Search - community

 
 
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Oct 26, 2014

Cash aid for refugees found to succeed despite donors' doubts

For decades, aid groups have assumed they know what is best for refugees and the poor. A growing body of evidence suggests they are wrong.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Oct 25, 2014

Understanding the complex web of life

"Biodiversity provides the foundation on which all life depends, including human societies," writes Nik Sekhran in the opening pages of "Biodiversity for Sustainable Development," a captivating book released earlier this month by the United Nations Development Programme.
EDITORIALS
Oct 24, 2014

Patent law must retain incentives

As the government drafts amendments to the patent law, the question is how effective the new rules will be in ensuring fair corporate remuneration to inventors so that they keep their engineering talent in Japan to enhance the nation's industrial competitiveness.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Oct 23, 2014

Rivalries growing with expansion of teams in Tohoku

Since the start of the 2010-11 season, the league's growth in Tohoku has been significant.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 23, 2014

Design showcase Any Tokyo aims to impress connoisseurs

The organizers of Any Tokyo want you to know that objects should do more than just look good.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 23, 2014

Ukraine's vote, Russia's fate

When Ukraine's voters go to the polls on Sunday, not only the fate of their country will be at stake; so will the future of a significant part of Europe.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 23, 2014

Examining ASEAN up-and-comers

Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are among the least-developed, but growing nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 22, 2014

TIFF Critic's Picks: Films from countries famed for unrest and oppression

According to TIFF's visual programming director Yoshihiko Yatabe, the semiofficial theme for this year's festival is "People on the Edge." They may be pursued, stuck in a rut, in dire trouble or just plain confused, but their stories are some of the most compelling at this years festival. These films...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Oct 22, 2014

Another island nation, idolized and imitated: Jamaica and I

Only in my 30s did I learn that I, too, had roots, or at least branches aside from my mother's, which only extended to some cotton plantation south of the Mason-Dixon line.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 22, 2014

Silver City: one man's dream of growing old in English

My friend dares to dream of a whole city for aged foreigners in Japan where everyone speaks the lingo.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Oct 22, 2014

U.K. politicians fall back on tough talk as de-radicalization efforts flounder

Mizanur Rahman laughs when he recalls the de-radicalization program he was sent on in 2008 after being released from a British jail where he had served two years for inciting violence against British and American troops.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 21, 2014

Future of Chinese democracy

The Chinese government's insistence that candidates for election to the post of Hong Kong chief executive first be approved by Beijing makes a mockery of its undertaking to introduce universal suffrage.
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2014

Ebola: a wake-up call for America

The transmission of Ebola to two nurses responsible for the care of an Ebola patient in the U.S. has focused intense scrutiny on U.S. preparedness for a possible outbreak. Robust health agencies should not be taken for granted.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY
Oct 21, 2014

Joining Islamic State is about 'sex and aggression'

As a psychological counter to Islamic State, might young men vulnerable to the appeal of such extremist ideology be persuaded to fight the desecration of their religion and promised a place in history by defeating the satanic evil that soils their faith?
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health / FOCUS
Oct 21, 2014

Italy gives army troops a new job: grow cheap medical marijuana

Italy legalized marijuana for medical use last year, but the high cost of buying legal pot in a pharmacy meant few people signed up. Now, the government has found a solution: Get the army to grow it.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2014

Do some citations rank academic stupidity?

The admonition 'cite your sources' rings in the ear of every slapdash undergraduate and corner-cutting postdoc. But have we taken the emphasis on citation so far that we've ended up ranking academic stupidity?
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Oct 20, 2014

Readers tackle the 'Japan clean, yet beach covered in crap' enigma

Some emails received in response to Roberto De Vido's recent Foreign Agenda column about a trash-strewn beach in Kanagawa.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 20, 2014

Bicultural Japanese baby names can be double the trouble

What do the following names have in common: Ayeisha, December, Eli, Gabrielle, Haruki, Julie, Kaede, Koh, Leon, Louis, Lucia, Luke, Margaret, Olivia, Ryuken, Tobin and Tennis? They are all children's names — all but one the sons and daughters of bicultural couples.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Oct 19, 2014

Renaissance man scours the globe for stories

Manuel Bruges has lived life to the full, as photographer, inventor, journalist, chef, boxer and more.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FUKUSHIMA FILE
Oct 19, 2014

Former Fukushima teacher blogs to inspire students while fighting off cancer

The former vice principal of a junior high school in Fukushima Prefecture has been encouraging his former students by blogging while undergoing 11 years of treatment for cancer.
COMMENTARY / Japan / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 18, 2014

The Abe conundrum and the pitfalls ahead

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a polarizing figure, lauded as the resolute leader Japan needs to revive its flagging fortunes and slammed for mishandling history issues in ways that undermine national interests.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Oct 18, 2014

From Race to Ethnicity

The first known Japanese in Hawaii were shipwrecked fishermen circa 1806, unwitting forerunners of a diaspora they can scarcely have imagined.
EDITORIALS
Oct 17, 2014

Promoting women at work

Draft legislation prepared by the Abe administration would require large companies as well as the national and local governments to set targets for promoting women in their organizations, beginning in fiscal 2016.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Oct 17, 2014

BIFF 2014 plays down unavoidable controversies

The biggest event of the year for South Korea's film industry is the opening night of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which marked its 19th year Oct. 2 to 11. Whether or not they have films screening at the festival, almost all the major Korean movie stars show up and strut the red carpet...

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