Search - 2004

 
 
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Jul 22, 2013

Pyongyang's ties to Havana deep, ship bust shows

When law enforcement agents boarded a rusty, aging North Korean freighter making a rare journey down the Panama Canal last week, they had been tipped off that they would find narcotics, Panamanian officials said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jul 19, 2013

That's me in the picture: how 'selfies' became a global craze

It starts with a certain angle: A smartphone tilted at 45 degrees just above your eyeline is generally deemed the most forgiving. Then a light source: the flattering beam of a backlit window or a bursting supernova of flash reflected in a bathroom mirror, as preparations are under way for a night out....
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2013

When is a coup not a coup?

Deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and his kind no doubt realize by now that '50 percent of the vote plus 1' is not a license to govern as they please.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 17, 2013

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu "Nanda Collection"

"Am I an adult? Or am I a kid?" sings Kyary Pamyu Pamyu on "Furisodation," a song about the Harajuku blogger-turned-model-turned-pop-star turning 20 earlier this year. That's the question that looms over all of her sophomore album, "Nanda Collection."
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2013

Reverse devolution and other rifts

Governors of Japan's 47 prefectures are not singing the praises of 'Abenomics' and devolution efforts. For Kyoto's governor, devolution is in reverse.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 12, 2013

Global threat to food supply as water wells dry up

Wells are drying up and underwater tables falling so fast in the Middle East and parts of India, China and the United States that food supplies are seriously threatened, one of the world's leading resource analysts warned on July 7.
JAPAN / Politics / GAME OF NUMBERS
Jul 11, 2013

Futenma question decisive factor for prefecture's voters

Last in a series
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 10, 2013

'Why Not Live for Art? II: 9 Collectors Reveal Their Treasures'

First held in 2004, this exhibition is the second by Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery to present works owned by individual collectors. In the past 10 years, art collecting has become more common and the network between collectors has expanded. As the gallery revisits the world of private acquisitions, it...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2013

Plunging rupee sends New Delhi a wake-up call

The real reason to worry about India is that it has lost international competitiveness and has been buying time from lenders — not because the rupee's value has slid.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2013

Tanaka's gold sales hot as bull run, yen cool

Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K., Japan's biggest bullion retailer, said sales to local investors may exceed purchases this year for the first time since 2004 as lower prices and the yen's weakness spur buying interest.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2013

Mergers at nine-year low amid yen volatility

Japanese companies made fewer acquisitions during the calendar first half than they have in a decade as buying interest was cooled by the yen's volatility.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2013

Long history of untruthiness by U.S. intelligence

America's chief intelligence officers have a half-century-long history of untruthiness — testifying falsely and fearlessly to provide convenient cover stories.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 6, 2013

U.S. butterfly decline signals environment woes

Butterflies are a favorite muse for poets and songwriters who hold them up as symbols of love, beauty, transformation and good fortune.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 4, 2013

Tsuchiya questions what it means to be human

I first met Yutaka Tsuchiya in 1999 when I interviewed him on the release of "Atarashii Kamisama (The New God)," his documentary centering on a rightist punk band and its charismatic lead singer, Karin Amamiya. Despite his left-leaning politics, Tsuchiya was anything but the rigid ideologue; in fact,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 3, 2013

Matthew Bourne's 'Dorian Gray' will never grow old, says its lead dancer, Richard Winsor

"Matthew and I are very excited to see how Japanese audiences react — but I think everyone is absolutely going to love this show," English dancer Richard Winsor said at a Tokyo press conference held in May to preview next week's season of Matthew Bourne's "Dorian Gray," in which he plays the title...
SOCCER / J. League / J. LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jul 3, 2013

Gamba, Vissel on course for quick return to top division

The J. League first division returns from its six-week international break this Saturday, but beneath the top flight the race for promotion is in full swing with the second division reaching its halfway point last Saturday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 3, 2013

U.K. paper punches way above its weight

For a newspaper that's small and underweight even by British standards, The Guardian has a knack for making some big noises, both in its home market and across the pond.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jul 2, 2013

Record shows U.S. officials misled public on NSA programs

Amid the cascading disclosures about National Security Agency surveillance programs, the top lawyer in the U.S. intelligence community opened his remarks at a rare public appearance last week with a lament about how much of the information being spilled was wrong.
WORLD
Jun 29, 2013

School achievement gap shrinks for U.S. minorities

America's 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds are posting better scores in math and reading tests than their counterparts did 40 years ago, and the achievement gap between white students and those of color is narrowing, according to federal government data released Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 28, 2013

'Compliance'

Of all the films you'll see this year, "Compliance" has, for sure, the most unbelievable plot of them all. The little tagline at the beginning saying "inspired by true events" hasn't stopped people from taking outrage at director Craig Zobel's supposed exaggerations, with "Nobody could possibly be that...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2013

Supreme Court cripples Voting Rights Act

A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday invalidated a crucial component of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, ruling that Congress has not taken into account the nation's racial progress when singling out certain states for federal oversight.
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
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2013

Is Rand Paul going mainstream, or is mainstream going Rand Paul?

Rand Paul seems to be crossing over to the mainstream — or maybe it's the other way around. When Kentucky's junior senator arrived in Washington just over two years ago, he seemed destined to inhabit the role of perpetual outlier. But now, he's in the mix on just about everything that is happening,...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?