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BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 23, 2016

Interpreters continue to play important role in NPB

If I had known then what I know now, I would have taken Spanish in high school instead of French. It is not that I remember any of the French (I failed the course), but there are very few — if any — professional ballplayers whose native language is Francais. Even a little Español would come in handy...
Reader Mail
Jan 23, 2016

Keep Twitter short and sweet, just like a haiku

Regarding the article "Twitter may allow much longer tweets" in the Jan. 7 edition, expanding the 140-character limit to 10,000 characters would make Twitter no longer Twitter.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2016

Thai military risks weakening the monarchy

The Thai military's overuse of lese majeste law to prop up its own authority risks weakening the monarchy over the long term.
COMMENTARY / World / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 21, 2016

Chinese currency chaos

China's 'supply-side structural reform' to deal with production overcapacity includes the risky strategy of devaluing the yuan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2016

Foolishness over North Korea

The U.S. policy of diplomatically isolating Pyongyang is a failure and could be standing in the way of a solution to the impasse with North Korea.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 18, 2016

China to build biggest cloning factory

The world's largest animal cloning factory is under construction in the northern port city of Tianjin
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Jan 17, 2016

Fukushima town hopes to translate kanji and sake into tourism cash

Residents of Kitakata, a northwestern Fukushima Prefecture city known for promoting antiquated Japanese kanji, are stepping up efforts to attract more tourists by linking the pictographs to sake breweries in the area.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 16, 2016

Asia is imperiled by COP21's climate cop-out

The nations of the world gathered at the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) last month to come to an agreement on the urgent mission of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, all they produced was an attractive vision statement that is more sham than solution.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 13, 2016

'El Chapo' tried to trademark name, sought biopic, was briefly in marine's sights after Penn meeting

Before his brazen jailbreak last year, notorious drug boss Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman instructed his lawyers to trademark his name, giving Mexican authorities their first clue he wanted to make a film of his life, local media said on Tuesday.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 11, 2016

New Tokyo Olympic stadium design selected

A design by architect Kengo Kuma has been picked as the 2020 Tokyo Olympic main stadium, the government has announced.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jan 11, 2016

Aichi Prefecture city rolls out new pay phones in disaster-prevention move

The city of Tahara in Aichi Prefecture is bringing back public pay phones in response to widespread mobile phone disruptions following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jan 10, 2016

New Hall of Famers Griffey Jr., Piazza familiar to Japanese fans

Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza were elected to the United States' National Baseball Hall of Fame last week to much fanfare. While both players spent the entirety of their Hall of Fame careers in North America, neither star is a stranger to Japanese baseball fans.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 9, 2016

Different-names ruling leaves door open to possibility of same-sex marriages

While the Supreme Court ruling said there is nothing unconstitutional about compelling married couples to register under one name, they didn't expressly limit marriage to a man and a woman.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 9, 2016

Low wages at the heart of foreign labor shortage woes

There has been a lot of discussion recently about allowing more foreign workers into Japan to make up for severe labor shortages in some fields. As of the end of 2014, the labor ministry estimated there were 790,000 foreign nationals working in Japan legally, which is more than the number of national...
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 9, 2016

Indonesia works with China as ethnic Uighurs travel to join jihadis

Indonesia is working with China to stem a flow of ethnic Uighur militants seeking to join Islamist jihadis in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, according to Indonesia's counterterrorism chief.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 6, 2016

'It Follows' goes after misogynist slasher film cliches

In the heyday of slasher films, the fastest way for characters to get themselves killed was by having sex. For a few bloodthirsty years following the release of John Carpenter's "Halloween" in 1978, audiences delighted in watching homicidal maniacs dispatch casts of copulating teens, before finally being...
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jan 4, 2016

'Onigirazu' chosen as 2015's top dish

'Onigirazu,' an innovative take on the traditional onigiri rice ball, was chosen as 2015's dish of the year after the sandwich-like rice dish became a sensation.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 3, 2016

Skyscraper blaze in Persian Gulf raises questions about safety

A blaze that engulfed a Dubai skyscraper on New Year's Eve — the emirate's third high-rise fire in three years — has raised fresh questions about the safety of materials used on the exteriors of tall buildings across the wealthy region.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 2, 2016

Still dreaming of an end to household drudgery

As amazing as technology's ability to solve our problems is its inability to solve our problems. (Its tendency to create new problems is a subject best left for another day.)
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jan 2, 2016

In Abe's Japan, a woman's place is on the margins

On Dec. 16, Japan's Supreme Court struck a blow for patriarchy by refusing to strike down the law requiring married couples to adopt one surname, a regulation that weighs disproportionately on women since in almost all cases they adopt their husband's family name. For career women, this requirement burdens...
Reader Mail
Jan 2, 2016

Remembering St. Luis Ibaraki

The Living Past column titled "Japan's 'Christian century' failed to blossom" in the Dec. 20 edition made me ponder one aspect of our history in Japan. The writer of the article says that for the Japanese "... there is no 'beyond' (transcending man and nature)."
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2015

Obama and the limits of executive power

The failure of U.S. President Barack Obama to achieve three major goals in 2015 highlights the limits of presidential power.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2015

Even if Abe camp prevails in next summer's poll, bid to revise Constitution no given

After taking Japan's helm for the second time in December 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has had three good years, leading his Liberal Democratic Party to victory in two consecutive national elections, getting highly unpopular laws enacted without dooming his Cabinet, and winning three more years as...
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2015

U.S. downplayed evidence of abuses in Chinese detention camps

After China abolished a notorious penal system based on forced labor in December 2013, the United States rewarded Beijing by removing the world's most populous country from a global blacklist of countries that are failing to combat modern-day slavery.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 29, 2015

Laurent Grasso alludes to a future in our past

A funny thing happened on the way to "Le Forum." Outside Ochanomizu Station, a small group of neo-Nazis had set up shop and were playing the Japanese national anthem. One of them was wearing a modified SS uniform and proudly let me take his picture. I noticed that his jack boots and Sam Browne belt were...
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 28, 2015

Rugby fans flock to Buddha statue in Gifu

A temple in Gifu Prefecture has seen a surge in visitors since a rugby boom led to the discovery that the Buddha statue there resembles full-back Ayumu Goromaru preparing for a kick.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Dec 28, 2015

Cancer drugs: fact and fiction

Collusion between pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions to grab large chunks of medical spending is driving drug prices to stratospheric heights.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 28, 2015

Aichi printing company publishes calendar produced by man with no arms

A printing company has produced a calendar bearing kanji characters written by a staffer who has no arms.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2015

U.N. improves its leadership selection process

The selection of the new secretary-general is arguably one of the most important decisions that the international community will make for the next 10 years.

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