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SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 7, 2014

Hodgson facing tough decisions ahead of naming World Cup squad

Over the next two months each display by England's World Cup hopefuls will be scrutinized by the media. Marks out of 10 will be given along with updated World Cup chances (on the plane, in contention, etc).
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 4, 2014

Putin gambit challenges post-Cold War system

One senior Obama administration official called Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in the Ukraine "outrageous." A second described them as an "outlaw act." A third said his brazen use of military force harks back to a past century.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 3, 2014

Repairing the tripartite ties

Japan's relations with China and South Korea are at their lowest ebb since Japan normalized its diplomatic relations with them. One way to break the jogjam could be a tripartite free trade agreement.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 3, 2014

Loved abroad, hated at home: The art of Japanese tattooing

The perception gap between international views of irezumi and those of Japanese people dates back more than 150 years, to when foreigners first laid eyes on Japanese tattoos. Since that time, however, Japanese tattooists have influenced their foreign counterparts in remarkable ways — and sometimes vice-versa.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2014

Olympic fanfare can't hide Russia's ills

Behind the swagger after the Winter Olympics lie serious doubts about Russia's future. Long-term price trends for the mineral resources upon which the economy depends, together with Russia's history, suggest that President Vladimir Putin's luck may well be about to run out.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2014

Good reasons to loathe Big Tech

Not only have Americans been reamed by Big Tech — they know they've been reamed. Which has set the stage for big-time resentment.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Feb 24, 2014

Should young criminals face harsher penalties?

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet approved a bill this month to bolster punishments issued under the juvenile law. This is partly in response to growing calls by people victimized by juvenile offenders to reduce their apparent impunity.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 21, 2014

Beefed-up law seen doing little to curb stalking menace

The shooting death of a 26-year-old woman in Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture, is a sour reminder that even though the anti-stalking law was bolstered last year, measures against the crime remain flawed.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 19, 2014

ABT brings 'magical moments' to Japan

Last August, with summer sweltering the city, I met Yuriko Kajiya and Jared Matthews, two soloists from the New York-based American Ballet Theatre, one of the word's top-four classical companies along with the Royal Ballet in London, Paris Opera Ballet and the Bolshoi in Moscow.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 19, 2014

Merger of Jasdaq, Mothers, second section eyed

Japan Exchange Group Inc. will consider merging three smaller equity markets to simplify its exchange structure, a bourse official said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2014

Singh seeks India votes with 29th state as opponents vow fight

India's lower house moved to create a new state in the south to resolve a 50-year dispute, risking unrest where Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have their offices as the ruling Congress party seeks votes before elections.
EDITORIALS
Feb 18, 2014

Reunions at last, for Koreans

February has been a good month for Northeast Asian diplomacy in light of the Chinese and Taiwanese governments' meeting officially for the first time since 1949 and the South and North Korean governments' holding their highest-level discussions in seven years. Pyongyang gave the go-ahead for long-postponed family reunions this week.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 16, 2014

Prepping for university straight from the crib

Aiko has just finished bouncing like a rabbit toward a white line. She has already identified photographs of fruit and will soon be told a story about a panda, after which she'll have to draw a picture and offer an ending. How she does with these activities could determine where she attends university,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Feb 15, 2014

'The Fed' closing an end of an era

Of the many Western-style hotels that mushroomed across Bangkok in the 1960s, principally to accommodate large numbers of U.S. servicemen on leave from the Vietnam War (which was raging about 1,000 km to the east), the Federal Hotel was considered the granddaddy of them all.
Reader Mail
Feb 15, 2014

Time for project on climate reality

Readers might find it puzzling that the subject of the Feb. 3 editorial, "Rising costs of climate change," was not front-page news. Increasingly extreme weather events brought about by man-made global warming should be a priority today precisely because it is the No. 1 threat to our future.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 10, 2014

Abe should visit Nanjing instead of Yasukuni

If Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a war apology with sincere contrition and humility in Nanjing, it might ease his goal of shifting Japan toward a 'normal' country in foreign policy and defense.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2014

Sony suffering seen as prelude to Loeb-inspired revamp

Sony Corp.'s latest earnings disappointment held a silver lining: the company's willingness to entertain some of activist investor Daniel Loeb's suggestions. And it may be just the beginning.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 9, 2014

Globally focused International Baccalaureate diploma needs local-level support

The education think tanks were busy in 2013. As the Year of the Snake slithered to a close, the education ministry made headlines by announcing bolstered English education plans — again — in an attempt to better prepare Japanese students for an increasingly connected world.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2014

China's credit boom raises flags on risk levels

The growth of credit in China at a breakneck pace, including the spike in local-government debt by 70 percent since 2009, is raising serious concerns about the level of risk in China's financial system.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014

Could 'Snowpiercer' be Bong's ticket out of Korea?

There's a scene in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic sci-fi fable "Snowpiercer" that turns the tables on how Western audiences perceive non-English-speaking Asian characters in what is — for all intents and purposes — a Hollywood production.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2014

Momii's rise tests NHK's reputation

For millions of Japanese, and even Japan-watchers abroad, NHK is a trusted source of information: gray in tone perhaps, but neither black nor white on the issues. This assumption has been put to the test by new NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii, whose recent remarks have led many to wonder whether the public...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 1, 2014

For Japan's foreign residents, the little things make such a big difference

American political ideals may be grander, European philosophy may be deeper, Islamic faith may be firmer than anything native to Japan — but Japan, perhaps uniquely, knows the value of small things.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 31, 2014

Japan and China's great African game

It's no longer Western powers vying for African land and the continent's wealth as they had until the outbreak of World War I. The power struggle now is among Asian nations, most notably China and Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 29, 2014

Twice as nice: 'The Full Monty' and Peeping Tom

"I love the original 'Full Monty' movie, and I think Robert Carlyle is brilliant as the central character — a loser who overcomes the odds against him. In fact it's his portrayal that inspired me to tackle the role as my live-acting debut — though now I regret agreeing to it because on stage there's...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Jan 29, 2014

Pro Bowl week improves Japanese coaches' football knowledge

A pair of Japanese coaches once again had the opportunity to experience football's highest level by being a part of Pro Bowl activities last week in Hawaii. This is the fourth consecutive year that the program has been held by the NFL in conjunction with the Hawaiian Tourism Authority.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 28, 2014

Kisenosato injury hands yokozuna quest baton to Kakuryu

Going into the 2014 Hatsu Basho all eyes were on ozeki Kisenosato and his quest to be promoted to yokozuna.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jan 27, 2014

War redress reversal in South Korea

Recent South Korean court rulings ordering Japanese firms to compensate Koreans who were forced to perform labor for them during the war have cast a shadow on already strained bilateral ties.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?