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JAPAN / Society
Jul 7, 2015

Japan LGBT group files human rights complaint in bid for same-sex marriages

Hundreds of members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community file an unprecedented human rights request with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations in a bid to legalize same-sex marriages.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 3, 2015

North Korean defector offers brutal insight into world's most secret state

As a schoolgirl in North Korea, Hyeonseo Lee was forced to watch executions, denounce her friends for fabricated transgressions and dig tunnels in case of a nuclear attack.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 28, 2015

Time to banish old people to the countryside?

I couldn't help but gasp upon reading the Japan Policy Council's new recommendations to help take the aging population burden off Tokyo: "Encourage the elderly to move to the countryside, where the facilities are less crowded and there are more spaces for those needing full time care."
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2015

Tokyo — world's most livable city?

Tokyo has a lot going for it, but saying it's the world's most livable city risks ignoring a multitude of problems, many of which stem from the city's overwhelming size.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 17, 2015

Indians in Japan — a love story beset with challenges

While the recent increase in the number of Indian residents in Japan might appear substantial, it is small compared to the influx seen in some other countries. So why the big difference?
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Jun 13, 2015

Carr starred at Tokyo Games

Henry Carr didn't have the longevity of Olympic track legends like hurdler Edwin Moses or sprinter/long jumper Carl Lewis. But to those who witnessed and remembered what he accomplished at the Tokyo Olympics in October 1964, his greatness as a runner left an indelible impression.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2015

Tokyo is world's most livable city: Monocle magazine

The British lifestyle magazine Monocle has declared Tokyo the most livable city in the world in its annual quality of life survey, the company said Thursday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 4, 2015

Kin breach police cordon, head toward Yangtze shipwreck site as survivor hopes fade

Dozens of people broke through a police cordon on Wednesday as they marched toward the site of a sunken cruise ship in the Yangtze River to demand news of missing relatives.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2015

Google's project for 'smart clothes' gets it right

If Google Project Jacquard succeeds, we'll be able to wear touch-sensitive clothing that can control electronic devices.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 3, 2015

Director Kawase disregards criticism of her sentimental leprosy drama 'An'

When I first interviewed Naomi Kawase in 1998, after she won the Cannes Film Festival's Camera d'Or award for her first feature, "Moe no Suzaku" ("Suzaku"), I remarked on her "quietly stubborn determination" to persist in the face of various detractors. If anything, criticism has increased in the intervening...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 3, 2015

Director Naomi Kawase has finally made a 'real Japanese film'

Sooner or later, many Japanese directors — be they internationally acclaimed auteurs or industry outsiders — end up making what Sion Sono (a noted auteur/outsider himself) once described to me as "a real Japanese film." To put it simply, this sort of film is aimed squarely at the domestic audience,...
WORLD / Society
Jun 2, 2015

Muslims find peace in New York hamlet

Just beyond the gated entrance to the tiny Catskills community of Holy Islamberg, population 200, cows graze and ducks glide on a tranquil pond. Modest houses of wood and cinder block sit along the hamlet's single thoroughfare, a rutted dirt road without traffic signs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
May 31, 2015

Karuizawa boarding school touts international diversity, hard truths

One tiny experience in your life may floor you and open the door to an entirely new world. Though rare, it sometimes happens when one stumbles upon a totally different culture.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 27, 2015

Widower haunted by his burger-eating comedian wife in 'Till Death Do Us Part?'

Japanese audiences love to cry — hence the decades-long stream of films featuring the terminally ill. The current outpouring, however, seems to be a byproduct of Japan's aging society and improved standards of medical care.
JAPAN
May 27, 2015

Passport confiscation policy should remain in place: Foreign Ministry

The government should maintain its policy of confiscating passports of Japanese nationals seeking to enter a foreign country or area controlled by extremists if it would put their life at risk, according to a new Foreign Ministry report.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 20, 2015

Know the way of the sword, know thyself: a kendo primer

With Tokyo poised to host the world championships for the first time since the inaugural competition in 1970, here's all you need to know to get the most out of the bouts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
May 20, 2015

YouTuber Ken Tanaka tweaks the nose of our obsession with identity

The best way to talk to (and about) the entertainer and artist Ken Tanaka is to discuss his YouTube videos, of which there are many, and which vary wildly in terms of popularity, production and themes. But first, some biography:
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
May 18, 2015

Aichi's oldest pathologist sees society in flux

The oldest police pathologist in Aichi Prefecture retired in March, after performing autopsies on more than 4,000 bodies in his 50 year career.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 16, 2015

'Kantei Santa' makes himself heard over the din of the election vans

Is crime justified in the service of good?
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 16, 2015

Boston Marathon bomber Tsarnaev sentenced to death for 2013 attack

Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death by a jury on Friday for helping carry out the 2013 attack, which killed three people and wounded 264 in the crowds at the race's finish line.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 14, 2015

Maya Inoue makes a play to refine her father's theatrical legacy

Hisashi Inoue's death at the age of 75 on April 9, 2010, at his home in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, was a major event in the postwar Japanese theater world. It moved many dramatists to stage works by the great author and playwright who combined comedy and searing social and political commentary into...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 12, 2015

The Louvre's spin on art history

The futuristic-looking National Art Center Tokyo (NACT) seems like a rather unusual venue for an exhibition of mainly 17th- and 18th-century European art sourced from Paris's famous Louvre Museum. But while the Louvre's collections are very much rooted in the past, the French institution has also had...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
May 11, 2015

A woman's job in Japan: watch kids, care for parents, work late

Hiromi Nakasaki remembers working past midnight on New Year's Eve and during holidays as a business systems consultant in Japan's notoriously harsh work environment. Last summer, at the height of her career, she quit.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 5, 2015

Korin: the late bloomer with innovative in style

One of the joys of visiting Tokyo's Nezu Museum in early May, is to catch the annual showing of one of the museum's most famous works, Ogata Korin's "Irises," before stepping outside to appreciate the real irises blooming in its garden.
Japan Times
WORLD / EXPO MILANO 2015
May 3, 2015

Wide variety of events welcome Milan visitors

From May 1 through Oct. 31, Italy will host the Expo Milano 2015, a global event bringing together 145 countries, three international organizations, 13 nongovernmental organizations, many corporations and citizens to address issues related to the global food challenges, nutrition, the culture of food...

Longform

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Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years