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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...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2018

Crack down on sexual harassment in schools

It's time to close the loopholes that allow teachers who sexually harass students to remain in the education industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2018

The Beijing backlash begins

Trump's trade war with China shouldn't obscure a broader push-back against the country's mercantilist practices.
BUSINESS
Oct 4, 2018

As planet warms, China's drought losses predicted to soar into tens of billions of dollars

Economic losses caused by drought in China will rocket to tens of billions of dollars per year if global warming breaches the limits set by governments in a 2015 agreement to tackle climate change, scientists said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2018

Storm warning for the fossil fuel industry

This year's extreme weather will intensify political pressure on fossil fuel firms.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 30, 2018

The direction of education in Japan

Japan has the 6-3-3-4 education system — compulsory education of six years in elementary school and three years in junior high school. Students then commonly go on to three years in high school and four years in university.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Sep 29, 2018

At the Kyoto dorm that time forgot, Japanese students dig in

The reception area at Yoshida Dormitory, a 105-year-old student residency in Kyoto University, is reached via a short lane lined by tall gingko trees and rows of bicycles, some of which look like they have been stationary for as long it would take to complete a Ph.D. The classic wooden entrance is a...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 27, 2018

Countdown to Okinawa's critical election

The Okinawa gubernatorial election is an important one for the prefecture, for the central government, for the Japan-U.S. alliance and for the Indo-Pacific region as a whole.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2018

'Outrageous prejudice': Publisher suspends publication of Shincho 45 following furor in LGBT community

Shinchosha Publishing announced its Shincho 45 magazine will effectively fold after carrying articles that its president said contained “outrageous prejudice” against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 26, 2018

'Cafe Funiculi Funicula': Extra spoonfuls of sentimentality make this flick hard to swallow

An old-fashioned coffee house serves up a dash of mystery and a great dollop of sentiment in Ayuko Tsukahara's "Cafe Funiculi Funicula." Based on a pair of best-selling novels by playwright-turned-author Toshikazu Kawaguchi, this aggressively tear-jerky paean to life, death and past regrets plays like...

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