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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 22, 2016

Dance icon sets a challenge

Running with the bulls during the annual San Fermin fiesta in the Spanish city of Pamplona, or joining a traditional Ainu festival on Lake Akan in Hokkaido, may seem unusual ways for a choreographer to research — but not if the artist in question is Motoko Hirayama.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 22, 2016

Myanmar must stay united

The formation of the first civilian government in more than 50 years on April 1 is only the beginning, and not the end, of Myanmar's long process of transition to a genuine democracy.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 21, 2016

Missing Chinese columnist who called for Xi to resign 'taken away' by police, lawyer says

Chinese police "took away" a well-known columnist last week before he tried to board a flight for Hong Kong and his whereabouts are still unknown, his lawyer said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2016

Obama's historic Cuba visit

Without a strong economic impact, America's opening to Cuba will not make even a small contribution to political liberalization on the island.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 21, 2016

Japan backs homegrown stealth jet in aerospace industry revival

Japan is set to become the fourth country to test-fly its own stealth jet — a move that is likely to increase its military presence in the region.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2016

Five years after Fukushima disasters, region encourages rise of robotics

Japan is spending more than $1 billion to resurrect the area around the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant as the country's "Innovation Coast."
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 20, 2016

Can cultural engagement soften North Korea's hard-line stance?

After years of provocations, talks, promises and broken vows — a pattern that Pyongyang has mastered — the atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula remains highly charged and little changed.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Mar 19, 2016

The Meiji Era and the soul of Japan: part 2

An ambitious young man of the 1880s, flattering a girl he may want to marry (or may not, if a more advantageous alliance materializes), asks her, "What are you reading these days, Osei?" When Osei in reply mentions "Outlines of the World's History" by William Swinton, Noboru, the young man, is suitably...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 18, 2016

A 'cashless society' is wonderful — until it's not

If we want to move toward a cashless society then we also need to think seriously about limiting the ability of the government to use the payments system as an instrument to control the behavior of its citizens.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Mar 16, 2016

Views from Tokyo: Are Japan's Sunwolves ready for Super Rugby?

Fans offer their views on the prospects for the Sunwolves, Asia's first Super Rugby team.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 16, 2016

'The Decline of Western Civilization' is a punk masterpiece

The Sex Pistols played their final gig at San Francisco's Winterland in January 1978. About a year later, Sid Vicious died from an overdose, and so did punk rock — according to the music magazines. The Pistols' chaotic tour of America, however, had dropped like a stone in a still pond, and the ripples...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 16, 2016

Trump says foreign policy team still not ready

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump acknowledged on Tuesday he does not yet have a foreign policy team, and three former U.S. military and intelligence officials who have endorsed him are little known in either the Republican Party or the wider foreign policy community.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 16, 2016

Beijing sets up South China Sea tsunami alert center

China has set up a tsunami alert center in the South China Sea, the head of the country's maritime regulator said Wednesday, in Beijing's latest effort to bolster its jurisdiction in the disputed waters.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2016

Without naming names, Japan video showcases effort to halt China maritime expansion

The Foreign Ministry releases a video highlighting Tokyo's own measures to help Southeast Asian nations match Beijing's maritime muscle.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 15, 2016

Despite new sanctions, North Korea plans to conduct nuclear, missile tests soon: Kim

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will soon conduct a nuclear warhead test and a test launch of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the North's official KCNA news agency reported Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Mar 14, 2016

How a U.N. committee riled Japan with its criticism of women's rights

Recent recommendations issued to Japan by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women sparked a sharp response from Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 13, 2016

Making an impression in Japan: a hanko primer

Everything you wanted to know about chops, from cheapo ¥100-shop seals to the Privy Seal of Japan, which is wielded by the Emperor and hewn from pure gold.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 13, 2016

China to create 'international maritime judicial center' amid rising sea tensions

China will set up an "international maritime judicial center" in a bid to help protect its sea rights, the country's chief justice said Sunday, a move that analysts say Beijing could use to bolster its claims in the disputed South and East China seas.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / CHILD'S PLAY
Mar 12, 2016

Learning from a neighborhood stroll

As winter makes its exit from the archipelago and the pink petals of spring begin to emerge, I feel an intense pang of nostalgia for my old neighborhood on Tokyo's east side. Sure, the city's cherry blossoms are beautiful in places like Yoyogi Park and Shinjuku Gyoen, but one of the nicest things to...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2016

Needs of post-3/11 Tohoku stay in focus for filmmakers

The dramatic imagery that emerged from the disasters of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, documented so extensively by mainstream and social media, is hard to forget. However, there were and still are many stories to be told about the people who were left to pick up the pieces of their lives...
EDITORIALS
Mar 11, 2016

Upgrading anti-disaster measures

It's imperative that officials at the national and local level check regularly whether anti-disaster measures are adequate and up-to-date.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2016

The world is witnessing a new interventionism

The consequences of Russia's intervention in Syria stretch far beyond the Middle East, heralding a new era in geopolitics.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 11, 2016

U.S. may need more missile defenses to counter growing threat: admiral

Current U.S. missile defenses can counter an attack on U.S. territory by North Korea or Iran but Washington will have to boost its response capacity if those countries keep expanding their missile forces, a top U.S. admiral said on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / 5-YEAR MEMORIAL OF GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE
Mar 11, 2016

Municipalities bundle IT services to ensure security

The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami destroyed nearly every piece of social infrastructure and lifeline in the Tohoku region on March 11, 2011. Power, water and gas supplies were all interrupted in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures, while communication lines in and out of the prefectures...
Japan Times
JAPAN / 5-YEAR MEMORIAL OF GREAT EAST JAPAN EARTHQUAKE
Mar 11, 2016

Maintaining remnants of disaster for future

Sept. 1, known as Disaster Prevention Day, was designated as such by the government in 1960. On this day every year, cities and towns nationwide, as well as schools, companies and even small community groups, run evacuation drills to prepare for natural disasters such as typhoons, landslides and earthquakes....
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 10, 2016

Looking for comfort in art following the Great East Japan Earthquake

In her film "Heart of a Dog," the American artist Laurie Anderson explores loss as exemplified by the death of a loved one. A recurring theme is the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, an incident that profoundly changed the way New Yorkers like Anderson confronted their environment....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 9, 2016

Five years on, Fukushima evacuees voice lingering anger, fear and distrust

Some of the thousands of uprooted Fukushima residents speak out about the ordeal that began five years ago and continues to exact a toll to this day.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Mar 9, 2016

Minamisoma mayor sees future for Fukushima 'nonnuclear' city in energy independence

Turning to the use of solar and wind power in tandem with energy-saving measures, Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai is aiming for his city to be energy self-reliant by 2030.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb