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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2016

It's risky to bash Donald Trump on talk radio

Talk radio, a bastion of the right wing in the U.S., has gone easy on Donald Trump throughout the campaign.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 5, 2016

Ryu Murakami turns on another light in Tokyo's lurid basement

This collection of short stories arrived with a warning from the publisher: "Graphic sexual content." Perhaps it was worried that reviewers would blush to the tips of their toes upon reading it. However, anyone who has encountered Murakami's excruciating 1992 sadomasochistic film "Topazu" ("Tokyo Decadence")...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 5, 2016

'Requiem' chronicles the thoughts of a Japanese girl in the ashes of World War II

Eavesdropping on a dying girl's inner monologue makes for a painful but powerful reading experience in this classic of Japanese young adult literature.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 5, 2016

Explaining the unexplainable to children with 'The Extraordinary Voyage of Kamome'

This month marks the fifth anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. A number of books aimed at children and young adults have appeared in the ensuing years based on those tumultuous events. In "The Extraordinary Voyage of Kamome," a bilingual picture book suitable for children...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2016

Think life is hard now? Look back 100 years

Americans tend to forget the vast improvements that they've made in the past century.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 3, 2016

Ryohei Suzuki beefs up for a kingly role in Mishima-penned play 'The Terrace of the Leper King'

Ryohei Suzuki's body has been put to the test over the past 12 months.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 2, 2016

The West has always been keen to divide the Arabs

It has been almost 100 years since colonial powers divided up the Arab world, and they have invested much time, energy, resources and all-out wars to ensure that the arbitrary divisions never truly end.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 1, 2016

Nomadic Whiteside playing well, but remains enigma

Hassan Whiteside has become one of the most remarkable NBA stories of recent years, a virtual outcast who was a second-round draft pick, a regular in the minor league D-League and then expatriate playing in China and Lebanon, and even in an attempt to return to the NBA released by the Memphis Grizzlies....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2016

What the FBI versus Apple flap is really about

The Apple-FBI encryption flap is really all about Edward Snowden and the NSA.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 28, 2016

Canadians gear up to handle any influx of Americans if Trump wins presidency

Americans have said it many times before when eyeing a White House prospect they view as unpalatable: "If that guy is elected president, I'm moving to Canada!"
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 27, 2016

Does Tohoku's disaster tourism exploit or educate?

Disaster tourism can be an unsettling descent into voyeurism as visitors ghoulishly gawk at, and photograph, those caught up in catastrophe as if they're at a petting zoo. The concept has prompted widespread condemnation of insensitive tourists and travel companies exploiting disasters as marketing opportunities....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 27, 2016

A privileged perspective on WWII in 'My Shanghai, 1942-1946: A Novel'

Partly inspired by the wartime experiences of author Keiko Itoh's mother, "My Shanghai, 1942-1946" is a comfortably old-fashioned epistolary novel told entirely through diary entries. The story begins in January 1942 as London-educated protagonist Eiko Kishimoto arrives in the Shanghai International...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2016

Global crisis: It's the 15th century all over again

The world has been going through these crises at least since the Middle Ages. They usually take a long time to recover from.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 26, 2016

Gas from thawing permafrost could add further to global warming, study says

Arctic permafrost that is thawing due to global warming is releasing greenhouse gases, further compounding the problem of climate change, according to a study released on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 24, 2016

Why Russia didn't go further than Crimea

A newly released document sheds light on why Russia's annexation of Crimea was bloodless, and on the limits of Putin's aggressiveness.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2016

Solution to the inequality puzzle proving elusive

As difficult a puzzle as income inequality may seem today, failing to solve it could lead to far more severe challenges.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 22, 2016

With eye on Downing Street, Boris bets all on 'Brexit'

With one hand in his suit pocket and the other mussing his signature blond hair, Boris Johnson on Sunday took the riskiest gamble of his career: to oppose Prime Minister David Cameron by campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Feb 21, 2016

In Japan, don't just celebrate black history, be black history

There are a number of annual celebrations of Black History Month here in Japan. I've attended dozens of them over the years. Have even spoken at several, and in fact will be speaking at one later this month. And more often than not, I'll be asked the question, "Why?"
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2016

A lot more war than peace

After decades of relative peace, the death toll from armed conflicts is rising once again. While countries rarely go to war with each other, a constellation of other kinds of conflicts rages on.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 20, 2016

1936 coup failed, but rebels killed Japan's 'Keynes'

This Friday marks the 80th anniversary of the February 26th Incident, a coup staged by young military officers who hoped to spark a general uprising, but whose revolt was quashed on the orders of Emperor Hirohito.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Feb 20, 2016

CG gains a 'real' foothold in anime

Japanese audiences have long responded tepidly to the use of extensive computer graphics (CG) in anime. Even as CG has become the global standard for animation studios, anime fans prefer their homegrown artists to stick to labor-intensive 2-D illustration techniques and cel animation — or to at least...
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Feb 20, 2016

'The Doctor's Wife' fictionalizes the life of Japan's pioneering anesthetist

"Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes," the comedian Jim Carrey once joked. Sawako Ariyoshi's novel "The Doctor's Wife," based on historical facts and first published in 1978, tells of the woman behind real-life pioneer surgeon Seishu Hanaoka, who used general anesthetic long before any...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2016

No nation should fight atrocities alone

The doctrine of the responsibility to protect (R2P) does not guarantee the world will act when atrocities occur, but the chances of a better outcome increase when it is used.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2016

Apple-FBI legal battle isn't about encryption

Apple is standing up for iPhone users' privacy rights now, but there's no guarantee its stance won't change in the future.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2016

For Sanders and Clinton, politics is personal

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders represent two worldviews: one for whom wealth and privilege have long been assumed as her due, the other whose sympathies lie with those who are less fortunate because he once was.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2016

At last, scientists show Neanderthals some love

That modern humans ridiculed Neanderthals so maliciously for so long says more about our shortcomings than theirs.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2016

Refugees, jihad and the specter of terrorism

The Mediterranean holds the key to Europe's security, yet little attention is being paid to shoring up the continent's southern flank.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2016

Military cuts can fund Sanders' social programs

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders could fund his ambitious social programs by slashing America's bloated military budget.

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