Search - author

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 30, 2018

At death's door: The attraction of living in homes with ghastly pasts

Television sets inexplicably turn on and off. Visitors who enter his room complain of sudden migraines. Rapping sounds keep him awake at night, and psychics warn he is being stalked by ghostly apparitions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 29, 2018

Ignore the news and America seems pretty nice

Drive from coast to coast with the radio off and everybody seems to be getting along fine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 28, 2018

Trump's floundering North Korea strategy

After his summit with Kim, Trump announced an end to the nuclear threat. Since then, U.S. diplomacy hasn't yielded any tangible results other than planning another summit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 27, 2018

'Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window': Charming vignettes pay homage to an unconventional education

Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's 'Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window' became a runaway bestseller when it debuted in Japanese in 1981, and has since been translated into over 30 languages. With increasing awareness of the importance of catering to children with diverse needs in Japan's classrooms, Totto-chan's story is more relevant today than ever.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2018

Algorithms and charting the great unknown

Researchers tend to cluster and mine the same familiar territory. AI can overcome that tendency and point to new questions.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2018

Third Modi visit to Tokyo reflects deepening of Japan-India ties

Converging interests are drawing Tokyo and New Delhi closer, but obstacles must be overcome.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 25, 2018

Masaaki Yuasa: Anime for the discerning fan

Masaaki Yuasa is one of the most exciting directors working in Japanese animation today, with a three-decade career behind him. Yet until last year, you may not even have heard of him. Long the filmmaker of choice for discerning anime fans, the 53-year-old has had a significant profile boost over the...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2018

The end of America's China fantasy

Over the last couple of years, the China-policy debate in the US has begun to reflect more realism, with a growing number of voices recognizing China's ambition to supplant its American benefactor as the leading global superpower. But is it too late to rein in America's main geopolitical rival?
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2018

U.S. INF treaty pullout plays into Russia's hands

The world needs more arms control treaties, not less.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
Oct 21, 2018

Passion for interconnections merge with social initiatives

Playfully known as 'Salon de Melanie,' dinners at Australian consultant Melanie Brock's house are sought-after affairs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Oct 20, 2018

Life lessons from the master of noh Zeami

Stately, stylized noh arose from primitive, rollicking ancestors — sarugaku (monkey music) and dengaku (rural music). Two qualities in particular define it: yu016bgen (mystery) and monomane (imitation).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Oct 17, 2018

The empty seat on a crowded Japanese train: 10 years on, the 'gaijin seat' still grates

If you're a conspicuous non-Japanese living in the country, then you've likely experienced the empty-seat phenomenon with varying frequency and intensity.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2018

Oil and money — a combo that faces a cloudy future

The oil and gas industry remains one of the world's biggest and most complex. Yet it is also now becoming one of the world's shakiest.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2018

Japan must look beyond U.S. for stable economic and military future, says risk analyst Ian Bremmer

As the United States’ commitment to global leadership and principles grows ever more uncertain under President Donald Trump, Japan finds itself with little choice but to look beyond its closest ally to ensure economic and military security, according to analyst Ian Bremmer, the head of political risk...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2018

The cutting edge of Kyoto swordmaking

Showcasing 170 blades, 19 of which are National Treasures and 61 are Important Cultural Properties, 'Swords of Kyoto: Master Craftsmanship from an Elegant Culture' is the largest sword exhibition in the Kyoto National Museum's 120-year history.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 16, 2018

An AI wake-up call from ancient Greece

Those warning about artificial intelligence's dangers are right to invoke Pandora and her jar of miseries.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2018

How much do we know about Saudi Arabia?

The Khashoggi crisis is the first and probably the biggest test for Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman as a leader of Saudi Arabia.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / NEWS IN NIHONGO
Oct 15, 2018

Murakami says writing is what he can do for disaster victims

Haruki Murakami says that writing good stories is the best he can do for victims of terrorist attacks and natural disasters.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Oct 15, 2018

Developing-world cities could make or break 1.5 C warming target, scientists say in key U.N. report

The future that fast-growing cities in South Asia and Africa choose — cleaner and safer, or dirtier and more dangerous — will be pivotal to efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, scientists said in a key U.N. report last week.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 13, 2018

Eternal saints: The art of self-preservation

Examining the extreme ritual behind the monks who spent years turning themselves into mummies while they were alive
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Oct 13, 2018

Italy's first sushi chef on risk, reward and personal sacrifice

Minoru 'Shiro' Hirasawa served the country's first sushi over 40 years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 13, 2018

Mountain High: Junko Tabei's adventures at the top of the world

Junko Tabei was a pioneering alpinist who dramatically changed the landscape of mountaineering around the world. Previously available only in Japanese, excerpts of her writing have been translated and compiled into 'Honouring High Places,' a beautifully illustrated retrospective.
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Oct 13, 2018

Kenzaburo Oe's 'Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness': Reflections on father-son relationships

In Oe's 'Teach Us to Outgrow Our Madness,' the lifelong sense of obsession and profound sense of guilt engendered within his own familial history finds acute literary expression.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Oct 10, 2018

Japan demonstrates how too many rules can ruin governance

Culture of over-regulation helps explain the country's persistent problem with data falsification.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2018

Why Banksy's art stunt is economic genius

His shredding trick demonstrates the street artist's talent for exploring the ways in which people value art.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 6, 2018

'Anthony Bourdain's Hungry Ghosts': Deliciously sinister, beautifully illustrated supernatural tales

Hard-boiled, multifaceted writer Joel Rose paired up with the late Anthony Bourdain to pen 'Anthony Bourdain's Hungry Ghosts,' an illustrated collection of fright and food evoking the Japanese kaidan (ghost story) tradition.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2018

Moralizing, demonizing and common sense at the U.N.

In a week of speeches that swirled from the sublime to the ridiculous or were simply just boring, the recent United Nations General Assembly debate reached some notable exceptions. Among the sonorous drone of 193 addresses, either restating the obvious or repeating by rote the contemporary global mantra...
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 5, 2018

Scientists urge global doomsday vault for 'good' germs

As the world's microbial diversity is decimated by antibiotics, processed food, filtered water and other wonders of modern life, researchers are proposing the creation of a global microbiota vault to protect the long-term health of humanity.
EDITORIALS
Oct 4, 2018

Goodbye NAFTA, hello USMCA

After more than a year of intense negotiations, Canada, Mexico and the United States have agreed on a trilateral trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, a nearly 25-year-old pact that has been excoriated by U.S. President Donald Trump as the "worst trade deal ever." While the leaders...

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami