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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 10, 2017

Chinese professor fired after criticizing Mao online

A Chinese professor has been fired after enraging leftists with an online criticism of Chairman Mao Zedong on what would have been on the leader's 123rd birthday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2017

China shouldn't burn its 40-ton ivory stockpile

Despite the visceral appeal, 30 years of burning hasn't appreciably reduced elephant kills or ivory consumption. In fact, it likely raises its value on the black market.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Jan 8, 2017

Japan's human rights issues fared better in 2016

Welcome back to JBC's annual countdown of the top issues as they affected Non-Japanese (NJ) residents of Japan. We had some brighter spots this year than in previous years, because Japan's government has been so embarrassed by hate speech toward Japan's minorities that they did something about it. Read...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 7, 2017

Figuring out Japan's unsolved mysteries

As a visit to any large public library or online search will reveal, Japan boasts a superb body of crime literature, both fiction and nonfiction. Among these, English readers may be most familiar with a half-dozen works by Seicho Matsumoto (1909-92). Many of his novels, such as "Kuroi Fukuin" ("The Black...
CULTURE / Books
Jan 7, 2017

Defining J-Horror: The erotic, grotesque 'nonsense' of Edogawa Rampo

In Japanese literature, there is a type of horror story that centers on an individual's obsession with a single idea. It arises from the most innocent and everyday circumstances, but gradually this single idea becomes all-consuming, blurring the line between sanity and madness. In some cases, the transformations...
MORE SPORTS
Jan 6, 2017

PGA announces new streaming deal with Twitter

You can follow golfers Tiger Woods, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy on their Twitter accounts. Now you can watch them play there, too.
JAPAN / GEARING UP FOR THE GAMES
Jan 6, 2017

Japan aims to overcome language and cultural barriers before 2020 Games

Last of six parts
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2017

Facing suit, National Park Service sites freed up for Trump inauguration protests

Protesters will get public sites for demonstrations during Republican Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, a major federal land agency said on Thursday, after being threatened with a lawsuit from civil rights lawyers who accused it of quashing dissent.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2017

Texas readies 'bathroom bill' critics say targets LGBT rights at cost of economy

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is expected on Thursday to introduce legislation to limit public restroom access for transgender people, despite warnings from a business group that the measure would hurt the Texas economy because it was discriminatory.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jan 5, 2017

Traditional crafts to welcome new year; luxury retreat for examination prep; inspired cocktails offer a twist

Traditional crafts to welcome new year
JAPAN / GEARING UP FOR THE GAMES
Jan 5, 2017

Advanced tech used by Paralympic athletes could throw perception of disabilities into question

On Dec. 10, some 40 elementary school children showed up for a running workshop at Shin-Toyosu Brillia Running Stadium, a brand new indoor track facility opened the day before in Tokyo's waterfront Toyosu district.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 4, 2017

The silencing of an anti-U.S. base protester in Okinawa

The extended detention of Hiroji Yamashiro is a shocking display of raw government power.
JAPAN / GEARING UP FOR THE GAMES,GEARING UP FOR THE GAMES
Jan 4, 2017

Japan's rising sports stars look to raise the bar at Tokyo 2020 Olympics

Setting new records, Japan's Olympians managed to haul in a very respectable 38 medals at the 2012 London Games and 41 last year in Rio de Janeiro. Their efforts are certainly something for the nation's up-and-coming young athletes to duplicate or even surpass, as there are many potential stars out there who could become household names by the time Tokyo hosts the Olympics about 3u00bd years from now.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 3, 2017

Release and renewal: Ando's life full of joy, challenges

Freed from the constraints of competition, retired athletes often change directions. Some go into business, a few into TV, others into coaching or various endeavors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 3, 2017

China's dangerous 2017 dominates the region

Fears of a Chinese financial crash loom large, but Japan and South Korea also face thorny challenges.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 3, 2017

How ties to an 'equestrian princess' landed Samsung at the center of the Park scandal in South Korea

Samsung Electronics' sponsorship of the equestrian daughter of a longtime friend of President Park Geun-hye has helped to land South Korea's top company in the center of the country's influence-peddling scandal.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2017

2017 rings in across Japan as shrine, temple throngs pray for good year

As people across Japan celebrated the turn of the year, they flocked to shrines and temples Sunday morning for their traditional hatsumode pilgrimage to make a fresh start on New Year's Day.
Japan Times
JAPAN / 2017 NEW YEAR SPECIAL
Jan 1, 2017

A celebration of Japanese traditions

New Year's, or shogatsu in Japan, is a time when people can get a taste of traditional Japan. People generally take the time around the New Year's holidays to relax with their families and engage in traditional activities to remind themselves of their heritage.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 31, 2016

New year, new you: What to expect personally and professionally in the Year of the Rooster

If you haven't made a New Year's resolution or have been too busy for the customary ōsōji (big cleanup) this holiday season, there is still time, according to feng shui. Under the Chinese philosophical system, the new year is marked by the lunar, rather than Gregorian, or solar, calendar, giving us...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Dec 31, 2016

Miyagi school opening aids 3/11 recovery

The official opening of Miyanomori Elementary School on Jan. 10 represents an important stage in restoring some normalcy to the city.
CULTURE
Dec 30, 2016

The top entertainment stories of 2016

The Japan Times newsroom selected these culture stories as the most important of 2016.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 30, 2016

Who had the worst year? How Asian leaders fared in 2016

In a year dominated by Brexit and Donald Trump's surprise U.S. election win, Asia felt like a relatively stable part of the world. A closer look shows that the region endured its own seismic events in 2016, from a Philippine leader embracing China to massive street protests in Seoul to the elimination...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 28, 2016

'Stonewall': We need to talk about Danny

"Stonewall" is a bit of a head-scratcher. A fictional account of the 1969 Stonewall riots — a series of events that subsequently triggered the gay rights movement in America — it's directed by Hollywood's resident disaster-movie specialist, Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day," "The Day After Tomorrow")....
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2016

This year saw a bull market in skinny dipping

It's time to look back at a year when so many smart people were caught doing stupid things.
EDITORIALS
Dec 26, 2016

The year the establishment failed

Key events in 2016 were moments of disintegration that exposed a frail and fragile political order.
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Dec 25, 2016

Train, casino, reactor woes to grab Kansai headlines in '17

A casino, an expo, tourists, trains, and old nuclear power plants. These are just some of the major issues the Kansai region faces in 2017.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 24, 2016

Tales from the cracks: 10 of the best books about Japan released in 2016

It's been a difficult year — one that felt like humanity was living on a fracturing ice shelf. That uncertainty came from our exposure to wars and natural disasters, and even our struggles with "truth" itself. The best Japan-related books released in 2016 seemed to channel this feeling of instability...

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan