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JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 17, 2013

Japan needs to humor its old teacher: China

Is it true, as the American philosopher George Santayana famously remarked just over a century ago, that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"? If it is, is the reverse necessarily false? Imagine he had said — his eye, for example, on the current discord between Japan and...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 12, 2013

Keep reading and add warmth to a room with books

I have noticed over the years that every so often magazines (and now blogs) feature beautiful spreads of book-filled rooms, with headlines like "Living With Books" or "The Pages of Our Lives." Usually the images feature poetic, far-off places where leather volumes fill 4.5-meter-tall, wood-paneled...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 10, 2013

Embrace the DNA that makes you a mongrel

This month, we celebrate the mongrel, a word that means different things to different people. For some, it may bring to mind nonpedigree dogs, mutts that don't belong to a specific breed; in Japanese, the word is daken, which has the definite negative connotation of a 'skulking cur.'
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2013

The pope of Japanese finance

As with the deliberations at the Vatican, politics — not doctrinal debate — underpins the decision-making process for the next Bank of Japan governor.
WORLD
Mar 4, 2013

Research into gays emerges from shadows

Just a few salient facts are known about the Americans whose lives might be changed by a Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage expected this summer.
Reader Mail
Mar 3, 2013

Skip the reference to James Bond

The Feb. 28 Kyodo/AFP article "125,000 lethal doses of sodium cyanide leaked in Iwate" mentions writer Ian Fleming's fictional secret agents who were issued cyanide capsules to kill themselves if they were captured. Referring to James Bond in an incident that endangered the lives of thousands of people...
CULTURE / Film
Mar 1, 2013

Inequity of slavery reaps vengeance in 'Django'

Quentin Tarantino, whose film plots are often fueled by a mania for vengeance, has struck again with the Oscar-winning “Django Unchained.”
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2013

Today's take on Stalingrad

In one of Moscow's central subway stations — Arbatskaya — the escalator leading up to the city exit ends in a spacious vestibule. On the front wall, a classic frame several meters high is covered with white plaster. It bears no image, and the white paint must be regularly renewed to avoid ugly cracks....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 26, 2013

Everything you wanted to know about Western women (but were afraid to ask): No-holds-barred guide targets Japanese men

Here's an open secret: Japanese men have a bad international reputation on the romance front.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2013

For China's Catholics, new pope is a cause for hope

Of the long list of problems the next pope will inherit once the white smoke rises in Rome, few on the diplomatic front can rival the bitter, intractable relationship between the Vatican and the Chinese government.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2013

Who is the real John McCain?

John McCain was excited. It was late January, and the following day, he and a group of bipartisan senators were set to announce their framework for comprehensive immigration reform. He picked up the phone and called an old friend in Arizona.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 24, 2013

Golden Kings show guts in hard-nosed win over Phoenix

Rebounding is all about desire, technique, hustle and even a few lucky bounces here and there.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2013

Raising the Senkaku stakes?

One question that typically has received little attention in the Japan-China dispute over the Senkaku Islands is, what's in it for the parties involved?
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 19, 2013

Sewing words for thought

Some words can evoke powerful images, values and stereotypes that have crept into our subconsciousness to sometimes dictate the way we think or behave. For Ruri Clarkson, this is something that needs to be challenged in Japan, and which she does herself with art.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: FASHION
Feb 19, 2013

Mastermind moves on, American Apparel is at home in Japan and Primitive London takes a trip to Tokyo

It's a bittersweet finale for the famed Japanese fashion brand Mastermind, as it officially ends its 15-year run with the release of its 2013 spring/summer — and final — collection.
Japan Times
JAPAN / INTERPRETATION & TRANSLATION
Feb 18, 2013

Making a living using foreign language skills

What would it be like to make a living using foreign language skills as a freelance professional? Missa Takahashi, an interpreter and translator of English, French and Italian, shares how she established her career, expanded her work and deepened her understanding of language and culture.
LIFE / Digital
Feb 13, 2013

Streams of consciousness will kill off websites

The communications theorist Marshall McLuhan observed that "we look at the present through a rear-view mirror." And that "we march backwards into the future." Amen. Remember the horseless carriage? Not to mention the fact that we still measure the oomph of a Porsche 911 in, er, brake horsepower.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Feb 10, 2013

Fugu reveals its simple gender switch

It's the most celebrated and notorious fish in the world, certainly in culinary circles. Now the puffer fish — one of Japan's most enigmatic creatures — meets some of biology's deepest questions: Why did sex evolve? Why are there two sexes? Why is the male sex chromosome such a puny little thing?...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 5, 2013

No winners in a conflict over the Senkaku Islands

The U.S. and Japan, despite domestic uncertainties, had better consider how they'll react if the Senkaku Islands start a military conflict with China.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2013

Cameron lost in channel fog

In his speech demanding a new deal for Britain in the EU, British Prime Minister David Cameron sought a popular political fix to quiet his rightwing rebels.
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2013

A Western woman's perspective

Denny Pollard, in his Jan. 24 letter, "Men to decide the demographics," states that "Japanese women don't want to marry a man who looks down on them, treats them with disrespect and tells them they should only do as they're told."
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2013

Mr. Abe's strategy

A s the 150-day ordinary Diet session kicked off Monday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered his first policy speech since becoming prime minister following the Liberal Democratic Party's victory in the Dec. 16 Lower House election. He said Japan is facing crises with regard to the economy, damage from...
JAPAN
Jan 25, 2013

Noted scholar Kyoko Iriye Selden dies in U.S.

Kyoko Iriye Selden, a scholar and teacher at Cornell University, died in Ithaca, New York, on Sunday at the age of 76 after contracting pneumonia.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 25, 2013

I still haven't found what I'm looking for ...

Thinking about Google over the last week, I have fallen into the typically procrastinatory habit of every so often typing the words "what is" or "what" or "wha" into the Google search box at the top right of my computer screen. Those prompts are all the omnipotent engine needs to inform me of the current...
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.
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.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji