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COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2013

Partition looms for Afghanistan

The U.S. effort to cut a deal with the Pashtun-based, Pakistan-backed Taliban is stirring deep unease among the non-Pashtun groups in Afghanistan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 22, 2013

Tourism goal within reach, JTA chief says

The rapid drop in the yen helped lure a record 3.17 million tourists to Japan from January to April, but achieving the government's goal of 10 million this year will require more work, Japan Tourism Agency Commissioner Norifumi Ide said.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 21, 2013

Councilors snub bill on vote gap fix

In an act of protest, the opposition-controlled House of Councilors refuses to vote on a bill to rectify the unconstitutional vote-value disparity in the House of Representatives and sends it back to the lower chamber.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 20, 2013

Are we all blinded by our sense of beauty?

Sophie Calle is an enigma. She is an artist, writer, photographer and filmmaker yet doesn't work exclusively in any of these areas. She has become famous for her work in photography but her objects and later films have drawn equal attention — work that carries with it the curiosity of a detective who...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society / ABE'S PROMISES
Jun 19, 2013

Lofty educational ideal: Ability to prevail on global stage

Universities are starting to try out all sorts of new and innovative ways for Japan to develop human resources capable of 'prevailing on the world stage.'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jun 18, 2013

Finnish diplomat pushes child-rearing for dads

For Finnish diplomat Mikko Koivumaa, being an ikumen (men who take an active role in ikuji, or child rearing) comes naturally.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 18, 2013

Visiting premier talks of protracted Thai crisis

During her visit to Japan, Thailand's prime minister dared to talk about the protracted political crisis that followed the overthrow of her brother in 2006.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 17, 2013

After Newtown shooting, mourning parents enter into the lonely quiet

They had promised to try everything, so Mark Barden went down into the basement to begin another project in memory of Daniel. The families of Sandy Hook Elementary were collaborating on a Mother's Day card, which would be produced by a marketing firm and mailed to hundreds of politicians across the country....
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2013

A pork sale wrapped in a thin skin

America's reaction to the advance by corporate China, including the buyout of Smithfield Foods, is reminiscent of its reactions to the Japanese 20 years ago.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2013

New Delhi rebalancing defense relationships

While America's 'pivot' to the Asia-Pacific continues to hog the limelight, other players also are renegotiating their engagement in the region, including India.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 15, 2013

Clinton re-enters limelight, plans charitable work — for now

In her first major public appearance since stepping down as secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton embraced key pillars of President Barack Obama's domestic agenda Thursday and said she will strive to act as an envoy between businesses, nonprofit entities and the federal government.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 12, 2013

Monitoring scandals unite left, right

A late spring storm of Washington controversies has created a rare event in these partisan, polarized times: a shared I-told-you-so moment for the left and the right.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 11, 2013

Modi tapped to lead '14 poll campaign for India's BJP

India's Hindu nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday named controversial and polarizing leader Narendra Modi to head its campaign for the 2014 national elections, signaling that the pro-business politician may be the party's preferred candidate to lead the country if it wins.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jun 9, 2013

A world of flowers and willows in Kyoto's geisha districts

'No matter what happens / I am in love with Gion. / Even when I sleep, / Beneath my pillow / The waters ripple.'
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 8, 2013

How did Germany become the new champion of Europe?

Sitting in his brightly lit office overlooking the green hills of rural Westphalia, surrounded by photographs of aluminium and titanium castings, Phillip Schack has drawn a blue triangle on a piece of paper. Pointing to a small shaded section at its apex, he says: "Look. If that's your market, up at...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 2013

Iran is outmaneuvering U.S. in Syrian proxy war

Syria is now a proxy war, and when U.S. officials say their options for intervention are constrained by Syria's air defense systems, they are also saying they fear Iran's.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 7, 2013

Screen violence is in the eye of the beholder

Some people avoid violent films, while others watch little else. Professional movie reviewers, who may see hundreds of films annually, cannot afford to be so picky. If you are covering the Cannes Film Festival competition, as I did one year for the Screen International daily critics' poll, you cannot...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 5, 2013

Naming Lautenberg's successor puts GOP's Christie in bind

In a state where political blood feuds have been a proud tradition, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat, went to extremes trying to live up to the legend: They hated each other and made it known.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2013

Abenomics cannot succeed without cheap nuclear power

Everybody knows that Japan has an energy crisis. We also know that the yen has greatly depreciated, by some 20 percent in just a few weeks. It's time to put these two facts together.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2013

What Bismarck can show Red China

More than a century and a half after it was published, Alexis de Tocqueville's "The Old Regime and the Revolution" has become an unlikely best-seller in China.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2013

Obama-Christie 'bromance' blossoms in N.J.

Talk about a public display of affection. President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's unlikely "bromance," sparked last fall amid a natural disaster and a presidential campaign, blossomed into full flush last Tuesday on their very public second date.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Jun 2, 2013

Language no barrier to multimedia Jon Kabira

With a long rousing cry of “Goooooooood Mooooorning Tooookyoooooooooooo!” Jon Kabira launches into his weekly radio show “JK Radio — Tokyo United” every Friday at 6 a.m. on J-Wave.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2013

The mathematician who could be a movie star

Amid the scandals swirling through the U.S. news media, you might have missed the announcement that one of the great puzzles of number theory had been solved.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jun 2, 2013

Crony capitalism: corruption, disparities and stifled initiative

Crony capitalism is the scourge of contemporary Asia, lining pockets and diverting resources in ways that systematically undermine the public interest, accentuate disparities, sap innovative and entrepreneurial impulses — while also subverting governance.
Reader Mail
Jun 2, 2013

The American energy revolution

The oil and gas revolutions have become the cause of an emotional debate in the United States, and the debate grows more polarized by the day. Depending on which side of the media you follow, there are pictures of oil-slicked birds, communities in economic despair and mothers fighting for their children's...
Reader Mail
Jun 2, 2013

A history of political stupidity

The Japanese have a place in their hearts for politicians who say outrageous and stupid things. There is a long history of it. First, the Japanese seem to confuse constitutional freedom of speech with the freedom to say absolutely anything with impunity. Hence there is a disposition to admire leaders...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 1, 2013

Yoko Ono: 'I feel that I am starting a new life at 80'

Sitting at her kitchen table, sipping green tea, Yoko Ono looks much the same as she did when I met her 20 years ago. Dressed in black and peering intently over tinted spectacles, her face bears little trace of the passing of time and her diminutive form exudes utter calmness. Having crossed the famous...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 1, 2013

Obama no friend of free press

Barack Obama's tendency to bypass the press for social media and friendly bloggers amounts to the White House reporting on itself, thus avoiding tough questions.

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