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JAPAN / Politics
Jun 26, 2014

Broader foreign aid urged

Japan should expand its use of overseas development assistance by targeting new regions and projects and consider funding noncombat operations led by foreign military forces, a panel said Thursday in a report to Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jun 22, 2014

All-consuming school clubs worry foreign parents

School club activities — something that most Japanese parents accept as a normal and desirable rite of passage in their child's development — can leave foreign parents quaking in their boots at what lies ahead.
Reader Mail
Jun 21, 2014

Everybody must take on bullying

Reading Walt Gardner's June 1 article, "Bullying weakens Japanese, U.S. schools," made me feel really sad — not only because bullying of students in Japan, no matter who they are, seems to be rife at the moment but also because it is a problem that just does not seem to go away.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 20, 2014

Americans should be worried about polarization

Americans should worry about a new Pew report on political polarization not because there's too much genuine ideological competition, but because our most energetic citizens appear to be dividing every more coherently into factions that can't stand each other.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jun 18, 2014

Still dreaming of a Japan with juries — and without U.S. bases

At 84, Chihiro Isa hopes to see two things in his lifetime: the jury system reinstated in Japan and U.S. forces gone from Okinawa.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 15, 2014

Oh, the places we'll go in 2020 — unless, of course, we won't

In 2020 the Tokyo Olympics will be here! And all our troubles will be gone. Unless, of course, they won't. Because, sometimes, they don't.
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2014

Iraq collapsing

Islamic militants have overrun northern Iraq, taking control of the country's second-largest city and sparking fears of the collapse of the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 10, 2014

Syria's Assad announces wide-ranging prisoner amnesty

Syrian President Bashar Assad announced an unprecedented prisoner amnesty Monday, less than a week after his re-election, the most wide-ranging since the revolt against him began.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2014

U.S. nonintervention casts a vote for Assad

The question is not whether Bashar Assad's Syrian regime is better than Islamist extremism, but how the world can forsake Syrians to suffer oppression by both.
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2014

Aging public facilities

Aging public facilities present a growing problem for cash-strapped local and prefectural governments.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 2, 2014

Japan urged to make its cosmetics 'cruelty-free'

While Japanese consumers clamor for items that will make their skin smoother or their hair shinier, relatively few people are aware of the horror behind the products in their cosmetics cases.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jun 2, 2014

Letters: What did ASIJ know of Moyer sex abuse and why was nothing done?

Readers want to know why children's accounts of abuse by American School in Japan teacher Jack Moyer were not acted upon much earlier.
Japan Times
CULTURE
May 31, 2014

Essential summer festivals 2014

A summer without festivals simply wouldn’t be a proper summer in Japan, so now that the humidity has returned, it’s time to slop on an extra layer of sunscreen and line up some outdoor activities.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 27, 2014

Ishibashi won't return for second season as Saitama coach

The Saitama Broncos will not renew head coach Takatoshi "Big Bashi" Ishibashi's contract after a disastrous 5-47 season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 27, 2014

Gaijin band scene welcomes music fans of all kinds

A large multicultural crowd gathered at Club Edge in Tokyo's Roppongi district in March, socializing and laughing boisterously before watching three bands. They remained pretty boisterous throughout the performances.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 19, 2014

From Fukushima to Syria, CWAJ supports scholars

The College Women's Association of Japan awards a variety of annual scholarships in higher education, backing, among others, women from abroad studying in Japan and Japanese women getting an education overseas.
JAPAN
May 17, 2014

Why Kansai's corporate captains are trumpeting TPP

Several years ago, at the Kansai Economic Seminar, an annual snoozefest of pompous platitudes and pretentious, paternalistic pontificating by the old men who run Kansai's major corporations, one senior leader called for entering the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 17, 2014

Huge expectations for India's Modi, some wariness

About a year ago Narendra Modi sat down with some of India's best and brightest to mount what one election strategist called a "shock and awe" campaign.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 12, 2014

After ASIJ admission that teacher abused kids, ex-students demand inquiry

Alumni from the American School in Japan are demanding an independent inquiry into whether school officials covered up knowledge of sexual abuse committed by teacher Jack Moyer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
May 11, 2014

Returnees' experiences drive a will to give something back

The returnees profiled here highlight the potential that can be unlocked within individuals lucky enough to have the chance to live overseas and, crucially, receive the right support on their return to Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2014

Let regions of Ukraine vote

Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea and threat to Ukraine are causing damage he perhaps did not anticipate: U.S. disorientation, profound division in Europe and a real risk of war. Ukraine's regions should vote.
Japan Times
WORLD / EU SPECIAL 2014
May 9, 2014

EU enjoys close ties with Japan

Today is Europe Day, marking the day in 1950 when then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman laid out a vision for post-war Europe that was to form the basis of the integrated Europe we know today.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2014

U.S. to send team in response to Nigeria schoolgirls' mass kidnapping

The United States has offered to send an American team of experts to Nigeria to support the government's response to the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by an Islamist militant group, President Barack Obama's administration said on Tuesday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
May 5, 2014

Caroline Kennedy, dive with me in Okinawa and it'll change your mind

I entreat you, Ambassador Kennedy, to help protect the marvelous coral reef ecosystem at Oura Bay in northeast Okinawa from certain destruction under the U.S.-Japan plan for military expansion.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
May 4, 2014

Jewelry innovator Shiraki puts ethics at the heart of beauty

Natsuko Shiraki, a jewelry designer and CEO of Tokyo-based jeweler Hasuna Co., vividly remembers the shocking experience in southern India that changed her life.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 4, 2014

In your wildest lucid dreams: scientists' interest in sleep world grows

One of our most mysterious and intriguing states of consciousness is the dream. We lose consciousness when we enter the deep waters of sleep, only to regain it as we emerge into a series of uncanny private realities.
JAPAN
May 2, 2014

Viewers target NHK chief Momii

A citizens' group launches a campaign against right-leaning NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii, demanding his immediate resignation and calling on viewers to stop paying their NHK subscription fees.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2014

Iraqis vote as spasm of violence hits nation

Iraqis headed to the polls on Wednesday in their first national election since U.S. forces withdrew from the country in 2011, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki seeks a third term amid rising violence.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 29, 2014

Meishi Smile brings anime-influenced sounds to Japan

Over the past two decades, Japanese pop culture has made major inroads abroad, thanks mainly to interest in video games and anime.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes