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Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2015

Conference highlights need to empower women, embrace diversity in the workplace

A two-day conference aimed at empowering and inspiring women to bring about social change and elevate them as leaders was held last week in Tokyo, highlighting the need for greater diversity in the workplace.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 11, 2015

Invoking Manchuria's cross-dressing spy

She was born the daughter of a Manchu prince in Beijing in 1907. Later, as she grew up in Japan, she earned notoriety for her flamboyant challenges to gender roles and her military exploits as a princess-spy. Even today Yoshiko Kawashima still stokes controversy, and Phyllis Birnbaum's new biography...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2015

How the rule of law can protect development

The international community is currently facing tremendous challenges in the areas of conflict, security and peace.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 8, 2015

'Jimi: All is by My Side' takes liberties with the ghost of Hendrix

Even now, some four decades after his death, the name Jimi Hendrix still carries mystique.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2015

Tsunku's announcement of vocal-cord removal stuns fans

A shocking announcement by a popular singer and music producer has caused a big commotion, in particular among young people.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Apr 6, 2015

Decommissioning aging reactors inevitable, costly

Last month, four utilities announced they would decommission five commercial nuclear reactors that were at least 40 years old, rather than apply for a restart that could extend their operating life another two decades.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Apr 5, 2015

Makeup entrepreneur heals women's souls in Nepal

Mai Mukaida, 32, believes that emotional change often comes with the help of others who encourage one to notice the beauty that lies within.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Apr 4, 2015

'Encore! The New Artisans' is a visual bible of decorative, sometimes gimmicky crafts

Craft, writes author Olivier Dupon, "is no longer a trend; it is at last enshrined in contemporary life."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 2, 2015

Shinobu Terajima dresses down for risque role in 'All Nudity Shall Be Punished'

Sex and violence can be a good draw to get crowds out to the theater, but don't underestimate the power of actress Shinobu Terajima to bring audiences to a show.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 1, 2015

'Pride' is a brilliant film that comes before the fall of U.K. mining

The lesbian and gay communities have come a long, long way in both real life and cinema, and "Pride" is evidence of that. The film is set in 1984-85 England, when miners across the country went on strike to protest the government's closing of a large number of mines and the loss of more than 20,000 jobs....
EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 2015

'A giant of history' leaves the stage

The late Lee Kuan Yew used to insist that he had to maintain a tight political grip on Singapore. Today, however, there are rising doubts about the durability of the system he has bequeathed to his son.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 31, 2015

'Tenimyu' 2.5-D shows net over 2 million tickets sold

There's kabuki, noh, butoh, bunraku, regular plays, glitzy musicals and Japan's unique all-female Takarazuka musical theater troupe — but another home-grown performance-art genre has for some time been carving a niche in this country's diverse entertainment world in the shape of so-called 2.5-D musicals....
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 31, 2015

Germanwings crash co-pilot had been treated for suicidal tendencies

The German pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a plane in the French Alps last week was treated for suicidal tendencies years ago before he received his pilot's license, German prosecutors said on Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 29, 2015

Reflections on war and childhood on a Tokyo train

It had been sheer chance that propelled the silver-haired woman and that young girl to those particular seats in that particular carriage on that particular Ginza Line train at that particular hour.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 28, 2015

Postwar education at a vexing crossroads

In July 1995, a special edition of Aera magazine reflected on 50 years of postwar evolution. Education was among the topics covered.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 26, 2015

There's no need to squint at the work of Guercino

History has not been kind to Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, the Italian Baroque painter who is better known by his artistic nickname, Guercino — "the Squinter."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 25, 2015

Frenemies, screenagers, kidults — kondo your English with these trending terms

How up-to-date is your English vocabulary? New words reflect a changing society and, as a result, new words are coined every day. Reading English newspapers and media from around the world can help you keep up with the changes. Here are some words I picked up recently on my travels.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 23, 2015

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew was among 'greatest leaders,' Abe says

Japanese leaders pay tribute to the life and legacy of Singaporean senior statesman Lee Kuan Yew, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calling him 'one of the greatest leaders of modern times that Asia has produced.'
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 23, 2015

Where did all the Japanese fathers go?

Aside from ikumen (イクメン, men who play a role in raising their children), Nihon no otōsan (日本のお父さん, Japanese fathers) are a pretty sad lot. The vast majority of them have been and continue to be kaya no soto (蚊帳の外, literally "outside the mosquito net," meaning "left out")...
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Mar 21, 2015

Black Jack

Although he is best known internationally for creating "Astro Boy," Osamu Tezuka's most popular work for adults in Japan is "Black Jack," a series of short stand-alone stories from the 1970s, documenting the renegade antics of the unconventional title doctor whose mercenary facade masks a wise, compassionate...
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2015

Pope pays tribute to Japan's 'hidden' Christians, rediscovered 150 years ago

At the Vatican, Pope Francis pays tribute to the generations of Japan's 'hidden Christians.'
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 19, 2015

Impressions of spiritual intimacy

There are two theories about post-impressionist art. One is that it was a continuation of the modernist spirit of the impressionists, with the application of ever-more scientific principles of color and light to the depiction of objects. The other is that post-impressionism was a re-assertion of an artistic...
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Mar 18, 2015

Tatsumi, pioneer of illustrated adult manga, made waves overseas

Yoshihiro Tatsumi, a manga artist who became internationally recognized for his graphically illustrated adult comics, died of cancer in Tokyo on March 7. He was 79.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Mar 18, 2015

Jeter, Matsui team up for good cause

When Derek Jeter was asked whom he idolized growing up, he immediately mentioned Dave Winfield, saying the former Yankees player was "larger than life," and that he had a poster of Winfield in his room as a child. Then a wry smile flashed across his face.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2015

Online service to make health checks easier

Undergoing a health examination at a hospital may be a burden for people in today's fast-paced world.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 16, 2015

Japanese activists fight against the tide to save whales and dolphins

Homegrown foes of dolphin hunts and 'research whaling' face off against a daunting array of powerful interests.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 16, 2015

BlackBerry uses IBM software to make Samsung tablets spy-proof

BlackBerry Ltd. introduced a tablet computer aimed at government and corporate customers that it says can let users access consumer applications such as YouTube and WhatsApp while keeping confidential work-related information away from spies and crooks.

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