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Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Feb 20, 2021

Matsuo Taseko: It’s myth vs. reality for Japanese nationalism

Inspired by the u2018Manyoshu,' a peasant-poet took the Japanese capital by eloquent storm.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 23, 2021

Wisdom often fails the test of time

One generation's knowledge is the next generation's folly.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Jan 21, 2021

The ugly truth about a 'beautiful sight' in Hong Kong

One weaponized use of the Nancy Pelosi's quote in reference to the Capitol attack comes from a staunchly nationalistic Beijing tabloid.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 12, 2020

How hostile design keeps Japan's homeless at arm's length

In the early morning hours of Nov. 16, a 46-year-old man allegedly struck a 64-year-old woman sitting in a Tokyo bus shelter in the head with a bag of rocks, killing her. On Nov. 21, the man, accompanied by his mother, turned himself in to the police, who charged him with inflicting a fatal injury. The...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 12, 2020

Rising suicide figures reflect many women’s despair in a pandemic

Almost as anguishing as having no future is having an unknown one.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Nov 14, 2020

Japan’s rocky road to gender parity

Japan’s road to gender parity is rocky and potholed. Aera magazine this month chronicles a stumbling, faltering journey.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 17, 2020

A brave new world after COVID-19 subsides?

The future alone can unveil its secrets — in its own time.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 3, 2020

COVID-19 accelerates the irritation in society we all feel

“If a married couple can't get along in a pandemic, who can?”
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 30, 2020

The COVID-19 diet appeals to the omnivores among us

Instant noodles were one of the most sought-after consumer items in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Aug 8, 2020

Chilling Japanese ghost tales with contemporary twists to help you beat the summer heat

Here's a look at modern takes on Japanese ghost stories that will give you chills and thrills during Japan's spookiest time of year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Aug 1, 2020

Kabukicho host clubs under fire for spreading coronavirus

Some media outlets are weighing the pros and cons of mounting an actual 'blockade' of Tokyo's well-known entertainment district.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 27, 2020

COVID-19 pandemic has left us all feeling a little overwhelmed

When the internet sits in judgment on perceived violators of unwritten laws, its standards tend to be those of a technologized lynch mob.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2020

Don't expect a U.S.-China detente anytime soon

Trump's China policy is about domestic politics, and it has shown some success.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 6, 2020

Olympics and UFOs can't shift COVID-19 from the spotlight

First, some glum news: John Coates, head of the International Olympic Committee’s coordination commission, was quoted in The Australian on May 21 as expressing doubt over prospects for the Tokyo Olympics to be held in summer next year. Coates went on record as saying the decision on whether or not...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 30, 2020

COVID-19 reminds us what everyday words such as 'viral' really mean

Will the global pandemic prompt us into changing the way we speak?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2020

Stay-home request spurs a reading revival

In many urban areas of Japan, people were recently urged to stay home for weeks on in the fight to contain the spread of COVID-19. Most big bookstores in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto were closed through the end of the Golden Week holidays, making it difficult to buy books.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 11, 2020

What will happen to inclusion in COVID-19's wake?

The business sector has an unprecedented opportunity to take drastic and audacious initiatives.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2020

Why I just volunteered for a COVID-19 vaccine trial

The notion of testing COVID-19 vaccines by deliberately infecting volunteers with the novel coronavirus — something that’s now on the table — isn’t necessarily crazy or unethical. It’s smart, and has benefits that far outweigh the risks.
Reader Mail
May 7, 2020

Now is the time to determine our future

Regarding the April 25 Media Mix column titled “A decentralization opportunity goes begging amid COVID-19 outbreak,” the coronavirus outbreak has prompted a period of rupture.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Apr 27, 2020

On the run: Taking up the world's new hobby

If you don't have a dog to walk, running gets you outside for some fresh air and helps keep your health up at a time when we all need to be healthy.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2020

Be the boss parents working from home need

To provide flexibility and establish trust, managers have to set the right priorities.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 18, 2020

It’s a little tough to truly feel free in a time of pestilence

Humanity is eternally vulnerable to the 'unknown' and there's not much that we know about the new coronavirus.
COMMENTARY
Apr 10, 2020

Will COVID-19 be China’s Chernobyl?

The virus has exposed the structural vulnerabilities of the Communist Party system in China.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 4, 2020

Defining masculinity in a brave new world of despair

Dad works in a bank. “For a man, work is everything” — that’s his motto. It was his father’s before him. Unquestioned and undoubted, it entered his bloodstream.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Mar 26, 2020

Spring Basho provided unique experience but raised concerns

The just-finished Spring Grand Sumo Tournament has left us writers with a wealth of storylines.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 21, 2020

Why are Japan’s millennials shunning alcohol?

Some time before the coronavirus outbreak put a damper on this year’s hanami (blossom viewing) parties and other social activities, the media had already noted that the decline in alcohol consumption by younger Japanese has been accelerating. This phenomenon even made the front page of the Nikkei Marketing...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 14, 2020

The panic buying of toiletries: It's like 1973 all over again

Where are all the masks? And where's the toilet paper? Nikkei Business (Feb. 28) suggested that panic buying in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, which also occurred in eastern Japan following the catastrophic earthquake of March 2011, may be influenced in part by people's collective memory — particularly...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Mar 14, 2020

The Edo Period: An era of utter weirdness

The Edo Period (1603-1868) was a bizarre time that visitors to Japan could not help but comment on — the countless laws, the brutal punishments ... and the dogs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 22, 2020

Fake news rears its ugly head amid COVID-19 outbreak

Fake news times fake news is fake news squared — which is to say, it goes viral. It multiplies like a virus, which multiplies like fake news.

Longform

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