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COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2014

Sochi's toilet saga is a lesson in truthfulness

If the tandem-toilet incident is any indication, the organizers of the Sochi Olympics could end up flushing way any ambitions of giving an enormous boost to Russia's global image.
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2014

NHK's credibility at stake

Two of the more recent appointees to the NHK Board of Governors show their stripes so to speak by denying that the 1937 Nanjing Massacre happened, on one hand, and writing an essay in praise of the Emperor as a 'living god' on the other. Might employees for Japan's national broadcaster start to feel pressure to develop programs from a particular perspective?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 6, 2014

Could 'Snowpiercer' be Bong's ticket out of Korea?

There's a scene in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic sci-fi fable "Snowpiercer" that turns the tables on how Western audiences perceive non-English-speaking Asian characters in what is — for all intents and purposes — a Hollywood production.
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2014

Japan's democratic credentials

Regarding Hugh Cortazzi's Jan. 25 article, "Playing with fire is dangerous": With all due respect, Cortazzi seems misinformed about the history of Japan. In the interests of a balanced view, let me point out one crucial misunderstanding that prevails in English-speaking media: that after World War II...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Feb 5, 2014

Watanabe opts to go to George Washington U.

Japanese basketball phenom Yuta Watanabe will commit to George Washington University next season, he revealed on his Twitter account on Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 4, 2014

Glasgow's Chvrches score a hit with debvt albvm

Scratch beneath the surface just a little and Chvrches' electro-pop becomes something of real substance. The Glasgow trio's songs, which recall that genre's golden era in the 1980s reimagined through meticulously modern production, initially appear throwaway in the truest sense but later reveal themselves...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 2, 2014

Parents of mixed kids look abroad for high schools

College preparation for bicultural young adults may include seeking out international as well as domestic opportunities. Some youngsters, however, are heading abroad much sooner — for high school or junior high school.
JAPAN
Feb 2, 2014

Momii's rise tests NHK's reputation

For millions of Japanese, and even Japan-watchers abroad, NHK is a trusted source of information: gray in tone perhaps, but neither black nor white on the issues. This assumption has been put to the test by new NHK Chairman Katsuto Momii, whose recent remarks have led many to wonder whether the public...
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Feb 1, 2014

Steamer surveys new island; Forces land on Hainan Island; Kyu Sakamoto profiled; Leftists suspected in shrine bombing

The N.Y.K. Bonin liner Chefoo, which returned to Yokohama yesterday, gave an interesting account of her exploration of the newly formed island near Minami Iwojima.
Reader Mail
Feb 1, 2014

Don't make sports such a chore for kids

I want to respond to the Dec. 22 editorial "Students neglect physical exercise." I agree that children are playing more computer games and are less active outside. I have a child in elementary school and I see that children whose parents are physically active are also active. So, on one side, parents...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 31, 2014

Rampant City set to expose Mourinho's hypocrisy

We are in for a masterclass of offensive football on Monday when Chelsea travel to the Etihad stadium to attack Manchester City. No sitting back or parking the bus, no defensive strategy in the hope of being the first team to win a Premier League point at Fortress Etihad this season. Ambitious Chelsea...
BASKETBALL
Jan 30, 2014

Evessa, Crane Thunders inadvertently help each other address needs

The Osaka Evessa and Gunma Crane Thunders acted quickly to fill frontcourt vacancies, swooping up released big men Darko Cohadarevic and Dillion Sneed, respectively, this week.
Reader Mail
Jan 29, 2014

Cogeneration involves waste heat

The Jan. 24 editorial "Can't bury the nuclear issue" recommends a few things in the field of energy that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government can do, including "using waste heat to generate electricity." This is probably incorrect.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2014

Marijuana's sobering lessons from Prohibition

Like alcohol after the repeal of Prohibition, legal marijuana will be a profitable business kept on a tight leash. And we should expect the public health consequences tol be mixed, though hardly a disaster.
MORE SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Jan 28, 2014

Reaction to Sherman's rant completely over the top

What would a Super Bowl be without a mountain being made of out a molehill?
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 26, 2014

No time for free reading? You can make it up at university

I hope 2014 has started well for all our readers. Lifelines kicks off the Year of the Horse with an email from overseas reader Hannah, who has several questions about the Japanese education system:
EDITORIALS
Jan 25, 2014

Crime rate dips again in Japan

Although Japan's relatively low crime rate has just gotten lower, the police need to take the rising problems with frauds and scams seriously.
BASKETBALL
Jan 24, 2014

Former NBA forward Andre Brown joins Sendai 89ers

Andre Brown's professional basketball career can be best described as a global odyssey.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 24, 2014

Splitter expected to be 'money pitch' for Tanaka in the majors

Now that the New York Yankees have agreed to part with a whopping $175 million in order to fit Masahiro Tanaka for pinstripes, baseball fans and observers will spend the next several years trying to figure out if "Ma-kun" was worth the hefty price tag.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jan 24, 2014

Mata's arrival likely signals end for Kagawa at Man United

There can be a fine dividing line between knowing when you are well off and lacking ambition.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2014

Abe not painting war with China scenario, Suga assures

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga on Thursday tried to play down the significance of overseas reports that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe compared the current tension between China and Japan to that of Britain and Germany right before World War I, saying Abe wasn't stressing that a war scenario is possible....
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Jan 22, 2014

Akita, Ryukyu a cut above at halfway point of season

With the eighth annual All-Star Game slated for Sunday afternoon in Akita, it's an appropriate time to take a look at highs and lows of the season's first half.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Jan 21, 2014

Durant rapidly emerging as best player in the game

LeBron James could once again be the big free agent story of the NBA this summer if he elects to exercise his opt out clause and leave the Miami Heat.
Reader Mail
Jan 15, 2014

Giving students a chance to soar

As deputy head teacher at the school referred to in the Jan. 6 article "English fluency hopes rest on an education overhaul" (about the challenges facing educators in meeting the expectations of the new national English syllabus): I would like to thank The Japan Times for discussing this very important...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 13, 2014

Inequality nightmare continues to plague world

While demand for private jets is booming, 60 percent of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day. As the world overall grows richer, the benefits continue to flow overwhelmingly to a tiny elite.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2014

Americans showing sound isolationist instincts

American military intervention in Iraq has been the largest cause of the present chaos, and that makes the isolationist instincts of the American people, displayed recently when the president rashly wanted to bomb Syria, were and remain sound ones.
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Jan 11, 2014

Seasons come and go — but when?

Another new year has arrived and a Hokkaido blizzard is tearing past my window, drifting snow onto every surface as if it means to drown out the world in whiteness. Thankfully it also brings a muffling silence into which thoughts pop and crackle.
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 10, 2014

Kim looking like a lock for second gold medal in Sochi

With less than a month to go until the Sochi Games begin, all signs are that defending Olympic and world champion Kim Yu-na is rounding into form and will be in top shape when she enters the rink at the Iceberg Skating Palace.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 8, 2014

New York's Apples make a big impression

In the last three months since I arrived in New York to study American drama with a grant from the Asian Cultural Council, a U.S. nonprofit dedicated to international cultural exchange, I have been to the theater more than 70 times — including at least a dozen visits to somewhere that's been a truly...
Reader Mail
Jan 8, 2014

Helping animals in Fukushima

Regarding the Dec. 31 article "In Fukushima, abandoned pets are multiplying": Thank you for picking up this topic. I wish all the people who simply left their pets behind in Fukushima after the 3/11 nuclear plant disaster would read this article.

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’