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CULTURE
Dec 30, 2016

The top entertainment stories of 2016

The Japan Times newsroom selected these culture stories as the most important of 2016.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 30, 2016

British envoy, Japan Times turn tide in NHK history drama

Japanese love watching historical dramas, and one of the most popular times portrayed is the final years of the Edo Period (1603-1868), when the nation went through dramatic change politically, diplomatically and socially with the fall of the shogunate.
JAPAN / History
Dec 26, 2016

Abe's Pearl Harbor visit will do little to dispel theories persisting over the 1941 attack

The die-hard conspiracy theories on Pearl Harbor will continue to stir interest on both sides of the Pacific regardless of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 24, 2016

Japan's first Christmas

In a letter home to Portuguese brethren, Jesuit missionary Pedro de Alcacova writes of singing a Mass to Japanese believers in 1552: "Our voices weren't good," he recalls, "still the Christian believers rejoiced."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2016

Advancing sustainability in the Trump era

Donald Trump's America can depart the environmental protection train, but it cannot stop it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2016

Charges of Russian hacking fall flat without evidence

Why are the very same media outlets that let themselves get duped 13 years ago dutifully transcribing what amounts to nothing more than unsubstantiated allegations?
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2016

Ban Ki-moon's mixed legacy

The United Nations has become less relevant after a decade of leadership by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 21, 2016

As test scores slip, China must rethink schools

Unequal access to education is a centuries-old challenge in China that remains just as vexing today.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 20, 2016

High time for Kings to dump insufferable Cousins

I was talking to an NBA general manager earlier this season about DeMarcus Cousins, the best player in the NBA most likely to be traded, or at least so we'll hear for the next few months.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 19, 2016

Japanese buzzwords capture the zeitgeist of then, now and what's to come

Take a journey through the buzzwords of years past and present — and hazard a guess at what's coming in 2017.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Dec 18, 2016

A 'Big Bang' in the ring kicks it old school in Japan

American 'joshi puroresu' follows her dreams and finds fresh challenges in the 'mecca of wrestling'
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2016

Asia's fight over fresh water

Water is emerging as a key challenge for long-term Asian peace and stability.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 17, 2016

Western culture and the end of Japanese 'harmony'

Japan grew up with wa (harmony). Conflict and competition are the creative engines of Western civilization; Japan traveled a different route to the tumultuous present.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2016

Will Trump get trumped?

In January, Donald Trump will head to Washington with his team of radical, inexperienced and inordinately wealthy Cabinet picks. But he is not nearly as invincible as he seems to believe.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2016

A new Russia policy needs Exxon CEO's skills

The moral satisfaction of not encouraging a dictator may be important, but the Obama administration's policy ended up enabling Putin's most reprehensible gambles and consolidated Putin's domestic support.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 14, 2016

After fall of Aleppo, Syria's Assad still far from regaining his country

When President Bashar Assad turns from the wreckage of Aleppo to assert his authority across a fractured Syria, it will be as a figure who is virtually unassailable by rebels, but still faces great challenges in restoring the power of his state.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2016

Tweeting less can be more, Trump

To be successful in his new job, America's tweeter-in-chief will need to use social media differently than he did during the campaign.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2016

Thanks to Trump, no more 'Ameri-splaining'

The U.S. has always been corrupt, savage and brutal. President Trump suits us fine.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 7, 2016

Setting the record straight on war's start

Startling evidence has been unearthed revealing machinations by the Japanese military to shift blame after the war over the surprise attacks that started the conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2016

Palestinian body politic is rotten to the core

No self-respecting Palestinian should be applauding the empty rhetoric of Mahmoud Abbas.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Dec 4, 2016

Japan's Board of Audit: unlikely guardians of the Constitution?

On Nov. 7, an annual ritual of government occurred: The Board of Audit delivered its report on the results of its audit of government accounts for the previous fiscal year (April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016) to the Cabinet. The 1,123-page paper brick handed over to His Abe-ness identified billions of...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2016

The first U.S. presidency of the post-literate age

In the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the media has worked itself into a panic about the rise of fake news on social media.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2016

Trump sets a terrible precedent — just ask Japan

The U.S. economy has long been based on transparency, rule of law and free enterprise. It should stay that way.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 3, 2016

What shape will populism take in modern Japan?

Populism isn't new. A wave of it generated democracy in ancient Greece, circa 500 B.C. Its modern form, born in America in the early 19th century, was a revolt against the planter aristocracy that had governed since independence in 1776. Andrew Jackson — said to be the first president born in a log...
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 3, 2016

Working harder to end death by overwork

"When you're in the office 20 hours a day, you don't understand what life you're living for anymore. (It's so pathetic) you come to laugh." — Twitter post by Matsuri Takahashi, as reported in the Mainichi Shimbun
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2016

Why are the fish in China disappearing?

China's efforts to regulate food safety are falling woefully short.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2016

The Park scandal and the fight for Seoul's soul

What is going in South Korea is a clash between a society moving forward and a government creeping backward.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2016

'Superhuman' slugger tops year's list of buzzwords

A superhuman effort on the baseball field inspired the top buzzword of the year, it was announced Thursday, in a contest that highlights social, political and entertainment trends.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2016

Fillon can beat Le Pen, but don't bank on it

Given pollsters' massive predictive failures elsewhere this year, no one should count on left-wing voters turning out to help defeat right-winger Marine Le Pen.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami