Search - 2014

 
 
CULTURE / Music
Aug 21, 2016

Sukiyaki Meets the World music festival thinks global and acts local

In his classic polemic against modern Japan, "Dogs and Demons," Alex Kerr described how a system of government loans and subsidies in the 1980s spurred a nationwide outbreak of grandiose construction projects. Today, the Japanese countryside is littered with oversized, underused cultural centers, many...
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Aug 21, 2016

Osaka urged to spend more on arts ahead of Olympic extravaganza

A call by an influential Kansai business group for the Osaka prefectural and municipal governments to increase their budgets for art and culture has sparked debate between the governor and business circles over how to best do that.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 20, 2016

Inside Japan's racehorse breeding empire

Harry Sweeney has his hand up a horse's backside. The mare looks put out by this intrusion. Her eyes dart about nervously and she shifts her weight before accepting five thick human digits probing her insides. After feeling the uterus and the swelling of the ovaries, Sweeney's arm, slick with mucus and...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 19, 2016

Women in college leadership roles are still rare

Tradition dies hard when it comes to promoting women to head universities.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 19, 2016

As Japanese bond investors hunt yields, hurricanes may be worth the risk

Japan's bond investors are so desperate for yield that more and more of them are putting money in notes from insurers whose value can be wiped out by unexpectedly strong hurricanes or earthquakes.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 18, 2016

Japanese fans shrug off crime and Zika in Rio, look forward to Tokyo's turn

Japanese attending the Rio Olympics say they have found the host city safer than they were led to believe and are looking forward to welcoming the world at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 17, 2016

'Obama Doctrine' is ravaging the Middle East

Barack Obama ran for president as a peaceful alternative to the warmonger George W. Bush but has continued with unending warfare.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Aug 17, 2016

Superhero films need to reach beyond the geeks

Where superhero movies are concerned, you should never trust a critic. When David Ayer's "Suicide Squad" opened to a barrage of negative press in the U.S. earlier this month, some fans responded by lashing out at film journalists online. One even launched a petition against the review aggregator site...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film / Wide Angle
Aug 17, 2016

Prize-winning short 'Oh Lucy' brings humor to the classroom

Given the potential global audience available on digital film platforms, it is surprising how few Japanese filmmakers have invested in foreign-language subtitles to get their films out there. Thus, it was a pleasant surprise to find director Atsuko Hirayanagi's short comedy "Oh Lucy" up on Vimeo.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 17, 2016

China, ASEAN aim to complete framework of South China Sea rules next year

China and a grouping of Southeast Asian nations aim to finish by the middle of next year a framework for a code of conduct to ease tension in the disputed South China Sea, state media said on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 17, 2016

North Korean deputy ambassador to Britain reportedly defects

North Korea's deputy ambassador in London has defected with his family, according to media reports, in what would be one of the highest-profile defections in recent years from the increasingly isolated country.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 17, 2016

Teen star Ito leads Japan to team table tennis bronze

Fifteen-year-old Mima Ito showed the composure of a veteran to lead Japan's women to the table tennis team bronze medal at the Rio Olympics on Tuesday with a 3-1 win over Singapore.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 16, 2016

Populism trumping the TPP

Washington's ambitious plan to take on the might of China is dying.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2016

Is Donald Trump a Democratic Party plant?

Who in the end really gains from Donald Trump's paranoid, fact-free campaign style. A lot of people are saying it's Hillary Clinton.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2016

Russia fans the flames in Ukraine once again

Vladimir Putin is sending signals that he's getting restless with the current peace deal in Ukraine.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 16, 2016

Indonesia to destroy 71 boats, including Chinese, in display of maritime sovereignty

Indonesia will cap Wednesday's Independence Day celebrations by scuttling as many as 71 impounded foreign vessels — mostly Vietnamese but also a handful of Chinese — to signal its determination to protect its sovereignty over lucrative fishing grounds in the South China Sea.
WORLD
Aug 15, 2016

U.S. mulls long-term, bomb-grade uranium exports to Belgium

The U.S. nuclear regulator is considering long-term shipments of weapons-grade uranium to a medical research reactor in security-challenged Belgium, something critics say would set back global anti-proliferation efforts.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Aug 15, 2016

Let's discuss new fares for taxis

Cab firms have started experimenting with a lower minimum fare of ¥410 to assess demand for short trips among tourists and the elderly.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan