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Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 29, 2014

Bum parachute mars U.S. 'saucer' test

A helium balloon carrying an experimental saucer-shaped NASA spacecraft floated off a launch tower at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, on Saturday to test landing systems for future missions to Mars.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Jun 28, 2014

When a physical wasteland bred a moral wasteland

He lived by fire and he died by fire. He was vile — coldblooded, amoral, ruthless. He was the man his time called for, and the man his time called forth — a vile time, by most standards. Its name is Sengoku Jidai, a period of prolonged civil war. Oda Nobunaga (1534-82) is its most representative...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2014

Defense revamp imperils Afghan aid: doctor

Physician Tetsu Nakamura, 67, tries to take a different route to work each day and varies his departure times because that is the safest way to live in Taliban-troubled eastern Afghanistan.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 27, 2014

Outlook grim for England following debacle in Brazil

I have rarely been so pessimistic about the future of the England national team.
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jun 26, 2014

Isa to lead champion Ryukyu again next season

As expected, the defending champion Ryukyu Golden Kings have decided to renew coach Tsutomu Isa's contract for the 2014-15 season.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2014

Harassment rife in local assemblies

The sexist taunting of a female politician during a session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly is part of a long-running problem and victims often suffer in silence, some assembly members say.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Jun 22, 2014

Osaka on leading edge of casino debate

If Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and their Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) members play their cards right, their gamble on casino legalization could hit the jackpot.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2014

Japan urged to do more to promote its language overseas

Japan needs to make bigger efforts to promote its culture and gain public support for the promotion of Japanese-language education overseas, according to a linguistics scholar who has taught the language for more than 40 years in the United States.
JAPAN / History
Jun 21, 2014

The man accused of poisoning Matsumoto's civilians

It is difficult to fathom that a religious group might be behind a poison gas attack on hundreds of civilians. More likely, logic suggests, it would either be the result of a terrible accident or the work of a deranged individual. When confronted with such a scenario in Matsumoto in 1994, the Nagano...
Reader Mail
Jun 18, 2014

Sign of Egypt's new beginnings

Last July 17, The Japan Times published a balanced editorial, "When a coup is not a coup?," highlighting reasons behind Egypt's popular revolution on June 30, 2013, against the Muslim Brothers' radicalism and despotic attempts to send Egypt back to the Middle Ages. However, last week's editorial "Egypt's...
Reader Mail
Jun 18, 2014

Many elderly up against the wall

These days the aging society is becoming a big problem in Japan. It is difficult for family members to care for elderly people by themselves, and family members need knowledge of nursing. Many elderly people and their families are suffering. A good way to improve the situation is for the government to...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / MLB / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Jun 17, 2014

McGehee continuing to benefit from playing in Japan

In baseball parlance, feared Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton is a beast.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2014

Capitalism facilitates but doesn't ensure freedom

As Democratic experiments in Thailand and Egypt collapse, there seems to be a building consensus among financial and political elites globally that authoritarian rule, rather than pluralism, is the path to happy endings.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

The damage done by 'moderates'

Every day the insipid overlords of America's inane corporate news media put out the same message: Extremism is extremely bad. But might the so-called moderates be worse?
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

This cup should be the last for Sepp Blatter

No matter how much 'fire' he has left in him, FIFA President Joseph 'Sepp' Blatter should make the current World Cup in Brazil his last one.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

The blame for Iraq can wait

American efforts to assign immediate blame for Iraq's unraveling carry with them a whiff of the can't-do spirit — as if, unsure how to proceed in the world, we turn on each other instead.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 14, 2014

Hadid's curse: Mammoth monstrosity threatens Tokyo's greenbelt

The government needs to pull the plug on the planned new Olympic stadium designed by the celebrity British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2014

'Crowdfunding' readers back 'library bar,' request a book each

When 30-year-old book lover Shunsuke Mori decided to open a "library bar" in Tokyo, he took a leap of faith to solicit funds over the Internet.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2014

Europe needs greater unity in multipolar world

One aspect of the Ukraine crisis that both Russia and the West need to understand is that the rest of the world appears to be relatively unconcerned about it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
Jun 12, 2014

Interns abused as labor crisis grows

Wednesday was a regular work day at rusting Burberry factory Kameda Co. in Ishikawa Prefecture, but for three Chinese women, it was a day of escape.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 12, 2014

Japan, China trade claims over latest aerial provocation

Tokyo and Beijing traded blame Thursday over the second close and potentially dangerous encounter in just over two weeks between Chinese SU-27 fighter jets and Japanese reconnaissance planes over the East China Sea.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Jun 12, 2014

Wakayama can't afford Pavlicevic

After an ultra-successful start in the National Basketball League, the cash-strapped Wakayama Trians are implementing big budget cuts for the upcoming season.
Reader Mail
Jun 11, 2014

National exam mugging season

The expression "what a bummer!" hit me the other day when I got ripped off for ¥11,700. Since I left school, I've been one of the knuckleheads unable to pass the 60-percent grade threshold, sitting every summer for the tour-interpreter test. The once-a-year fee has jumped about 40 percent from last...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 11, 2014

David Bintley bows out with a 'Pagoda' set in Japan

Challenge is intrinsic to artistic creation, but David Bintley relishes it so much that he specializes in conceiving the unlikely.
Japan Times
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 10, 2014

Chaos reigns for FIFA as World Cup looms

FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who said in 2011 he would steer soccer's ruling body through troubled waters, isn't anywhere near land.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2014

Why don't more American soldiers walk away?

American news media portrays Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and his apparent decision to simply walk away from the war in Afghanistan as bizarre and incomprehensible. Yet some wonder why it doesn't happen all the time.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2014

Beijing pushes Manila, Hanoi closer

China has accused Vietnam of ramming its ships more than 1,000 times in a disputed part of the South China Sea and said while it wants good relations with its southern neighbor, it would not abandon principles to achieve that.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jun 9, 2014

AKB48 members deserve to get workers’ comp for saw attack

Are members of girl group AKB48 'workers' under the law and therefore eligible for industrial accident insurance? The evidence suggests so.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jun 7, 2014

Japan's efforts bring back 'extinct' species

Oriental stork 73; crested ibis 82; red-crowned crane 1,143; short-tailed albatross estimated 3,550. Those numbers of wild birds in Japan seem perilously low — and they are, especially when considered alongside the Japanese population of 126.75 million people — but in reality they are good news!...

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’