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Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 17, 2015

What's in a name? Japan debates whether to allow spouses to adopt separate surnames

Upper House lawmaker Mizuho Fukushima and her partner, Yuichi Kaido, have been together for about 40 years. They don't celebrate any kind of anniversary, however, because they've never been officially married.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 17, 2015

Fired up about Gifu's pottery industry

Toki, a small town in Gifu Prefecture, 37 km from Nagoya, sits above a huge clay basin. Pottery has been made here since ancient times.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 17, 2015

'Base Nation' reveals the destructive tentacles of U.S. hegemony

People are often only aware of what is in their own backyard: the intrusiveness of a radar tower here, an ammunition dump there. David Vine's new book, "Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World," succeeds in shaking us out of our provincialism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 16, 2015

Security legislation promises more than it can deliver

Japan's new security legislation will do little to deter China or North Korea, and the SDF is not large or strong enough to turn the tides of war in international peacekeeping and possible U.S.-led war efforts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 16, 2015

Architect pair tap 3-D printing, ice to share top NASA prize for Mars habitat design

In the coming decades, as humans leave Earth to expand the bounds of space travel, astronauts are sure to find themselves for the first time in habitats other than the International Space Station.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 15, 2015

After six-year revamp, Paris Museum of Mankind re-opens its doors

The Museum of Mankind in Paris re-opens its doors this week after six years of renovations that have breathed new life into France's leading anthropological museum.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 14, 2015

Trans-Pacific Partnership isn't aimed at China

China is an important trade partner for the countries involved in the TPP, and its future participation in the trade bloc can't be ruled out.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 14, 2015

Tokyo ranked fourth — again — in Global Power City Index

Despite a surge in foreign tourists, Tokyo stayed fourth out of 40 major global cities in the annual Global Power City Index (GPCI) ranking unveiled Wednesday, trailing London, New York and Paris.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 14, 2015

Toyota targets 90% emissions reduction by 2050 with fuel cell vehicles

Toyota Motor Corp. said it is targeting a 90 percent reduction in emissions from its new vehicles by 2050 as it seeks to build on the success of its hybrid autos.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 14, 2015

Jeb Bush says Putin's Russia should face consequences over Syria

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush vowed on Tuesday to take a more aggressive approach to countering Russia if he is elected president next year, calling Vladimir Putin an "agile adversary" who is exploiting a vacuum of U.S. leadership in Syria and elsewhere.
EDITORIALS
Oct 13, 2015

Volkswagen cheats

The Volkswagen scandal has also exposed an uncomfortable truth that has long been known but rarely discussed — virtually all automakers 'cheat' on the emissions tests.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2015

Japan should avoid making suicidal education mistakes

Japan's educational system will suffer greatly if political ignoramuses who know the price of everything and the value of nothing are allowed to have their way.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 11, 2015

Hoodie Monks mix beats with their Buddhism

The Hoodie Monks bring together two cultures that might at first seem like unlikely partners: Buddhism and hip-hop.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 11, 2015

Sapphire Slows looks to build on her past lo-fi success

'I get asked, 'How can you make it as a musician?' and I really think it's all about mental strength," says Kinuko Hiramatsu, who produces music under the name Sapphire Slows.
EDITORIALS
Oct 11, 2015

Smog returns to Southeast Asia

Consumers can help pressure palm oil companies to stop using fire to clear land in Indonesia by supporting products certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 10, 2015

Saitama's 'Little Edo' is big on Japan's colorful history

As my smartphone clock flashes from 11:59 a.m. to 12 p.m., I watch the visitors to Kawagoe, in Saitama Prefecture wipe the sweat from their foreheads and direct their attention toward a more primitive form of time keeping — the Toki no Kane (Bell of Time) tower in the middle of the town square.
EDITORIALS
Oct 10, 2015

Raise nursery school salaries

Increasing pay for preschool teachers would be a vital step in getting more women into the labor force, in particular by increasing capacity at nursery schools so more mothers could work.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 10, 2015

California gets first comprehensive regulations on medical marijuana

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed into law the state's first comprehensive regulations on medical marijuana, two decades after legalization fueled disparate local rules, a gray market in cultivation and concerns about the ease of obtaining the drug.
EDITORIALS
Oct 9, 2015

Nobels in medicine and physics

Japan can take great pride in its two Nobel Prizes this week, but the honor should also remind the government of the needs for robust support for basic research.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2015

Belarus vote sets stage for Putin duel with EU

For an election deemed unnoticeable by international observers, there will be plenty of global attention when Belarus votes for president on Sunday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2015

Abe counts on Kato to reverse sliding birthrate, labor exodus in aging Japan

Prime Minister Abe is counting on his new minister in charge of population decline to inspire imitators. He's a father of four.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 8, 2015

Ocean heat wave harming world's coral reefs this year: experts

Corals reefs are suffering a severe underwater heat wave this year for the third time on record, including a mysterious warm patch in the Pacific known as "The Blob," scientists said on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2015

Australians should follow India's presidential model

As Australia grapples with whether to become a republic, it should look to India for guidance.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 7, 2015

Fukuoka honors Asians for work to preserve and reinvent culture

The Fukuoka Prize is awarded to three Asians for their contributions to 'preserving and creating the unique and diverse cultures' of the continent.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 6, 2015

Abe pledges ¥45 billion to Sri Lanka for airport development

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday pledged ¥45 billion in loans to expand Sri Lanka's sole international airport.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Oct 4, 2015

We are family: cats Tencha and Sencha

Found huddled in terror by the side of the road, blind kitten Tencha escaped certain death when he was rescued.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb