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WORLD
Jul 9, 2014

Harry Potter returns in new J.K. Rowling short story

Harry Potter has returned in a short story posted online by J.K. Rowling that features her best-selling hero at a school reunion, approaching the age of 34 and showing a few gray hairs.
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jul 9, 2014

The Miraikan is going down the pan — in a good way

Using the toilet is an everyday part of our lives, yet it's something we rarely talk about in public. But it is of such importance, involving health, sanitation and human dignity, that perhaps it should become a topic of general discussion.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 9, 2014

Osaka Culturarium at Tempoza gets suited up for 'Gundam'

If giant robots excite you, then you will know Gundam — a name that has become synonymous with the sci-fi mecha genre.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jul 9, 2014

Yokohama hosts its largest dance festival

Dance in Japan has a long, rich history, dating back to ancient times when it was used as a form of prayer to the gods. Celebrating that varied background, Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse is this Sunday hosting what it boasts is one of Japan's largest dance events — the first Yokohama Dance Festival....
BUSINESS / Markets / CURRENCY MARKET
Jul 9, 2014

Japan may act to weaken yen: Pierpont

Japan may intervene to weaken its currency as the yen approaches its strongest level versus the dollar this year, according to Pierpont Securities LLC.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jul 8, 2014

New Utah Jazz assistant coach Lang 'grateful' for past coaching experiences in Japan

Ex-Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins bench boss Antonio Lang has earned a job in the world's premier basketball league. But he has no intention of cutting his ties with Japanese hoops; after all, he's grown to cherish the game here.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 8, 2014

Islamists show online savvy in displaying menace, soft side

Tweets and online videos are emerging as weapons of war in the Islamic State's campaign to seize a swath of Iraq, with the al-Qaida offshoot's use of social media dwarfing efforts by other militant groups.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 8, 2014

Ainu restaurant offers a delicious cultural excursion

Spring usually comes in early May in Hokkaido, and it is high season to pick sansai, or edible wild mountain plants. Among them, the Alpine leek — kitopiro in Japanese and pukusa in the native Ainu language — is the most attractive.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2014

Thomas Piketty with Chinese characteristics

As property prices have risen faster than wages and profits in manufacturing, China's top 1 percent income earners are accumulating wealth significantly faster than their counterparts in the rest of the world — and far faster than the average Chinese.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2014

Whitewashing the Iraq war

As Iraq stands on the verge of a complete breakdown into sectarian states, a former leading Iraq war advocate is popping up in the U.S. media, and he's in no mood to accept any responsibility for the protracted tragedy.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2014

Kurds dream of independence amid Iraq chaos

A grave, freshly dug and adorned with pebbles, is the modest tribute to one more sacrifice in the long history of struggle for an independent Kurdish state.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 8, 2014

Study paves way for Alzheimer's early detection

British scientists have identified a set of 10 proteins in the blood that can predict the onset of Alzheimer's and call this an important step toward developing a test for the incurable brain-wasting disease.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 8, 2014

Amazon rain forest grew after climate change 2,000 years ago

Swaths of the Amazon may have been grassland until a natural shift to a wetter climate about 2,000 years ago let the rain forests form, according to a study that challenges common belief that the world's biggest tropical forest is far older.
WORLD
Jul 8, 2014

Nigerian mother fasts as hope of rescue for abducted girls fades

As the weeks stretch into months since her 18-year-old daughter Hauwa was kidnapped with 275 other schoolgirls by Islamist militants in the Nigerian town of Chibok, Rahila Musa Bitrus fasts and prays for her safe return.
WORLD
Jul 8, 2014

Oklahoma farmer reunited with lost phone found in Japan grain mill

An Oklahoma farmer is celebrating the return of a cell phone lost in October and found nine months later in Japan after it took a trip in a grain shipment down the Mississippi River, through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific Ocean.
EDITORIALS
Jul 7, 2014

Not a solution for mental patients

The health and welfare ministry's plan to renovate some wards of mental hospitals into residences to reduce the official number of long-term in-patients will only prolong the 'former' patients' isolation from society.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 7, 2014

High test scores, low expectations

Young people in Japan, like their counterparts in the U.S., know that high scores on tests have little to do with their job prospects. So why do a higher percentage of American students still report being hopeful about their prospects for a good life?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2014

Resetting India's foreign and security policies

The Modi government is reported considering allowing up to 49 percent 'foreign direct inviestment' in India's defense sector —without requiring technology transfers — as it manages modernization.
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 7, 2014

Tokyo: What should be done about sexist heckling in the capital's assembly?

Tokyo residents offer their views on the sexist jeering of lawmaker Ayaka Shiomura in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly last month.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 7, 2014

It's all a matter of character — but which one to choose?

Much has been made of the alleged difficulty of the Japanese language for non-native and even native speakers. My personal impression is that this view is most commonly cherished by two types of people: those who don't know much Japanese (or any at all), and those who only know Japanese.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2014

GPIF posts first quarterly loss since 2012 on sagging stock market

Japan's stock rout in the quarter through March spurred the first loss for the world's biggest pension fund in almost two years, just as it moves toward buying more equities.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Jul 7, 2014

Asakusa paints traditional Tokyo in a popular light

As one of Japan's representative tourist destinations, the Asakusa district never ceases to attract people looking for a taste of traditional downtown Tokyo. The 30 million visitors it draws each year are a testament to its popularity.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Jul 7, 2014

Future leader shows promise with African aid work, British schooling, and Japan politics in sight

When Doga Makiura arrived in Rwanda in 2012, the 18-year-old was amazed to find not the stains of the 1994 genocide, but a tidy airport, impressive high-rises and welcoming people.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 6, 2014

Ottawa TPP talks key to year-end trade deal: chief negotiator

Tokyo's point man in Pacific trade talks hails progress during Obama visit, but says a draft deal in 2014 depends on further breakthroughs now.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 6, 2014

Abe may use Australia speech to push expanded defense vision

Prime minister expected to use Canberra address to outline, guage reaction to plans for a more robust military role in self-defense missions.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person