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SPORTS / NOTES ON A SCORECARD
Jul 17, 2015

Return to Japan leaves Matsuzaka a forgotten man

Former superstar Daisuke Matsuzaka, who returned to Japan after mixed results in eight seasons in the majors to sign with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, has not appeared in a single game for the big club this season.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 15, 2015

Walking the Australian Outback in a shirt and undies looks impossibly beautiful

What would compel a young woman to walk almost 1,700 miles across the Australian Outback, with only a dog and a quartet of camels for company? As real-life nomad Robyn Davidson (played by Mia Wasikowska) says at the start of "Tracks" — director John Curran's handsome biopic — "I believe that when...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Jul 15, 2015

The LDP's comic appeal for constitutional change falls flat

I hadn't planned on reading the Liberal Democratic Party's propaganda comic on constitutional change for the same reason I don't watch NHK, listen to AKB48 or use my underpants as an ashtray. Yet, as a piece of Japanese legal cultural history, perhaps it merits comment.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 14, 2015

How to cope with Japan's demographic transformation

Japan must take steps to make it easier for women to work while raising families and to extend the nation's healthy life expectancy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 13, 2015

Pagasa Filipinos feel threatened as Beijing grows more aggressive

On a clear night, the Filipinos who live on Pagasa Island — a speck in the vast South China Sea — can see the floodlights from giant Chinese cranes working around the clock, dredging sand to build up a nearby reef.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 11, 2015

The ogres of Oga are not as frightening as they may appear

Although surely one of Japan's most scenic areas, the Oga Peninsula in Akita Prefecture is off the beaten track and retains an unhurried vibe, still relatively untouched by commercial tourism. Here, it is still possible to see small fishing hamlets as you drive round the coast, rewarded with stunning...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Jul 8, 2015

Late marine's message lives on in Okinawa and Vietnam

U.S. Marine Allen Nelson first visited Okinawa in 1966 when the entire island was under American control and functioned as its springboard for the war in Vietnam. For two weeks, Nelson and his fellow new recruits spent their days practising guerilla warfare at Camp Hansen, central Okinawa, then in the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 8, 2015

Rural migration, shaved ice and no easy endings in 'Umi no Futa'

Why not abandon your stressed urban existence, move to a picturesque part of the world and live the simple life? An old dream, but still powerful, as shown by the recent spate of Japanese movies about women getting back their grooves by relocating to a beautiful middle-of-nowhere. Usually their dream...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 8, 2015

Possessed by the spirit of Gustave Flaubert's hedonist in 'Gemma Bovery'

Who reads books anymore? Old people, that's who. But it takes a special kind of adult to turn literary passion into obsession, which is exactly what Martin (Fabrice Luchini) of "Gemma Bovery" does. Martin is infatuated with Gustave Flaubert's most famous creation: Emma Bovary, the main character in his...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 4, 2015

Yasunari Kawabata's 'Palm-of-the-Hand Stories' are taut tales of the human heart

"Palm-of-the-Hand Stories" is a collection of 70 very brief stories by Nobel Prize-winner Yasunari Kawabata that were written between the early 1920s and 1970s. It contains poetic depictions of emotions, a focus on feelings rather than understanding. These stories present the chaos of the human heart,...
Reader Mail
Jul 4, 2015

Yoga has benefits for everyone

The article of "Modi leads Yoga Day amid skepticism" (June 28, 2015) tells us that June 21 is the International Day of Yoga. It is good news since people all over the world can know yoga and enjoy a better health by doing yoga. I myself have been healthy for many years thanks to yoga practices. Even...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2015

Sabu tempts fate in new film

Sitting across from me with his sunglasses, dark leather jacket and mohawk, Hiroyuki Tanaka — better known simply as Sabu — doesn't look like the kind of guy who lets his emotions get the better of him, yet even he was almost brought to tears by the reaction his movie "Chasuke's Journey" ("Ten no...
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2015

NRA warns it may halt inspections at Mihama reactor Kepco aims to restart

Although Kansai Electric Power Co. aims to extend the life of the Mihama plant's No. 3 reactor by 20 years, the operator may be forced to scrap the 39-year-old facility instead.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2015

Reputed mobster 'Big Tony' convicted in businessman's '01 murder amid gambling ship feud

Reputed U.S. mobster Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday in the 2001 slaying of a prominent Florida businessman during a power struggle over a lucrative fleet of gambling ships.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 1, 2015

Getting creative when it comes to finding the motivation to study Japanese

I respect people who possess a high-level of Japanese proficiency the same way I respect people who are well-built. I don't respect the results of the effort so much as the discipline required to attain it. I can't deny that focus and perseverance are character traits I lack and thus envy in others because...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 1, 2015

Sion Sono is back with buckets of blood and a three-faced heroine in 'Tag'

Sion Sono is a director of extremes — including an extreme dislike of being categorized. Just when you thought you had him pegged as a maker of violent black comedies with classical music scores, such as "Ai no Mukidashi"("Love Exposure"), he turns out heartfelt, albeit still violent, dramas with nuclear...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 27, 2015

Humans may face a singular concern when it comes to robot employment

The trouble with machines is, they do things better than we do. "Give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth," said the third-century B.C. Greek inventor Archimedes, lever in hand. The Earth has been moving ever since, ever faster.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 27, 2015

Natsuko Aoike: ‘Appreciate the moment you are living in’

Japanese announcer on ukiyo-e, Kiss and living in the moment
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2015

Government releases first female empowerment guidelines

Japan releases its first guidelines on female empowerment so women can play a more active role in a society that customarily treats them less than equal.
EDITORIALS
Jun 26, 2015

Pope Francis as environmentalist

Pope Francis has issued a powerful call on mankind to protect the environment, achieving an important alignment of science and religion.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 25, 2015

Japan executes convict for murdering woman in Nagoya

A 44-year-old convicted murderer was executed by hanging on Thursday after six years on death row, the first execution authorized by Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa since she acceded to the post last October.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jun 24, 2015

The pathetic state of the DPJ

With the opposition camp, notably the DPJ, in tatters, everything is working to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's advantage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 23, 2015

Young British directors take Tokyo by storm — but why?

This year it's quite noticeable how many non-Japanese are directing plays in Tokyo — not frequent and famed visitors such as David Leveaux, Robert Lepage and Simon McBurney, but relative unknowns here making their debuts at two leading large commercial theaters that almost always feature Japanese dramatists....
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2015

Germany should buy — and show — Hitler's art

The German government should exhibit Adolf Hitler's artwork publically to help people better undersand what happened to Germany in the 1930s and '40s.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 20, 2015

Medaka: the fish that helps us understand gender

The diminutive medaka (Japanese rice fish) have been kept as pets since the Edo Period (1603-1868). They are hardy animals, an important quality for a pet, and they naturally occur in a variety of colors, including gold. They have distinctive, some say attractive, eyes (for a fish) — indeed, medaka...

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