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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 23, 2014

Lee Mingwei likes getting to know you

The secret to a good public relations interview? Switch on the voice recorder and ask questions — that is all you need to know. Except, of course, it's not. Usually the interviewee has a particular image to maintain and the interviewer is looking for something that hasn't already been said — incompatible...
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2014

Ebola: a wake-up call for America

The transmission of Ebola to two nurses responsible for the care of an Ebola patient in the U.S. has focused intense scrutiny on U.S. preparedness for a possible outbreak. Robust health agencies should not be taken for granted.
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Oct 21, 2014

You say proto-this, I say post-that, let's call the whole thing 'skronk'

A famous quote of mysterious provenance (most likely the American actor and singer Martin Mull) has it that, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture," and anyone who has ever tried to write about music will know that language can be an inadequate tool.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Oct 20, 2014

Subtle humor of haiku's cousin senryū is on a roll

"Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit," philosophizes the long-winded Polonius in Shakespeare's "Hamlet." That's also a fitting description of senryū — a form of short poetry defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as "a three-line unrhymed Japanese poem structurally similar to haiku, but...
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 20, 2014

Kuyashii: a useful word for those of us who frequently fail miserably

Today, we will introduce proper usage of the i-adjective u304fu3084u3057u3044, which is used to show feeling — it can express anger caused by humiliation, defeat or frustration.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2014

North Korea's elites are a threat to Kim Jong Un

North Korea is frequently described as 'the world's last Stalinist state,' but this is no longer the case. The North is now home to a large and growing private economy.
JAPAN / History / IMPERIAL ANNALS
Oct 11, 2014

Selective history: Hirohito's chronicles

Between July 30 and Aug. 2, 1945, when most of Japan's cities, including Tokyo, lay in smoldering ruins from U.S. aerial bombing and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were days away from being incinerated by American nuclear weapons, Emperor Hirohito sent an envoy to several Shinto shrines to pray for the "crushing...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 11, 2014

U.S., U.K. to test big bank collapse in joint model run

Regulators from the United States and the United Kingdom will get together in a war room next week to see if they can cope with any possible fall-out when the next big bank topples over, the two countries said on Friday.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Oct 8, 2014

Aguirre focuses on team building

Javier Aguirre will be looking for positive performances in Japan's friendlies against Jamaica and Brazil over the coming week, but after failing to register a win in his first two games as manager, positive results would be even more welcome.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 8, 2014

China again comes last in global aid transparency index

China took last place in an aid transparency index of 68 donor nations released on Wednesday, which said the majority of the world's donors were not sharing enough information about their activities.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 6, 2014

Crime and gangs: the path to battle for Australia's Islamist radicals

The children of refugees who fled Lebanon's civil war for peaceful Australia in the 1970s form a majority of Australian militants fighting in the Middle East, according to about a dozen counterterrorism officials, security experts and Muslim community members.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 4, 2014

Inner-city life, and the banal mystery that is other people

Beautifully banal. Perhaps not the most positive-sounding turn of phrase, but the one that best summarizes the appeal of Shuichi Yoshida's interwoven narrative of five young adults and their struggles living in an overcrowded Tokyo apartment.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 4, 2014

U.S. jobless rate at six-year low as September hiring rate accelerated

U.S. employers ramped up hiring in September and the jobless rate fell to a six-year low, bolstering bets the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates in mid-2015.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2014

A serial intervener, after all

In launching his presidency's seventh bombing campaign, Barack Obama has shown himself to be one of the most militarily aggressive U.S. presidents since World War II.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2014

Osaka mayor prepares to tackle anti-Korean group Zaitokukai

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto is finalizing plans for a public debate with the right-wing, anti-Korean group Zaitokukai over the definition of hate speech and the need to balance freedom of expression with others' human rights.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 30, 2014

Malins: authentic fish and chips day and night in Roppongi

Fish and chips: The United Kingdom's best-known food is no stranger to Tokyo. You can find it at almost every Irish, Scottish and English pub in the city. Many versions are worthy. Some are good. But very few do it right. Not like they do it at Malins.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 27, 2014

Human rights lawsuit makes for awkward start to Modi's big U.S. visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off his maiden visit to the United States as India's leader on Friday, facing an unwelcome reminder of his once-strained relations with his host nation: a lawsuit alleging he failed to stop anti-Muslim rioting in 2002.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 26, 2014

U.S. hospitals unprepared to handle Ebola waste

U.S. hospitals may be unprepared to safely dispose of the infectious waste generated by any Ebola virus disease patient to arrive unannounced in the country, potentially putting the wider community at risk, biosafety experts said.
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Sep 21, 2014

Mihama viewed as test case for Japan's aging nuclear reactors

In recognition of Japan's rapidly aging nuclear plants, Kansai Electric Power Co. has begun discussing the possibility of decommissioning the Mihama No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, now more than 40 years old, in Fukui Prefecture.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2014

A Hillary candidacy is a depressing thought

American women of a certain age are thrilled by the prospect of a possible President Hillary Clinton. Others see her as a throwback to another time, one that's never coming back.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2014

Corruption exists; it's the response that matters

Contrasting approaches to fighting recent cases of political corruption in the U.S. and China underscore how China remains more a nation ruled by one party than by law.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 17, 2014

Audiences set to star in Ago's language quest

Satoshi Ago has been in the news lately following his appointment as artistic director of the small but pioneering Kyoto theater, Atelier Gekken. Since long before that, however, the playwright, actor and director has been renowned for his thought-provoking "theater of mechanical reproduction."
EDITORIALS
Sep 16, 2014

Repairing Japan-China ties

The leaders of China and Japan need to take quick action to repair mutual ties that have unraveled since the Japanese government two years ago nationalized three of the Senkaku Islands — over which China also claims sovereignty.
BUSINESS / Economy / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2014
Sep 10, 2014

Young global leaders focus energy and knowledge on better future for all

The Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGLs), created in 2004, is a unique community formed by the most exceptional leaders from every region of the world and every stakeholder in society. These honorees have committed their energy and knowledge to the most critical issues facing humankind. Already successful...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 9, 2014

New Thai PM uses holy water, feng shui to ward off occult

As he prepares to move in to Bangkok's Government House this week, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is going to great lengths to sweep away any occult challenge.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 6, 2014

Yoshio Taniguchi: thriving in the shadow of greatness

Architect Yoshio Taniguchi generally doesn't like having his photograph taken for use in the media. In a way, it's a logical extension of his approach to his work, which could be described as architecture by subtraction. Having painstakingly removed everything extraneous from a design, and having overseen...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Sep 5, 2014

Innovative products rethink generic design

Be prepared with Nosigner
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Sep 2, 2014

The hammer and scalpel are what's needed to subvert idol-pop culture

One new act who has been creating a buzz in music-industry circles this year is quirky singer-songwriter Seiko Oomori.

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