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Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2013

The reality of professors' wages

Regarding Takamitsu Sawa's Nov. 27 article, "Place university academics on an annual wage system": Professor Sawa doesn't seem to see the reality of the Japanese university system.
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2013

Risk of losing public's 'tolerance'

Regarding the Dec. 2 article "Secrecy law protests 'act of terrorism': LDP secretary general": Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba's comments that street protesters voicing opposition to the new state secrets bill by shouting it in public demonstrations are doing something "not...
Reader Mail
Dec 4, 2013

Get young people into forestry

C.W. Nicol's Nov. 3 article, "Hybrid furniture and the working horse" — about what could be done to turn Japan's neglected forests into useful, productive, beautiful areas — is inspiring.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2013

China girds to open sectors to foreign investors

It appears that China's leaders are cautiously preparing to let foreign investors enter any industry other than those on a 'negative list.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 1, 2013

Some illuminations on the red lantern

Last month, the chōchin (提灯, a Japanese traditional lantern) at Kaminarimon (雷門, the gate of Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, in Tokyo's Taito Ward) was replaced with a new one, the first time it has been renewed since 2003.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Dec 1, 2013

A record number of typhoons

The fifth typhoon in O ctober is approaching Japan, the most in the history of observation. According to the Meteorological Agency, the number of typhoons coming to Japan in October is 1.5 times that of an ordinary year; the four in 1955 and 2012, respectively, were the most so far.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 1, 2013

With the JLPT now over, get ahead in studying for next year

The latest round of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) was held yesterday — congratulations to the test takers! A couple of readers wrote to us about the exam after last week's Community Page published an article by Jun Hongo titled "Is the JLPT really worth it?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 1, 2013

Farrow courts controversy with paternity musings

For a while, Mia Farrow was a genuine housewife. In a life of bright lights and dark, dark shadows, this must surely count as one of the most unusual periods of them all: a moment of apparent stability and respectability in the late 70s and early 80s. During this time, she picked up her twin sons Matthew...
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 1, 2013

Secrecy law protests 'act of terrorism': LDP secretary-general

Citizens demonstrating against the controversial state secrets bill are committing “an act terrorism,” according to Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 1, 2013

Guardian is targeted over Snowden leaks

Living in self-imposed exile in Russia, former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden may be safely out of reach of the Western powers. But dismayed by the continued airing of trans-Atlantic intelligence, British authorities are taking full aim at a messenger shedding light on his secret...
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Nov 29, 2013

Future teachers get prepped for foreign pupils

A lot of teachers have a tough time teaching children of foreign nationalities due to the language barrier and cultural differences.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 27, 2013

Back to Back Theatre reveals the elephant in the room

Festival/Tokyo 13, this year's edition of the annual stage-arts festival, started Nov. 9. A unique feature of the festival's program is its many presentations that encourage audience participation, be it leading them around the streets following a certain theme, or guiding them via social networking...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 27, 2013

Kichiemon Nakamura II : For the love of 'Chushingura'

As December draws near, the streets are decorated with Christmas ornaments and in Japan, concerts of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony are held all over the nation. In addition to these Western-inspired traditions, there is a made-in-Japan December tradition that has been held since the 18th century and is...
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 27, 2013

Egyptian protest crackdown begins

Egyptian police violently disbanded a small protest mounted Tuesday night by activists calling for democracy in central Cairo, arresting dozens of some of the country's best-known rights advocates just two days after the military-appointed interim president signed an acutely restrictive law regulating...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 27, 2013

Kawakami's philosophy as manager never wavered

A famous Tetsuharu Kawakami watchword was wa (harmony).
EDITORIALS
Nov 26, 2013

Resort to diplomacy, not threats

China should realize that it will lose the international community's trust if it continues to pursue the path of using threats to resolve diplomatic issues.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Nov 26, 2013

Chiba Jets to acquire power forward Burrell: source

The Chiba Jets, looking to snap a 14-game losing streak, are on the verge of signing former bj-league MVP Justin Burrell, a basketball insider told The Japan Times on Tuesday evening.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2013

Hezbollah suffers blowback in Beirut bombings

The Sunni jihad in Syria has come to Beirut, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his Iranian masters have to accept that this is the war they made.
JAPAN
Nov 25, 2013

Tokyo cries foul over China's declaration of air defense zone

Beijing's setting up an air defense identification zone over a section of the East China Sea violates a basic rule under international law and is a 'very dangerous' move that could lead to 'an unexpected event,' a high-ranking Japanese official warns.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Nov 24, 2013

Is the JLPT really worth it?

The final countdown to this Sunday's Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) has begun, but professionals say piling pressure on examinees might do more harm than good at this point.
LIFE / Language / COMMUNICATION CUES
Nov 24, 2013

An extraordinary session of the diet

The 185th extraordinary session of the Diet was convened on the 15th. For 53 days to Dec. 6, arguments between the ruling and opposition parties will be carried out over various bills.
Japan Times
JAPAN / WEDGE
Nov 24, 2013

Firm's tech takes out chemical arms

A Japanese firm claims it has technology that can help Syria dispose of its chemical weapons in line with a Sept. 27 United Nations Security Council resolution ordering the nation to do so.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 24, 2013

'The Stranger': Nobel Prize-winning author Camus an outsider in France

It is a century since French Nobel Prize-winning author Albert Camus was born — and more than 50 years since he died in an accident on an icy road — yet the polemics over his legacy and "mysterious" death rumble on.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
Nov 24, 2013

Chinese families still at officials' mercy despite one child policy easing

When 36-year-old Lois heard the news that China was relaxing its one child policy, she was delighted and relieved.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 23, 2013

Back to the future: Shinto's growing influence in politics

Immaculate and ramrod straight in a crisp, black suit, Japan's education minister, Hakubun Shimomura, speaks like a schoolteacher — slowly and deliberately.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 23, 2013

Re-engineering Shinto

Japan's ancient, indigenous religion, premodern Shinto, was considered one of the world's least dogmatic, laidback belief systems. Many of its earthy, animist rituals were tied to a love of nature and tradition, anchored around festivals and ceremonies honoring kami (gods) found in all aspects of life....
Reader Mail
Nov 23, 2013

Memory of JFK's death still painful

Regarding Mark Schreiber's Nov. 17 article: I was 18, two years older than Schreiber, when I heard the news. The memory is painful beyond all politics. This is one of Schreiber's best articles — and the competition is stiff.
Reader Mail
Nov 23, 2013

What would the United States do?

Regarding the Nov. 17 article "Nationalism, Tibetans and Uighurs in Today's China": I wonder how the United States would look upon the American Indians if they tried to gain independence from the U.S. by reclaiming lands that were stolen by them.

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