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Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 17, 2013

Critics say Olympic stadium is too big

A famed Japanese architect's criticism of the futuristic-looking national stadium planned for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is being shared by an increasing number of people who say it's too big and doesn't match the surrounding environment.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 17, 2013

U.S. debt deal sets up new risks to growth

The deal reached by Congress on Wednesday to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling would avert a financial catastrophe but leave the weakened U.S. economy facing new threats.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 16, 2013

Missing the light at 'Roppongi Crossing'

I've always thought that the "Roppongi Crossing" exhibitions try too hard. They take themselves too seriously and usually end up missing the point. Held every three years at the Mori Art Museum, the shows bring together heavily curated selections of contemporary art in an attempt to take the artistic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 16, 2013

'Edward II': The back story

Atheist, blasphemer, sodomite, spy, counterfeiter, lover of boys and tobacco — playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe has never been easily accepted into the comfortable canon of English literature.
Reader Mail
Oct 16, 2013

Police must confront 'stalkers'

Regarding the Oct. 11 front-page article "Tougher stalking law failed to stir police": The death of a child may not be the police's fault, but there are serious issues with Japan's police force. Not accepting the victim's first report and suggesting that the victim take the matter to another police station...
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 16, 2013

Kishida, Hague eye bolstered security ties

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and British Foreign Secretary William Hague agreed Wednesday to deepen bilateral security cooperation, especially in the fields of maritime, computers and outer space as well as counterterrorism.
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2013

Get to the bottom of shady loans

The inability of Japan's third-largest bank to break the habit of approving car loans for yakuza reflects poor corporate governance and besmirches the reputation of the financial industry.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2013

Behind Washington's firestorm

The story behind the story of the U.S. budget showdown is that prolonged slow growth threatens historic changes to America's political and social order.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 15, 2013

Nobel Prize shows wisdom, madness of crowds

Financial markets provide a useful reminder of just how humble economists should be about their understanding of the world.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 15, 2013

Senate leaders nearer deal on raising federal debt limit after flurry of talks

In a long-awaited breakthrough, Senate leaders close in on a deal to raise the federal debt ceiling and end a two-week-old government shutdown as Washington scrambled to avoid the nation's first default on its debt.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2013

San Francisco Treaty and the South China Sea

All parties to the South China Sea island disputes can cite geographic and historical connections to back their claims, but none has solid legal title under the San Francisco Treaty.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2013

Abe set to overturn legacies of Koizumi and Nakasone

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is reviving the old Liberal Democratic Party, having undone moves by former Prime Ministers Yasuhiro Nakasone and Junichiro Koizumi toward smaller government.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Oct 13, 2013

How to say what you really want someone to do

Today, we will introduce the proper use of (verb)uff0bu3066u307bu3057u3044, which is used for informal requests or wishes.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 13, 2013

Medal of Honor seen as vindication for war hero

Four years after he survived a brutal firefight in a remote Afghanistan valley that claimed the lives of five Americans, retired U.S. Army Capt. William Swenson will be hailed as a hero at the White House on Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 12, 2013

Capturing Olivier in his contradictory essence

Laurence Olivier was the greatest British actor of his time, primus inter pares of the trio who dominated our theater from the early 1930s to the 1980s. His superiority to his chief rivals, Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, resides in the role he played in the creation of the National Theatre and in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 12, 2013

One exhilarating summer brought to fact-filled life

It had to happen. After books about individual decades came books about individual years. Now we get the book about a single season. Bill Bryson's "One Summer" is the story of just four months — June to September 1927 — in the life of America. Four crucial months, needless to say — four months...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 12, 2013

Tabloids brimming with anti-Korea diatribes

For 11 consecutive days from the start of this month, every front page of the Yukan Fuji, a nationally circulated evening tabloid published by the Sankei Shimbun, was embellished with at least one negative reference to South Korea. Some headline excerpts:
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 12, 2013

Myanmar takes helm of ASEAN while sectarian violence persists

Myanmar last week took the baton from the Sultan of Brunei, assuming the rotating chair in 2014 of Asia's most important regional organization, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Reader Mail
Oct 12, 2013

Bringing out Japan's hospitality

I am very glad to know that the word "hospitable (omotenashi)" is a very popular topic now in Japan because of television presenter Christel Takigawa's impressive speech last month to invite the Olympic Games to Tokyo in 2020.
Reader Mail
Oct 12, 2013

Cigarettes belie health campaign

Regarding the Oct. 8 article "Japanese convenience store chain going healthy": I enjoy shopping at Lawson, but it seems blatantly hypocritical for the chain to launch a PR campaign that says the company is "going healthy."
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 12, 2013

Government wondering how to tap burgeoning ebook market

The consumption tax increase gives overseas vendors an advantage.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 11, 2013

A really long name — as long as the Mississippi

Small islands in the Seto Inland Sea such as mine are visited periodically by health care boats with doctors, nurses and medical equipment on board to offer health exams for islanders. The boat makes the rounds of all the small islands that belong to Okayama Prefecture, making it possible for even the...

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