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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2015

Hiroshi Hamaya: images of an inner war

Most active in the mid-20th century, the photographer Hiroshi Hamaya (1915-99) is best known for his folkloric images of rural life in Niigata Prefecture — images that some consider to be symbolic of his passive resistance to militarism, but for more critical voices are advocacy of a retrograde cultural...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 5, 2015

A new vision for healthy aging

To realize the enormous potential of older people, we must reject the stereotype of them being frail and dependent.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 5, 2015

In India, meat and murder threaten Modi's inclusive agenda

The murder by a Hindu mob of a Muslim man rumored to have slaughtered a cow has thrown a spotlight on the hard-line, polarizing agenda of some followers of Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi, undermining his promise of development for all.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Oct 3, 2015

Listening to the wind on Battleship Island

As if from a dream, the island floated over the sea like a terra-cotta dreadnought from a century ago. I'd arrived at Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island, and its profile was unmistakable from the deck of my ferry battling high waves and winds.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 2, 2015

Ozzie the eagle dead after live-streamed duel with love rival in Florida

A love triangle between bald eagles that played out before thousands of fans on a live webcam has ended badly in Florida with the death of Ozzie, longtime mate of Harriet, according to a Florida wildlife clinic.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 1, 2015

Photographer aims to explain Okinawa's tensions in pictures

It is not easy to regard oneself as an oppressor.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 30, 2015

In 'Fathers and Daughters' it doesn't take a village to raise a child, only Russell Crowe

Dads and their female offspring are a whole different pot of stew from mothers and their girls — both in the movies and in real life. Director Gabriele Muccino ("The Pursuit of Happyness") takes on the theme in "Fathers and Daughters," but doesn't bring anything new to the party. In fact, his movie...
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 30, 2015

Shades of U.S. in fractious Iraq: Aden's citizens give V-signs to Saudi forces

As Saudi soldiers drive armored vehicles around Aden, the port in southern Yemen they helped recapture from rebels, young men clap and children flash the V-for-victory sign.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2015

New global economic order: cost crash and demand lull

The world economy is being shaped by a cost crash and a demand lull.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2015

FOIA documents reveal hot spots, fish kills and toxic dumps on Okinawa military base

Following an 18-month battle, the Pentagon has released records detailing serious contamination on Okinawa base land slated soon for return to civilian use.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Sep 28, 2015

At U.N., Xi boasts women's rights but critics quick to note China's jailing of female activists

China's President Xi Jinping told the United Nations on Sunday that all Chinese women have the opportunity to excel, touting his government's record on women's rights as the United States slammed Beijing and others for jailing women for their views.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Sep 27, 2015

Legal change will make temp purgatory permanent for many Japanese workers

Eight years ago, a TV drama about temporary workers generated a great deal of excitement around Japan. In "Haken no Hinkaku" ("Dignity of a Temp"), model-actress-singer Ryoko Shinohara played Haruko Omae, a "super-temp" who masterfully tackled the myriad troubles that arose in her ¥3,000-an-hour job....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 26, 2015

A misanthropic memoir from Meiji Era Tokyo

Kansuke Naka's childhood memoir, "The Silver Spoon: Memoir of a Boyhood in Japan," is a charming depiction of life in Meiji Era (1868-1912) Japan.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA
Sep 25, 2015

Bosh says he's off blood-thinners, cleared for Heat camp

Chris Bosh put on a few pounds this summer, in a good way and for a good reason.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2015

Laundry firm's flexibility cited as reason why single moms don't quit

Since joining the laundering company Kikuya in 1995, Akemi Hirayama says she has never missed a day of work.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Sep 24, 2015

Refugees swarm Greece's Lesbos island ahead of fall weather

More than 2,500 mainly Syrian and Afghan refugees, soaked and exhausted, reached the Greek island of Lesbos within hours on Wednesday, a sharp rise in the rate of arrivals via the dangerous sea crossing from Turkey.
WORLD / Society
Sep 24, 2015

Refugees swarm Greece's Lesbos island ahead of fall weather

More than 2,500 mainly Syrian and Afghan refugees, soaked and exhausted, reached the Greek island of Lesbos within hours on Wednesday, a sharp rise in the rate of arrivals via the dangerous sea crossing from Turkey.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2015

Pope Francis remains flamboyantly fact-free

The pope's ideas would devastate the poor on whose behalf he purports to speak — if his policy prescriptions were not as implausible as his social diagnoses are shrill.
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Sep 20, 2015

Ready or not, government will soon have your My Number

The government claims My Number will make your life easier, but its egalitarian goals will likely eliminate your privacy and invite more abuse of authority by the police, experts say.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Sep 16, 2015

Arresting possibilities: a primer on who can lock you up in Japan

Do you lie awake at night wondering 'Who can arrest me, and why?' The answer is: anyone.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2015

Thinking inside the box: Cardboard cubicles offer entertainment, privacy at home

Manufacturers are thinking inside the box to offer stressed-out consumers a personal sanctuary in Japan's notoriously cramped homes.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 15, 2015

When it comes to art, individuality rises above nationality

In the context of the current debate over Article 9 of Japan's Constitution, the "Artist File 2015" show of up-and-coming contemporary artists at The National Art Center, Tokyo, is tantamount to a declaration of peace. The remit of this annual event is to showcase "some of the freshest and most substantial...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 12, 2015

Sweeping beauties of Kumano's brush area

In the soft morning drizzle, a handful of people line up before an altar-like mound of stones where a small fire crackles and hisses. Each person in turn throws a handful of old brushes into the blaze. The local garbage incinerator? No — this is ritual cremation.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 12, 2015

Evacuation of Fukushima elderly riskier than then-exposure to radiation: study

A study says the evacuations from nursing homes posed a greater health risk to evacuees than the radiation they would have endured had they stayed.

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