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COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jun 25, 2014

Is Japan a haven for expats with psychological problems? Readers discuss

Readers clash on the merits of William Bradbury's recent Foreign Agenda article, 'Japan: a haven for the psychologically troubled.'
EDITORIALS
Jun 25, 2014

Stop undermining Kono statement

A government panel has reported that some parts of the 1993 statement by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono concerning the "comfort women" at Japan's wartime frontline brothels were the product of diplomatic negotiations between Tokyo and Seoul. Still, the panel's findings do not change the basic...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 24, 2014

Humanoid robot exhibit opens in Tokyo

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan) on Tuesday unveiled three humanoid robots that are to be put on display so visitors can interact with them.
EDITORIALS
Jun 24, 2014

Funding the corporate tax cut

The Abe administration's decision to cut corporate taxes as a key feature of its economic growth strategy doesn't indicate how a fiscally weak government will make up the lost tax revenue even as households face another consumption tax hike next year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 23, 2014

War history lessons ignored

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is ignoring history as he tries to have the Constitution reintrepreted to enable Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2014

Ironies of Iraq without end despite the best-laid plans

For President Barack Obama to stay true to his vision, judgment and instinct, he must ride out the extremely uncomfortable unpopularity of openly conceding that the Iraq war — of which he is now the prime custodian — never made sense.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 23, 2014

Tea party hangs on to its seat at the kids' table

Despite its recent big win, the tea party wing in the U.S. Congress has no more than the ability to say no, to wreak havoc and to generally make House Speaker John Boehner's life miserable. Insiders still set the agenda.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 22, 2014

In Japan's courts, even verbal job offers count

An employer needs a very good reason to legally retract a job offer they have already submitted, whether it be written or verbal.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2014

Bewildering take on the American job market

With the U.S. government's latest monthly employment report, the American job market has entered a bewildering phase. The U.S. may be closer to 'full employment' than is commonly supposed, but the weak recovery since 2009 is hardly typical of economic cycles since World War II.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 22, 2014

Protocol breaches 'led to Anthrax exposure'

The safety breach at a government lab that may have exposed 84 workers to live anthrax centered on a pivotal lapse in procedure: researchers working with the bacteria waited 24 hours to be sure they had killed the pathogens, half the time required by a new scientific protocol.
JAPAN / History
Jun 21, 2014

The man accused of poisoning Matsumoto's civilians

It is difficult to fathom that a religious group might be behind a poison gas attack on hundreds of civilians. More likely, logic suggests, it would either be the result of a terrible accident or the work of a deranged individual. When confronted with such a scenario in Matsumoto in 1994, the Nagano...
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jun 21, 2014

Advances in robotics present singular worry

'Singularity' is an odd word. Originally it meant peculiarity. Then 20th-century physicists got hold of it and situated it at the very boundary of space-time, to the eternal bafflement of the lay mind.
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jun 21, 2014

Inside and Other Short Fiction

The tagline on the cover of this provocative anthology pretty much sums it up in a nutshell: "Japanese women by Japanese women." Featuring eight short stories and a foreword by novelist Ruth Ozeki, "Inside and Other Short Fiction" is a gritty introduction to contemporary writers who explore the issue...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 21, 2014

Does an increase in summer bonuses mean a healthier economy?

Average bonus amounts are going up this summer, but the number of bonuses are going down.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 20, 2014

Confident LDP plays up victories as Diet session comes to a close

A confident Liberal Democratic Party trumpets its achievements as the 186th Diet session winds down as laying strong foundations for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security and political goals.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2014

Son commits to Wi-Fi spots for foreign visitors

SoftBank Corp. CEO Masayoshi Son said Friday the company will offer free Wi-Fi to foreign tourists in Japan.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 19, 2014

Under hypnosis, singer warbles through throat surgery to protect vocal cords

A professional singer said she sang through a throat surgery carried out under hypnosis in France to ensure that doctors did not harm her vocal cords.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2014

'Watashi no Otoko (My Man)'

Based on a novel by Kazuki Sakuraba, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri's "Watashi no Otoko (My Man)" is described as a film about forbidden love, which immediately raises the question of what, if anything, is "forbidden" in this day and age.
EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 2014

Political earthquake in Virginia

The primary election defeat of the second-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives by an unheralded economics professor upends the conventional wisdom that the tea party had slid into oblivion.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2014

Retreating from a policy of ruinous grandiosity

The U.S. Republican challenge is to articulate a policy that fills the vast space between President Barack Obama's retreat on foreign policy and the ruinous grandiosity of the 'freedom agenda' of Obama's predecessor.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2014

France spurns bids for Alstom, seeks sweeteners

The French government has raised the stakes in the battle for engineering group Alstom, telling rival suitors General Electric and Siemens to come up with better offers.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 18, 2014

Japan's 'no immigration principle' looking as solid as ever

In contrast to Hidenori Sakanaka's unbridled optimism, I argue that Japan has little prospect of becoming a 'migrant nation' anytime soon.
EDITORIALS
Jun 18, 2014

New Komeito shouldn't cave in

New Komeito's most important party ideal — pacifism — is being tested by the Abe administration's efforts to allow Japan to engage in collective self-defense.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 18, 2014

Cocoon Kabuki enters a new era

Theatre Cocoon in the Bunkamura performance-arts hub of Tokyo's vibrant Shibuya district has always been a popular venue specializing in new works by fresh contemporary writers. Emblematic of this is Cocoon Kabuki, its unique series begun in 1994 under the then Artistic Director Kazuyoshi Kushida.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 18, 2014

Female dramatists dispel gender concern

Last month in Berlin, in a conversation with Annemie Vanackere, artistic director at the city's cutting-edge Hebbel am Ufer company, she was saying how she loved contemporary Japanese theater, and how HAU had worked with several Japanese dramatists. Then she suddenly asked me: "Why were they all men?...
WORLD
Jun 17, 2014

Any airstrikes on Iraq will be risky for Obama

The airstrikes that President Barack Obama is considering against Islamic militants in Iraq could prove as messy and inconclusive as the war the U.S. thought had ended in 2011.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

Corruption rumors sideline Beautiful Game's rewards

New squalid facts, claims and rumors are emerging every week suggesting that the game of soccer may be beautiful but some of its leading figures are too close to dark and shadowy criminal forces.
EDITORIALS
Jun 16, 2014

Work-hour 'reform' ripe for abuse

The Abe administration is pushing to exempt certain kinds of workers from labor standards as part of his economic growth strategy without soliciting the views of labor organizations concerned about the fate of overtime pay.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014

Polarization in U.S. keeps getting exaggerated

A new study on political polarization in the U.S., conducted by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, uses large sample sizes and impressive graphics, but its interpretation is exaggerated.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’