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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Dec 27, 2015

The best Japanese indie albums of 2015

While it remains this column's firm conviction that J-pop is trapped in a self-perpetuating dark age, the indie and underground music scenes provide a far livelier picture of Japan's musical landscape. In 2015, there was such a flow of fascinating new releases arriving from all angles that it was difficult...
WORLD / Politics
Dec 27, 2015

Political ads for 2016 campaign termed positive so far, with caveats

Although the Republican front-runner in the 2016 presidential election has taunted his opponents as "disgusting," "dumb," and "losers," the campaign has, by at least one measure, proven to be astonishingly positive.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 26, 2015

'Ōsōji': ways to keep your home spick and span

Three experts discuss their philosophy on the New Year's chore that everybody loves — cleaning.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 26, 2015

Partners in Print: Artistic Collaboration and the Ukiyo-e Market

The purported thesis of this book — that the art of publishing is a collaborative process involving the cooperation of writer, illustrator, patron, publisher and (shock) even consumer — seems obvious. Yet the four academic essays on ukiyo-e art contained within are both stimulating and beautifully...
Reader Mail
Dec 26, 2015

Learning from past best way to move forward

Criticism is always fair game. When it borders on make-believe it is worth correcting. In his Dec. 20 letter to the editor regarding the article "50 Japanese scholars fire back in McGraw-Hill sex slave row" in the Dec. 12 issue, Jason Morgan's intentionally misreads my words to create scurrilous fantasy....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2015

Tourism surge puts shine on biz hotels, hostels

With the drastic increase in tourism, the lack of lodging in the nation's biggest cities, particularly Tokyo and Osaka, is providing a major opportunity for those running two types of accommodations: "business hotels" and hostels.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2015

The outcome of the Spanish election? Disarray

Spain is a perfectly reasonable country that has managed its democracy well for 40 years. Unfortunately, it may just have made itself ungovernable.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 25, 2015

What happens when professional baseballers get fired; CM of the week: Reebok

For every professional athlete who makes a long career out of his or her pastime, there are probably another 10 whose moment in the spotlight is painfully brief. That is the concept behind the occasional documentary series "Puro Yakyu Senryokugai Tsukoku Kubi wo Senkoku Sareta Otokotachi" ("Men Given...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 25, 2015

Indonesia to step up hunt for IS militant Santoso

Indonesian forces are mobilizing for a manhunt in steamy jungles on the far-flung island of Sulawesi to flush the country's most-wanted man from his hideout and deal a pre-emptive blow to the Islamic State group. The real threat could be much closer to home.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2015

Top Japan news stories of 2015

The editorial staff of The Japan Times selected these domestic stories as the most important of 2015.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Dec 24, 2015

Relaxing with a cup of afternoon tea; ring in 2016 with music, Champagne; experience tradition with temple tour

Relaxing with a cup of afternoon tea
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2015

Six crazy things Trump says that are spot on

Some of Donald Trump's utterances are offensive. His nativist demagoguery is outright fascist. But Trump also says stuff that other politicians and the media are afraid to say and need to be said.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2015

One God for Christians, Muslims and Jews?

If Christians and Muslims don't worship the same God, then neither do Christians and Jews.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 24, 2015

JPMorgan says Japan Inc. must prepare for yen at less than ¥100 a dollar

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is making two contrarian calls: first that the yen will strengthen toward 100 per dollar and second that such a rally will not destroy the world's third-largest economy.
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2015

Celebrated Kobe tunnel finds new life as concert hall

Kobe's Minatogawa Zuido, Japan's oldest water tunnel, has been turned into a concert hall 15 years after it ceased carrying a river.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 24, 2015

South Korean 'superdads' on paternity leave break with tradition

It is a weekday morning and Chung Sang-hoon, 34, is at home with his two small children, classical music playing in the background.
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 / Film
Dec 23, 2015

Top 10 films of 2015: Like finding a needle in a haystack

Finding alternatives in 2015 to big-budget blockbusters and beard-stroking festival films wasn't easyIt has been a lean year. All too often, it felt like you had seen the movies of 2015 before — each new release seemed to be the shadow of a shadow of an original idea. You could see it popcorn flicks...
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 23, 2015

After Paris accord, most U.S. Republicans back action on climate

A majority of U.S. Republicans who had heard of the international climate deal in Paris said they support working with other countries to curb global warming and were willing to take steps to do so, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 23, 2015

San Bernardino shooter denied militant leanings in U.S. visa application; Saudi date discrepancies seen

San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik denied having any militant sympathies or intentions when she was asked in an application form for a U.S. visa two years ago, documents described to Reuters on Tuesday showed.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2015

Design by architect Kengo Kuma picked for Tokyo's new Olympic stadium

Kengo Kuma's blueprint prevails in the contest to redesign the new National Stadium after the initial plan was scrapped amid a national uproar over cost and other factors.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers