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Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 15, 2013

Mandela saw massive change in Africa

Nelson Mandela was born into a continent colonized and in servitude to European powers in July 1918. Only Ethiopia and Liberia were independent. But Germany's defeat in the first world war brought about a reworking of the colonial order with its possessions in what are now Tanzania, Cameroon, Togo, Burundi...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 13, 2013

Bike-riding bureaucracy may threaten the classic 'obāchan dismount'

The new regulation decrees that bicycles must be ridden on the left side of the road, in the direction of the flow of traffic. Seems logical, doesn't it? But no one has said how this will prevent accidents or make anything safer; we're just presuming it will.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2013

Eda gambit viable, just for subsidy?

Cresting criticism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over his strong-arm tactics to pass the state secrets bill, ex-Your Party Secretary-General Kenji Eda hopes to form a new opposition party by year's end, qualifying him for subsidies.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 9, 2013

Otaku culture gets under the skin

Tattoos in Japan have long moved on from the kind often romanticized by the West — that imagery of flamboyant yakuza that so many seem reluctant to relinquish. But a brief glance at the policies of Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto reveals a nation still unwilling to allow tattoos into mainstream society...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2013

Iran-baiting lawmakers busy ratcheting up tension

Iran-baiting lawmakers in the United State are busy trying to ratchet up the tension by pushing for more economic sanctions against Tehran despite an interim agreement on restriction Iran's nuclear program.
WORLD
Dec 6, 2013

Nelson Mandela, ex-president of South Africa, dead at 95

Nelson Mandela, the former political prisoner who became the first president of a post-apartheid South Africa and whose heroic life and towering moral stature made him one of history's most influential statesmen, died Dec. 5, the government announced. He was 95.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 2, 2013

Water, water, it's not everywhere

There are aspects of everyday life that renters take for granted, such as access to utilities. Of course, renters pay for their own electricity and gas, and, depending on where they live, they may be billed for water and sewerage. Homeowners pay for these services, too, but there are extra financial...
EDITORIALS
Nov 29, 2013

Reducing Japan's emissions

The upshot for Japan from the just-ended Warsaw conference on climate changes is that it must come up with a new longer-term emissions reduction plan within 16 months.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2013

India and Vietnam add a punch to their ties

In accepting Vietnam's invitation to explore oil and gas in the South China Sea, India's state-owned oil company expressed New Delhi's desire to deepen its friendship with Vietnam as well as ignored China's warning to stay away.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2013

Underlining the horror of nuclear arms

Given the stalled nuclear disarmament agenda, the most productive way forward to generate political momentum for the cause may be to emphasize the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons.
BASEBALL
Nov 26, 2013

Kawakami was Japanese baseball's first Zen master

Most foreign fans of baseball in Japan may not know the name Tetsuharu Kawakami, who passed away recently at the age of 93, but perhaps it's time they did.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Nov 25, 2013

National Stadium plan hit as too grandiose

The new National Stadium planned for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has come under the spotlight due to its huge size and massive costs, and for a design critics say doesn't fit in with its surroundings.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2013

Can Christie lead GOP back to White House?

Since Chris Christie's landslide re-election as governor of New Jersey earlier this month, which has seen him confirmed as an early favorite for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, the question of the precise nature of his political personality, and its appeal, has loomed as large as the man...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 22, 2013

Senate's filibuster change will boost Obama's agenda

The U.S. Senate vote Thursday to lower the barriers for presidential nominations will make it easier for President Barack Obama to accomplish key second-term priorities, including tougher measures on climate change and financial regulation, that have faced intense opposition from Republicans in Congress....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 17, 2013

U.S. left gravitates toward 'scourge of Wall Street'

Not many political "rock stars" inspire audience members to knit, but, even by Washington's sedate standards, the darling of America's new left is a quiet revolutionary.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 16, 2013

Japan pins hopes on Kennedy

With a controversial base relocation in Okinawa and other high-stakes issues testing the resilience of ties with the United States, people in Japan are looking to new U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy for not just her celebrity status, but also her potential to become a new bridge between the two allies....
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 14, 2013

Echoes of an old debate on feminism and individualism

A century ago 'individualism' was a byword for Japan's reforming intelligentsia. To the extent that it served the goals of modernizing the Japanese state, it was acceptable.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 12, 2013

U.S. media pay high price for Chinese censorship

While car tires and chicken meat get the attention of American trade officials, blatant instances of Chinese censorship have led to dire consequences for the U.S. media sector.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Nov 12, 2013

Has anime lost its cachet in America?

I had been invited to host a Q&A with renowned "Gundam" creator and sci-fi novelist Yoshiyuki Tomino at The New York Anime Festival. But when my handler and I arrived at the designated room, we found it empty and dark. "Over here," a staffer called from across the hall. "Too many people."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 12, 2013

Sheena & The Rokkets reminisce over Fukuoka's mentai rock scene ahead of anniversary gig

Punk in Japan is widely taken as having begun in earnest in 1979. That was when Friction — freshly back in Japan from New York, where members of the group had played with The Contortions and Teenage Jesus & The Jerks — appeared alongside bands such as Lizard and Mr. Kite on the legendary "Tokyo Rockers"...
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 12, 2013

Author divides U.S. into 11 American nations

Red states and blue states? Flyover country and the coasts? How simplistic.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 9, 2013

Pakistan enacts own 'Patriot Act' to deal with growing terrorist threat

After a decade of terrorist attacks, Pakistan is implementing a new legal framework to deal with its growing militant threat — what some are calling a local version of the USA Patriot Act.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 7, 2013

'Abenomics' means a special holiday spread

Before anyone had a chance to shrug off their beach sandals and pack away their tank tops to make room for long-sleeved shirts and jackets, the Seibu flagship department store in Ikebukuro Station announced that it would start taking reservations for osechi ryōri — traditional Japanese New Year's...
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 3, 2013

Eyes everywhere: 9/11 attacks transform once underfunded NSA into an all-seeing technological powerhouse

The National Security Agency gathers intelligence to keep America safe. But leaked documents reveal the NSA's dark side — and show an agency intent on exploiting the digital revolution to the full.
Japan Times
Rugby
Nov 2, 2013

All Blacks crush Japan

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw scored a try and flyhalf Dan Carter kicked 10 points as both players returned from injury to lead New Zealand to a comfortable 54-6 win over Japan on Saturday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 31, 2013

Festival/Tokyo pushes a return to storytelling

In 2009, when Festival/Tokyo took over from the annual Tokyo International Arts Festival, it burst forth with the slogan "Towards a New Real" and the resolve to stamp the city's name on the global arts map.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2013

Vice premier touts Poland's stability to Japan investors

Poland's stable economy and Special Economic Zones are great for Japanese investors, Poland's vice prime minister says.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 27, 2013

All Black absentees enjoying change of pace in Japanese league

The All Blacks are playing their first-ever away test against Japan in Tokyo on Saturday, but at club level the journey north is becoming familiar for more and more New Zealanders.

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