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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 20, 2017

The slippery slope of appeasement in Bangladesh

Unelected religious hard-liners are pressuring Bangladesh's elected government to embrace Islamic values as they define them, resorting to street protests and inciting violence to achieve their aims.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 19, 2017

Russia's Cold War habit is hard to break

In all three confrontations since the 19th century between Russia and the West, it was Russian action, motivated by domestic concerns, that spurred European or Western efforts at strategic containment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
May 18, 2017

Menu offers opportunity to meet the meat

The "Meet Meat Promotion," which runs through May 31 at The Tokyo Station Hotel, is part of an ongoing dinner promotion under the concept of "sharing and enjoying meat dishes."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 17, 2017

Takeda scores a KO in 'Poetry Angel'

In last week's review of Yuya Ishii's "The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue," I wrote that poetry-based Japanese films are rare — but here seems to be another: Toshimitsu Iizuka's "Poetry Angel." One more example and I'll have a trend.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 15, 2017

Patriotic Japan poster from 2011 causes social media stir after campaign's model outed as Chinese

A poster designed six years ago in an apparent bid to promote patriotism has recently gone viral on social media thanks to its catchphrase, which has revived public debate on race, and the revelation that its smiling model is actually Chinese.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 15, 2017

Nagoya team working on robot to help elderly drivers stay alert, safe

A research team at Nagoya University is developing a system to help the elderly drive safely using a small robot, with the aim of releasing the technology by 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2017

Trump's troubling South China Sea policy

For those nations that believed in and depended on the U.S. to defend them and their shared principles, Trump has kicked off a whole new ball game fraught with uncertainty.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
May 14, 2017

Fukushima firm's 'fairy feather' silk gets Hermes' attention

The world's thinnest yarn-dyed silk fabric will soon find its way into Hermes' globally renowned scarves.
CULTURE / Books
May 13, 2017

'The Name of the Game is a Kidnapping': Crime novel lacks a detective or PI but entertains nonetheless

Bachelor executive Shinsuke Sakuma is an egotistic narcissist with a callous attitude toward females, preferring one-night stands to serious relationships.
Rugby
May 10, 2017

Japan drawn with Ireland, Scotland for 2019 Rugby World Cup

Host nation Japan was drawn to face Ireland, Scotland and two teams yet to qualify in the group stage of the 2019 Rugby World Cup at a lavish ceremony at Kyoto State Guest House on Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 9, 2017

Keeping up with the Joneses, Edo style

The Edo Period (1603-1868) is renowned for the flourishing of material culture — a time when major advances and innovations in Japanese folk crafts and design were prized by the burgeoning commoner class of Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Osaka.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 9, 2017

U.S. to test Beijing's South China Sea claims, navy says

The U.S. Navy will still challenge claims by nations like China to exclusive access in the South China Sea, Pacific Fleet Commander Scott Swift said, insisting a hiatus in "freedom of navigation" patrols doesn't mean the disputed waterway is a lower priority for the Trump presidency.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 8, 2017

Shabani the gorilla credited with keeping Nagoya zoo visitor numbers up despite bird flu outbreak

The total number of visitors to Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya reached 2,408,400 in fiscal 2016, the second-highest level in the last 20 years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
May 6, 2017

June Yamagishi: Hitting New Orleans with a suitcase and a guitar

Musician's relaxed personality fits the homegrown lifestyle of the 'Big Easy' well.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / B. League / B. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 4, 2017

Lack of draft impacting competitive balance

In an analysis stretching back to September, there have been a number of important accomplishments during the B. League's inaugural season.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2017

Reprieve or reform in Europe?

Unless Europe addresses flaws in growth patterns and pursues urgent reforms, the longer-term risks to its survival will continue to mount.
JAPAN / 50TH ADB ANNUAL MEETING
May 4, 2017

Meeting to address Asian advancement

The Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will hold the 50th ADB annual meeting from Thursday to Sunday in Yokohama, where more than 3,000 participants from Asia and around the world are expected to gather to discuss development issues and institutional matters.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / A MATTER OF HEALTH
May 3, 2017

Developer taps power of design to create dementia-friendly housing in Setagaya

Despite all the talk about the swelling ranks of people with dementia in Japan and what to do with them, there has been little discussion so far about housing designs that meet their needs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 2, 2017

Ryuichi Sakamoto provides a soundtrack to life at 'async' exhibition

How has Ryuichi Sakamoto been able to harness melancholy so skillfully? How has he created such desperately sad music, and then managed to get up in the morning and do it again and again, over several decades?
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2017

A troubling election in Jakarta

Radical Islam appears to be ascendant in Indonesia — an extremely worrisome development.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 1, 2017

Mie 'mikan' growers use rare varieties to fend off foreign imports

Rare mikan (mandarin oranges or tangerines) that were on the brink of extinction are once again showing up in markets in the Higashi Kishu region in Mie Prefecture, a major citrus growing area.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Apr 30, 2017

First Japan House opens in Brazil

London, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo. There is little at first sight that seems to unite these three cities, which are diverse in geography and climate as well as architecture, cuisine and atmosphere.
JAPAN / History
Apr 29, 2017

Power politics: Japan's most popular political platforms

Looking back at some of the political platforms that have been heavily endorsed by voters over the past century in a bid to predict where the country might be headed under the 'third generation' of postwar Japanese.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Apr 29, 2017

Civil society across Asia is flowering but fragile

The proliferation of civil society organizations throughout Asia is having a significant impact on relations between the state and citizens, on the institutions of the state and on prevailing norms and values.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2017

Future of Westinghouse may hinge on fate of its new Shanghai reactor

The start-up of a nuclear power plant south of Shanghai later this year has a lot riding on it.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan