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JAPAN / Society
Sep 27, 2016

Amid charges of sexism, city in Kyushu pulls video promoting local eels

A promotional YouTube video made by the city of Shibushi, Kagoshima Prefecture, featuring a young woman in a swimsuit who morphs into an eel has been pulled following a public outcry that it was sexist.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2016

MetLife to offer staff buyouts amid investment squeeze

MetLife Inc. said its Japanese business will offer early retirement packages to some staff as the insurer consolidates operations in Tokyo to help counter pressure from low bond yields.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Sep 26, 2016

Let's discuss anime and manga tourism

Anime and manga will play a bigger role in promoting tourism across Japan under an initiative to make better use of the nation's pop culture.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2016

Human genome editing

Given the potential benefits and risks of genome editing, the government should develop strict rules to regulate the technique.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2016

Turkey's growing freedom deficit

Today, Turkey is further than ever from creating a society whose members feel free to speak openly and honestly.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2016

Training the Mideast's health care professionals

Given the region's public health challenges, affluent Gulf Cooperation Council countries must step up their health care game.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2016

Federal Reserve's mission is to escape Jupiter

The Fed should should instead hold off raising interest rates until economic conditions are so strong that it needs to raise them rapidly.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 26, 2016

Plan to fix day care crunch belies decades of pent-up demand

The shortage of day care facilities is a long-standing issue in Japan, where the ranks of working mothers keep swelling, both out of choice and necessity.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2016

Japan scrambles jets as China warplanes fly through Okinawa strait

The Air Self-Defense Force scrambled aircraft on Sunday as at least eight Chinese fighters and bombers — and possibly more than 40 — passed through a critical international entryway into the Western Pacific.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2016

Abe opens extra Diet session, urging action on Constitution and TPP

Abe gets a 66-day extraordinary Diet session underway with a speech vowing additional fiscal measures for the economy.
Japan Times
TENNIS
Sep 25, 2016

Wozniacki halts Osaka's run in Pan Pacific Open final

Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki denied teenage sensation Naomi Osaka her first title on the WTA Tour with a 7-5, 6-3 win in the Pan Pacific Open final on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 25, 2016

Trump's potential guest at first debate: Gennifer Flowers

Donald Trump has threatened to invite Gennifer Flowers, who had an affair with Hillary Clinton's husband, to attend Monday night's presidential debate.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 25, 2016

As Diet opens, emboldened Abe sets sights on constitutional revision

After Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's victory in July's election, all eyes are now on just how serious he is about pursuing his goal of amending the pacifist Constitution.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 25, 2016

Inside Vladimir Putin's unassailable bubble

Vladimir Putin lives in a sphere reserved for those terrifying figures who are seen to have protected Russia and made it great in the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Sep 25, 2016

Kansai uses subsidies to fill empty homes, but persuading aging population to pull up stakes remains a challenge

Some central Japan prefectures and even cities like Kyoto and Nara are increasingly adopting measures to reduce the number of vacant homes, including via subsidies for owners.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 24, 2016

Troika of female politicians under scrutiny

The media has been abuzz about the emergence of three prominent Japanese female politicians: Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, Defense Minister Tomomi Inada and Renho, the head of the Democratic Party. However, the significance of this development is limited. Overall, politics in Japan remains a man's world —...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Sep 24, 2016

Hiroshi Sambuichi: The nature of architecture

What is most remarkable about Hiroshi Sambuichi's work is the sensation of air and wind movement that the shapes of the architect's buildings encourage. The experience is testament to Sambuichi's philosophy that architecture should work in harmony with the environment surrounding it so that it becomes...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 24, 2016

Is this the first great Tokyo novel by a non-Japanese writer?

Non-Japanese have written great books about Japan. Almost all of these masterpieces are nonfiction: essays, memoirs, monographs, histories, travel books. One might place, for example, Alan Booth's "The Roads to Sata," Donald Richie's "Ozu," Edward Seidensticker's "Genji Days," and Nicolas Bouvier's "The...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 24, 2016

The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches: Basho's enduring collection of poetry and travel writing

With only a few words, a Haiku master can paint a picture so vivid it's as if the reader is standing beside them — great travel writers have similar abilities. Matsuo Basho was both.
Reader Mail
Sep 24, 2016

Finding a solution for costly medicine

The mind boggling times we live in ("Pricey drugs push health burden up" in the Sept. 15 edition). On the one hand, we have people promising us a DNA revolution that can alter the code(s) of life, self-driving cars in the next 20 years, space travel, etc.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 24, 2016

Making a toast to retiring beer girl Misato

The intai jiai (retirement game) is a significant event in Japanese pro baseball for long-time star players about to hang up their spikes and call it a career. It usually occurs at the end of a season after it has been announced the player is leaving the game and after league standings have been decided....
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Sep 24, 2016

All-out effort to crush moderate Syria rebels may leave Obama successor with 'problem from hell'

The United States was relegated to the sidelines of the Syrian war on Friday as an all-out assault by Syrian and Russian forces on opposition-held Aleppo threatened to unleash a new wave of refugees and drive U.S.-backed rebels into the ranks of al-Qaida's Syrian branch, U.S. officials and experts said....
Japan Times
Rugby
Sep 23, 2016

Rugby fever draws Japan youth to New Zealand

The rising popularity of rugby in Japan is having spinoff effects for the nation's relationship with New Zealand as students increasingly choose to study in the rugby stronghold.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji