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Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 23, 2014

Gravitational waves carry clues on big bang

The sighting came from a small telescope on the roof of a laboratory sitting on the ice sheet three-quarters of a mile (1.3 kilometers) from the geographic South Pole.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Mar 23, 2014

"12 Years a Slave" wins top Oscar

Hollywood named the historical drama '12 Years a Slave' best picture at the 86th annual A cademy A wards on March 2.
EDITORIALS
Mar 23, 2014

Education ministry's heavy hand

Two weeks before school starts, Japan's education minister tells the town of Taketomi, Okinawa Prefecture, that it may not use the junior high school civics textbook it adopted in place of the 'conservative' textbook selected by an area-wide council.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2014

Nuclear peril should galvanize Asian leadership

This week leaders from around the world gather in the Netherlands at the third Nuclear Security Summit to discuss and agree on actions that should be taken to reduce nuclear risks in Asia and elsewhere.
COMMENTARY
Mar 22, 2014

Norway shines for Japanese, Korean women

According to OECD data, women in Norway have more leisure time than women in any other OECD country: 367 minutes a day. Norwegian men's helpfulness are the reason.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 21, 2014

Kagome turns to Tohoku to grow its tomatoes

Nagoya company Kagome Co. is promoting tomato cultivation in areas affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / OBITUARY
Mar 21, 2014

Obituary: Facing illness and dismissal, teacher Grainger saw a chance to educate other expats

Neil Grainger 'was a great cook, a big drinker, an even bigger queen, a film and football lover, a naughty smoker, a good teacher, hard worker and caring friend.'
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2014

There's a conspiracy theory wherever you look

Whether it's Ukraine, the National Security Agency, assassinations of national leaders, recent economic crises, the authorship of Shakespeare's plays — some people jump at the chance to connect a bunch of dots to support a relevant conspiracy theory. Why is that?
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Mar 21, 2014

Cracks in the ruling coalition

The exercise of Japan's right to collective self-defense has become Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's political creed, but ruling coalition partner New Komeito wants Abe to slow his approach, and others close to Abe have grown apprehensive about the rise of anti-American conservatism within Abe's Liberal Democratic Party. The ruling coalition is showing cracks.
Reader Mail
Mar 21, 2014

DNA test on ashes often unreliable

The March 17 front-page article "Yokota's parents, child meet" states that DNA tests conducted in Japan on cremated remains from North Korea in 2004 "disproved" that the remains were of Megumi Yokota (abducted by North Korean agents in 1977).
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 2014

Putin's Crimean prize

Even if Russia does not send its military into any other parts of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin retains the threat of future action, if only 'reluctantly,' and will be able to keep Ukraine, and the rest of central Europe, on the defensive.
BASKETBALL / ONE-ON-ONE WITH ...
Mar 19, 2014

Shinshu's Gibson brings valuable March Madness experience to playoff contender

The Japan Times features periodic interviews with players in the bj-league. Xavier Gibson of the Shinshu Brave Warriors is the subject of this week's profile.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2014

Deep feelings at high altitudes

The photographs, taken by artist Naoya Hatakeyama, hint at both the beauty and dangers of a mountain, as reflected in the shades of light and darkness alongside textures of soft-edged snow and sharply lined rocks.
WORLD
Mar 18, 2014

China working on new anti-satellite weapon, U.S. researcher says

A detailed analysis of satellite imagery published Monday provides additional evidence that a Chinese rocket launch in May 2013 billed as a research mission was actually a test of a new anti-satellite weapon based on a road-mobile ballistic missile.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 17, 2014

U.S. military report suggests cover-up over toxic pollution in Okinawa

Perhaps the most serious concern raised in the internal U.S. military report is the fear that PCB contamination at Kadena — if made public — would prompt demands for widespread tests on other U.S. bases.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 17, 2014

Automation set to affect our job prospects

Who needs an army of lawyers when you have a computer?
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2014

Financial innovation for protection of wildlife

Innovative development finance can play a role in helping the 180 parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species realize its full potential, by adapting widely available cutting-edge technologies and tools to the business of trade permits.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2014

Cooler heads need to convey Japan's message

A note of skepticism has crept into the public perception of Japan-U.S. relations in both countries. For that reason, cooler heads must convey Japan's message to the world.
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Mar 16, 2014

New and improved radiation detectors headed for Fukushima

Starting in April, Fukushima Prefecture will introduce easy to use radiation detectors for food produce at municipalities so that residents will no longer have to cut up items into small pieces to check cesium levels.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Mar 16, 2014

Quitting smoking make you happier

Smokers who quit smoking get a boost in mental well-being that, for people who are anxious or stressed, is equivalent to taking antidepressants, a study said Feb. 13.
Reader Mail
Mar 15, 2014

Western products might look better

Another word for xenophobia, of course, is racism. (Just look at the photo for the March 9 article.) What's so "normal" about anti-foreigner rhetoric and hate speech in an island nation dependent on international trade for its economic well-being, even for its daily bread?
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2014

Stem cell papers had 'grave errors'

The president of the government-backed Riken institute admitted Friday there were "grave errors" in two papers produced by its researchers on a possible method to create pluripotent stem cells but wouldn't say whether the alleged irregularities were intentional.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 14, 2014

Youths taking to auto repair classes

Toyota Motor Corp. is conducting a class in Aichi Prefecture so young people can discover the fun of building cars by learning how to repair popular old cars such as the Publica and Sports 800.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 14, 2014

Culture of safety can make or break nuclear power plants

On the third anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and its devastating impact on Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima nuclear power plants, we need to understand why Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa Nuclear Power Station — which was even closer to the quake epicenter — had a drastically different fate.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2014

Rand Paul is Republicans' isolated isolationist

As Republicans start to debate foreign policy in advance of the 2016 election, it's shaping up to be a fight between Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul and everyone else. Until recently, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was on Paul's side, but that close relationship is fraying.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 14, 2014

Japan should make disaster the mother of invention

In the decades since World War II ended, Japan has repeatedly demonstrated its technological genius. So why does it treat the 3-year-old Fukushima nuclear tragedy as a farce by pushing to reopen many of its 48 commercial reactors instead of driving to achieve sustainable energy self-sufficiency?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 13, 2014

China waging psychological warfare in the East China Sea

Japanese and Western news reports suggest that the U.S. bombers and routine Japanese patrol fighters that flew into China's air-defense identification zone right after the ADIZ was proclaimed did not encounter any Chinese interceptors or radar beams.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 12, 2014

Super Kabuki 'spells fun'

Just like the many native English-speakers who have difficulty understanding the language and classical references in the works of William Shakespeare, so Japanese people generally feel a sense of distance from kabuki, as though it were a foreign language.
Reader Mail
Mar 12, 2014

Great divide over animal rights

When I read Philip Brasor's Feb. 23 Media Mix article, "Japan takes baby steps toward a proper debate about animal rights," I again felt regret that the gap of understanding between the two sides doesn't seem to be getting any narrower. I agree that the most important aim of the animal welfare movement...
Reader Mail
Mar 12, 2014

West showed hypocrisy to Russia

Regarding the March 8 AFP-JIJI article "Russia stands firm on Crimea standoff despite sanctions": The illegal breakup of Yugoslavia occurred under similar conditions. Yugoslavia's constitution, [for which revisions] had to have majority approval by all six of Yugoslavia's republics, was disrespected....

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