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Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 27, 2013

Syrian refugee crisis pushes fragile Lebanon closer to breaking point

As you come through the military checkpoints on the way into Wadi Khaled, local mobile phones bleep with an unsolicited text: "The Ministry of Tourism welcomes you to Syria."
LIFE
Oct 22, 2013

Apathy is the real enemy in NSA affair

One of the most disturbing aspects of the public response to Edward Snowden's revelations about the scale of governmental surveillance is how little public disquiet there appears to be about it. A recent YouGov poll, for example, asked respondents whether the British security services have too many or...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 20, 2013

The face of journalism's savior?

By the time Pierre Omidyar was 31, he was, in his own words, not just regular rich but "ridiculous rich." With enough money to make an impact in pretty much any sphere he chooses, the eBay billionaire last week made a splash in an area that is increasingly attracting the attention of tech titans: news....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Oct 19, 2013

Enough already: Can Japan settle for less?

The pua-ju016b philosophy in short: Poverty as Japan understands it is not real poverty and does not rule out happiness. In fact, it may even be conducive to it.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 18, 2013

Shōchū and the art of conflict resolution: an islander's insight

If you don't drink shochu, you're bound to have problems adjusting to island life. It's like moving to Okinawa and not partaking in awamori: It's a part of the local culture.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Oct 18, 2013

Nagoya temple erects Home-for-all for guests

Aioiyama Tokurinji Temple in Tenpaku Ward, Nagoya, is currently building a guest house named Home-for-all within its premises. The house will be fitted with a solar power system and will be self-sufficient energywise.
EDITORIALS
Oct 16, 2013

Policy speech overlooks key issues

An extraordinary Diet session starts ostensibly to deal with radioactive contamination, reconstruction of disaster-hit areas and world trade, but the prime minister's policy speech misses.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 16, 2013

The wonderful world of Japanese law: Yōkoso to endless discovery

Having kindly published my intermittent ramblings on Japanese law and the occasional other subject over the years, The Japan Times has seen fit to give me a monthly column.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 16, 2013

Adoption and fostering, animal homes and a tribute: readers' mail

In response to a recent story about adoption and foster parenting in Japan, one woman recounts her life of doing both.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 13, 2013

In Iraq, nothing gets built and civil war looms

Back in Iraq, nothing gets built or repaired, unemployment is 30 percent, and the Shiites and Sunnis are again lurching toward civil war.
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 12, 2013

Kanpai! Sake through the ages

'A civilization stands or falls by the degree to which drink has entered the lives of its people, and from that point of view Japan must rank very high among the civilizations of the world.'
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 12, 2013

Apologies for the apologies: the 'dogeza boom' on steroids

Japanese people like to apologize; or maybe "like" isn't the right word. As in English, many Japanese terms that have the meaning of an apology are used for the sake of perfunctory politeness, so a sincere apology requires effort, and there's no more powerful apology than dogeza, the act of prostrating...
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 12, 2013

Google plans to put users' photos, comments in online ads

Google has made a fortune selling ads. Now it is trying to put its hundreds of millions of users to work as company pitchmen, using the profiles, pictures and recommendations of ordinary people to endorse products and services across the Web.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 11, 2013

Social polarization dated back to Stone Age

Social polarization wasn't invented yesterday. Ask the scientists studying the bones of prehistoric Europeans. Hundreds of skeletal remains, many from a newly discovered cave in Germany, have produced a startling reminder of the power of social boundaries.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 7, 2013

Fukushima, suicide and nihongo fluency: readers' mails

A grab bag of readers' mail in response to recent Community articles.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2013

Deep political divisions at root of U.S. shutdown

The government shutdown did not happen by accident. It is the latest manifestation — an extreme one by any measure — of divisions long in the making and now deeply embedded in the country's politics.
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 6, 2013

Making someone look you in eyes hurts persuasion

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" If you have ever used that line during a disagreement, you might want to think again. Forcing eye contact when trying to change someone's mind may actually cause listeners to become more stubborn, a new study shows.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Oct 5, 2013

Downtown comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto leans from TV to film

The Downtown comedy duo — comprising Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada — are sitting on a train speeding towards Narita Airport outside Tokyo. It's not like they're going anywhere, or doing anything, even — they're just sitting there and waiting for something to happen. "Something" in this...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 5, 2013

Gun-control advocates should listen to the NRA

U.S. gun-control advocates could find common ground with their National Rifle Association nemisis with regard to the need for mental health checks — if they would only listen.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Oct 2, 2013

Households to take hit from tax hike

The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people's financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
EDITORIALS
Oct 2, 2013

Consumption tax raise misdirected

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirms that the government will raise the sales tax from 5 to 8 percent beginning in April. But will the tax hike lead to an economic downturn
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 2, 2013

Pope's plain talking stirs fresh debate

Pope Francis cranked up his charm offensive on the world outside the Vatican on Tuesday, saying in his second widely shared media interview in two weeks that each person “must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them.”
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2013

Kids with disabilities facing abuse in West Africa

Hundreds of thousands of children with disabilities are subjected to horrific violations of their human rights on a daily basis in West Africa.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / OUR MAN IN TOKYO
Sep 30, 2013

Beninese ambassador brings TV star power to diplomacy

Beninese Ambassador Zomahoun Rufin says — half-jokingly — his dream is “to become the next Japanese prime minister.”
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 30, 2013

Slow start expected for system

The White House is downplaying expectations for the first day of the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplaces.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Sep 29, 2013

Tattoos make inroads with 50 and older crowd

Thirty years ago, a good girl didn't walk into an establishment plastered with images of dragons and flames, hike her shirt up over one shoulder and let her body be injected with ink. Especially not if she was, like Darlene Nash, a 57-year-old grandmother.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2013

Best, brightest and least productive?

Financial traders and speculators help to allocate society's resources to the most promising businesses. But these people's activities also impose costs on the rest of us.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight