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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 22, 2014

Some South Korean ferry mourners tire of activists seizing their cause

South Korean families who lost loved ones in April's ferry disaster are demanding accountability from the government, but some have grown weary of strident activists adopting their cause for political ends.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Aug 21, 2014

Pachinko parlors bet on tidiness to reverse decline

The once-booming pachinko industry, grappling with a graying customer base and the threat of new competition from casinos, is adopting a softer touch and smoke-free zones to lure a new generation of players, particularly women.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Aug 20, 2014

A high price to pay for a little peace of mind

Sometimes it's hard to believe the American that emerged, naked and naive, from Narita International Airport back in 2004 and the person writing this column are one and the same. Life in Japan has made me, unmade me and remade me. I've unpacked and sorted through all sorts of koto (generally, things...
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2014

The elderly who need help

The rapid aging of Japan's population has created a situation in which more than half of the elderly people who are incapacitated and live in their own homes are being taken care of by a similarly aging family member.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 3, 2014

FDA ready to work with firms on Ebola drugs

The worst Ebola outbreak in history is heaping new pressure on U.S. regulators to speed the development of treatments for the deadly virus, which has killed more than 700 people since February.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2014

A little self-control can add up to big savings

An American economics columnist reports that having to spend cash out of an envelope rather than just pulling out the debit card has made her much more frugal.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 28, 2014

A trip around the Yushukan, Japan's font of discord

Often overlooked in discussions about Yasukuni is the divisive role played by the Yushukan, the war museum built within the shrine grounds to promote the 'Yasukuni doctrine.'
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 27, 2014

The pathetic state of infrastructure in America

The deliberate starving of public funding for America's roads, bridges, parks, schools, public hospitals, even hospitals charged with caring for U.S. veterans, reflects the economic and political system's ass-backward priorities.
EDITORIALS
Jul 24, 2014

Collective self-defense smokescreen

It is deplorable that Prime Minister Shinzo continues to avoid discussing the inherent dangers to Japan with regard to his Cabinet's recent reinterpretation of 'collective self-defense.'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 19, 2014

If chimps inherit their intelligence, does that prove humans do, too?

Some people are smarter than others. And though animal intelligence is far less well studied, it turns out that within a particular population, say of chimpanzees, some animals are smarter than others, too — and these differences are heritable. To put it another way, some chimps' mothers are smarter...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 18, 2014

As Scotland decides, not all Scots get a say

Ruth McPherson was born and educated in Scotland but left to work in London two years ago and so has no say on whether her native country should end three centuries of union with England.
WORLD
Jul 17, 2014

Ebola survivor shunned as a 'zombie' joins fight against virus

Jamila got a cold reception when she returned home after 12 days in an isolation ward battling the Ebola virus in her hometown of Conakry, Guinea's capital.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 17, 2014

Lesson on sexist heckling: bridges involve 'good men'

The June 18 incident in which Tokyo assembly member Ayaka Shiomura endured sexist heckling underscores the need for women to take the initiative in working to banish such discriminatory attitudes from Japanese society.
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2014

Rising costs of nursing care

Changes to the nursing care insurance system make the delivery of some services for people with less severe medical conditions the responsibility of municipalities, while raising the out-of-pocket share that some care recipients must pay.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 13, 2014

Gaza families bear brunt of Israel's 'pinpoint strikes'

The Israeli military's "pinpoint strikes" on houses in the Gaza Strip have killed whole families and children but few of the wanted men they are meant to target because they have long made themselves scarce, Palestinian residents say.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 12, 2014

SoundCloud music service said to near deals with record labels

The largest record labels are closing in on a deal for a stake in buzzy digital-music service SoundCloud Ltd., in exchange for an agreement not to sue the startup for copyright violations, according to people with knowledge of the plans.
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2014

Tax-free NISA working poorly, Sawakami says

Japan's tax-free investing program is failing to draw new stock buyers as the benefits expire too soon and young people fail to see its advantages, said the founder of the Sawakami Fund.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2014

Japan's innovation challenge

The Abe administration's capacity for deciding how to raise the birthrate, improve child-care facilities, realize an appropriae work-life balance and promote other 'innovations' that enable Japan to solve its many problems is now being tested.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 8, 2014

Study paves way for Alzheimer's early detection

British scientists have identified a set of 10 proteins in the blood that can predict the onset of Alzheimer's and call this an important step toward developing a test for the incurable brain-wasting disease.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 7, 2014

What the government doesn't pay in pensions it will have to make up for with welfare

People are facing a widening gap between retirement age and the age they are eligible for pensions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2014

The age of intelligent robots

When a chatbot can convince judges at Britain's Royal Society that it is a 13-year-old Ukrainian boy with limited English skills, it may be time to worry about a computer taking your job.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2014

Pakistan waging a risky war at home

Pakistan's launch of a full-scale military operation in the North Waziristan Tribal Agency, to eliminate terrorist bases and to clear out foreign fighters, will trigger yet another refugee crisis. And that risks spreading the terrorist threat to other parts of Pakistan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / DEALING WITH DEMENTIA
Jul 4, 2014

Assistance for vulnerable elderly on the rise

Last in a three-part series
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / DEALING WITH DEMENTIA
Jul 3, 2014

Early onset dementia poses special problems

Early onset dementia affects people younger than 65, but experts say the belief that dementia only strikes seniors obfuscates the plight suffered by younger patients.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2014

The government decides 'Redskins' bothers you

Some Americans who are paying attention to the absence of Native American revulsion over the name 'Washington Redskins' are not comfortable with the government saying, in effect, that if people are not offended, they should be.
JAPAN / JAPAN TIMES FORUM ON FEMALE SCIENCE MAJORS
Jun 30, 2014

Majoring in science may expand opportunities for women

Moderator: Let's discuss the challenge of hiring more female science majors and solutions to that issue. Let me first ask you what kind of skills are you seeking in women? I wonder if the marketing skills of female science majors, instead of just their capabilities in research and development, could...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jun 27, 2014

Beating life's challenges one artwork at a time

Artist Kengo Nawashiro, 26, loves drawing buildings and towers. His beautifully colored paintings of the Tokyo Skytree are printed on postcards and sold at art events. Nawashiro credits his success to renowned art educator Chieko Awata, who is a specialist in nurturing the talents of autistic children...
JAPAN / History
Jun 21, 2014

Matsumoto: Aum's sarin guinea pig

It's been 20 years since mass murderers came to Toshie Koibuchi's tiny street. It was the night of June 27, 1994. She was then 50, a housewife living with her husband and mother in a slightly upmarket residential area of Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture.

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