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Reader Mail
Jun 25, 2014

A plea for more public seating

"Duty-free reform to boost tourism" and the June 18 article "Narita Express train headed to Mount Fuji" are more ideas to boost foreign tourism in Japan, to encourage people to visit and shop here, and to make the country more inviting.
Reader Mail
Jun 25, 2014

Tired of supporting 'nonsense'

Regarding the June 19 Jiji article "Nation's whaling program up against the wall": I wonder about the paragraph that begins with "While the country is eager to resume commercial whaling ..." What do the writers mean by "the country"?
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2014

Abe offers concession on collective defense

The Abe administration gave some ground Tuesday to New Komeito in the ninth round of the coalition defense talks, offering tougher conditions before Japan would be allowed to exercise the long-prohibited right to collective self-defense.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2014

Sunni uprising in Iraq wins support in gulf

The Sunni uprising in Iraq has received enthusiastic support from many Persian Gulf Arabs, despite official unease over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, branded a terrorist group by governments in the region.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Jun 24, 2014

Yokohama 'museum' marks 20 years curating ramen royalty

Now that ramen has taken its place alongside sushi as the world's favorite Japanese food, it's easy to forget what the noodle landscape was like just a couple of decades ago. Back in the 1990s, foreigners knew ramen — if they knew it at all — as cheap fuel for all-night study sessions or as a belly-filler...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Jun 22, 2014

All-consuming school clubs worry foreign parents

School club activities — something that most Japanese parents accept as a normal and desirable rite of passage in their child's development — can leave foreign parents quaking in their boots at what lies ahead.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 21, 2014

Too much, too little: Water crises abound

After creeping slowly northward for weeks, the rainy season finally hit Tokyo earlier this month. And rain it has.
Reader Mail
Jun 21, 2014

Everybody must take on bullying

Reading Walt Gardner's June 1 article, "Bullying weakens Japanese, U.S. schools," made me feel really sad — not only because bullying of students in Japan, no matter who they are, seems to be rife at the moment but also because it is a problem that just does not seem to go away.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / ANALYSIS
Jun 20, 2014

U.S. scientists brace for 'marijuana meltdown' as laws ease

The only marijuana available for research in the U.S. is locked down by federal regulators who are more focused on studies to keep people off the drug than helping researchers learn how it might be beneficial.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 20, 2014

Aichi shrine worships pickles god

There is a shrine in Ama, Aichi Prefecture, dedicated to Japan's only god of pickles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 18, 2014

Japan's 'no immigration principle' looking as solid as ever

In contrast to Hidenori Sakanaka's unbridled optimism, I argue that Japan has little prospect of becoming a 'migrant nation' anytime soon.
Reader Mail
Jun 18, 2014

Hashimoto owes liberty to Allies

Regarding the June 17 article "Hashimoto says WWII Allies set up 'comfort stations' after soldiers committed D-Day rapes": How dare that buffoon Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto insult the Allied soldiers who fought at D-Day!
Reader Mail
Jun 18, 2014

Joint development of resources

Regarding the June 8 wire service article "Abe holds talks with Pope Francis": Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is reported to have talked with Pope Francis about ways of promoting peace and stability in Asia. East Asia is riven with tensions over the large number of small islands claimed by China in the East...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 18, 2014

Cocoon Kabuki enters a new era

Theatre Cocoon in the Bunkamura performance-arts hub of Tokyo's vibrant Shibuya district has always been a popular venue specializing in new works by fresh contemporary writers. Emblematic of this is Cocoon Kabuki, its unique series begun in 1994 under the then Artistic Director Kazuyoshi Kushida.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 18, 2014

Female dramatists dispel gender concern

Last month in Berlin, in a conversation with Annemie Vanackere, artistic director at the city's cutting-edge Hebbel am Ufer company, she was saying how she loved contemporary Japanese theater, and how HAU had worked with several Japanese dramatists. Then she suddenly asked me: "Why were they all men?...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2014

Capitalism facilitates but doesn't ensure freedom

As Democratic experiments in Thailand and Egypt collapse, there seems to be a building consensus among financial and political elites globally that authoritarian rule, rather than pluralism, is the path to happy endings.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

Corruption rumors sideline Beautiful Game's rewards

New squalid facts, claims and rumors are emerging every week suggesting that the game of soccer may be beautiful but some of its leading figures are too close to dark and shadowy criminal forces.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 16, 2014

Harassers exploit Gaba's 'man-to-man' lesson format

The first sign that Olivia's Gaba lesson would be anything but ordinary came when her student insisted during the warmup that he didn't like wearing clothes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Jun 15, 2014

Fukushima hotline gets record calls

A suicide-prevention hotline in Fukushima Prefecture received a record 18,194 calls in 2013, signaling that scars from the events of March 2011 still weigh heavily on residents' minds.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Jun 15, 2014

Anti-World Cup protests across Brazil

Protesters and police clashed in Sao Paulo on May 15, as demonstrations against the World Cup and rallies calling for improved public services erupted in several Brazilian cities.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jun 15, 2014

Oh, the places we'll go in 2020 — unless, of course, we won't

In 2020 the Tokyo Olympics will be here! And all our troubles will be gone. Unless, of course, they won't. Because, sometimes, they don't.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 14, 2014

The thrill of the job won't pay the rent

"If your work isn't what you love, then something isn't right." — Talking Heads
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 14, 2014

Vietnam seen as a potential role model for Japan

Although tourism and trade between Japan and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam have expanded rapidly in recent years, when compared with other ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Vietnam has maintained a fairly low profile in the Japanese media. But suddenly the country is being...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 13, 2014

Won't get fooled again? Fans and their money are soon parted

Some pop fans are more devoted, and more naive, than others
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 13, 2014

Okazaki's grapes, Ieyasu legacy reel in tourists

The city of Okazaki in Aichi Prefecture this year is doubling efforts to attract visitors from its neighbors in East Asia, especially China and Taiwan.

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