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WORLD
Feb 19, 2015

Islamic State lays claim to North African outpost

The images match the worst of Islamic State group's atrocities: black-clad fighters and an English-speaking jihadi taunt the West before slaughtering their victims in orange jumpsuits on a Libyan beach.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2015

Despite killings, Denmark is not setting a bad example

Although Denmark's conflicted approach to freedom of expression demands closer scrutiny, the country is not setting a bad example when it comes to dealing with radical Muslims.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2015

Jeb Bush foreign policy team too familiar?

Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush has drawn heavily from the administrations of his brother and father in picking his nascent team of foreign policy advisers, a choice that may undercut his assertion that he is his "own man" on international affairs.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 19, 2015

Map of 'epigenome,' a second genetic code, unveiled

Scientists for the first time have mapped out the molecular switches that can turn genes on or off in the DNA in more than 100 types of human cells, an accomplishment that reveals the complexity of genetic information and the challenges of interpreting it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 18, 2015

The Fault in Our Stars: 'teenage love and girlish fantasy that doesn't become corny'

Shailene Woodley's finest performance yet is her portrayal of Hazel, the 18-year-old cancer patient in "The Fault in Our Stars," whom she imbues with her particular brand of vitality, beauty and an unshakable sense of entitlement.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Feb 18, 2015

Time to shut down this modern-day minstrel show

If Fuji TV airs the modern-day minstrel show it has planned for next month, it will shine a national spotlight on Japan's extreme ignorance about issues of race and discrimination.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 18, 2015

'Mercury Fur' exposes a caring kind of depravity

After the premiere of "Mercury Fur" at Theatre Tram in Tokyo's lively Sangenjaya district this month, Issey Takahashi, who stars in that dystopian 2005 play by Philip Ridley, declared: "I think this is a very dark prophecy, but as I was acting my character Elliot today, I also felt it's a story of hope...
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 17, 2015

Jordan blocked out coaching soap opera involving Collins, Jackson

This is the seventh installment from Hall of Fame writer Sam Smith's new book "There Is No Next: NBA Legends on the Legacy of Michael Jordan."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 17, 2015

Japan needs a strong intellect that doesn't yield to terrorism

The murder of two Japanese citizens by Islamic State terrorists shouldn't be used as an excuse to eliminate the Constitution's restraints on the use of military force.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2015

Why Germany's growth beat expectations

Germany's unexpectly strong economic growth suggests that it was right to focus on economic competitiveness rather than fiscal stimulus.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2015

Grand theft, by U.S. law enforcement agencies

Dubious asset foreiture programs have become big business for U.S. law enforcement agencies.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2015

Great War cost Europe a century

There was absolutely nothing noble about U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's intervention in Europe during the carnage of 1917. It led to a peace of vengeful victors, triumphant nationalists and avaricious imperialists — when the war would have otherwise ended in a bedraggled peace of mutually exhausted bankruptcies and discredited war parties.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2015

Your toothpaste is destroying Asia's rainforests

You probably had some palm oil today, which is found in roughly half of the products sold in modern supermarkets. It is the cause of one of the world's biggest environmental catastrophes, the decimation of Southeast Asia's rainforests.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 14, 2015

The economics book everyone is talking about, but has anyone read it?

French economist Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" was the surprise bestseller of 2014 in the United States, and it has also become a hit in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2015

Presidential politics: all personality, no platform

Hillary Clinton may have everything she needs to run for U.S. president in 2016: money, name recognition, staff, organization — everything except ideas at the moment.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2015

Ukraine: first arms, then what?

If the U.S. commits itself to sending arms to Ukraine, it will be signing up for more than military aid. Arms shipments alone are almost never enough to enable a weaker actor to defeat a big-time power.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2015

The U.S.-India nuclear breakthrough that wasn't

Nuclear power faces an uncertain future, with few new reactors under construction in the West. Yet India has continued to place the nuclear deal at the hub of its relationship with America.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / TYSON-DOUGLAS SHOCKER REVISITED
Feb 10, 2015

Douglas reflects on Tyson fight 25 years later

The youngest heavyweight champion in history, making his 10th title defense, entered the fight with a 37-0 record and had never been knocked down during his pro career; Douglas was the 42-1 underdog. Tyson's reign ended 28 minutes, 22 seconds into the fight, at precisely 1:22 into the 10th round.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2015

Ukrainians would be wise to heed Georgia's war lessons

Many people in Kiev worry that if Ukraine makes a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he will meddle in domestic affairs to an extent that will make meaningful reforms impossible. But Putin hasn't done that in Georgia since the 2008 war.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2015

Next U.N. secretary general

With Ban Ki-moon's second term as U.N. secretary general ending Dec. 31, 2016, there are said to be at least three candidates to replace the South Korean. And former Prime Ministers Helen Clark of New Zealand and Kevin Rudd of Australia are believed to be interested in the world's top diplomatic post.
JAPAN
Feb 9, 2015

U.S. historians slam Abe effort to change textbook dealing with 'comfort women'

Nineteen U.S.-based historians protest attempts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his administration to suppress statements in U.S. and Japanese history textbooks about 'comfort women.'
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 6, 2015

Piketty's solution for Japan's sick economy? A fourth arrow

French economist and author Thomas Piketty has received rock-star treatment in Japan while arguing that the Bank of Japan's ultra-loose monetary policies are ginning up stocks and real estate for the wealthy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2015

How the West's policies are losing Ukraine

Ukrainians fighting against eastern separatists and Russian forces are bitter about all the supportive Western rhetoric not materializing into weapons and reinforcements. The long-game strategies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama could yet give rise to an anti-Western backlash.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2015

Limiting the Security Council's veto power

In the lead-up to the commemoration of this year's 70th anniversary of the U.N., the French government is again pursuing the idea of getting the five permanent members of the Security Council to agree to refrain from using their veto power when dealing with mass-atrocity crimes.
MORE SPORTS / TYSON-DOUGLAS SHOCKER REVISITED
Feb 5, 2015

Whiting says booming economy brought Tyson-Douglas bout to Tokyo

Best-selling author Robert Whiting, who penned an epic series for The Japan Times examining the legacy of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics last fall, has lived in Tokyo for decades. He is a keen observer of the ties that bind the United States and Japan, especially through the prism of sports.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 5, 2015

Paris' melancholic life of the party

The painter Jules Pascin was the epitome of the cosmopolitan, bohemian artist who came to define Paris of the 1920s. The latest exhibition at the Panasonic Shiodome Museum looks at the life and art of this painter, who was an important feature of the Parisian art scene until his suicide in 1930 at the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2015

Abe condemns Islamic State's slaying of Jordanian pilot

The apparent execution of Mu'ath al-Kaseasbeh, a Jordanian air force pilot captured by the Islamic State, is “inhumane” and “despicable,” the prime minister said.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2015

At 1994 Argentina bomb site, deja vu and fading hope for justice

Anita Weinstein was on the second floor of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, when the ceiling and walls collapsed from the force of a truck bomb outside.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 3, 2015

Opponents left in awe by Jordan's combination of talent, confidence

This is the sixth installment from Hall of Fame writer Sam Smith's new book "There Is No Next: NBA Legends on the Legacy of Michael Jordan."

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight