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Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2013

Why acupuncture is giving doubters the needle

You can't get crystal healing on the National Health Service. It doesn't fund faith healing. And most doctors believe magnets are best stuck on fridges, not patients. But ask for a treatment in which an expert examines your tongue, smells your skin and tries to unblock the flow of life force running...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 2, 2013

Pity the driver: Cabbie salaries much lower than average

Deregulation and the recession have chipped away at taxi driver pay over the years.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 31, 2013

Big works buoyed by Dojima River's 'Little Water'

Standing in front of the largest work at the Dojima River Biennale, currently showing at the Dojima River Forum in Fukushima, Osaka, is a mesmerizing experience. A 10-meter-tall digital projection of an ethereal cascading waterfall, it glows mysteriously as its gentle rumbling permeates the dimly lit...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Jul 29, 2013

Haiku brought together Polish-Japanese couple

They say that languages bring people closer together and bridge distances. So, too, does the Internet.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 29, 2013

There is more to my son than the fact he's a 'half'

For foreign residents, having a child in Japan can be a daunting prospect. Going to the hospital and trying to figure out what the doctor is saying in complex Japanese medical terms is just one of myriad trials.
Japan Times
SOCCER
Jul 27, 2013

South Korea stuns Japan; North Korea grabs Women's East Asian Cup title

South Korea shocked reigning Women's World Cup champion Japan, winning 2-1 in the last East Asian Cup women's match on Saturday and helping neighbor North Korea claim its first title at the regional event.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 27, 2013

NHK drama dives into the 'idea' of idols in rural Japan

When it was announced last year that entertainment Renaissance man Kankuro Kudo would write the script for NHK's spring-summer 2013 "TV novel," a few people probably wondered how the iconoclastic writer-director-actor would respond to the broadcaster's narrative strictures. In a recent interview with...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jul 26, 2013

Bankrupt Detroit pins hopes on arts

James Morris is the owner of DSE, a downtown Detroit T-shirt business. He hadn't noticed that his city had filed for bankruptcy and he doesn't particularly care. "There hasn't been a moment when Detroit wasn't dealing with problems. Now it's just official," he said.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 25, 2013

Fox tackles history in 'Emperor'

Actor Matthew Fox saw his career take off in the 1990s with the role of Charlie Salinger in the American TV series "Party of Five," and he gained even more popularity as Jack Shephard, the central character in the innovative series "Lost." Now, though, his performance in the movie, "Emperor," in which...
EDITORIALS
Jul 25, 2013

Fair treatment of the disabled

The Diet enacts a law prohibiting discriminatory treatment of the disabled as well as obliging local governments to remove obstacles that disabled people face.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2013

Obama's blunder with Bangladesh

President Barack Obama's recent suspension of trade benefits on a trifling amount of Bangladeshi exports makes one question his sense and sensitivity.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2013

Streets worldwide showing the failings of democracy

Historians examining our era will marvel at the proliferation of street protests defining the appeal of political community in old and new democracies.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 21, 2013

Martin rallies across U.S. urge 'justice'

In most places it was too hot for hooded sweat shirts. So they came with T-shirts.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Jul 20, 2013

Social media becomes stalkers' tool

The first man who knocked on the Fauquier County, Va., woman's door told her they had been emailing and he was there for sex. Shocked and perplexed because they hadn't corresponded, the woman sent him away.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 20, 2013

Two alluring mysteries set in China

Qiu Xiaolong's police procedural novels, featuring Shanghai police inspector Chen Cao, have gradually shifted from the earlier themes dealing with the deep wounds left by the insanity of the 1960s' Cultural Revolution, and have more recently focused on social issues more relevant to present-day China....
CULTURE / Books
Jul 20, 2013

Paying a price in Japan for showing up authority

After Japan's defeat in World II, its art world fell into the same flux as the rest of the society, as the rules and values that had governed it for decades suddenly vanished. Styles and movements once censored and banned, from Soviet-style socialist realism to surrealism, were now permitted and even...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 18, 2013

'Une Estonienne a Paris'

Jeanne Moreau was a French superstar back in the day, but decades later, the now-octogenarian's on-screen presence continues to be defined by a haze of ennui and ambivalence that she wraps around herself like a delicate shawl. Moreau's appearance in "Une Estonienne a Paris" showcases her charms to full...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2013

'The destroyer' Ozawa slams opposition for failure to cooperate

With only four days before the nation goes to the polls, veteran lawmaker Ichiro Ozawa slammed the opposition camp Wednesday for failing to cooperate in the fight against the ruling bloc in the Upper House election.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 15, 2013

Trolls or media watchdogs?: Japan's foreign-born defenders

Have the foreign media got it in for Japan? Do they unduly focus on, and sensationalize, Fukushima radiation leaks, alleged racial intolerance and the self-aggrandizing policy pronouncements of the reborn Liberal Democratic Party?
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2013

The Internet can be a lifesaver for suicidal teens

An anti-bullying team has developed a revolutionary website that offers professional and informal support to 11- to 17-year-olds who are having suicidal thoughts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jul 12, 2013

Okinawan musician, club owner keeps folk traditions going strong

The back streets of Naha were dark, making it more difficult to find Shima-Umui, a music club run by Okinawan folk singer Misako Oshiro. The torpid air and smell of papaya rinds from a nearby bin spoke of the subtropics. A small sign, barely visible from the street, directed customers to the basement...
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 12, 2013

The science of talent: pinpointing what we will be best at

My interest in the science of talent has a personal backstory. By the age of three, I'd had 21 ear infections and after an operation to remove fluid from my ears, it took me an extra step to process speech. To help me catch up with my peers, I was diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder. I repeated...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2013

Black comedy gets under the skin of a murderer

Jack Black, whose career was built on getting deep inside the skin of his characters, arguably reaches the pinnacle of his performances as Bernie Tiede in "Bernie" — based on actual events that happened in small-town Texas 17 years ago.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2013

'Un Vie de Chat (Paris Neko Dino no Yoru)'

Speaking with "Monsters University" producer Kori Rae the other day, the conversation turned to the possibility that digital animation may have hit some sort of plateau. While I don't expect Pixar to stop pushing the boundaries, it was nevertheless surprising to hear Rae say the following: "We are getting...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 11, 2013

Cloud Atlas

Director: Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo