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Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jul 25, 2014

Designs on Japan's student potential

Shining a light on Japan's student talent pool is Gakuten, a new event from the group responsible for the Design Festa biannual international art fair. There's only one requirement of Gakuten participants — that they be enrolled in an educational institution.
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Jul 25, 2014

Aichi police switch to carrot over stick to prevent traffic accidents

Aichi Prefecture is taking a unique approach to reducing the number of traffic accidents after having the worst rate in the country 11 years running.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Jul 23, 2014

To appear or not to appear on Japanese TV . . .

If you're in Japan long enough, you're bound to get the opportunity to appear on Japanese TV. But you might want to think twice before you make the leap to 'TV gaijin.'
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jul 23, 2014

A democratically elected rep is every worker's legal right

The lack of a freely and fairly elected workers' rep could cost employees dearly in the long run.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jul 23, 2014

Use your vote to dismantle shields that protect nuclear firms from post-Fukushima liability

Two tenable shields are being created to protect nuclear power companies. The first is the state secrets law. The second is the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 23, 2014

Diverse joys unite distant theater fests

In early summer this year, I went to the famous theater festivals in two European cities — first the Theater der Welt 2014, which ran May 23-June 8 in the war-blitzed and rebuilt southwest German city of Mannheim, then to the Sibiu International Theatre Festival 2014 held June 6-15 in the Romanian...
CULTURE / Music / STRANGE BOUTIQUE
Jul 22, 2014

Just what is so wrong about Yoko Ono?

As Yoko Ono prepares to take the stage at Fuji Rock Festival on July 26, a BBC video of her performing the 1969 Plastic Ono Band track "Don't Worry Kyoko" at this year's Glastonbury festival has racked up nearly 2 million views, largely from people tuning in to see the "worst live performance of all...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jul 21, 2014

Selective consumption tax weighed

It's only been three months since the consumption tax was hiked to 8 percent, but the ruling coalition is already expediting talks on another increase scheduled to come into effect in October next year.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2014

Rouhani's remaking of Iran

Marking the end of his first year in office with some success at domestic reform, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani now says Iran would be willing to work with the U.S. in Iraq.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2014

The real victims of U.S. sanctions on Myanmar

Myanmar's opening attracted much interest not only from Asian neighbors but also from those in the West that once considered the country a pariah.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2014

Australia flirts with messed-up American dream

It was fascinating to hear American economist Joseph Stiglitz take on Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott for trafficking in the same economic ideologies threatening to turn the American dream into a nightmare of permanent haves and have-nots.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 21, 2014

Atami: What do you make of this statue of a jilted gent kicking a girl while she's down?

Gracing the shoreline in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, is a statue unique among the many in Japan that celebrate local legends or famous historical figures: A work depicting a man kicking a woman.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2014

U.S. presses case against Russia on downed jet as horror deepens

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry laid out what he called overwhelming evidence of Russian complicity in the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 as international horror deepened over the fate of the victims' remains.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 20, 2014

Red-yellow scrum moves beyond the border

As the U.S. hosts the largest number of Thai immigrants — about 250,000 — it stands to reason that Thailand's color-coded politics would land on its shores. Both camps are trying to lobby the U.S. government.
WORLD
Jul 20, 2014

Iraq's ancient Christian population of Mosul flees ISIL

The ancient Christian community of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul had all but fled by Saturday, ending a presence stretching back nearly two millennia after radical Islamists set them a midday deadline to submit to Islamic rule or leave.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Jul 20, 2014

Osaka zone a litmus test of foreign worker policy

As prefectural officials begin talks with Tokyo on a deregulated economic area, local skepticism remains high over the content, necessity of the proposal.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK
Jul 19, 2014

New sports center symbol of Haiti's recovery

Haiti's recovery from the 2010 earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation is a slow, difficult process.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Jul 19, 2014

Yabusame archers of the lonely Chugoku Mountains

What are those peculiar scarecrow figures, lolling about the villages of the Chugoku Mountains?
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 18, 2014

As Scotland decides, not all Scots get a say

Ruth McPherson was born and educated in Scotland but left to work in London two years ago and so has no say on whether her native country should end three centuries of union with England.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2014

'All parties' need access to Malaysian plane crash site in Ukraine: Suga

Officials in Tokyo on Friday rushed to gather information about a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet that was reportedly downed by a missile over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, demanding that all relevant parties be allowed to inspect the crash site to determine the cause of the tragedy.
Events / Events In Tokyo
Jul 18, 2014

Leadership is more than giving orders

Takahito Motegi, chief human-resource officer of BOLBOP Inc., is a former participant in the Nitobe Kokusai Juku public lectures. He established an association called Machi no Hokori (Pride of Community) after a Nitobe Kokusai Juku field study visit to Otsuchi in Iwate Prefecture following the Great...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Jul 16, 2014

Unpacking koto: retain, discard and repeat as necessary

Unpacking koto — the intangible baggage — in Japan has proven to be the challenge of a lifetime, replete with enough drama and trauma to keep me knee deep in 'think pieces' till I keel over.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jul 16, 2014

Ten tips for shaking stage fright, aka 'the American disease'

Ten tips for stage fright, aka 'the American disease.' Americans supposedly fear public speaking more than anything — spiders, sharks, or even heights.
JAPAN
Jul 16, 2014

Industry internships a hit with teachers

A record number of school teachers will participate in a summer internship program offered by businesses, highlighting educators' growing interest in gaining experience outside the classroom, according to figures released on Tuesday.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan