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COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2013

Planting courage in China

After decades of crackdowns on freedom of expression and basic human rights, people in China often lack courage — the very prerequisite for one's well-being.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 20, 2013

Climate change feared to create global food crisis

When Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire Dec. 17, 2010, it was in protest at heavy-handed treatment and harassment in his province. But a host of new studies suggest that a major factor in the subsequent uprisings that became known as the Arab Spring was food insecurity.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 20, 2013

A journey across Margaret Thatcher's England

Much of Eileen Jeffrey's adult life has been shaped by a woman she never met and a prime minister she never voted for.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 19, 2013

U.K. stage group to rework 'Mononoke' magic

If anyone understands the truth in the phrase, "It doesn't hurt to ask" — it's Alexandra Rutter.
EDITORIALS
Apr 17, 2013

Japan's depopulation time bomb

The government must take steps to ameliorate the impact of Japan's shrinking population, which is forecast to decrease by 20 million by 2040.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 16, 2013

Startups find there's financing in numbers

In a country where a stubbornly stagnant economy has turned the adventurous away from high-risk investment, fundraising has become one of the highest hurdles a startup can overcome.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Apr 13, 2013

How keeping it real took Matt Damon to the top

In 1987, when Bruce Springsteen wrote the song "Ain't Got You," he was the biggest rock star in the world. He had vast estates in New Jersey and Beverly Hills, and he had not long returned from a honeymoon at Gianni Versace's villa in Lake Como. "Ain't Got You" was Springsteen's attempt to make a self-aware...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 11, 2013

Welsh approach to 'national' theater is efficiently different

Always keen to break new ground, Keiko Miyata, artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo (NNTT), has created a series titled "With: linking theater" as the centerpiece of this season's program. In this, she has lined up three appetizing collaborations by asking playwrights from Wales, South...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Apr 10, 2013

Pop tourism gains traction

Pre-flight shopping at Narita airport a couple of weeks ago, I passed a mannequin sporting a light-blue necktie and a turquoise wig with pig tails dangling down to its mini skirt. The vision spoke volumes: It was Hatsune Miku, of course, Japan's holographic, animated virtual pop star, beloved fashion...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 8, 2013

Team Abe's grand plan leaves ghosts in charge of a haunted house

As I observe Team Abe in action at the helm of the Bank of Japan and elsewhere, a rather terrifying passage from a poem by William Hughes Mearns comes to mind:
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2013

Stubbornly shrinking workforce dims prospects for U.S. growth

Put out an all-points bulletin: Millions of Americans have gone missing from the workforce.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Apr 7, 2013

What's with the police purge on dance clubs?

If you're ever minded to dance the night away to trance music, or even old-fashioned rock, you may have a tough time finding a venue in Japan these days. In fact, you may end up waltzing away hours inside a police station, peeing into a cup after being rounded up in a raid. Yes, indeed, a War on Dance...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 7, 2013

Many in Japan can't see the stars; some not even their home

Generally speaking, an architect's style is defined by particular forms or shapes. There's Frank Lloyd Wright's prominent horizontal lines, for instance; Le Corbusier's simple white boxes; or, more recently, the deliberately abstract masses of Frank Gehry — of Guggenheim Bilbao fame.
BASEBALL
Apr 7, 2013

High honor for Nagashima, Matsui

Shigeo Nagashima and Hideki Matsui both had legendary careers with the Yomiuri Giants, the latter also excelling in the major leagues after leaving the Giants. Now their accomplishments are being officially recognized with the People's Honor Award.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Apr 6, 2013

PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk: making the fury fly

My favorite story about Ingrid Newkirk, the founder and head of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the animal-rights organization, involves her storming the dining room of the Four Seasons hotel in New York, depositing a dead raccoon on Anna Wintour's dinner plate and calling the veteran...
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2013

Japan Restoration Party platform

Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) flies dangerous colors at its first party convention, calling for constitutional revision of the no-war principle.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2013

Working around others who work works better

Yahoo!'s new CEO recently created a fuss when she no longer let employees work from home. Is her edict a step backward or a boon for creativity?
Japan Times
JAPAN / FORUM ON AFRICA-JAPAN RELATIONS
Mar 30, 2013

The evolution of Japan-Africa relations through TICAD

The fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) will be held in Yokohama from June 1 to 3 to discuss various issues regarding the continent with political and business leaders from around the world.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 28, 2013

New prenatal test in high demand but limited to risk cases

Testing will begin in Japan on a new, noninvasive prenatal test to check for chromosomal abnormalities, but it will be limited to pregnant women deemed at risk of having babies with Down syndrome or other disorders.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPAN-CHINA RELATIONS SYMPOSIUM
Mar 26, 2013

Private sector urged to do more to help rebuild Japan-China relations

The private sector has a key role in the efforts to rebuild mutual trust between Japan and China as political disputes begin to affect economic relations, experts from the two countries said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Mar 23, 2013

Photography buff behind Japan Camera Hunter thrives in Tokyo, the capital of cameras

Bellamy Hunt's name is part of his business: Japan Camera Hunter, a one-man enterprise supporting film photo buffs around Asia and the world. His work mainly involves hunting down vintage cameras, whether an elusive early model Nikon or a classic Leica.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2013

Lift the veil of secrecy on U.S. drone program

The White House is still weaving on whether to share legal opinions on targeted killing, including justifications for killing U.S. citizens without trial.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2013

Finding common ground on the Senkakus dispute

The only realistic way to stabilize Japan-China relations is for both countries to go back to the idea of shelving the Senkaku Islands sovereignty issue.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2013

World records no joke to frustrated Pakistanis

One young contender created the world's largest sequin mosaic using 325,000 of the sparkly discs.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Mar 17, 2013

Ghosts of Cowra breakout haunt Japan to this day

Prisoner A: " 'Never live to experience the shame of being taken prisoner by the enemy' ... that's what the Imperial Japanese Military Regulations say, hence there must be no prisoners. So what's happening here now are the dreams of ghosts" — from "Cowra no Hancho Kaigi" ("Honchos' Meeting in Cowra")....
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2013

Prefectures dally over nuclear evacuation plans

If a disaster were to occur at one of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors, the most critically needed personnel in the minutes and hours immediately afterward might be bus drivers.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2013

Why more diversity won't mean more Democrats

The finding that as ethnic groups mix, voters tend to vote for more racially conservative candidates does not bode well for the U.S. Democratic Party.
WORLD
Mar 5, 2013

Many immigrants in America don't finish path to citizenship

For 13 years Rafael Cohen, an immigrant from Mexico, was eligible to become a citizen of the United States. But something held him back.

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