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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2016

Khizr Khan and the triumph of Democratic militarism

The Democrats turned Donald Trump's tactless words into a scandal, deflecting attention from the real issue: Hillary Clinton's support for the illegal war that killed Humayun Khan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 1, 2016

A Japanese guide to dealing with gentlemen callers and unruly dogs

Bookworms often have a rare jewel in their collection that they are unable to throw out — despite efforts to こんまり (Konmari, tidy in the method of Marie Kondo by getting rid of clutter) around the house. For me, this book is the 1965 エチケット事典 (Echiketto Jiten, Etiquette Dictionary)....
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 1, 2016

Savvy campaign helped Koike's election as Tokyo's first female governor

Yuriko Koike's focus must turn now to how she can get along with the metropolitan assembly.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2016

Extravagant gamble of Rio's mayor

The Olympic Games could make or break the career of Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2016

If Clinton is likable, show it

If there is any way to bring out the private, likable Hillary Clinton before a larger, public audience, then her campaign needs to find it quick.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2016

Will 'Pokemon Go' power up Japan's 'Cool Economy'?

'Pokemon Go' may be a huge success, but without major structural reforms, Japan's creative economy won't take flight.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Jul 30, 2016

Inky points of interest in Tabata

Under glowering clouds, I decide to explore the area around Tabata Station in Tokyo. Though recently renovated, the station is one of Tokyo's oldest depots, dating from 1896. The station offers nifty spots for watching shinkansen trains bullet by, but I take the north exit to find the Tabata Bunshi Mura...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 30, 2016

Sayaka Murata and the art of neutrality

When 36-year-old Sayaka Murata recently won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for literature, the media latched onto the author's background rather than the novel itself. Murata continues to work part-time as a convenience store clerk, and gains inspiration for characters and plots from her work environment....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 30, 2016

Bushido: Soseki, 'Star Wars' and the samurai

In September 1912, Gen. Maresuke Nogi — a hero of the Russo-Japanese War — committed ritual suicide. His sensational death took place on the day of Emperor Meiji's funeral, making it an act of junshi (following one's lord in death) and a high-water mark for the samurai code in the modern era.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 30, 2016

Russia has motive, capability for U.S. email hack but players remain unclear

The Kremlin says it had zero involvement in the hacking of the Democratic Party's email system while U.S. officials say the hack originated in Russia. We may never know who is right, but one thing is for sure — Russia had motive, capability and form.
Japan Times
MULTIMEDIA
Jul 29, 2016

July 30, 2016

Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2016

A brutal majority in Kashmir and elsewhere

The rise of a rabid majoritarianism is part of a larger rejection of politics based on reason and dialogue.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2016

How Trump could start a war with Russia

In his determination to 'make America great again,' Donald Trump should not turn away decisively from the things that have made America great in the past, including steady and unwavering support for its allies.
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2016

Tokyo court rules against conservative group suing Asahi over 'comfort women' articles

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday dismissed two lawsuits over articles published decades ago by the daily newspaper and retracted in 2014.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 27, 2016

'Trumpetings' mean trouble for Japan and Asia

The last thing this region needs is more tension and conflict, which is what would come with a Trump presidency.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jul 27, 2016

What to expect when applying for college overseas

In a few weeks, my daughter, an American-Japanese dual national born, raised and mostly educated in Japanese in Japan, will begin her first year of higher learning at her dream school — Middlebury College, one of America's oldest liberal arts institutes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 27, 2016

'A Walk in the Woods': Trekking up the path to friendship

Everyone needs to go for a walk — if only to clear their minds and get their circulation going. Reese Witherspoon walked 1,610 kilometers on the Pacific Crest Trail in "Wild" because her character (real-life author Cheryl Strayed) needed to clean her head of the mess that had become her life. In "A...
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 26, 2016

U.S. Democrats should learn from Scandinavia

Scandinavian-style social welfare could breathe new life into the fading American Dream.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 26, 2016

The Kabukiza's special August season of short plays looks set to be a scorcher

Kabuki never used to be performed in August at the Kabukiza Theatre in Tokyo, but in 1990 two of its late, great actors, Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII and Bando Mitsugoro X, instigated the staging of short programs during that sweltering month to help expand the audience.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2016

Mirage of a rules-based order

As demonstrated by China's response to The Hague's South China Sea decision, international law is powerful against the powerless, but powerless against the powerful.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2016

Why the U.S. should move nukes out of Turkey

The U.S. should move its nuclear missiles in southern Turkey to more secure European locations.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 25, 2016

Imperial abdication talk poses question of Japan's next era

As the news reverberated throughout Japan earlier this month that Emperor Akihito intended to relinquish his throne while alive — in the first such move in about 200 years — the nation was struck by one of the biggest implications of his exit: the arrival of a new era.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jul 23, 2016

A dark age dawns for politics in Japan

"Historic," that much-overused word, seems almost acceptable as a description of the Upper House elections earlier this month that gave Japan — for the first time in its postwar history — a government strong enough to get serious about rewriting the Constitution.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 23, 2016

Bushido: The samurai code goes to war

In a scene from the 1957 film "The Bridge on the River Kwai," a haughty British Col. in a prisoner-of-war camp confronts the camp's Japanese commandant. Citing the Geneva Convention as justification, he argues that his officers should not be forced into manual labor, which makes the commandant furious...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 23, 2016

'The Maid': A mind reader probes the intimate thoughts of her employers

In Japan, true feelings (known as honne) are often hidden behind the mask of a false front (tatemae). So the comic potential of a mind-reading maid working in private family homes — encountering sexual frustrations, jealousy and the mutual resentment of parents and their children — sounds rich indeed....
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 21, 2016

Neuroscientists chart new gray matter map pinpointing key areas of cerebral cortex

Neuroscientists acting as cartographers of the human mind have devised the most comprehensive map ever made of the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for higher cognitive functions such as abstract thought, language and memory.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jul 20, 2016

Eiken broadens language tests to address criticisms

As the Eiken Foundation tries to meet the demands of a growing number of test-takers, what do students, parents and teachers make of the tests?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2016

Territorial battles will continue despite ruling

Ultimately, the countries of the Asia-Pacific region will have to negotiate a resolution to its many dangerous territorial disputes rather than rely on court decisions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 20, 2016

There's a starman, waiting on the screen . . .

In 1975, just as David Bowie had achieved breakthrough success, he was simultaneously teetering on the verge of a nervous breakdown. A re-issued single of "Space Oddity" was No. 1 in the U.K., and he scored his first No. 1 single in the States with "Fame," while also cracking the top five with "Young...

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