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COMMENTARY / World / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
May 4, 2016

The complexities of 'they' versus 'xe/him/xir'

The long search to find a way to refer to people in English without relying on gender won't be ending anytime soon.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 21, 2015

Three cases of whine offer lessons in how not to criticize Japan

Novelist John Updike famously declared America to be "a conspiracy to make you happy." I wonder sometimes if Japan is, then, a conspiracy to make you unhappy? Or, if not exactly unhappy, how about uncomfortable, exasperated or confused?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 15, 2015

The Abe government versus the Emperor on history issues

Shinzo Abe and the Foreign Ministry have been mincing words when it comes to Japan's war responsibility, in stark contrast with Emperor Akihito's forthright statements of remorse and apology.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2015

What if the 2008 crisis comes around again?

The obstacles to effective remedies for a major economic crisis would be formidable, but more political than economic.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2015

Behavioral science's take on the Iran debate

'Loss aversion,' the ideal that people dislike losses a lot more than they like equivalent gains, can badly confuse political debate — such as that on the Iran nuclear deal.
EDITORIALS
Jul 30, 2015

Upper House vote reform falls short

The recent changes to the Upper House districts fall far short of addressing in a meaningful way the disparity in vote values.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 29, 2015

With possible 'Grexit,' Merkel fears 'blowing up Europe' for third time

"If you break it, you own it," former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned President George W. Bush before his invasion of Iraq.
EDITORIALS
Jun 2, 2015

Abe can't duck history issue

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must realize that his perception of Japan's wars in the 1930s and 1940s is an issue that cannot be skirted if ties with China and South Korea are to be improved.
JAPAN
Mar 27, 2015

School kids weak at filtering data to produce own conclusions: study

The nation's primary and junior high school students lack the skills to sift through and link information from multiple sources to solve problems, even though they can easily understand spoon-fed, pre-filtered information, a government study has found.
EDITORIALS
Mar 21, 2015

Appalling surgical negligence

Gunma University Hospital's final report on the death of eight patients following laparoscopic liver surgery gives an appalling picture of what happened at the institution.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 27, 2015

Video artist Duncan Campbell sees between the lines

When Irish artist Duncan Campbell won the Turner Prize last December, it was met with both high praise and criticism, as often happens with the notoriously controversial event. But perhaps such a difference in perception is appropriate.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2014

What global warming? Pass me a blanket

Unfortunately for proponents of climate change, people subconsciously use the current local temperature as a clue to whether global temperatures are increasing.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 23, 2014

To appear or not to appear on Japanese TV . . .

If you're in Japan long enough, you're bound to get the opportunity to appear on Japanese TV. But you might want to think twice before you make the leap to 'TV gaijin.'
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jul 22, 2014

Ronaldo expects extraordinary success for Real Madrid in upcoming season

Cristiano Ronaldo says his injury problems are behind him. Now the Portuguese superstar intends to get back to the business of winning everything in sight with soccer superpower Real Madrid.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 19, 2014

If chimps inherit their intelligence, does that prove humans do, too?

Some people are smarter than others. And though animal intelligence is far less well studied, it turns out that within a particular population, say of chimpanzees, some animals are smarter than others, too — and these differences are heritable. To put it another way, some chimps' mothers are smarter...
WORLD / Politics
Feb 22, 2014

Noam Chomsky: Truth to power

Often dubbed one of the world's most important intellectuals and its leading public dissident, Noam Chomsky was for years among the top 10 most quoted academics on the planet, edged out only by William Shakespeare, Karl Marx, Aristotle.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2014

China makes sure Putin knows who his friends are

The scale of a Chinese reporter's pained obsequiousness in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi last week was a visible reminder of just how important Russia has become to Chinese policymakers, and how few risks the Chinese media will take in covering the country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Jan 16, 2014

Japan's mobile apps provide an 'A' for every 'Q'

Question and answer sites have for a decade been one of the most popular user-contributed services on the Web — and Japan is no exception. On the traditional Web, the market has been occupied by a few big players, but the recent popularity of smartphones has attracted new startups to the mobile Web...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jan 10, 2014

Teachers must nurture critical thinking, confidence in English for a shot at 2020 goals

Until English teachers start developing critical thinking skills in the classroom and emphasizing confidence over competence, students will never be able to converse with native English speakers 'at a viable level of proficiency.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / GERMAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Jan 3, 2014

Germany's role in EU divides bloc

Does Germany hurt or help Europe?
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 25, 2013

Snowden declares his mission accomplished

In a candid interview, NSA leaker Edward Snowden breaks his silence on surveillance, democracy and the meaning of the top-secret documents he exposed, and says his mission is 'already accomplished.'
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 15, 2013

Linguists, like, totally clue us in on 'Valley Girl talk'?

Amanda Ritchart is a native speaker of Southern Californian English, the dialect also known as "Valley Girl talk" — you know, the one that's, like, totally full of the word "like."
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Nov 24, 2013

Secrets bill raises fears among nuclear foes

In late 2005, U.S. government officials, invited by Japan, observed a counterterrorism drill at the Mihama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture and came away worried about the security situation at the complex.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 6, 2013

Science's great unknowns: 20 unsolved questions

What is the universe made of? Astronomers face an embarrassing conundrum: they don't know what 95 percent of the universe is made of. Atoms, which form everything we see around us, only account for a measly 5 percent. Over the past 80 years it has become clear that the substantial remainder is comprised...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 17, 2013

Japan's China imperative: overcoming problems, repairing relations

There is speculation that quiet diplomacy may lead to a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and China's President Xi Jinping. Certainly there are good reasons to expect no meeting of minds on some crucial issues that divide the two nations, but these need not prevent their leaders sitting down together...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 4, 2013

NSA leaks allow Wyden chance at privacy debate

It was one of the strangest personal crusades on Capitol Hill: For years, Sen. Ron Wyden said he was worried that intelligence agencies were violating Americans' privacy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 31, 2013

Can low-nicotine smokes end addiction?

Beverly Anusionwu, a smoker for three decades who favors Maverick menthols, was enticed to the small lab inside the University of Pittsburgh's psychology department by an ad promising free cigarettes and a few bucks for her time.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 25, 2013

With planets easy to find, astronomer sets sights on alien spacecraft

In the field of planet hunting, Geoff Marcy is a star. After all, the astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley found nearly three-quarters of the first 100 planets discovered outside our solar system. But with the hobbled planet-hunting Kepler telescope having just about reached the end of...
BUSINESS / Economy / GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS SYMPOSIUM
Jun 28, 2013

Massive data can aid competitiveness if properly harnessed

Big data can be a new tool of corporate competitiveness that offers vast business opportunities, but proper use and analysis of the massive volume of data will require new sets of skills and mind-sets on the part of management, said Phillip Leslie, an associate professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management....

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell