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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2015

Did America's drone strikes lose Yemen?

The U.S. drone program, which is responsible for the deaths of many innocent civilians, is fundamentally flawed and should not be perpetuated.
JAPAN / Politics
May 4, 2015

Abe missed chance in U.S. to mend ties, South Korea's Park says

South Korean President Park Geun-hye says Prime Minister Shinzo Abe missed an opportunity to improve ties between their countries by not apologizing for Japan's wartime use of sex slaves during his U.S. trip.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 4, 2015

Japan Times contributor Mitchell among winners of FCCJ's first Freedom of the Press awards

Japan Times contributor Jon Mitchell, who for years has covered the alleged existence of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange on Okinawa and issues surrounding U.S. military bases there, was among the winners of the first annual Freedom of the Press awards at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 3, 2015

Blame Abe's bad history on diplomat George Kennan

U.S. diplomat George Kennan was instrumental in reversing U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur's efforts to liberalize Japan's economy and society.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2015

Putin needs neither war nor peace in Ukraine

It makes sense for Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze the conflict in Ukraine, allowing his country's investment rebound to gain momentum while keeping Ukraine on the hook.
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2015

The same old energy mix

The government's draft for Japan's energy mix in 2030 makes it clear that the Abe administration is pursuing a return to the nation's energy landscape that existed before the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
JAPAN
May 3, 2015

Mori Trust heir shows how women can shine

The daughter of real estate magnate Akira Mori fits the mold for the government's female empowerment campaign and is preparing to take over.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 3, 2015

Activists battle to justify, denounce Constitution

As the conservative LDP forges ahead with its bid to revise the national charter, activists rally on Constitution Day to press both sides of the debate.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
May 3, 2015

'Omotenashi' a facade, wheelchair-bound consultant says

Unlike other students who enjoyed full mobility and could easily find jobs as convenience store clerks or waiters, the choices available to Toshiya Kakiuchi, 26, were limited as he sought to finance his studies at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPO MILANO 2015
May 3, 2015

Showcasing innovation, food culture

Sushi, tempura and teriyaki are probably some of the first things that come to mind when Japanese food comes up among foreigners.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EXPO MILANO 2015
May 3, 2015

Sake helps spread Japanese culture globally

Japanese people have been sake drinkers since ancient times. Throughout the history of rice cultivation, sake production went through a number of trials and errors before evolving into what it is today.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / EXPO MILANO 2015
May 3, 2015

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu brings 'kawaii' in Italian debut

Japanese pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's image of Italy is of a luxurious country, loaded with world-famous clothing brands and other items. Yet, she said when she travels to the country for the first time in July, she's most excited about the chance to eat lots of Italian food.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / EXPO MILANO 2015
May 3, 2015

Landscape artisans spread beauty of Japanese gardens

Kosugi Zohen Co. Ltd. is a landscaping company in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. Starting as family owned farming and nursery business, Kosugi's history goes back more than 300 years. Now focusing on the design, construction and maintenance of gardens for homes, condominiums and commercial properties, Kosugi...
MULTIMEDIA
May 3, 2015

[VIDEO] The 15th annual World Gardening Fair at Hotel Okura

Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 2, 2015

The alluring lofty peaks of Iya Valley

It's late afternoon as my family and I motor into the Iya Valley, a remote region of western Tokushima Prefecture. Billed as many things — a lost paradise, a secret hideaway, a rural escape — by the area's tourism brochures, I find that no adjectives can accurately capture the interplay of light...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 2, 2015

Foreign media feels the heat from prickly government minders

Last month, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung journalist Carsten Germis wrote about the Japanese government harassing him just for doing his job. In his view, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is overly sensitive to criticism, especially reporting about what Germis calls "a move by the right to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 2, 2015

Investigating 'impurity' in Tokyo's marginalized leatherwork districts

Because of irrational fears of contamination, Japan's hibakusha — the survivors of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — suffered discrimination. Try to imagine having an atom bomb dropped on you by a foreign enemy, then to have your own people turn against you. There is another group...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
May 2, 2015

'Embracing Defeat' breaks down remorse and resistance in postwar Japan

"Embracing Defeat," the title of John Dower's landmark study of how Japan reformed and rebuilt during the U.S. Occupation, raises an interesting question: What about remorse and responsibility? It's a timely question as 2015 is the 70th anniversary of the end of a war that continues to divide East Asia....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
May 2, 2015

Felix Guattari analyses '80s Japan, micromedia and mayonnaise in 'Machinic Eros'

"Machinic Eros" is a collection of texts about Japan written by French philosopher and psychoanalyst Felix Guattari during the bubbly 1980s. In his many trips to Japan, Guattari saw, like others, a mixture of the archaic and hypermodern, and a way out of Western binary thought. He even imagined, overly...
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
May 2, 2015

Japanese Red Cross opening in Paris; Tokyo inns to ban rice; U.S. nuclear submarine arrives; Emperor regrets colonial 'sufferings'

100 YEARS AGOSaturday, May 15, 1915
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 2, 2015

Asian students cram for SATs with bootleg tests

As students around the world crammed for Saturday's SAT college entrance exam, many in Asia were poring over old tests in hope the College Board would again reuse a test that has leaked ahead of time. These bootleg tests are widely available on Chinese websites to download for free.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 1, 2015

Liverpool's long-term outlook not very promising

Brendan Rodgers is confident he can still attract the top names to Liverpool.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 1, 2015

Kuroda shifts to defense in BOJ's struggle to reach inflation target

For the first time, Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said his original two-year time frame for reaching 2 percent inflation will not be reached. But it did not prompt him to step on the stimulus accelerator.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 1, 2015

Cartoon poop-logging apps aim to guard against cancer

Cutesy, busty female characters in miniskirts and maid costumes are regular fixtures of Japanese anime and manga, but a doctor in Tokyo is trying to use their universal appeal to educate people on what they rarely talk about in public: poop.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 1, 2015

Italy hopes Milan's scandal-dogged Expo 2015 will feed economy, raise spirits

Italy opens the Milan Expo on Friday, torn between hopes that the showcase of global culture and technology will cheer up a gloomy national mood and fears that it will be overshadowed by scandal, delays and street protests.

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