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Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 26, 2018

For Nigel Farage and a Brexit pollster, a world of gamblers and gambling

Behind the luxury hotels lining London's Park Lane, just across from a service entrance, Nigel Farage stood outside a squat office building streaked with soot. Britain's famous anti-European Union campaigner was flanked by a couple of minor sports celebrities and two young women in matching dresses who...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2018

Nationalism doesn't have to be a dirty word

Like any political ideology, nationalism has many faces and some are beneficial and worthy of affirmation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2018

Apocalypse Trump may be upon us

With no one left in President Donald Trump's Cabinet who can restrain him, Americans and their allies are staring into the abyss that has been looming since the 2016 election.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2018

China would do well to remember its friends

By taking all the credit for the country's stunning economic rise, the Communist Party is threatening its continued prosperity.
JAPAN / History / Defining the Heisei Era
Dec 22, 2018

Defining the Heisei Era: When communication in Japan went mobile

The launch of a pager known as the Pocket Bell marked the birth of texting and mobile communications in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Dec 19, 2018

For me, 2018 was the year Japan began to listen

One day next year, and the year after that, someone will ask me in the course of a conversation why I decided to stay in Japan. I know this because it ranks among the top questions I'm asked — by Japanese and non-Japanese alike — since I arrived here back in 2004. And on the day I'm asked, my answer...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 18, 2018

Wondrous extinct flying pterosaurs sported rudimentary feathers, China fossil study reveals

A microscopic examination of fossils from China has revealed that the fur-like body covering of pterosaurs, the remarkable flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs, was actually made up of rudimentary feathers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 15, 2018

Spreading the word of the philosophers of nothingness

The Kyoto School of philosophy — which offers stimulating ideas, a distinctive critique of Western philosophy and applies a Western methodology to Japanese thought — represents Japan's greatest contribution to world philosophy in the 20th century.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2018

Biodiversity wins, even when all seems lost

Tiny frogs and lizards surviving in Haiti's last splinters of forest show that even the most devastated areas can be redeemed.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2018

Treat China like the bully it is

Canada would do well to remember that deference to Beijing invites bullying, while standing up to it draws respect.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2018

The strengthening case against Trump

The House of Representatives' incoming Democratic committee chairs insist that they have no interest in impeaching President Donald Trump, but as they continue to investigate his administration's wrongdoings, that outcome may become inevitable.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 11, 2018

2018 was the year in Japan that saw the stage sing, while contemporary drama barely made a squeak

Musicals have flourished in 2018, with many young stars also helping to sell out straight plays in which they appeared. However, the contemporary drama scene in Japan has been unusually quiet this year in terms of new works and writers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2018

More data exposing the U.S. income stagnation myth

Debate over wage growth must reflect solid realities, not politically convenient sound bites.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 10, 2018

Chinese police detain prominent Protestant 'house' church leaders and attendees in Chengdu

Police have detained dozens of churchgoers and leaders of one of China's most prominent Protestant "house" churches, congregation members and activists said, in the latest government action against unregistered religious groups.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Dec 10, 2018

Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei survived a famine. Can he weather Trump?

At the sprawling Huawei Technologies Co. campus in Shenzhen, the food court's walls are emblazoned with quotes from the company's billionaire founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei. Then there's the research lab that resembles the White House in Washington. Perhaps the most curious thing, though, are three black...
MORE SPORTS
Dec 7, 2018

George Foreman became business giant after boxing career

Third in a three-part series
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Dec 7, 2018

Race to the bottom? India plans deep dive for seabed minerals

In the 1870 Jules Verne classic "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," underwater explorer Captain Nemo predicted the mining of the ocean floor's mineral bounty: zinc, iron, silver and gold.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 4, 2018

A new immigration policy for Japan

Japan should focus on accepting highly skilled immigrants and leverage domestic resources to solve its shortage of unskilled labor.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 1, 2018

23 days later: Getting arrested in Japan

Freedom is easy to take for granted — at least until it is taken away from you without warning.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2018

From pivot to stumble in Asia

Chinese trade practices and territorial ambitions must be addressed at the international level, but Trump is botching the job
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 30, 2018

Enough poor children: Africans call for diversity in aid campaigns

Communities that benefit from aid want international charities to move beyond pictures of poor children and show a more balanced view of Africa, a study showed on Friday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 27, 2018

Japan's high stakes in climate action

Japan's stakes in a low carbon world economy is among the highest as it is on the front line of climate disasters and also a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 27, 2018

Constitutional referendum would unleash TV blitz never before seen in Japan

If Japan ever calls a referendum on whether to revise the postwar Constitution, it could spark a heated TV advertising war, akin to what the U.S. goes through for its presidential election campaigns.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Nov 25, 2018

Netflix anime welcomes the dark side

As manga artist Go Nagai celebrates the 50th anniversary of 'Shameless School,' first published in the debut edition of Shonen Jump magazine, Netflix releases his 'Devilman Crybaby' as an anime series.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Nov 25, 2018

Japan has a reputation for cleanliness — just don't look in our closets

The cleanliness of the Japanese is known worldwide. Thanks to the internet, videos of Japanese students cleaning their schools have gone viral, as well as a memorable clip of how the JR staff clean an entire shinkansen train in under seven minutes. The Japanese have further left their indelible mark...
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 23, 2018

Scared your DNA is exposed? Then share it, scientists suggest

A group of medical researchers have a counterintuitive proposal for shielding people's most intimate personal data from prying eyes.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2018

Brilliant Brexit plan gets a bad reception

Faced with the only possible withdrawal plan, all the party factions, like angry children, continue to demand the impossible.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 21, 2018

Trump hints at attending White House Correspondents' Dinner after news that main speaker won't be comedian

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Tuesday that it was a "good first step of a dying evening and tradition" for the White House Correspondents' Association to feature a historian, not a comedian, at its annual event to be held next spring.

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