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Reader Mail
Dec 17, 2014

Move toward a sustainable life

Consideration of Michael J. Boskin's Nov. 22 article, "The next trade breakthroughs," encourages my opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Keizai, the Japanese counterpart for the word "economy," originally meant managing the state and supporting people's lives — not making money.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 16, 2014

Mosquito-borne dengue targeted by antibody with hope for vaccine

Scientists have discovered new antibodies that neutralize viruses that cause dengue, potentially putting a universal vaccine within reach for a mosquito-borne illness that strikes an estimated 400 million people a year.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 15, 2014

Buzzwords of 2014: from killer drugs to robotic refusals

Once again, the massive reference book 「現代用語の基礎知識」("Gendai Yōgo no Kiso Chishiki," "The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words") is on sale. This annual publication that tracks additions to, and changes in, the Japanese language and various world developments over the previous year...
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 15, 2014

Actor Ken Takakura dies of lymphoma

Renowned actor Ken Takakura, a multiple recipient of Japan's top acting award, died on Nov. 10 of lymphoma at a Tokyo hospital, sources close to him said Nov. 18. He was 83.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 15, 2014

How China spies on Hong Kong's democrats

James To was growing uneasy. When the veteran Hong Kong Democratic Party lawmaker looked in his rearview mirror, two silver Mercedes Benz saloons kept appearing behind his gray Volvo sedan.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 13, 2014

Abe's secrets law undermines Japan's democracy

On Dec. 10, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's new special secrets law took effect despite overwhelming public opposition.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 13, 2014

From a hostess club to a mountain village: Five notable Japanese photo books of 2014

While selecting some of the best photography books released in 2014, I was struck by the range of specific places that Japanese photographers captured — from a pleasure district to a mountain village and an old rooftop. Photo books with such a geographic focus might be a good way to store up energies...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Dec 13, 2014

Generations square off in a battle for the ages

You'd think they owned the planet. They think they do — pushing into line at supermarkets, hogging seats on trains, generally behaving as though no one but themselves existed except to provide the services they need.
Reader Mail
Dec 13, 2014

Population worry is short-term one

Shinji Fukukawa offers many valid comments and criticisms in his Dec. 9 article, "Post-Abenomics" reforms," but of his six suggestions for reform, the first one — that Japan must repopulate — is a red herring.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 12, 2014

Abe's base aims to restore past religious, patriotic values

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promises voters a bright future for Japan's economy, key parts of his conservative base want him to steer the nation back toward a traditional ethos mixing Shinto myth, patriotism and pride in the ancient Imperial line.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 12, 2014

Takayama mobilizes to protect voters from bear attacks

Polling stations in one mountain city are bracing for an unusual kind of disruption on election day: bear attacks.
Reader Mail
Dec 10, 2014

Distorted claims against China

Only the title of Brahma Chellaney's Dec. 2 article, "Tibet core to Sino-Indian ties," gets it right. Elsewhere, Chellaney lets his usual anti-China biases take over.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Dec 10, 2014

Electoral dysfunction leaves Japan's voters feeling impotent

This Sunday's poll could well prove a high-water mark of pointlessness even for Japan: an election campaign waged against the unelected.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 9, 2014

Japan now at a crossroads

Japan has the opportunity in the Dec. 14 election to break away from its past obsession with measuring GDP growth. Voters can change the national scorecard to a system-wide view of infrastructural assets and quality of life.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Q&A
Dec 9, 2014

'Right to be forgotten' on the Internet gains traction in Japan

The Internet has made fact-checking easy and people routinely use it for this end, for example, to Google client names and personal backgrounds before their first business meeting, or to take a quick glance at a potential new hire's reputation.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 8, 2014

Cosmetics market shifts up in age

The cosmetics industry is looking at potentially booming business.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 8, 2014

Hayao Miyazaki Receives Honorary Oscar

Japanese director of animated films Hayao Miyazaki received an Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Nov. 8 at a private dinner event held in the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2014

'Game of drones' draws us toward apocalypse

Drone technology is relatively simple and cheap to acquire — which is why more than 70 countries, plus nonstate actors like Hezbollah, have combat drones. And that should worry Americans.
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Dec 6, 2014

Obscenity arrest may be hiding dirty politics

What constitutes obscenity in Japan? The term, both legally and morally, has different meanings in Japanese, just as it does in English. In a strictly legal sense, the Japanese word for obscenity, waisetsu, refers to something that maliciously stimulates sexual desire in an inappropriate and immoral...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Dec 6, 2014

Code + culture: new media art from Japan

Domestic media artists have been using programming code in recent years to create some astonishing works of art. We look back at how this scene developed over the years and examine four contemporary artists who have defined the way the genre has evolved.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 6, 2014

Cultural differences shade reactions to robots

It was only right that Disney's new animated feature, "Big Hero 6," opened this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, and that Disney animation head John Lasseter was on hand to introduce it. Lasseter has often said that his career has been greatly influenced by Japanese anime — in particular the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 6, 2014

What's beneath all that latex, fabric and plastic?

In 1910, a man named Otto James was arrested for parading down a busy street in Tacoma, Washington, wearing fancy dress. The charge of "public masquerading" — so quaint to modern ears — was itself nothing new, but the choice of costume was notable: James had gone for a stroll dressed as the main...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2014

Americans becoming fatter, sicker, poorer

The epidemic of fat in the United States is so great that more than one in five Americans is said to be too heavy to enlist in the armed services.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 5, 2014

Lewis brings storied career back to track as coach

It's too early to know if Carl Lewis will one day be considered a legendary track coach.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 5, 2014

Japan's 'zombienomics'

The hard reality is that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's vaunted economic reforms will not work unless he shows more guts, much more imagination and a lot more humility in dealing with a modern economy that cannot be commanded by fiat.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Dec 5, 2014

Nagoya YWCA offers language classes with day care

The Nagoya YWCA School of Japanese Language in Aichi Prefecture has added a "Bambina" course to its curriculum.
COMMENTARY
Dec 4, 2014

Thai crown prince causing the elites anxiety

Beneath the celebration of the Thai king's birthday lies unease among the elites over the eventual royal transition of the Crown Prince, now said to be in the first stage of divorcing his third wife.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2014

'Blackmail' economic model

Remember the 'Cry for Argentina' catch-call among rationalists decrying government intervention in the economy. Now it is 'Cry for Australia' and the dozens of other nations crucified on the cross of unrestricted free trade.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 3, 2014

Rattled by Chinese subs, India joins other nations in rebuilding fleet

India is speeding up a navy modernization program and leaning on its neighbors to curb Chinese submarine activity in the Indian Ocean, as nations in the region become increasingly jittery over Beijing's growing undersea prowess.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 1, 2014

What to buy, where to go: 40 steps to maximum merriment this Christmas in Japan

From meeting Pikachu in Fukushima to a laughter ritual in Osaka, here are dozens of ways to make sure you make the most of the festive season.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years