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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2014

Portrait of the assassin as a young man

Sometime in the 1970s, as more Americans began to rally against the Vietnam War, an unknown cynic parodied the U.S. Army's promotional recruitment tagline with the slogan, "Join the Army! Travel to unusual places. Meet interesting people, and kill them."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 15, 2014

Scandal

When a respected Catholic novelist by the name of Suguro meets an inebriated woman at a party, he is astounded to hear that she recognizes him from a portrait hanging in a club she claims he patronizes in one of Tokyo's more sleazy night quarters. Though in fierce denial, curiosity gets the better of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2014

Gadget Girl: The Art of Being Invisible

In her new book, " Gadget Girl: The Art of Being Invisible," award-winning author Suzanne Kamata shows her young audience that invisibility is not always a superpower, and becoming a young adult is not always easy.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 15, 2014

Stray Dog of Anime: The Films of Mamoru Oshii

The international success of Japanese animation films at the box office over the past two decades can largely be put down to the work of two men: Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki and the self-proclaimed "stray dog of anime," Mamoru Oshii.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2014

Stem cell papers had 'grave errors'

The president of the government-backed Riken institute admitted Friday there were "grave errors" in two papers produced by its researchers on a possible method to create pluripotent stem cells but wouldn't say whether the alleged irregularities were intentional.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 13, 2014

Surviving the latest trend in American cinema

Who is this man? The protagonist in "All is Lost" is also its sole character — an older (but astoundingly fit) stranded sailor portrayed by 77-year-old Robert Redford. He's unnamed, and does not speak except for right at the beginning of the film when he's reciting a letter to persons unknown. The...
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Mar 13, 2014

Sebastian Masuda's mission to take Harajuku art global

New York is not a city one automatically associates with the Japanese concept of kawaii — lovably, irresistibly, dependably cute. But if Sebastian Masuda, the so-called "king of kawaii," has his way, the mean streets of "Goodfellas" may one day emanate a candy-colored glow.
EDITORIALS
Mar 12, 2014

Was breakthrough premature?

Questions and suspicions have challenged the validity of a Japanese scientific paper that reported in January on a method for reprogramming body tissue cells into stem cells by simply exposing them to acidic liquids.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2014

Making a 'progressive' economy competitive

The neoliberal model has not performed well relative to the previous 30 years in terms of economic growth, financial stability and social justice. If a credible progressive alternative were to take shape, what should be the main outlines of such an alternative?
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 10, 2014

Suspected Russian spyware targets Europe, United States

A sophisticated piece of spyware has been quietly infecting hundreds of government computers across Europe and the United States in one of the most complex cyberespionage programs uncovered to date.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2014

New map shines light on Tokyo air raid horrors

In an attempt to preserve people's fading memories of the World War II air raids on Tokyo, scholars and citizens have drawn up what is considered the most comprehensive map so far of their efforts to escape from U.S. bombs.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 8, 2014

Media complicit in normalizing xenophobia

Since Japanese reporters are averse to characterizing domestic right-wing positions as being extreme, those positions come across as being normal, even sensible.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2014

China gains from U.S.-Russia face-off

The clear geopolitical winner from the U.S.-Russian face-off over Ukraine will be an increasingly muscular China, which harps on historical grievances — real or imaginary — to justify its claims to territories and fishing areas long held by other Asian states.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 6, 2014

Dinosaur that terrorized Jurassic Europe discovered

In Europe 150 million years ago, this dude was the biggest, baddest bully in town.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2014

Protests in Ukraine, Thailand likely to backfire

The specter of secession suddenly haunts Ukraine and Thailand, two countries where demonstrators have uncompromisingly battled corrupt or unresponsive rulers. Are modern states in general strong enough to survive today's explosions of popular will?
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 4, 2014

Dumars the likely fall guy for Detroit's recent failures

Can someone get that dumb that fast?
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2014

Tips for electing a leader with common sense

One way voters perhaps can eliminate a presidential candidate from consideration is to look at his or her watch. If it costs more than $500, they should find someone else to vote for, someone whose interests extend beyond personal enrichment.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 2, 2014

Getting all mixed up with mixed kanji readings

Gyūdon (牛丼, beef-over-rice bowl) and tonjiru (豚汁, miso soup with pork and vegetables) have much in common. Not only are they a nice combo for a quick lunch (and that it's almost noon while I'm writing this), but on closer inspection both terms also turn out to be a little off with regard to...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Mar 1, 2014

Masako Shirasu: woman of the world

"If you use beautiful things every day, you will naturally cultivate an eye for beautiful things without giving it a second thought. In the end, you will be repelled when you encounter the ugly and the fake. If only all Japan would come to see this, how much more joyous our lives would be and how genial...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 1, 2014

The Ruined Map

Angela Carter wrote that Tokyo possessed the "indecipherable clarity of a dream," one in which you might think you are in control, but have, in fact, been "precipitated into somebody else's dream." A similar sensation occurs when reading Kobo Abe's novel, "The Ruined Map," though he is careful never...
CULTURE / Books
Mar 1, 2014

Tokyo International Literary Festival brings authors and readers together

Authors, editors, publishers and translators gather with book fans this week to celebrate the second Tokyo International Literary Festival, which features 10 days of readings and workshops alongside more than two dozen events at venues ranging from coffee shops to embassies.
COMMENTARY
Feb 28, 2014

China uses Ukraine unrest as argument for stability

China's Communist Party-controlled media appear to be using the unrest in Ukraine as a teaching moment to point out the pitfalls of clamoring for more rapid reforms in a large, multi-ethnic society — one like China's.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2014

Russia's Crimean shore?

Today's Crimea, the traditional playground of czars and Soviet comissars, does not want independence from Ukraine; it wants continued dependence on Russia.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Feb 28, 2014

U.S. strategy on Russia under fire

Days after his ally Viktor Yanukovych was ousted as Ukraine's leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 150,000-troop Russian military exercise on Ukraine's border. The fall of Yanukovych — and Putin's potential response to it — has reignited a debate in Washington on how to respond to the...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Feb 28, 2014

Another nail in the coffin of amateur sumo

Sumo currently exists in two forms around the world. Most famous, of course, is the Tokyo-based professional sport led by yokozuna Hakuho, et al. However, the amateur version, often termed “amasumo” in abbreviated form, is of interest to many in nations that lack direct access to Japanese broadcasts....
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2014

Olympic fanfare can't hide Russia's ills

Behind the swagger after the Winter Olympics lie serious doubts about Russia's future. Long-term price trends for the mineral resources upon which the economy depends, together with Russia's history, suggest that President Vladimir Putin's luck may well be about to run out.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2014

How we lose our marbles — and get them back

A remark by American actor George Clooney has reignited the debate over whether removing the Parthenon Marbles (aka Elgin Marbles) from the British Museum and returning them to their ancient home in Athens would be the right thing to do.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / LEARNING CURVE
Feb 23, 2014

Lado’s victory and demise weren’t without their lessons

With decreasing salaries and eroding job security, it may seem as if little has improved for instructors working in Japan's eikaiwa (English conversation) industry.

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