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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 3, 2013

China tunes in to public opinion

More than ever before, China's rulers are actually listening to their people, reacting quickly to contain potential crises that could threaten one-party control. With its ability to control the Internet increasingly challenged, China's Communist Party has had to change its game.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2013

Could the PTA and bowling leagues breed extremists?

What if exposure to civic organizations — and not social isolation, per se — is more likely to contribute to the rise of extreme movements, including fascism?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 2, 2013

Housewife takes time to make a difference volunteering in Tohoku

Sometimes making a difference just means making the time. Kerry Shioya, 49, travels two or three times a month to the Tohoku areas hit by the March 11, 2011, disasters. Sometimes setting out alone, sometimes bringing one of her five children, interested English students or other volunteers, Shioya continues...
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.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2013

China grapples with understanding spate of random violence

A spate of deadly knife attacks and other apparently random acts of violence in the past few days has rattled the Chinese government.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 29, 2013

Prove you're Japanese: when being bicultural can be a burden

Japanese are Japanese and foreigners are foreigners, and never the twain shall meet? In many aspects of daily life in this country, there is one way for the Japanese and another for the rest of us. Like it or not, that's just how it is. At least foreigners know where we stand.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2013

Food costs on rise, says British supermarket giant's chief

The chief executive of Tesco, the British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer, could be forgiven for being less than delighted to see me. For the last few months I have been Philip Clarke's baiter-in-chief. It's not just that I have been shamelessly promoting a book about food security,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jul 22, 2013

Peruvian offers lifeline for Spanish-speaking expats

Sonia Romero de Hara was surprised years ago when she was woken by a phone call late at night from a Peruvian-Japanese friend living in Fussa, western Tokyo.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 21, 2013

'Motor City Madman' rocks political world

On the final morning of the 2013 National Rifle Association annual convention in May, the day was bright, the mood was festive and Ted Nugent was neither dead nor in jail.
EDITORIALS
Jul 20, 2013

Global corruption

More than half of the people surveyed by a Berlin-based nonprofit group believe that global corruption, mostly political, has worsened the past two years.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 19, 2013

Pioneering Australian's outdoor adventures invigorate Hokkaido

Australian Ross Findlay is a doer. Name any outdoor sport and chances are he's done it, from kayaking to rock climbing to snowcat skiing and snowshoeing.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 13, 2013

West must deal with Egypt's de facto leadership

Events in Egypt are the latest example of the interplay worldwide among democracy, protest and government efficacy. Western disengagement is not an option.
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2013

Iodine tablets no prevention

To require local governments to keep enough potassium iodide pills on hand in the event of another nuclear disaster could give people a false sense of security.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 8, 2013

Driven by regret over neighbor's death, first-time filmmaker declares war on suicide

Rene Duignan is passionate about life — so much so that he made an award-winning film about it. Yet Duignan, 42, is not a professional filmmaker; he's an Irish economist working for the European Union delegation to Japan. The documentary, titled "Saving 10,000 — Winning a War on Suicide in Japan,"...
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 5, 2013

We see ourselves in celebrities

We are all guilty of harboring certain fascinations with celebrities. I don't care how many times you might loudly sigh as your friends discuss model and actress Kelly Brook's most recent holiday snaps, you'd be hard-pushed to find anyone who wasn't interested in the life of at least one specific someone,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 2, 2013

Let's talk 100 percent kawaii!

Long before the mayor of Shibuya announced pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu as an official ambassador of kawaii culture, Sebastian Masuda, her art director, had been on a mission to spread "kawaii culture" across the world, advocating it as not only a potent source of Japan's emerging soft power, but also...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 30, 2013

Delving into Ethiopia's ancient past and present

I'm edging my way through a long tunnel in pitch darkness, feeling for the roof so I don't hit my head, waving my trusty flashlight around to scan the walls and sandy floor and check for any unwelcome wildlife. I feel like Indiana Jones but a lot less brave.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 29, 2013

So you think you've got a nose for good wine? Think again

Every year Robert Hodgson selects the finest wines from his small California winery and puts them into competitions around the state.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 26, 2013

Hands on with the 'maker movement'

The so-called maker movement of do-it-yourselfers is set to continue its momentum at a global level, and as such the world will see an explosion of innovative creation from individuals, according to Mark Frauenfelder, editor-in-chief of the U.S.-based Make magazine.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Jun 26, 2013

Drumming helps those with dementia reconnect

Standing in a room full of lined faces, Alan Yellowitz held up an orange drum shaped like a wineglass. "This one's called a djembe," he said. "It's from Ghana."
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 24, 2013

State photo-ID databases become troves for police

The faces of more than 120 million people are in searchable photo databases that state officials assembled to prevent driver's license fraud but that increasingly are used by police to identify suspects, accomplices and even innocent bystanders in a wide range of criminal investigations.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jun 21, 2013

Project prods jobless young to test strengths

Only two years after establishing a company in 2005, young entrepreneur Yujun Wakashin found himself in an unexpected predicament: his co-founder and employees ganged up on him, ousting him from his own firm.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jun 18, 2013

Readers' letters: praise for Article 9, scorn for TPP and concerns for education

Some readers' letters in response to recent Community articles:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2013

U.S. intelligence in bed with business

Thousands of technology, finance and manufacturing companies are working closely with U.S. national security agencies, providing sensitive information and in return receiving benefits that include access to classified intelligence, four people familiar with the process said.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 11, 2013

Japan's Nigerians see symbol of change in masquerade

Anyone wandering the back streets near Omiya Station at 7:20 a.m. on Sunday, June 2, might have passed a particular office building, unremarkable except for two African men standing on a 2nd floor balcony, rope in hand, lowering a car-sized Ugo (eagle) costume down to the parking lot. One of them was...
EDITORIALS
Jun 4, 2013

Nankai quake preparedness

Can Japan even begin to prepare for the effects of a future Nankai Trough quake? A Cabinet office final report has a sober warning.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 2, 2013

Media polls on constitutional change reveal bias

In a democracy, the people's will is conveyed through representative government. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to rewrite the Constitution, but Article 96 requires the approval of at least two-thirds of the national assembly to do that, so in order to hasten the process he first wants to change Article...

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