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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 15, 2015

Abe statement was vague in all the wrong places

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a hash of his long-anticipated statement on Friday commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / 70 YEARS AFTER THE WAR'S END
Aug 14, 2015

Abe's nationalism reflected in conservative political movement, but polls show voter dissent

The hot political season is back as the nation observes Aug. 15, which is always an emotional date as it marks Japan's surrender in World War II — and this year is the 70th anniversary of that fateful event.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2015

China's retro in vitro rules spark debate

In China, where tradional family values still rein supreme, unmarried women are not permitted to undergo in vitro fertilization. But voices for change are growing louder.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 10, 2015

Let's discuss 'Star Wars ' floats at the Aomori Nebuta festival

Organizers of the Aomori Nebuta Matsuri will not allow much-awaited floats based on 'Star Wars' characters to parade on the city's streets.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 10, 2015

Texas killing of black teen by rookie cop raises questions

Texas police on Sunday were trying to figure out what prompted a black teenager to drive his car into a car dealership, and why a white police officer still in training fatally shot the unarmed 19-year-old four times.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Aug 10, 2015

Modi's quest to put India's poor to work stymied by rise of robots

In a sweltering factory in southern India, Royal Enfield motorcycles are being painted and lacquered by giant robotic arms that move at twice the maximum speed of a human limb, day in, day out, never making a mistake.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 8, 2015

Still waters run deep in Shizuoka's ancient town of Mishima

It was no coincidence that my custard tart, known locally as a Fujisancho cake, had been fashioned in the form of Japan's most sacred mountain.
COMMUNITY / Voices / OVERHEARD
Aug 8, 2015

Inconvenient truth

A man cycles through a red light carrying a baby in a harness and is forced to stop suddenly to avoid a car that is going straight through the intersection.
Reader Mail
Aug 7, 2015

Best wishes for Empress Michiko

The article "Empress shows possible signs of heart disease" in the July 31 edition tells us the sad news that Empress Michiko has a possible heart problem.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 5, 2015

Black depths of Swedish humor plumbed in 'A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence'

If Vladimir and Estragon, the hapless protagonists of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot," had attempted to make a comedy sketch show, they might have ended up with something like "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence." This mordant, strikingly original work from Swedish director Roy Andersson...
JAPAN
Aug 5, 2015

Ponchos in hot demand amid crackdown on umbrella-wielding bicyclists

Consumer demand for ponchos has surged in recent months in line with the revised traffic law that took effect June 1 that can punish umbrella-holding bicyclists in the event they hit someone, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2015

Of kimono and cultural appropriation

Clueless identity politics activists in the U.S. are no friends of Japan's struggling kimono industry.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2015

Abe losing to his demons

On the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat and surrender, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has a wonderful opportunity to set a new path for Japan, for Asia and the world. But will he take it?
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2015

A portrait of 'Rain Man,' the convicted Libor-rigging trader and former Tokyo resident

He was so obsessed with the numbers that he did not see his downfall coming.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 3, 2015

Jiko PR gives job seekers a rare chance to brag in Japanese

One of the most interesting aspects of job-hunting here is jiko-PR ('self-public relations'), one of the few times when Japanese are forced to show off about their abilities and accomplishments.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 3, 2015

Let's discuss rice and the TPP

Japan is proposing to set a 70,000-ton tariff-free import quota for U.S. rice in bilateral talks for a Pacific free trade agreement, in return for maintaining a high tariff on the country's staple food.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Aug 1, 2015

Steamer races German submarine; suspected foreign spies arrested; Indoor angling curbs urged; Tokyo regrets Iraq invasion of Kuwait

100 YEARS AGO
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
Aug 1, 2015

Master recording of Hirohito's war-end speech released in digital form

A recording of Emperor Hirohito's voice declaring Japan's surrender in World War II has been brought back to life after 70 years, in a previously unavailable, higher quality recording of the historic broadcast that was made available to the public Sunday.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 31, 2015

A lovers' food fight and a dreamy walk on the beach in July's best videos

Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 29, 2015

Struggling with images of the wretched and the Earth

Enough with the phoniness of so-called globalism — for something truly pro-Earth and pro-humanity, look at a photo by Sebastiao Salgado. He has been a towering giant on the terrain of modern photography during his 40-year career, producing astonishing black-and-white images of incomparable originality....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 28, 2015

Japan's clean aesthetic hid the ugly mess of war

Why would anybody want to go to war? For some of us it's incomprehensible. For others, there will be circumstances that make war justifiable — or even desirable.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2015

Artist Aida defiant over latest work

Controversial artist Makoto Aida is refusing to bow to demands that he alter a politically sensitive submission to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo after museum chiefs and Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials deemed it unsuitable for children.
EDITORIALS
Jul 26, 2015

Alarmist defense white paper

By highlighting the threat posed by China, the government appears to be using the white paper to drum up public support for the Abe administration's controversial security legislation.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 23, 2015

LDP OKs Upper House electoral reform bill for submission with four opposition parties

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday endorsed a bill proposed by four opposition parties to narrow vote disparities between constituencies in House of Councilors elections.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 22, 2015

Unforgiving system leaves family mired in debt

International couple say that advice from city officials to defer paying health insurance payments left them owing millions and dealing with debt collectors.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’