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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 25, 2015

An unrelenting depiction of Polish-Romany poet Bronislawa Wajs' merciless world

"Papusza" is a fascinating if bleak portrait of Polish-Romany poet Bronislawa Wajs, better known by her Roma — or Gypsy — name Papusza ("doll"). It's a decidedly unromantic look at Roma life, covering the 1940s and '50s, which saw two-thirds of Poland's Roma community massacred by the Nazis and the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 25, 2015

A stable Afghanistan crucial to region: Pakistan diplomat

Visiting Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry stressed Wednesday that stability in neighboring Afghanistan is critical to peace in South Asia and called on the international community for continuous economic commitment to the war-torn country.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Mar 25, 2015

Japan sees progress on sexual harassment, but some still don't get it

On the one hand we have the legal framework to tackle sexual harassment. On the other, awareness of the issue remains sorely lacking.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 25, 2015

Frenemies, screenagers, kidults — kondo your English with these trending terms

How up-to-date is your English vocabulary? New words reflect a changing society and, as a result, new words are coined every day. Reading English newspapers and media from around the world can help you keep up with the changes. Here are some words I picked up recently on my travels.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 25, 2015

Indian doctors find success in tackling hidden burden of TB

When Indian street-food seller Kumar Pal first began treatment for multidrug resistant tuberculosis two years ago, he quickly spiralled into depression and gave up hope of living.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2015

Redouble efforts to close the EU-Turkey gap

Never have the European Union and Turkey needed one another more, and yet rarely have they been so distant.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2015

Security blanket: Should Japan beef up its anti-terrorism measures?

On Nov. 27, 2005, an unidentified terrorist group attacked the Mihama nuclear power plant on the Japan Sea in Fukui Prefecture, damaging the facility and creating fears of a radiation leak.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2015

Pope pays tribute to Japan's 'hidden' Christians, rediscovered 150 years ago

At the Vatican, Pope Francis pays tribute to the generations of Japan's 'hidden Christians.'
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2015

Politicizing personal beliefs will invite distrust of Japan

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will invite distrust of Japan as well as create a big risk for himself if he insists on politicizing his personal beliefs.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2015

Palestinians want world pressure on Israel after Netanyahu win

Palestinian leaders on Wednesday called for international pressure on Israel and support for their unilateral moves toward statehood after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's election win.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 17, 2015

Multiparty group to examine LGBT discrimination

A group of lawmakers on Tuesday launched a multiparty caucus to examine discrimination against sexual minorities in a move expected to further intensify debate ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 17, 2015

LLLL stays 'Faithful' to honest approach

Despite his elusive online persona, Kazuto Okawa, aka LLLL (pronounced "four-el"), is strikingly open and honest about his views in person. Speaking in a small Koenji cafe, he discusses his sophomore album, "Faithful," released this week via Tokyo label Progressive Form, with a critical approach that...
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 16, 2015

Ban urges Japan, China and S. Korea to engage in 'forward-looking' dialogue

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls on the leaders of Japan, China and South Korea to engage in a dialogue 'in a forward-looking manner' and lay the foundation for peace and reconciliation in the region.
Japan Times
JAPAN / UN WORLD CONFERENCE ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
Mar 14, 2015

Japan understands threat of natural disasters

An international conference on disaster prevention kicks off March 14 in the disaster-hit Tohoku region and it is aiming to adopt a new global framework to mitigate effects from natural disasters for the coming decade or so.
Japan Times
JAPAN / UN WORLD CONFERENCE ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
Mar 14, 2015

Sustainability begins in Sendai

Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 11, 2015

Why robots will be granted a license to kill, in Japan and everywhere else

As long as we feel the need to occasionally harm our fellow human beings, most of us will happily let other people — or things — do the dirty work.
JAPAN
Mar 6, 2015

Abe administration considering creating MI6-style spy agency

The Abe administration considers setting up an intelligence agency similar to Britain's MI6 as it moves to give the military a bigger role overseas.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2015

Common values bind Japan and Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to Japan next week will underscore the common values between the two nations and the potential for mutual cooperation on issues involving Germany's leadership role in Europe and Japan's efforts to achieve true peace with its neighbors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 5, 2015

Disaster information vital for foreign residents

The 20th anniversary of the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in January and the fourth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11 should prompt community leaders to ascertain their level of preparedness for future catastrophes including the need to get information out to individuals, especially foreign residents.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 4, 2015

Countermeasures for Japan's changing demographics

The government can no longer afford to postpone efforts to effectively address Japan's population problem.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 3, 2015

For North Korean defectors, fame brings cash — and suspicion

Kang Myung-do, then son-in-law of North Korea's premier, made a spectacular claim about Pyongyang's nuclear capability when he defected to the South over two decades ago, asserting the secretive country had built five atomic bombs.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Mar 2, 2015

Putting a foreign face on the 3/11 recovery effort

Four years on, survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake have a searing yearning to be remembered, says Amya Miller, who arrived in Rikuzentakata from the United States weeks after the March 11, 2011, disaster. She has been there ever since, and today works as a volunteer for City Hall, which still...
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Mar 1, 2015

Educator brings fresh learning opportunities to Tohoku youths

For Kumi Imamura, 35, an award-winning educator, setting up a place of learning for children in the disaster-hit Tohoku region was the natural next step in her career.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 25, 2015

With more beer machines and school days, were the '90s better?

Japan has come a long way in the past 20 years. Or has it?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Feb 23, 2015

Badges of honor: What Japan's legal lapel pins really mean

I finally have a lapel badge. After almost two decades of working in Japan-related law jobs, this is a big deal.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 22, 2015

Sydney siege report signals tighter immigration curbs

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott foreshadowed tighter immigration controls on Sunday when he released the first report into a siege last December in Sydney's Lindt cafe, in which two hostages and the gunman were killed.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight