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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
May 14, 2013

Czech promoter sings way to cultural identity

For singer Eva Miklas Takamine, who also has been head of the Czech Center in Tokyo since March, singing both Czech and Japanese songs is a way of expressing her identity.
SOCCER / J. League
May 13, 2013

J. League's opening game stirs memories 20 years on

Players involved in the J. League's first-ever game share their recollections of the beginning of a new era for Japanese soccer.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 13, 2013

Upper House poll to test public will on economy, TPP and Constitution

The House of Councilors election will be held within three months, and the focus is on whether the split in the Diet — where the two chambers of the legislature are controlled by different camps — will finally be mended.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 12, 2013

Death penalty: Systemic failings add to risk of wrongful executions

Japan's continued resort to the death penalty raises a number of troubling questions.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 3, 2013

Yoshida's ode to a distant Okinawan island

Many directors hit everything from the books to the streets in preparation for their next film, but for his second feature, “Tabidachi no Shima Uta — Jugo no Haru (Leaving on the 15th Spring),” Yasuhiro Yoshida went far further than most.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2013

Australia, Indonesia moving as close as perceptions allow

Irritants in Australia-Indonesia ties stem from popular Australian misperceptions about the changes in Indonesia and political condescension by some leaders.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2013

Fringe independence party sends shivers down Tory spines

Landing on doormats across Somerset in recent weeks has been a Tory election leaflet the like of which locals have never seen before: "A vote for UKIP is a vote for the Lib Dems. UKIP has no plans or policies for Somerset. Only the Conservatives can deliver an In/Out referendum by 2017."
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2013

Sovereignty celebration hit by protests

The government holds its first formal celebration of the day the San Francisco Peace Treaty ended the allied Occupation, angering residents in Okinawa, which stayed under U.S. control until 1972.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 27, 2013

Data gathering on all Indians seen as key to alleviating poverty

Could a semi-Orwellian program to collect biometric data for 1.3 billion Indians become a key tool to pulling people out of extreme poverty and integrating them into the global economy? The world's largest democracy is betting that it will, and that it could offer important benefits in poorer countries...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 27, 2013

Can you really train your brain to be more intelligent?

My week has been pretty hectic so far. On Monday, I manned a busy beach bar and had to remember a range of ice-cream and pizza orders for a constant stream of customers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 23, 2013

Student seeking Kyoto flat told: No foreigners allowed

After spending 2u00bd years living the quiet life in Shiga Prefecture, Ryukoku University student Victor Rosenhoj was looking forward to moving to Kyoto, where things promised to be more lively and international.
WORLD
Apr 22, 2013

How the Boston bombing investigation unfolded

Within hours of the Boston Marathon bombing, investigators were already overwhelmed. Bloody clothing, bags, shoes and other evidence from victims and witnesses was piling up. Videos and still images, thousands of them, were pouring in by email and Twitter.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2013

'Sayonara Speed Tribes': Documentary chronicles disappearing world of bosozoku

Once a symbol of a burgeoning postwar counterculture, the bōsōzoku are fading. Gone are the days when gangs of bikers would zoom through neighborhoods with daredevil temerity.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 17, 2013

U.S. program secretly feeding Syrians

In the heart of rebel-held territory in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, a small group of intrepid Westerners is undertaking a mission of great stealth. Living anonymously in a small rural community, they travel daily in unmarked cars, braving airstrikes, shelling and the threat of kidnapping to...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2013

It's the end of everything as we know it (perhaps)

I hope you had it while you could because, last week, sex ended.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2013

Lose your house, collect $300

The U.S. government's settlement of the foreclosure scandal shows how things work in America: The criminals get the big payoffs and the people whose lives they destroyed get $300.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 16, 2013

Beijing bird flu case asymptomatic

Bird flu was found in a 4-year-old Beijing boy who shows no symptoms of the infection, health authorities said, suggesting more people may be catching the H7N9 influenza virus than reported.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 14, 2013

Late Chavez haunts Venezuela's election

In Venezuela's brief but raucous presidential campaign, the ruling party has let Hugo Chavez do the talking. On state television, he provides words of wisdom in frequent ads, and loudspeakers at campaign rallies belt out recordings of him singing the national anthem.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 12, 2013

'Nutty' U.S. researcher champions oddball science

Patricia Brennan received $384,949 from the U.S. government to study duck genitalia. Last month, that made her a national joke. Now, it's made her a little bit of a folk hero.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2013

Beware economists who peddle cute models

A study that mimicked the behavior of 2 million potential homeowners makes plausible assumptions about how the U.S. subprime crisis got started.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2013

Keeping it simple isn't an act for Pope Francis

Organized religion is often defined by specific do's and don'ts. Now comes Pope Francis with his emphasis on being humble and helping those who hurt.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / OUR MAN IN TOKYO
Apr 9, 2013

British ambassador laments his two 'lost decades'

Tim Hitchens, the new British ambassador to Japan, has observed with his own eyes the country's economic transition since he first visited here as a teenager back in the 1970s.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2013

Comparing tobacco fight to the Opium Wars

The struggle against tobacco is not being won. It is being relocated from industrialized countries to the developing world.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Apr 6, 2013

One man's crusade against America's war on drugs

Once consigned to the fringes of libertarianism, the argument for the legalization of drugs has received an unlikely boost in America in recent months with the release of a documentary titled "The House I Live In." Coinciding with the decision by the states of Colorado and Washington to legalise marijuana,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2013

Technology titans raise millions to enter politics

One day in February about 40 noisy protesters gathered outside the home of Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg in Palo Alto in California's Silicon Valley. They chanted slogans and held up signs as a small, select group of people arrived in sleek sports cars and were ushered inside the relatively modest...

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