 007 he was unaware that ninjas still existed.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 21, 2013

Savvy pope wooing the Catholic middle

On Thursday, Pope Francis said in a historic interview that the Catholic Church talks too much about abortion. The following day, he gave his most forceful anti-abortion comments to date. What's the strategy here?
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2013

Handset makers brace for turbulence

With all three of Japan's top telecoms firms selling the iPhone, industry observers say handset makers are in for tough times.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2013

Abe mum on plan for contaminated water crisis

On his second tour of Fukushima No. 1, Prime Minister Abe recycles his 'under control' claims from Buenos Aires, requests a deadline for filtering the radioactive water and urges the decommissioning of units 5 and 6.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Sep 19, 2013

Sony, Microsoft to square off at Tokyo Game Show

In Japan, the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) is gaming's main event. This year, heavyweights Sony and Microsoft are set to square off at Chiba's Makuhari Messe convention center with brand new consoles in tow. Who will come out on top?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 19, 2013

Finding forgiveness: Japan reworks a Western classic

Clint Eastwood's 1992 Academy Award winner “Unforgiven” has undergone a Japanese remake. “Yurusarezaru Mono” is loyal to Eastwood's classic Western but adds a pulsating core of Japanese-ness.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 19, 2013

Shakunage: Moongazing over kaiseki in the heart of Ginza

The moon is magical in any phase, but it's never more beautiful than the first full moon of autumn. Some people go out to gaze at temples or teahouses; others from hillsides or seashores. But few would think of heading into central Tokyo ...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 19, 2013

You are where you eat: McDonald's Japan sets prices by region

McDonald's has found that it won't lose customers if it raises prices.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 19, 2013

Syrian crisis exposes Obama's frayed ties with U.S. military

The Syrian crisis over the past few weeks has thrust President Barack Obama into a role in which at times he has seemed uneasy: that of commander in chief.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 18, 2013

Nihonga: without the hand over the eye

At its essential level, art is a battle between the eye and the hand; the first representing sensory input, the second artistic habit and convention. When the hand outweighs the eye, art can become over-stylized, clichéd, and eventually dead. Asian art has been particularly prone to this; with young...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2013

Brace for another 'Afghanistan'

A military showdown over Syria has been averted for now but the proxy war that pits the United States and its allies against Russia is set to intensify.
Reader Mail
Sep 18, 2013

When is a tattoo permissible?

Regarding the Sept. 15 article "Tattooed Maori barred by bath in Hokkaido": I have mixed feelings. I suppose that the difference of perception and mind-set regarding tattoos between Japanese and others is so great that such incidents will occur more frequently as the Olympics approaches.
Reader Mail
Sep 18, 2013

Much ado over a single cartoon

Regarding the Sept. 13 article "Japan to protest Fukushima-Olympics cartoons in French weekly": One — count it, one! — cartoon in a French satirical periodical makes the Japanese government cry "shame." This from the same government that denies Japan's World War II atrocities such as the enslavement...
CULTURE / Music
Sep 18, 2013

Various artists "Tanukineiri Drink Sampler"

It's getting harder to listen to netlabel-released albums in one sitting recently. Electronic-music compilation series "Fogpak" recently put out a collection featuring 48 different artists (should we call the Guinness people?). Now Tanukineiri Records has popped out "Tanukineiri Drink Sampler" — 90...
Reader Mail
Sep 18, 2013

U.S. makes world more dangerous

Regarding the Sept. 15 article "U.S. arsenal offers lesson in chemical arms disposal": I've been waiting a long time to see a story like this because it reminds us that America has its own chemical weapons, too. I already knew it, but it is important to see it in print as an educational tool for Americans...
Reader Mail
Sep 18, 2013

Japanese men hard to change

Regarding the article titled "Seeking to change men's mind-sets to spur on prosperity for all Japanese" in the Sept. 11 "Summer Davos" Special supplement: Changing men's mind-sets, in Japan? What sort of quixotic nonsense is this? If it ain't broke, don't fix it and most Japanese men are very happy with...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2013

India envoy stresses Japan's stature

India's special envoy to Japan said Wednesday the world's second-most-populous country is ready to make the visit by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in November successful and bilateral ties stronger.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Sep 18, 2013

For world, U.S. gun violence is new norm

Jimmy Davis, a 41-year-old London disc jockey, was saddened when he heard about the latest mass shooting in the United States. But like much of the world after the attack Monday at Washington's Navy Yard, he was no longer shocked.
JAPAN
Sep 18, 2013

Hiring more women seen as answer to economic malaise

Imagine our current discussions about women and the workplace — Can women have it all? How do women lean in? — taking place in a country with one of the worst gender-equality ratios in the world.

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped