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Japan Times
WORLD
May 11, 2014

Eternal City celebrates legacy of first emperor

Rome, a city that thinks in millenniums, is going through a bout of "Augustus fever" to mark the 2,000th anniversary of the death of its first emperor, who left his mark on Rome and Western civilization like few others.
WORLD
May 4, 2014

A glance at the history of Polish immigration to U.K.

Poles are now the second-largest foreign-born group of people in the U.K., with numbers at a record high following Poland's accession to the EU 10 years ago. But the history of Poles in Britain goes back much further.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 6, 2014

London church may have Shakespearean ties

Some people believe Shakespeare may have worshipped at St. Leonard's church, and that it might even have inspired scenes in "Romeo and Juliet."
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 5, 2014

Harvard 'human skin' book used sheepskin

A 17th-century book owned by Harvard Law School, thought to have been bound in human skin because of an inscription that referred to a man "flayed alive," has been shown through scientific testing to have been bound in sheepskin.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 30, 2014

Black Death wasn't spread by fleas

Archaeologists and forensic scientists who have examined 25 skeletons unearthed in the Clerkenwell area of central London a year ago believe they have uncovered the truth about the nature of the Black Death that ravaged Britain and Europe in the mid-14th century.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 12, 2014

Hasekura Tsunenaga's portrait has a tale to tell

History is littered with grand projects and dashed expectations that are no less intriguing than its moments of triumph and heroism. A large portrait in oils of a splendidly attired, mid-ranking samurai posing regally in a Roman palace in the early 1600s bears witness to one such episode.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2014

New map shines light on Tokyo air raid horrors

In an attempt to preserve people's fading memories of the World War II air raids on Tokyo, scholars and citizens have drawn up what is considered the most comprehensive map so far of their efforts to escape from U.S. bombs.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 8, 2014

Media complicit in normalizing xenophobia

Since Japanese reporters are averse to characterizing domestic right-wing positions as being extreme, those positions come across as being normal, even sensible.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 8, 2014

Tsunami zone's village culture fades into fog of history

We can better appreciate what Tohoku's shoreline villages represented now that they have been washed away and former residents are marooned in soulless temporary housing ghettoes where the greatest risks are isolation and boredom.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2014

NHK chief tells board 'comfort women' remarks no big deal

The controversy swirling around NHK shows no sign of simmering down, with Chairman Katsuto Momii reportedly playing down the explosive nature of the remarks he made at his first news conference in January over the wartime brothels used by the Imperial Japanese military.
EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2014

Reckless politicization of textbooks

A revised government guideline for textbook writing states that the Takeshima islets in the Sea of Japan and the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea are to be treated unequivovally as Japan's territories.
BASKETBALL
Jan 16, 2014

Nara completes first series sweep in franchise history

The Bambitious Nara, a first-year bj-league franchise, have won back-to-back games for the first time in franchise history.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2014

History textbook wars cross borders

Japan is hardly alone in confronting shame about past events and whether to describe them in textbooks. Germany, the United States and China are undergoing similar debates.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 5, 2014

The outbreak of the Great War: 100 years on

On New Year's Day 1914, a respected weekly literary publication carried a long article penned by an author referred to only as A Rifleman. Entitled "Letters on War" and published in The New Age, an influential radical magazine in Britain, the three-page piece argued forcefully in favor of military conflict....
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2014

Century engine starts now

The last two centuries (and possibly more) didn't 'start' with the turning of the calendar from 00 to 01. Each century began bending the arc of history, in essence, in its 14th year.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 15, 2013

Mandela saw massive change in Africa

Nelson Mandela was born into a continent colonized and in servitude to European powers in July 1918. Only Ethiopia and Liberia were independent. But Germany's defeat in the first world war brought about a reworking of the colonial order with its possessions in what are now Tanzania, Cameroon, Togo, Burundi...
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Dec 11, 2013

Koshien Bowl enjoys long, rich history

Located on the outskirts of Osaka with a unique ambience, Koshien Stadium is the symbolic sports icon in Japan.
WORLD
Nov 30, 2013

Key officials back splitting NSA, Cyber Command

Key senior administration officials have advocated splitting the leadership of the largest U.S. spy agency from that of the military's cyberwarfare command as a final White House decision nears, according to individuals briefed on the discussions.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 28, 2013

Pilgrims, Indians probably related

There were no Americans at the first Thanksgiving. The newer set of immigrants, recently arrived from England, considered themselves thoroughly English.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 28, 2013

Researchers create database of infectious diseases

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have created a digital database of infectious-disease cases dating back 125 years, a treasure trove of information that could help scientists and public health officials better understand how to fight the spread of deadly afflictions.
Reader Mail
Nov 2, 2013

History defines China and Japan

Regarding the Oct. 27 Kyodo article "Abe issues fresh warning to China on isle [Senkaku Islands]row": I think the Japanese understand the virtues of peace very well — unlike the Chinese imperialists who think they can go back to the days of being the Middle Kingdom and East Asian countries being their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 9, 2013

'Documents from Medieval Japan: Functions and Styles'

This show of important early written documents helps shed light onto the life, politics and culture of medieval Japan. Beyond the messages of the words they convey, the materials used to create these documents, as well as the style of calligraphy, often reveal techniques that are unique to the era and...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Oct 5, 2013

Masato Sakai as narcissist attorney; politically-minded Norika Fujiwara interviewed on "Family History"; CM of the week: Meiji Yasuda Link Series

Fresh from his success in the insanely popular salaryman drama "Hanzawa Naoki," Masato Sakai reprises a decidedly different character, the despicably ridiculous attorney Komikado in the second run of "Legal High" (Fuji TV, Wed., 10 p.m.).
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 29, 2013

Politics and pride drive Putin's anti-U.S. shift

First, Vladimir Putin accused Hillary Rodham Clinton of inciting protests against him at the end of 2011. The next fall, the Russian president threw the U.S. Agency for International Development out of his country. Then he decided civic groups that get U.S. financing must be foreign agents.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 28, 2013

Stroll through 1,000 years of history in one Nikko garden

Even before seeing the great sights of Nikko, the visitor cannot fail to be impressed by the luxuriance of the area's moss. Towering cryptomeria trees, allowing filtered light to penetrate ground cover, provide ideal incubation zones and levels of exposure and protection for the flourishing of moss in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 11, 2013

'A Toast to the Drinking Glass: In History and Life'

As the title suggests, an everyday object becomes a spectacle of art and history for this exhibition, which explores the evolution of the drinking glass from primitive to modern times.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic