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Japan Times
JAPAN / AEC SPECIAL
Jan 29, 2016

Students appreciate college's international surroundings

Students from ASEAN member states are enjoying their learning experiences at Sophia University and their daily lives in an international environment provided by the most international university in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 27, 2016

Satoko Yokohama: The girl from Aomori taking on Japan's film industry

The Japanese film industry is one of the most antiquated in the world. Well, that seems to be the general opinion among media pundits here. Those working in film are slaves, enduring terrifically long working hours; budgets are minuscule; old-fashioned apprenticeships still reign; and women rarely get...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 22, 2016

Sarah the cheetah, world's fastest land mammal, dies in Ohio zoo

An Ohio zoo said on Thursday that Sarah, a cheetah designated the world's fastest land mammal by National Geographic magazine in 2012, has died at the age of 15.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 18, 2016

Another year of living precariously in 21st-century Japan

2015 was a pretty gloomy year worldwide. And the same could be said for life on the archipelago.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 18, 2016

Why economic growth lags

A new book offers a sobering reminder of technology's limits.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jan 16, 2016

Dotonbori: Where Osakans eat, drink and be merry

Comparing Osaka with almost any other Japanese city is akin to likening a bloodied steak to boiled chicken.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jan 16, 2016

'It is I who rule' — Japan's 'Manyoshu' morning

What fun civilization is in its infancy! How bright and fresh the world looks at the dawn of consciousness! Listen:
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 13, 2016

The darker side of young adulthood

The opening shot of "Little Birds" tells us all we need to know about its heroine Lily, a 15-year-old stuck in a deader-than-dead-end town. As she lies in the bath, the camera pans across the pale white skin of her legs until it lands on some deep scars high on her thighs, the marks of a cutter. This...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2016

Make 2016 a better year for migrants

Dealing with the refugee crisis will be a profound test of the civic health of democratic societies worldwide.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 7, 2016

Music director Nott prepares for Tokyo Symphony Orchestra's 70th

It's not rare for a conductor from overseas to collaborate with a Japanese orchestra, but the case of Jonathan Nott stands out because of the speed at which he and the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra cultivated their relationship.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2016

U.S. cops are too crazy to be trusted with guns

Cop lives shouldn't matter more than civilian lives, and cops shouldn't enjoy the benefit of the doubt more than ordinary citizens.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 28, 2015

Cancer drugs: fact and fiction

Collusion between pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions to grab large chunks of medical spending is driving drug prices to stratospheric heights.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 24, 2015

Meiji Shrine: grounds to ring in the year

As a relatively new place of worship, established less than a century ago in 1920, Meiji Shrine was originally based around the concept of wakonyu014dsai — a belief that treasured the Japanese 'soul,' while still embracing influences from the West. Its unusual omikuji, therefore, is not the only unique feature of the shrine.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 23, 2015

Top 10 films of 2015: War, slackers and a love hotel

It's hard to be an optimist about the present state of Japanese cinema. One reason is the decline of the mid-budget film, previously the refuge of much quality work, with many talented directors going either fully commercial or extremely indie. Micro-budget films are not inferior per se but their subject...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 22, 2015

Plenty of food for thought in a good year for great plays

The year now ending began gloomily with the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris reminding us of hopeless breakdowns in mutual understanding and tolerance worldwide; now it's set to close hot on the heels of an agreement by nearly 200 countries at the COP21 talks in Paris on the need to counter threatened...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 15, 2015

Smiling between the lines of ukiyo-e

Some art collectors enjoy the eclectic, picking up art pieces opportunistically — even randomly — usually when they find something at the right price. Others have more streamlined tastes and focus on a theme or genre, building up more consistent collections.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Dec 9, 2015

Filmmakers explore Japan's infamous doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, with mixed results

Today the saga of Aum Shinrikyo — a doomsday cult that killed 13 Tokyo commuters and poisoned many others with sarin gas in 1995 — seems like something out of a bad manga. What could have possessed so many well-educated middle-class people, to follow Shoko Asahara, a deranged guru who taught a mishmash...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Dec 8, 2015

Japan Times reader cherishes WWII news dispatch from Dutch East Indies

Rumiko Endo's childhood odyssey is captured in a 1942 newspaper photograph showing her mother as a young woman and her as a baby.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Dec 2, 2015

Views from Tokyo: Would you like to retire in Japan?

How do people out and about in Tokyo feel about living out their twilight years on this archipelago?
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Dec 1, 2015

Newton affair reveals ugly truth about discourse in U.S.

Sports, MAS has often heard it said, are a metaphor for life.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 28, 2015

Japan's children face a dementia boom

Confucius said it's not enough merely to provide for our parents. We must revere them. To fail in filial reverence, he said, is to be no better than the animals.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 25, 2015

Hideo Nakata's 'Ghost Theater' recalls true horror

A decade or so ago, J-horror (Japanese horror) was a hot genre worldwide. Thinking they had a sure-fire box-office formula — implacable ghosts scaring the bejesus out of attractive women — filmmakers mass-produced sequels, spinoffs and knock-offs, to mostly diminishing returns.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Nov 14, 2015

Surviving a sudden transition to democracy

What is the worst thing that has ever happened to humankind?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2015

Ryosuke Hashiguchi's inspired drama about love and loss

Watching recent Japanese films, I often have the feeling that their makers need an imagination injection, or simply need to get out more. It's not just that few, especially at the commercial end of the spectrum, work from original scripts. Plenty of great movies are adapted from other media.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 7, 2015

Without doubt, company executives will just go with the flow

Asahi Kasei. Toyo Tire & Rubber. Toshiba. What's the connection? Executives lined up before the cameras, bowing their heads in shame.

Longform

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