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Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2014

'Tank girls' lead the charge

Being a soldier in Japan after World War II was seen as a job for failed police recruits and unemployed youths from depressed rural towns.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 19, 2014

Tohoku school's plays tell how it is

"We always start creating our next work by having a meeting with everyone involved in the drama club," high school teacher Michiko Ishii explained.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 18, 2014

Planning could hold key to disappearance of Flight MH370

Whoever clicked off a transponder to make Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappear into a navigational and technical black hole acted only after meticulous planning, aviation experts say.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 15, 2014

Olympics highlight the need for foreign blue-collar laborers

In a recent column, Tokyo Shimbun sportswriter Masaru Ogawa called on past and future Olympic athletes to come forward and talk about what he sees as the biggest problem facing the Tokyo 2020 Games: lack of construction workers. Next year, work on venues will start in earnest, but Japan is already burdened...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 15, 2014

The Fukushima tragedy justifies nuclear skepticism

The findings of a Kyodo survey conducted in February this year reveal a stunning level of reluctance to restart Japan's nuclear reactors in the host cities, towns and prefectures that stand to gain from revving them back up.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Mar 14, 2014

Dahl still drawing on the joys and absurdities of expat life

For over 20 years, Roger Dahl has been making Japan Times readers laugh — and think — with his Opinion Page political cartoons and “Zero Gravity” comic strip, which pokes gentle fun at the foreign experience in this country.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Mar 13, 2014

BitSummit reveals tantalizing homemade worlds of play

After a successful debut last year, former Q-Games producer James Mielke once again shone a light on Japan's independent gaming scene with the second edition of BitSummit, a gathering of independent developers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 10, 2014

Government's new scheme to bolster social security is still hopeless

The welfare ministry plans to spend u00a55.3 billion to 'increase' collections of national pension premiums.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2014

New map shines light on Tokyo air raid horrors

In an attempt to preserve people's fading memories of the World War II air raids on Tokyo, scholars and citizens have drawn up what is considered the most comprehensive map so far of their efforts to escape from U.S. bombs.
JAPAN / THREE YEARS AFTER 3/11
Mar 5, 2014

Tohoku finding real recovery hard to come by

Yumiko Onodera is a survivor. She saw her town of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, devastated by gigantic tsunami and ensuing fire from damaged heavy oil tanks at the major fishery port on March 11, 2011.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2014

Will Ukraine invasion be Russia's Anschluss?

Ukrainians do need to recognize Russia's interests in the region and the rights of the Russian-speaking majority in the southeast of the country. If they show good will, Russian President Vladimir Putin may generously pull back his forces.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 4, 2014

Owarikara takes its fans to the edge with 'Saihate Songs'

The band name Owarikara loosely translates into English as "starting from the end." However, singer and guitarist Hyouri Takahashi gives a much more specific interpretation.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Mar 3, 2014

Loved abroad, hated at home: The art of Japanese tattooing

The perception gap between international views of irezumi and those of Japanese people dates back more than 150 years, to when foreigners first laid eyes on Japanese tattoos. Since that time, however, Japanese tattooists have influenced their foreign counterparts in remarkable ways — and sometimes vice-versa.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 3, 2014

Tips for electing a leader with common sense

One way voters perhaps can eliminate a presidential candidate from consideration is to look at his or her watch. If it costs more than $500, they should find someone else to vote for, someone whose interests extend beyond personal enrichment.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 2, 2014

China says 33 killed in Xinjiang rebel strike

China on Sunday blamed militants from the restive far western region of Xinjiang for an attack at a train station on the other side of the country by knife-wielding "terrorists" in which at least 33 died, including four of the assailants, who were shot dead.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Feb 28, 2014

The lesson of the long-distance runner: 'There are no impossibles'

Maickel Melamed was born with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, and his parents were told he would not live long. Almost four decades on, Melamed has crossed marathon finishing lines in New York, Berlin and Chicago — and conquered Venezuela's highest mountain.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Feb 27, 2014

Status as benefactor and folk hero made 'El Chapo' elusive prey

Alfonso Lara says the only person who could keep him safe from crime was the most notorious drug lord in the world.
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 26, 2014

What do you think about NHK chief Katsuto Momii's comments on 'comfort women'?

The new head of the national broadcaster argued last month that sex-slave systems were used by 'every country' in wartime and that the practice should not be judged by 'today's morality.' Osakans offer their views on the comments that have enraged Japan's neighbors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Feb 23, 2014

'Cloud matching' inspiring startups

Cloud matching, the practice of matching buyers and sellers from a large pool of people, organizations and companies, is a field entrepreneurs are seeking out as a new business opportunity.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / ICE TIME
Feb 21, 2014

Scandalous outcome: Skating judges steal Kim's title, hand it to Sotnikova

Yuna Kim got robbed on Thursday night. Plain and simple.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 16, 2014

Svante Paabo, prehistoric sleuth

Leipzig's Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology is a striking edifice.
EDITORIALS
Feb 11, 2014

Food safety measures fall short

The case of intentional food contamination by an employee at a subsidiary of Maruha Nichiro Holdings Inc. has exposed shortcomings in the product safety measures taken by Japanese food makers.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2014

U.K. must not be left behind in the global drugs debate

Britain owes it to its own young people to help countries such as Colombia break the stranglehold of the drug lords once and for all, writes Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg,
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 5, 2014

U.S. and Japanese apologies for war crimes could pave way for nuclear disarmament

Acknowledging responsibility for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan's rampage across Asia could serve as first steps toward a world free of nuclear weapons.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 3, 2014

Uphold basic living standards

To attain a national minimum for social welfare, some urge introducing a basic income — provision of a fixed sum of money to each citizen — to replace social security, which covers only needy people.
EDITORIALS
Jan 27, 2014

Alcohol dependency in Japan

A major problem in Japan, where an estimated 6.45 million people have alcohol-related problems, is the lack of social recognition that alcohol dependency is an illness.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jan 27, 2014

Have your say on English education

Letters and online responses to the Jan. 6, 13 and 20 Learning Curve columns by Teru Clavel on English education.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Jan 26, 2014

Tenkin-de kite, sonomama sumitsuite-shimau hito-mo ooi-sō-desu

Tenkin-de kite, sonomama sumitsuite-shimau hito-mo ooi-sō-desu. (There are many people who settled there after getting transferred, I heard.)

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan