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COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2013

Address shows Obama is playing make-believe

There was a make-believe quality to U.S. President Barack Obama's second inaugural address, as if all that's required to solve serious problems are the intelligence to produce proper policies and the political grit to get them approved. Perish the thought that there are deep conflicts among the things...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 25, 2013

'Minasan, Sayonara (See You Tomorrow, Everyone)'

Those directors who return to the same theme over and over commonly use the same actor to embody it. Akira Kurosawa cast Toshiro Mifune as the intense hero in film after film about masculine, if not always traditionally macho, heroism. Juzo Itami starred wife Nobuko Miyamoto as the tough cookie taking...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2013

Obama's quest for greatness

Barack Obama's quest to achieve presidential 'greatness' will probably be denied because none of America's problems rises to the level of mortal peril.
ENVIRONMENT
Jan 23, 2013

African elephant slaughter may turn up heat on Thailand's illicit ivory trade

It was a professional hit, the quick and ruthless slaying of a family of 12. Poachers with machetes hacked off the tusks of 11 African elephants on Jan. 5 in a Kenyan reserve, passing over a baby that was crushed by its mother after a gunshot felled her.
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2013

Men to decide the demographics

Regarding the Jan. 19 editorial "Revitalizing rural Japan": The depopulation of Japan is a cultural/social problem caused by the Japanese male. Let's face it, Japanese women don't want to marry a man who looks down on them, treats them with disrespect and tells them they should do only as they're told....
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2013

'Flyjin' demonstrated a reality

There is an old rule about judging people by their actions: Don't generalize. Generalizing may allow you to sound funny at first, but on second take, you may appear completely off the mark. Consider Emmanuelle Bodin (subject of the Jan. 16 article "Frenchwoman fired for leaving Japan during 3/11 nuclear...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2013

Chavez will haunt Venezuela's future

Hugo Chavez may die in time to shift the blame for Venezuela's social and economic disasters onto his successors, and to go on haunting the country.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 23, 2013

"Two Photographers: Robert Capa Centennial/ Gerda Taro Retrospective"

Robert Capa (born Endre Ernö Friedman) was a photojournalist known for his documentation of the brutal horrors of war. He often risked his life by taking action shots on the frontline, but he also focused on ordinary locals affected by the instabilities of war.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 23, 2013

Alabama Shakes tap the roots of Southern blues-rock

Here's a question: what do Russell Crowe, Robert Plant, Jack White and David Byrne all have in common?
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2013
Jan 23, 2013

Managing the Japan-China Row

At a time when official Japan-China dialogue has come to a standstill over conflicting territorial claims, the Tokyo Foundation hosted an important Track 2 meeting of foreign policy experts from Japan, China, and the U.S.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2013
Jan 23, 2013

Lack of diversity hurts Japan: Saito

William H. Saito, who moved to Tokyo from California eight years ago, has had some splendid achievements in his 41 years of life so far.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2013

Woman's tragedy speaks to Indian aspirations

It's common these days for people to compare India with China and conclude that maybe democracy isn't all it's cracked up to be.
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Jan 23, 2013

Point-and-shoot cameras that focus on quality

Casio's current flagship Exilim point-and-shoot camera, the EX-ZR1000, is an intriguing offering that targets users who want to be able to capture life's special moments quickly and in high quality.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 23, 2013

Garnett an enigma despite unquestioned greatness

So why are so many people applauding a guy who makes fun of cancer patients, calls other men's wives sluts and punches opponents in the groin?
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 23, 2013

Tellem's take: Matsui a special person

Arn Tellem is considered one of the most prominent agents in the sports world. He represented former Yomiuri Giants star Hideki Matsui during his entire 10-year career in the major leagues. Here he shares his thoughts on the Ishikawa native in an exclusive piece for The Japan Times.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jan 23, 2013

New Osaka coach Cartwright brings major credibility

"I remember when I was in college, people told me I couldn't play in the NBA. There's always somebody saying you can't do it, and those people have to be ignored."
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2013

7 JGC workers in Algeria confirmed dead; three still missing

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in an emergency meeting late Monday night, announced that Tokyo has confirmed the deaths of seven Japanese workers, killed during hostage crisis at a natural gas complex in Algeria.
JAPAN
Jan 22, 2013

Cut state funding to terminal patients so they "can die quickly": Aso

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso caused a stir Monday in talks on social security reforms when he said the medical system should be changed so that the many terminal patients now using "government money" for expensive treatment "can quickly pass away."
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 22, 2013

The blunt, blue-blooded Aso is back

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may be the face of the new government led by Liberal Democratic Party, but Finance Minister Taro Aso is also a force in the LDP to be reckoned with.
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2013

The problem of power harassment

One in four workers in Japan experienced power harassment over the past three years, according to a recent survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. The poll of 4,580 companies with 30 or more employees, conducted between July and September of 2012, also found that 45.2 percent of the surveyed...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2013

'Abenomics' out of the gate

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would do well to consult professor Noriko Hama of Doshisha University. Asked by The Japan Times what the country needs, she replied in feisty fashion: "The three things Japan should do in 2013 are raise wages, raise interest rates — and cut the crap."
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 22, 2013

Kada steps down as leader of Nippon Mirai, takes adviser role

Shiga Gov. Yukiko Kada was named a policy adviser to Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) Sunday, ending her official leadership role with the ill-fated party she founded in late November for December's Lower House election.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 21, 2013

Lethal threat to bats spreads south in U.S.

In the dead of winter, bats should be in a deep sleep. But at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, they are out and about, flying erratically in many cases, acting crazy. Out of nowhere, they have launched their mouse-size bodies at unsuspecting visitors, forcing people to shoo them off with fishing...
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2013

German gun owners quiet as national firearms registry starts

Imagine a vast registry that details every legal gun owner in the country, along with information about all of their firearms.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person