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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 2, 2013

Complex tale told with great narrative facility

There is a bland, almost corporate flavor to the title of Khaled Hosseini's third book, suggesting a large but windy Afghan epic. Its narrative wares are clearly advertised in the book-jacket blurb to reassure his tens of millions of worldwide readers that they will be getting the brand they want.
Japan Times
WORLD / TICAD V SPECIAL
Jun 1, 2013

Japan to focus on public-private partnerships

Since the first Tokyo International Conference on African Development, known as TICAD, took place in 1993, Africa has developed dramatically.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 1, 2013

'Cosplay' summit's characters given life

The first group of official characters to represent this year's World Cosplay Summit was recently revealed. Every year, people from all over the world don costumes worn by their favorite "anime" or TV game characters while attending the event in Nagoya.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2013

'Oldboy' director casts dark shadow on Hollywood

“Stoker,” a film so rich and chocolatey with nuance and innuendo you could eat it with a spoon, is, amazingly, directed by a filmmaker who doesn't speak English.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2013

'Kuchizuke (Angel Home)'

The Japanese film industry loves medical melodramas, but not much ones with intellectually disabled characters.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2013

'Stoker'

Meet the Stoker family: wealthy, well-bred and seemingly isolated from the world. Mom Evie (Nicole Kidman) seems to have nothing more to do than weave elegantly around the house with a drink in her hand, looking fabulous. Dad Richard (Dermot Mulroney) is an architect who got his Ph.D at the age of 24....
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 31, 2013

Why it matters where our food comes from

The latest trend in fine dining has nothing to do with molecular gastronomy or pan-Latin fusion: Sustainability is the new order of the day. At the influential World's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in London last month, the organizers presented their first Sustainable Restaurant Award to Narisawa,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 31, 2013

'Kiseki (I Wish)'

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
CULTURE / Art / Japan Pulse
May 30, 2013

Tweet Beat: #真4, #ソクラテスの死, #キスの日

A new videogame, a fresh take on an old painting and kissing (timeless!) are among the top Twitter trends in Japan last week.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 30, 2013

After breakthrough covers, James Blake proud that 'Overgrown' belongs to him

For most, the passage from underground dubstep sensation to critically acclaimed, Bon Iver-collaborating, Kanye West-endorsed artist is the kind of career path you can only dream of.
WORLD / Society
May 30, 2013

Nearly 40% of U.S. moms are family breadwinners

In a trend accelerated by the recent recession and an increase in births to single mothers, nearly 4 in 10 families with children under the age of 18 are now headed by women who are the sole or primary breadwinners for their families, according to a report released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center....
JAPAN
May 30, 2013

Flak dooms handbook pushing motherhood

A government task force discussing measures to boost Japan's low birthrate has scrapped an idea to give young women handbooks informing them of certain medical facts — including those pertaining to infertility — faced by some women in their late 30s.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 30, 2013

Overhaul Japan's immigration laws to boost working women

By simply relaxing laws to let in foreign domestic workers, the Abe administration could give Japanese women who want to work a new option for child-care support.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2013

Four core 2008 Clinton staffers would pass on a 2016 bid

Howard Wolfson, the 2008 communications director for Hillary Rodham Clinton, has said he will not return for a 2016 presidential campaign. Neither, for that matter, will Neera Tanden, the campaign's policy director. Ditto for Mark Penn, the chief strategist, and Patti Solis Doyle, the embattled campaign...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 27, 2013

Sibling spy case spotlights North Korean defectors

Earlier this year, one of the most prominent North Korean defectors, Yoo Woo Sung, walked out of his apartment building in Seoul and found four South Korean government vehicles waiting for him.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2013

Why Obama can't win with some black critics

It is naive to expect President Barack Obama to introduce a 'black agenda' in a Congress filled with people who believe him to be a socialist destroying the country.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2013

Hold the false prophets of doom accountable

Apocalyptic prophecies and the raucous festivities accompanying them are indisputably alluring. But imaginary cataclysms have real-world consequences.
MORE SPORTS
May 26, 2013

Sato aiming to return Japan spikers to glory

The Japan Volleyball Association appointed 58-year-old Gary Sato as the men's national team head coach in February. Sato is a fourth-generation Japanese-American and is the first foreign volleyball coach for Japan, men or women.
LIFE
May 26, 2013

Whatever some say, there's no Japanese-language 'code' to be deciphered

Ever since Japan opened to the outside world in the middle of the 19th century after some 250 years of isolation imposed and enforced by its ruling shoguns, the Japanese language has been widely regarded as a kind of code.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
May 26, 2013

History shows one man's rape is another's wooing

"The evolution of political thought in this relatively isolated island nation during the period in question is unique to the point of being somewhat freakish."

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