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COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 2, 2013

Tin Man's throne: the rise and fall of a Roppongi royal

Gilbert Otaigbe is the current owner of Black Horse bar and nightclub in Roppongi. At the height of his success in the mid-2000s, he owned at least seven bars, clubs and restaurants.
Japan Times
JAPAN / INTERPRETATION & TRANSLATION
Sep 2, 2013

Focusing on people, not just words

English interpreters in Japan may often be regarded as those who convert English into Japanese or vice versa. However, Mutsumi Katayama, who has worked for more than 20 years as a freelance professional interpreter, focuses more attention on interpersonal communication.
WORLD
Aug 31, 2013

Secret documents detail U.S. war in cyberspace

The Obama administration's cyber operations sometimes involve what one leaked budget document calls 'field operations' abroad, commonly with the help of CIA operatives or clandestine military forces, 'to physically place hardware implants or software modifications.'
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 31, 2013

Most on Abe's expert panel approve plan to hike sales tax

The government's expert panel on the planned consumption tax hike wrapped up discussions Saturday with more than 70 percent of its members supporting the plan as it now stands, saying Japan will suffer a much bigger economic blow if the tax isn't raised.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 30, 2013

Organizer of annual writers' workshop helps others find artistic way

John Gribble gives a part of every day to creating. Whether it's pinpointing the perfect word for a poem or plucking out a ditty on a guitar, his life and livelihood in some way proves creative. As a poet and teacher, Gribble has spent the last 20 years in Japan organizing others to find their artistic...
EDITORIALS
Aug 28, 2013

A crime against humanity in Syria

The Syrian government should allow U.N. inspectors full access to the battlefield where last week's chemical-weapons attacks to place, and ensure that all their questions are answered.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2013

Abe begins collecting feedback on tax hike before decision

A government panel kicked off a seven-day discussion Monday on whether the sales tax should be hiked next April amid concerns it could derail Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's radical efforts to end decades of deflation.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2013

Chinese democracy gets help

Despite the 'Great Firewall,' that requires anti-block software to cross, the Internet has already facilitated a certain level of democratic development in China.
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2013

Reform plan no remedy for health care

Japan has been resorting to patchwork reforms over the past decade to prevent the health care system from collapsing as a rapidly graying society demands more funds from an ever-shrinking pool of tax revenue.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 22, 2013

Aichi Triennale's best works deal with disaster

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, a lot of art here has dealt with disaster. Not all the pieces in the second installment of the Aichi Triennale are on this theme — but the best ones are.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 19, 2013

The world's a stage, but you don't have to play along

On the night of April 18, three days after the Boston Marathon bombing, a side-drama to that story unfolded between three men as they criss-crossed the city, a performance staged partly in the theater of culture.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 18, 2013

A drone of your own in the near future?

Kevin Good thought there was an 80 percent chance he could successfully deliver his brother's wedding rings with a drone.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 13, 2013

Otakon celebrates 20 years of anime fandom in the U.S.

The American anime convention, Otakon ("Otaku Convention"), begins with a costume parade before it officially opens. Last week I had a bird's-eye view of the spectacle from my 14th-floor hotel room in Baltimore, Maryland. An endless army of imaginary characters trudged across the elevated concourse and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Aug 5, 2013

Ol' blue eyes isn't back: Tsurunen's tale offers lessons in microcosm for DPJ

Spare a thought for Marutei Tsurunen, Japan's first European-born naturalized immigrant parliamentarian, who was voted out in last month's House of Councilors election.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 4, 2013

NSA leaks allow Wyden chance at privacy debate

It was one of the strangest personal crusades on Capitol Hill: For years, Sen. Ron Wyden said he was worried that intelligence agencies were violating Americans' privacy.
EDITORIALS
Aug 3, 2013

Mr. Aso embarrasses Japan again

Remarks like those of Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso indicating that Nazis knew how to revise a sticky constitution risk creating a weird international image for Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2013

New America-Japan Society chief looks to expand

It has a well-recognized name and more than a century of history. Many prominent figures from Japan and the United States have been involved in its efforts to nurture friendly ties between the two nations.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2013

Southern Thai separatists touch trust milestone

Peace talks between the Thai government and Muslim separatist groups have reached a milestone as both sides discussed ways to rebuild mutual trust.
Reader Mail
Jul 24, 2013

Myth of the 'virtuous' worker

Professor Dipak Basu is a shining example of someone who expresses his views on a variety of topics seemingly from his soul, and I respect him for that. He brings his faith into his arguments while casting the odd aspersion on "Western Christianity." He does so again in his July 18 letter, "Western work...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2013

Streets worldwide showing the failings of democracy

Historians examining our era will marvel at the proliferation of street protests defining the appeal of political community in old and new democracies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2013

Indonesia's cautious confidence

How does Indonesia leverage its newly acquired strength to confront the challenges facing it and its regional partners, while avoiding foreign policy recklessness
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WEEK 3
Jul 20, 2013

On the trail of bear hunters' heritage

Takashi Yoshikawa is no easy man to figure out. Trim and well tanned, the 63-year-old owns a small ryokan (traditional inn) nestled in the foothills of the beautiful Shirakami Mountains which straddle 130,000 hectares of Aomori and Akita prefectures, and whose 17,000 hectares of beech forests were listed...
Reader Mail
Jul 17, 2013

Western work ethic is wanting

In his July 11 letter, "Abnormal way to run a workday," Grant Piper raises a philosophical doctrine that is very Western: We live not to work, but we work to live. Indeed, this supports the utilitarian theories of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, two British philosophers of capitalism who promoted...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2013

Of spies and whistleblowers

Edward Snowden, a former contractor to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, has been trapped in the transit lounge of Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow for the past two weeks, while the United States government strives mightily to get him back in its clutches. Recently it even arranged for the plane flying...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 14, 2013

Somali-American is caught up in U.S. counterpropaganda campaign

Two days after he became a U.S. citizen, Abdiwali Warsame embraced the First Amendment by creating a raucous website about his native Somalia. Packed with news and controversial opinions, it rapidly became a magnet for Somalis dispersed around the world, including tens of thousands in Minnesota.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2013

Fed approves rules requiring banks to set aside more capital

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday ordered banks to set aside more capital as a cushion against losses, bringing the United States in line with developing international standards and opening the door for a set of tougher rules for the nation's biggest financial institutions.

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