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COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jun 23, 2014

ASIJ abuse scandal stirs dark memories among readers

Some letters in response to Jon Mitchell's The Foreign Element articles about sexual abuse by late American School in Japan teacher Jack Moyer.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
May 5, 2014

English morris dancing hits Japan, with all the bells and whistles

The English form of folk dancing known as morris dates back to the Middle Ages and involves costumed groups of dancers stepping in time to music. Barely seen in Japan before, this traditional art can now be experienced in the most unexpected of locations: Shikoku.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 5, 2014

Phuket puts Peranakan heritage back on map

As evidenced by all the Chinatowns dotted around the globe, over the centuries China has seen many of its people seek new lives in other parts of the world. And from about 1400, Southeast Asia was especially popular for Chinese emigrants who had a yearning for foreign shores.
Japan Times
JAPAN / SYMPOSIUM ON ASEAN AND GLOBALIZATION
Mar 28, 2014

ASEAN works to overcome challenges

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will continue to accelerate integration while it works to overcome challenges such as disparities in the levels of development among member countries, academic experts of some ASEAN countries said at a symposium in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DAVOS SPECIAL 2014
Jan 23, 2014

YGL program inspires, educates

Oisix Inc. President Kohey Takashima's ambition has transformed his online food retail startup into the leading player in the industry in just over a decade, but his nomination as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum has awoken in him another mission: to contribute to society.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2014

Business tie-ups that help the Himalayan poor

The private sector can be a powerful partner in any endeavor just as it is with commercial satellite launches. This must include the fight against poverty in Hindu Kush-Himalayas.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 31, 2013

Tokyo prepares to get schooled in the art of beats

Although the major spectacle looming on Tokyo's horizon is undoubtedly the 2020 Olympics, there is one event this year that will be eagerly anticipated by anyone who spends longer on their gym playlist than their workout: The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is set to take place here in October.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 9, 2013

Korean volunteers put the K into kizuna

One volunteer group, based at Tokyo's Meiji University, is called Kizuna International; the other, at Kyoto University, is Kizuna From Kyoto. The coincidences do not end there: Both groups' leaders share the same surname and both are ethnic Koreans.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LEARNING CURVE
Nov 17, 2013

Identity issues can complicate a child's path to becoming bilingual

The pursuit of bilingualism can be something akin to the quest for the Holy Grail for parents living in Japan. It's also near-universal, affecting expatriates here for an extended period, multilingual families where the parents come from different cultural backgrounds, or Japanese nationals eager to...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 30, 2013

Volunteers staying the course in Tohoku

Upstart NGOs It's Not Just Mud and OGA for Aid continue to punch above their weight in public conversations about the future of Tohoku.
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
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2013

FDIC races against time to prosecute bank debacle suspects

As the clock runs out on a three-year statute of limitations, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has filed a flurry of lawsuits to recoup losses tied to the largest wave of bank failures during the financial crisis.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 1, 2013

'Help us defend the country:' NSA chief

It doesn't get much stranger than this, even in Vegas.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 7, 2013

Race takes backseat at Zimmerman trial

Thousands streamed into Fort Mellon Park, hard against the south shore of Lake Monroe, on that night in March 2012. An unarmed African-American teenager in a "hoodie" sweatshirt had been killed the month before in this central Florida city, but the agitated crowd felt echoes of another era. "Trayvon...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 13, 2013

Kanazawa artists play with genres

It's 11 p.m. and Kanazawa venue Puddle is packed. The space is a two-room, wood-furnished cafe/bar in the city's Katamachi neighborhood. There's a mediocre jam band playing later that night, but the DJ set by Yasuhiro Tsukamoto is what catches my attention. With little regard to what's on the charts,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 28, 2013

Unearthing the Seto Inland Sea's social landscapes

Whenever traveling directly from one island in the Seto Inland Sea to another, I sense threads holding each one to the other. Perhaps this is a vestige of the trade routes that traversed the 700-plus islands in this scenic region between Hiroshima and Osaka. As sea trade waned in postwar Japan, these...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2013

NPO brought Tohoku's foreigners together

A teacher congratulates a Philippine student for acing a Japanese-language test at a local community hall. Her instructor, Kanae Sato, is from Taiwan, and like most of the residents of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, both saw their homes destroyed by tsunami two years ago.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Mar 10, 2013

Two years on, Fukushima evacuees seek justice and a normal life

Living in a tiny temporary house isn't all bad.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 9, 2013

Power of poetry penned by survivors of 3/11 is showcased by ASIJ project

Kathy Krauth, a social studies teacher at the American School in Japan, admits she was never a huge fan of tanka, traditional Japanese poetry. "Tanka never really spoke to me. I dismissed it as early Japanese history with cherry blossoms." That all changed when Krauth sat in a classroom at the University...
WORLD
Mar 4, 2013

Research into gays emerges from shadows

Just a few salient facts are known about the Americans whose lives might be changed by a Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage expected this summer.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 28, 2013

The long arm of the antipiracy law

Captured half a world away, off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean, four Somalis are sent to Tokyo to stand trial for piracy after a failed attempt to hijack an oil tanker. Three have already been convicted by the Tokyo District Court.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 17, 2013

Nuclear dispute shapes fight over future of fading town

This superbly told tale about the waxing and waning fortunes of Kaminoseki town over the past four centuries presents some interesting local counterpoints to the more familiar national narrative.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2012

Ultimate taboo for military spouses: infidelity

Military spouses talk about almost everything. In running groups, prayer groups, writing groups, many spouses say they lean on one another heavily while their partners are overseas on yet another deployment in this decade of war.
COMMENTARY
Jul 27, 2012

Syria's Palestinian refugees strive in vain for neutrality

"Flames are quickly approaching Yarmouk (as) someone is trying to drag the Palestinians into the fire," Palestinian observer Rashad Abu Shawar was quoted as saying in the Israeli Jerusalem Post, July 20.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jun 5, 2012

Guestists, Haters, the Vested: Apologists take many forms

Last month's column on "microaggressions" was my most debated yet. Thanks for reading and commenting.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2012

Understanding Tehran's behavior

The perennial conflict between Iran and the West has entered a dangerous new phase, with tensions rising in the Persian Gulf since Iran has threatened retaliation for last week's assassination of a chemical engineer linked to the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. What accounts for Iran's behavior?...
COMMENTARY / World / 50 years of ASEAN
Dec 13, 2011

Japan should play co-anchor role in helping ASEAN Connectivity Plus realize grand vision

With its intent for a people-oriented as well as a physically and institutionally well-connected ASEAN Community poised for realization in 2015, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations affirms its commitment to fulfill a long-cherished dream.
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jul 5, 2011

Lives such as Daniel's deserve to be honored in these pages

I had a shock in May with the death of a close friend, Daniel, a long-term Japan resident in his sixties who had been in bad health. We were close and I'll miss him.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
May 27, 2011

Niigata brings down curtain on Hirose era

After 11 seasons at the helm, Masaya Hirose's tenure as Niigata Albirex BB coach has ended.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell