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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 28, 2013

New survey of art fosters discussion

It goes without saying that giving a book the title "100 Works of Art That Will Define Our Age" is a hostage to fortune. We lack the necessary perspective when it comes to judging what it is about our time that is most important or representative culture-wise, for which reason the work of drawing up...
EDITORIALS
Sep 27, 2013

Moving forward with Iran

Although Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani did not meet U.S. President Barack Obama at the U.N. this week, each man signaled a desire for a rapprochement.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2013

Mandatory organ donation

It is estimated that 18 people die in the U.S. every day due to a national shortage of organ donations. This crisis could be solved if organ donation were mandatory.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2013

Transcript of Caroline Kennedy's Senate hearing

Statement by Ms. Caroline Kennedy
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2013

Replying to Iranian 'prudence and moderation'

It would be a fatal mistake for the United States to perceive Iran's adoption of 'moderation and prudence' as a sign of Iranian weakness, fear, a concession.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 23, 2013

Parts of fallen star's legacy may yet survive

Ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai's prospects of an eventual comeback evaporated Sunday after he was sentenced to life in prison and permanently deprived of all political rights, but aspects of his legacy may live on, experts said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 22, 2013

Bo sentenced to life in prison over corruption

Ousted Chinese Communist Party heavyweight Bo Xilai gets life in prison for corruption, embezzlement and abuse of power as the fallen star's heavily publicized trial concludes.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2013

Politicians hardly ever mention America's poor

American Republican and Democratic politicians have one thing in common: They hardly mention the poor.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 22, 2013

The good side of Singapore icon Lee Kuan Yew

Singapore icon Lee Kuan Yew, who just turned 90, is known to have despised Western journalists. One American, however, has never been denied an interview if Lee was available.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 22, 2013

Syria Islamists rake in funds

Syria's Islamist extremists are getting a fresh torrent of cash from Arab donors hoping for an uprising to erupt across the region.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Sep 21, 2013

Ancient tales by the 'savages' of Hokkaido have lessons for today

Imagine living in a culture with none or very little of the following: politics, economics, property, history, time, agriculture, money, war ambition, heaven, hell, progress, writing ...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Sep 21, 2013

Rokkasho: nuclear white elephant or yen sucking black hole?

As one approaches Rokkasho, a small town of 11,000 on the remote, windswept coast of Aomori Prefecture at the very north of Japan's main island, Honshu, one sees dozens of power-generating windmills spinning away. Aside from this ambitious renewable energy project, Rokkasho also is the site for a national...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 20, 2013

Putin: arch manipulator on a mission to check U.S. will

In novelist Victor Pelevin's pungent satire on contemporary Russia, "The Sacred Book of the Werewolf," its narrator, a 2,000-year-old shape-shifter, kisses Alexander, a brutish but alluring officer with the FSB, the Russian security service — who is a werewolf, like all his colleagues. In doing so,...
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Sep 20, 2013

Richard Dawkins: 'I don't think I am strident or aggressive'

On the top floor of Random House's offices in London, the world's number one thinker — according to Prospect magazine's annual poll — walks in from the roof terrace and shakes my hand. Richard Dawkins is a trim 72-year-old with one of those faces that, no matter the accumulation of lines, will always...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2013

Domestic factors also drive Putin's Syria gamble

Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategic win over the U.S. in Syria vindicates his foreign policy at a time when he faces difficulties at home.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 19, 2013

Syrian crisis exposes Obama's frayed ties with U.S. military

The Syrian crisis over the past few weeks has thrust President Barack Obama into a role in which at times he has seemed uneasy: that of commander in chief.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Sep 18, 2013

For world, U.S. gun violence is new norm

Jimmy Davis, a 41-year-old London disc jockey, was saddened when he heard about the latest mass shooting in the United States. But like much of the world after the attack Monday at Washington's Navy Yard, he was no longer shocked.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2013

Obama didn't sell war hard enough

War is what America does best, war is what America does most. So why couldn't U.S. President Barack Obama get public support for a strike on Syria
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 16, 2013

Don't credit Chile's economic rise to Pinochet

Although many people give credit to Gen. Augusto Pinochet for his economic modernization of Chile, the groundwork was laid by his predecessors under democratic rule.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2013

Successful Olympic bid thrusts Tokyo into spotlight, fencing star says

For Olympic fencer Yuki Ota, Tokyo's successful bid for the 2020 Summer Games and Paralympics was like winning the gold medal he's always wanted.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 15, 2013

Abe's 2020 vision challenged

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared that the Olympics would put Tokyo 'at the center of the world.' But the real question is: Will Japan use the Olympics to join the real world
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 13, 2013

How television seduced the world — and me

Like most people my age — 51 — my childhood was in black and white. That's because my memory of childhood is in black and white, and that's because television in the 1960s (and most photography) was black and white. All the TV programs I watched were black and white, and their images form the monochrome...
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 13, 2013

Taiwan president, party hit by scandal and rifts

A widening political scandal is threatening to split Taiwan's ruling party and potentially set back efforts to build closer economic ties with China.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2013

If U.S. comes calling, will Abe back Syria strike?

With a comprehensive attempt under way to find a diplomatic solution in Syria, punitive U.S. military strikes planned for its alleged use of chemical weapons last month have been postponed after appearing imminent just a few days ago.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2013

Syria presents a constitutional moment for U.S.

No congressional vote about Syria can damage the U.S. presidency as much as Barack Obama has done by overreaching.
Reader Mail
Sep 11, 2013

The rise and fall of Naoto Kan

Regarding the Aug. 31 interview "Naoto Kan speaks out": I have mixed feelings. During the time that the Liberal Democratic Party was dominating the politics of Japan until it lost power in 2009 and "the traditional triangular network" — or extremely strong ties with vested politicians, bureaucrats...
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 11, 2013

Syria debate twists Beltway playbook

Syria has utterly confounded the Washington political establishment, from the White House to the Capitol. There's no script for what's been happening. The usual political polarization, the simple calculus of R vs. D, has disintegrated into a tangle of uncomfortable alliances.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2013
Sep 10, 2013

Seeking to change men's mind-sets to spur on prosperity for all Japanese

When Upper House lawmaker Masako Mori became a state minister for measures for declining birthrate, gender equality and consumer affairs and food safety last December, one of the first things she did was to announce that she would promote male staff within her ministries if they take child-care leave....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / 'SUMMER DAVOS' SPECIAL 2013
Sep 10, 2013

Young entrepreneurs go forward in 'New Japan'; deregulation can aid economy

Tokyo is becoming an incubator of venture businesses as many young people — seeing the success of other entrepreneurs, who in turn have created a network of mentors and investors — are taking on the challenge of having their own business, aided by an improving economy buoyed by Prime Minister Shinzo...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years