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COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2014

Mindless inventiveness for checkered legacies

To say that the late Ariel Sharon's eight-year-long coma had given Israel time to 'come to terms' with his checkered legacy is a cliche that deserves to be swept away.
WORLD
Jan 26, 2014

Former leader reignites simmering debate about his role in Iraq conflict

Tony Blair reignited the debate about the West's response to terrorism Sunday, with a call on governments to recognize that religious extremism has become the biggest source of conflict around the world.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 19, 2014

'Pilgrims' flock to site of death in Alaska's wilds

The old bus in which Chris McCandless died in 1992 in the interior of Alaska — made famous in Jon Krakauer's best-selling book "Into the Wild" and later in the Sean Penn film of the same name — long ago lost its windows to souvenir hunters.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 18, 2014

After Aum, post-9/11 lull, weeklies rediscover faith

March 20 will mark the 19th anniversary of the toxic nerve-gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by members of the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) doomsday cult. That attack, which shook Japanese society to its very foundations, resulted in 13 deaths and thousands of injuries. Thirteen high-ranking Aum...
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2014

Dodgy contracts cost ALTs

In the Jan. 3 article "Schools fret about assistant teachers ahead of proposed 2020 reforms," the principal of an elementary school praises an assistant language teacher for eating lunch with the children, and seems to imply that those who decline the "offer" to eat together are not the type of ALTs...
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2014

If only neighbors were customers

On a light note — without any reference to Yasukuni Shrine, the Senkaku islands, "Abenomics," school textbooks, history, etc. — I'd like to say that after living and working here for more than 17 years, I am always interested to discover a facet of the Japanese character that had been unknown to...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 13, 2014

Once veiled, French affairs feed tabloids

On Friday morning, I woke up as my usual French self. Then, from under the duvet, I reached for my smartphone and learned from Twitter that the French edition of Closer magazine had published pictures purportedly revealing an affair between President Francois Hollande and actress Julie Gayet. There had...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jan 12, 2014

No lack of ideas on a course of action for English education

Last week's Learning Curve column, "English fluency hopes rest on an education overhaul," looked at the persistent mismatch between the education ministry's stated goals and the actual outcomes of English language education in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jan 12, 2014

'Tiger mom' author stokes controversy with latest trope

Almost exactly three years ago, the Wall Street Journal published an excerpt from a book that remains its most commented article of all time. Under the fiery title, "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior," Yale law professor Amy Chua set out a manifesto for motherhood in proudly recounting her ironfisted...
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jan 8, 2014

Restore the shuttered-up New Year's of yore

First of all, I would like to wish a happy new year to all the readers of Labor Pains. While labor news has generally been a gloomy topic of late, it is my hope that this year will bring brighter things for me to write about.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 8, 2014

Masuzoe to run for Tokyo governor

Former health minister Yoichi Mau00adsuu00adzoe indicates he will run for Tokyo governor next month.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jan 4, 2014

Reform vows, Constitution to dog Abe in 2014

At the beginning of the new year, I would like to review the achievements of the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the challenges it faces in its second year on the economic and political fronts.
Reader Mail
Dec 25, 2013

Something worth passing down

Japan Times staff writer Reiji Yoshida has hit the nail right on the head in the Dec. 16 article, "Deceptive rice price reforms viewed as too late for industry," and in his co-authored article of the same date, "No country for small-time rice farmers."
LIFE / Digital
Dec 24, 2013

Even our Facebook 'grunts' could be monetized

As Mark Twain observed: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." And that was a long time before the Web. Which brings us to a meme that was propagating last week though social media. Its essence was an assertion that Facebook monitored — and stored — not...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 23, 2013

Secrets, lies, gaffes, glory: 2013 in quotes

A mix of scandals, achievements, political missteps and commemorations highlighted 2013. Here's a rundown of the quotations that shaped the Year of the Snake.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 22, 2013

Duty-free goods for foreign travelers

The government has started to consider that the list of duty-free articles, which foreign tourists can buy without paying consumption tax, should be expanded.
EDITORIALS
Dec 19, 2013

Defense buildup won't bring security

With the adoption of Japan's first comprehensive guideline for security policy and diplomacy, the Abe Cabinet appears to operate under the illusion that the use of force ultimately could resolve the difficult situation the nation finds itself in.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2013

Turkey playing 'orientalism' card against West

For many years, most Western journalists defended the Turkish government against the the suspicions of secular Turks who worried about radical Islamic or authoritarian agenda. But the liberal reforms stopped several years ago.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 16, 2013

Kyojima: Tokyo's epicenter of disaster risk?

Kyojima in eastern Tokyo is a perfect storm of natural-disaster risk, but while the metropolitan government is trying to get old people out, young people are moving in.
Reader Mail
Dec 11, 2013

An insane offset to a greedy tax

Regarding the Dec. 5 Kyodo article "Stimulus package to ease tax hike OK'd": If there was ever a more blatant plan to use power to embezzle money from the public purse than Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's insulting intention to ease the effects of taxation by proffering a stimulus package, then I have yet...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2013

Government without oversight

Even if the state secrets bill becomes a law, it will be important for people to continue grass-roots movements to oppose it and to prevent from being used to curb their right to know and to express their thought and opinions.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 3, 2013

Power shifting in the Pacific

If China continues to strengthen its influence, will Japan, on its own or in collaboration with Australia, help reinforce the U.S. politically and militarily in the Asia-Pacific region?
Reader Mail
Nov 27, 2013

Hopefully sensible heads prevail

With regard to the Nov. 25 article titled: "ADIZs common but China's is worrisome," I'd like to add my two pence worth.
Reader Mail
Nov 27, 2013

Germans back legal prostitution

Regarding the Nov. 23 article, "Germany is having second thoughts on legalized prostitution": I'm a German researcher and I was a co-organizer of the protest against Alice Schwarzer's recent event in Berlin.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 26, 2013

State secrecy bill could have a chilling effect on reporting

The state secrecy bill currently before the Diet could have a chilling effect on news reporting in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 9, 2013

Learning to revel in the odd with the Ig Nobel

"I noticed there was a suspicious-looking email in my in box with the subject 'Ig Nobel' and 'Congratulations.' At first I thought it was some kind of spam. I was going to disregard it, but then I recalled the famous Ig Nobel awards," relates Dr. Masanori Niimi of Teikyo University in Shukan Shincho...
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 3, 2013

This is the year of the typhoon

We have never had more taifū (台風, typhoon)-related news than we have had this year. Japan has had at least 28 typhoons so far in 2013 and the number is likely to surpass 30 — the first time this will have happened in 19 years.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan