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Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 2, 2013

Taking anime too seriously

'Why study anime?' the author of this study of anime asks himself. Good question, thinks the reader. Why indeed 'study' a pop art whose appeal is less to thought than to mass, unreflecting, spontaneous enjoyment?
Japan Times
WORLD / TICAD V SPECIAL
Jun 1, 2013

Yokohama continues to foster close African ties

Africa returns to Yokohama in the form of the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V), which is being held through June 3.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jun 1, 2013

'Cosplay' summit's characters given life

The first group of official characters to represent this year's World Cosplay Summit was recently revealed. Every year, people from all over the world don costumes worn by their favorite "anime" or TV game characters while attending the event in Nagoya.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 25, 2013

Driverless cars, pilotless planes ... will there be jobs left for us?

Suddenly a robotized, automated economic reality is moving off the science fiction pages and into daily life. The growing use of unmanned battlefield drones is encouraging the growth of pilotless commercial aircraft — the first ever flew in British airspace last month. Google's driverless car is completing...
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2013

Weep for poor Earth itself

What would prompt a respected international investor to lament that the global economy shows signs of potential failure that has brought down civilizations before us?
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 17, 2013

Enhancing Japan's strengths, remedying its weaknesses

Japanese society is beset with some regrettable weak points. It must find ways to remedy those, bolster its strengths and enhance global 'Japanability.
SOCCER / J. League
May 13, 2013

J. League's opening game stirs memories 20 years on

Players involved in the J. League's first-ever game share their recollections of the beginning of a new era for Japanese soccer.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2013

Problems with figuring poor countries' GDP cloud judgments about which policies work

Since we can't be sure whether one poor country's GDP is higher than another's, we should not use GDP alone to determine which policies lead to growth.
JAPAN
May 8, 2013

Kyoto's cultural treasures at mercy of Fukui reactors

Each spring, thousands of tourists visit the ancient capital of Kyoto to enjoy what, for many, is the quintessential Japanese experience of viewing cherry blossoms in the cradle of the nation's traditional culture.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2013

New opportunities for ADB

Once again a leader from Japan has the opportunity to bring the Asian Development Bank into the modern world and to elevate the organization above backroom deals.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Apr 28, 2013

Disaster long lurked amid Japan's isolation

"The evolution of political thought in this relatively isolated island nation during the period in question is unique to the point of being somewhat freakish."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 17, 2013

It's the end of everything as we know it (perhaps)

I hope you had it while you could because, last week, sex ended.
Figure Skating
Apr 12, 2013

Suzuki rescues Japan after Mao stumbles

Akiko Suzuki and Daisuke Takahashi lift Japan to the top of the World Team Trophy standings.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 9, 2013

Comparing tobacco fight to the Opium Wars

The struggle against tobacco is not being won. It is being relocated from industrialized countries to the developing world.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2013

Wanted: adult U.S. leadership

If the U.S. executive branch and Congress can't agree on a relatively simple thing like the budget, how can they hope to lead on important matters?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 23, 2013

The digital pioneer who became a Web rebel

Jaron Lanier is that rarest of rare birds — an uber-geek who is highly critical of the world created by the technology he helped to create. Now 52, he first came to prominence in the 1980s as a pioneer in the field of "virtual reality" — the development of computer-generated environments in which...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2013

The West is in decline, but its values still prevail

The first ever non-European pope takes over at the Vatican, while Italy's economic ills and ungovernability foretell, it's argued, the wider decline of the West. First World Catholics enmeshed in scandal in Europe and the United States have turned to a devout Argentinian to clean up their mess.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Mar 20, 2013

Kim serves notice she is still force to be reckoned with

It is as if time has stood still.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2013

Stunned pope asks for prayers

Pope Francis understands that the Catholic Church is bleeding. In Latin America, it is losing members to evangelical Christianity and to secularism.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Mar 17, 2013

History of British intelligence

'Empire of Secrets' is, as Calder Walton himself writes, 'the first book devoted to British intelligence during the twilight of empire that has been based on declassified intelligence reports.'
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2013

Did Rodman lay up a net gain in North Korea?

Clown-job or not, former pro basketball star Dennis Rodman's fast break to North Korea did draw our attention to monstrous problems on the Peninsula.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2013

Asia's dammed water hegemon

China's announcement of three new dam projects on the Brahmaputra underscores the emergence of water as a new divide in Sino-Indian relations.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2013

Exiting a wounded church

Roman Catholics pray that the Holy Spirit will cut through all the politicking by cardinals and light upon a pope who can rescue a wounded church.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 21, 2013

From ADB to BOJ: a 'twofer' for Abe?

As President Barack Obama struggles to get his Defense and Treasury choices in place, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has his own personnel challenges.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 18, 2013

The 'Afraid of China Club' beckons, though free farm trade is still a farce

Given the regional paranoia concerning China's regional ambitions, the Trans-Pacific Partnership could realistically be called the 'Afraid of China Club.'
EDITORIALS
Feb 17, 2013

AKB48 and sexual politics

The tearful video from a 20-year-old female pop group member who 'broke the rules' was a disturbing reminder of Japan's troubling gender issues.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 11, 2013

Brazil dams Amazon to feed energy-hungry economy

When it is completed in 2015, the Jirau hydroelectric dam will span the Madeira River, feature more giant turbines than any other dam in the world and hold as much concrete as 47 towers the size of New York's Empire State Building.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 8, 2013

The Hitler home movies: how Eva Braun documented the Nazi dictator's private life

Lutz Becker was born in Berlin, he says, "during the anno diabolo, 1941. Mine was the generation that was sent into a dark pit." Meeting this survivor of the Third Reich, now in his 70s and living in Bayswater, London, it's hard to suppress the thought that Becker, a distinguished artist and film historian,...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2013

To regain its vitality, U.S. must lose its paranoia

A Marine officer cannot square the pettiness in the discourse of U.S. elders with the nobility of the men and women he served with in Afghanistan.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji