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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2017

Fake news warning from an ex-propagandist

To create the kind of disinformation that changes the world, you need a story that's at least 60, 70 or even 80 percent true.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 28, 2017

Magic will need luck, guile to help drama-filled Lakers return to glory

Magic Johnson learned a painful lesson as an NBA coach for 16 games, his Lakers went 5-11 at the end of the 1993-94 season. It was once most eloquently stated by Johnny Kerr, a star center from the 1950s and 1960s who coached the expansion Chicago Bulls: That's five guys running around with my paycheck....
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 27, 2017

Japan's Senkaku challenge

No group of islands poses a bigger challenge for Japan's security than the Senkakus.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2017

How China can stop the world's next pandemic

The deadliest outbreak of H7N9 bird flu since its discovery in 2013 is sweeping across China.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 25, 2017

Polish film director Andrzej Wajda represented the voice and conscience of a nation

"I stood here just after the end of the war," Polish film director Andrzej Wajda said. "I was only 19 years old. The entire area was flattened, just rubble. The Stare Miasto (Old Town) was one big gaping pit that I stared into."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 25, 2017

'A Dark Night's Passing': Naoya Shiga sounds the depths of rootlessness

It takes a brave writer to make their main character as unlikeable as Kensaku Tokito. It is even more startling because Naoya Shiga was consciously writing within the 'I' novel tradition, where the author deliberately draws on their life story for source material.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Feb 25, 2017

Sake brewer Philip Harper: 'You need to learn humility in the face of nature'

British native on the need for patience during the brewing process.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2017

Trump's China challenge

So far, the Trump administration has shown that it is all bark and no bite when it comes to China.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2017

Fans converge on bookstores to snap up Haruki Murakami's latest work

Harukists, the die-hard fans of Japan's leading author, Haruki Murakami, gathered late at night Thursday in bookstores nationwide to purchase the writer's long-awaited latest work, which went on sale as soon as the clock struck midnight.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2017

Trust big data? Try googling the Holocaust

Big data was supposed to usher in a more precise and rational world. It might be leading us into the swamp of 'alternative facts.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2017

Why won't Dems kick Trump while he's down?

The refusal of the Democrats to pogo-dance on Trump's grave is one of the biggest missed opportunities in recent political history.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2017

No end in sight for Syria's balance of terror

In a war with endlessly shifting priorities, conflicting aims, few credible commitments and plenty of foreign meddling, any ceasefire today is just as likely to be broken by violence tomorrow.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 20, 2017

Investing big but wisely in Japanese study aids can reap dividends

An expensive dictionary, a big TV — and a wedding ring: just three of the big purchases that could give your Japanese a lift.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Feb 19, 2017

For African-American ‘idol’ Amina du Jean, difference is a double-edged sword

Amina du Jean been in Japan for only 2u00bd years, but in that time has become a bona fide idol, joined a J-idol group and even branched off into a bit of gravure (bikini) modeling.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2017

Washington PR offensive fails to quell Europe's anxiety over Trump

One month into the unusual presidency of Donald Trump, his most senior Cabinet members were deployed to Brussels, Bonn and Munich this past week to reassure nervous Europeans that everything would be OK.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 18, 2017

Japan tries to shed its pessimistic image

Japan ailing? Japan suffering? Nonsense. "Japan is the richest country in the world," proclaims Sapio magazine. And the best. And the happiest. The brightest future looms.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 18, 2017

'Confessions of a Yakuza': Vice and survival in postwar Tokyo

The author of the best-selling "Memories of Silk and Straw" brings the same documentary approach to bear in "Confessions of a Yakuza," a study of an aging gangster by the name of Eiji Ijichi.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Feb 15, 2017

Trump shocks Japan's American expats into action

Established political groups see a surge in interest while new organizations form to meet demand.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 15, 2017

Ties to Japan may factor in Kim Jong Nam's mysterious murder

Fears by Kim Jong Un over his legitimacy as North Korea's hereditary leader due to his grandfather's work in a Japanese military factory may have had a role in brother's murder.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 15, 2017

Letting fish stocks recover could vastly increase fishing profits, World Bank says

Global profits from fishing could grow by tens of billions of dollars if depleted fish stocks were allowed to recover, bolstering the livelihoods of millions of people and feeding the world's growing population, a study by the World Bank said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 14, 2017

Oakley's gruff manner has history of creating trouble

Diogenes would never have believed there is a Charles Oakley.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2017

How I'll know it's time to flee the United States

If you're not scared of Donald Trump, you're not paying attention.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2017

Trump's political revolution

Popular support — or lack thereof — will make or break Trump's political fortunes.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 14, 2017

Creatures even in deepest part of oceans carry high levels of man-made toxins: study

Shrimp-like creatures living in the deepest parts of the oceans contain high levels of man-made toxins, scientists said on Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2017

China needs a new grand strategy in Trump era

Donald Trump's presidency has already upended the key assumptions underpinning China's post-Cold War grand strategy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 13, 2017

Russia resurrects Cold War-era foreign policy tradition for the digital age

Warning: the Kremlin is trying to split the West by spreading "altered facts," conducting blackmail and setting up front organizations, the U.S. State Department said — in 1981.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2017

Iwate Prefecture introduces quirky signs and other initiatives to lure foreign visitors

Struggling to attract foreign visitors, Iwate Prefecture has embarked on a charm offensive using quirky signs and other techniques to endear tourists to the far-flung region.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2017

A greener shade of digital finance

If financial technology is to reach its potential to advance the global public good, another factor must be accounted for: the environment.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Feb 5, 2017

No country for old emperors

Brushing over precedents and kicking looming threats down the line, a government-appointed panel has dutifully paved the way for a politically convenient one-off abdication.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji