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Japan Times
BASKETBALL / SPORTS SCOPE
Jan 22, 1999

Jordan wasn't NBA's 'greatest'

This column originally ran in the print edition of The Japan Times on Jan. 22, 1999, approximately nine months before Wilt Chamberlain died.
Japan Times
Special Supplements / Support for Ukraine
Aug 24, 2022

Grateful for ongoing support, friendship in hard times

Ukraine has a long-lasting, glorious and yet tragic history in its fight for freedom. One of the literal readings of Ukraine's national emblem — the Trident — is nothing but the emblematic word “freedom” in Ukrainian. The sacred idea of freedom, having our own independent country and being masters of our own land, has been smoldering in the hearts of all Ukrainians since the collapse of the medieval Kyiv Rus in the 13th century. The fight for freedom had its ups and downs while spilling on the pages of history both the tears from our brutal enemies' invasions and the triumph of the spirit of free Cossacks, the blood of thousands of Ukrainian patriots and the joys of their victories paving the way to an independent Ukraine.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2022

Why some in Asia don’t outsource their moral compass to the West

Just because some Asian countries come to different geopolitical conclusions based on their particular circumstances and priorities does not make them intellectual and moral inferiors.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 5, 2022

'The Battle of Sekigahara' retraces Japan's historic samurai conflict

Chris Glenn's new book brings one of the most significant events in Japanese history to life in a blow-by-blow account of the battle that took place in 1600.
Japan Times
LIFE / Longform
Jul 6, 2021

In search of Japan's lost wolves: Primal howl

In the first installation of a five-part series, we track a four-legged enigma that some believe might still be roaming the nation's mountains and forests.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Feb 20, 2021

A daughter reclaims her mother’s heritage in ‘Speak, Okinawa’

Elizabeth Miki Brina's memoir reveals how country and culture are connected to identity by weaving her narrative with the history of Okinawa.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 14, 2021

For Trump, an escape, but not an exoneration

Having failed to convict, Democrats hope that the trial nonetheless made it implausible if not impossible for Trump to ever run for president again as he has hinted he might do.
Japan Times
WORLD / Society
Jun 28, 2020

Princeton dumps U.S. President Woodrow Wilson’s name over ‘racist thinking’

Princeton University is removing Woodrow Wilson’s name from its public policy school and one of its residential colleges after trustees concluded that the 28th U.S. president’s "racist thinking and policies” made him "an inappropriate namesake.” The Ivy League school’s trustees made the decision...
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 25, 2020

London's historical connections to slavery lurch into full view

If there’s one thing that foretold the City of London’s ambition to become the epicenter of finance it was the founding of the Royal Exchange almost 500 years ago.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2020

Historian Niall Ferguson: 'We are in Cold War II'

China's global ambitions are no longer something that can be ignored.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jan 11, 2020

Yuko Kikuchi: Celebrating Japan's hybridity

As a professor of art and design, Yuko Kikuchi has some surprising things to say about mingei (Japanese folk art).
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2019

Beacons in the stormy seas of 2020

Japan should focus on major currents and not be misled by less important events or episodes in the coming year.
Reader Mail
Oct 25, 2019

The weaponization of denial

Yoichi Funabashi's opinion pieces are usually well-informed, thoughtful and sane. It's a disappointment to find him now writing as a patriot. His article "Tokyo, Seoul and the weaponization of history" in the Oct. 11 edition boldly broaches urgent issues but fails to come to terms with the main one....
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
May 25, 2019

In search of Japan's extinct wolves: Sightings of a mysterious canine in Chichibu have been captivating animal enthusiasts

It was around 3 p.m. on a chilly day in December. The sky was overcast and the scent of rain hung in the air when Rina Kambayashi happened upon a creature she had never seen before. Opening the front door to her family's gracefully weathered 150-year-old traditional wooden house, Kambayashi stepped out...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 29, 2019

Taiwan's Zhuilu Old Road hike: A thin ledge, and then a sudden drop

A day trip from Taipei, the Zhuilu Old Road in Taiwan's Taroko National Park is considered to be one of the country's best hikes, though is only for those with a strong head for heights.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHY DID YOU LEAVE JAPAN?
Oct 13, 2018

In art, there are no rules, only new challenges

For the director of the Japan Society in New York, it was a teenage encounter with a Shoichi Ida print that led to her love of art and its international influence
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jun 20, 2018

Bill Hersey, man about Tokyo, 1930-2018: some tributes

Writer's kindness was legend, and his photos and columns told the story of a Tokyo social scene's rebirth after war and Occupation.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2018

Is Karl Marx still relevant?

His predictions have been falsified, his theories discredited and his ideas rendered obsolete. So why should we care about his legacy in the 21st century?
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2018

India's culture war comes to Bollywood

While it may seem alarmist to suggest freedom of expression in India is in peril, the atmosphere of intimidation is palpable.
JAPAN / View from Osaka
Aug 19, 2017

Lessons learned from the failure of the Osaka Foreign Settlement

This year, Osaka is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the opening of its port to the outside world. Numerous events, lectures and symposiums on how Osaka developed from 1868 to the present have taken place or are planned between now and early next year.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Jul 1, 2017

'A Diplomat in Japan': Eyewitness accounts of the birth of a modern nation

The "Great Man" theory of history has largely been discredited. Propounded by Thomas Carlyle in the 1840s, it suggests that history is moved and swayed by the personalities of "great men" such as Alexander the Great and Napoleon. While there are clearly examples throughout history of men and women who...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 8, 2017

Disputatious legacies: examining the historic ties that bind Okinawa and China

Commenting on the pervasiveness of his own culture while on a trip to Indonesia, the Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote, "I see India everywhere." A traveler to Okinawa today from continental Asia, might well say, "I see China everywhere."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 18, 2017

Apa takes flak from China over books in its inns denying Nanking Massacre

Major hotel chain operator Apa Group is facing fierce criticism after two students who stayed at one of its hotels in Tokyo posted a video about a book written by its CEO, which claims the 1937 Nanking Massacre committed by the Imperial Japanese Army was "fabricated by the Chinese side."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 27, 2016

In visiting Pearl Harbor, Abe again shows his pragmatic side

Upon returning to power in 2012, Abe has demonstrated his pragmatism to governance numerous times by adopting positions that both appeal to, but also upset his conservative base.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Dec 24, 2016

Is Abe the wrong messenger for Pearl Harbor?

In the American lexicon, "Pearl Harbor" is synonymous with treachery and betrayal. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, pundits invoked the term in ways that have taken many Japanese aback, surprised that the old associations linger and uncomfortable with the wartime incident being...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2016

Novelist Hideo Furukawa views the Fukushima disaster through nonhuman eyes

After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, critically acclaimed writer Hideo Furukawa experienced an unsettling "imagination meltdown."
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Dec 21, 2015

For Nikkei, Christmas is a time for family — and rūtsu sagashi

It's not unusual for people of Japanese descent living overseas to lose track of their roots, but if you know where to look, these stories can often be pieced back together.
EDITORIALS
Sep 4, 2015

Time to heal rifts with Beijing, Seoul

As the events marking the end of World War II draw to a close, the Abe administration should turn its attention to improving ties with South Korea and China.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / TYSON-DOUGLAS SHOCKER REVISITED
Feb 10, 2015

Douglas reflects on Tyson fight 25 years later

The youngest heavyweight champion in history, making his 10th title defense, entered the fight with a 37-0 record and had never been knocked down during his pro career; Douglas was the 42-1 underdog. Tyson's reign ended 28 minutes, 22 seconds into the fight, at precisely 1:22 into the 10th round.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic