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JAPAN / Society
Nov 30, 2015

City assembly member in hot water over discriminatory tweets about same-sex marriage

Municipal assembly leaders in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture, issue a warning to a 71-year-old assemblyman over discriminatory remarks about gay marriage.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 17, 2015

Few clues about radicalization in hunt for 'ghostlike' alleged mastermind of Paris attacks

French investigators think they know who masterminded the deadliest terrorist assault in peacetime France: Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 20-something Belgian who joined the ranks of the Islamic State group a few years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2015

Ryosuke Hashiguchi's inspired drama about love and loss

Watching recent Japanese films, I often have the feeling that their makers need an imagination injection, or simply need to get out more. It's not just that few, especially at the commercial end of the spectrum, work from original scripts. Plenty of great movies are adapted from other media.
Reader Mail
Nov 6, 2015

The refugee crisis: What about Japan?

Regarding the article "UNICEF chief urges Japan to open its doors to more refugees" in the Oct. 19 edition, if the Japanese are truly "very good global citizens," as UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake says, surely my fellow countrymen would agree with Lake's appeal? After all, the refugee crisis...
WORLD / Politics
Nov 5, 2015

Malaysia government to tell assembly about funds, critics see dodge

Malaysia's government said on Thursday it would answer questions about millions of dollars found in the prime minister's bank accounts, but only on the last day of parliament next month, which critics decried as a tactic to dodge a grilling.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2015

Nothing harmless about Putin's new 'Moscowteers'

Across Europe, apologists for Russia and Russian policy have coalesced into what amounts to a fifth column.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 26, 2015

Thinking about the difference between 'omou' and 'kangaeru'

Introduce the two verbs u304au3082u3046 and u304bu3093u304cu3048u308b, which mean 'to think.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 17, 2015

Fired up about Gifu's pottery industry

Toki, a small town in Gifu Prefecture, 37 km from Nagoya, sits above a huge clay basin. Pottery has been made here since ancient times.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2015

In an about face, JCP says it would support Japan-U.S. military pact in some scenarios

The Japanese Communist Party, which has long regarded the United States as its sworn enemy, has made what appears to be a historic change of its policy stance — at least for now.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2015

Grand jury charges Fox News guest terror analyst with lying about working for CIA

A Fox News guest terrorism analyst was arrested on Thursday after a grand jury indicted him on charges of falsely claiming to have been a CIA agent for decades, U.S. prosecutors said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 3, 2015

Don't be green about the charm of tatami

When we were thinking of buying a condominium, we visited several old danchi — apartments built by Japan's former public housing corporation — because they were cheap and, we thought, easy to renovate. One of the units we inspected had bedroom floors made of tatami mats, and we wondered if we could...
CULTURE / Music
Oct 2, 2015

m-flo's Taku Takahashi talks about Japan's music scene, K-pop and that controversial tweet

Taku Takahashi wants you to know, he's a positive person.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2015

How Japan's devastating rainstorm came about

Torrential rain that caused flooding and the evacuations of tens of thousands of people across the Kanto region on Thursday was the result of a mass of humid air unable to escape the area, a pileup of thunderclouds — and possibly climate change, experts said.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2015

Cameron is right about how to take in refugees

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has taken a battering over his handling of Europe's refugee crisis, but his new approach is the right one.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2015

Will he, won't he? Osaka Mayor Hashimoto keeps public guessing about future role in politics

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto continues to fuel speculation that his political career will not end in November and that he might end up as an outside adviser to, or even a non-elected member of, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet by the end of the year.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 9, 2015

In qualified about-face, Clinton apologizes for email practices

After resisting giving an unqualified apology for using a private email server during her time as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton conceded Tuesday that she was sorry.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Aug 30, 2015

Should SEALDs student activists worry about not getting hired?

Japanese labor law effectively allows companies to discriminate against prospective employees based on their beliefs.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Aug 30, 2015

I've often thought about your doppelganger, but have you?

Have you considered that maybe your double lives in Japan? And that you might meet them someday?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 22, 2015

Chie Suzuki: 'I'm always thinking about what to make next'

Wooden clog designer on ukiyo-e, cats and sushi
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 3, 2015

Abe adviser retracts remarks about security bills' constitutionality, vows not to resign

A key adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe retracts his remarks downplaying the need for the national security bills in the Upper House to be consistent with the Constitution.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?