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JAPAN / Politics
Feb 10, 2014

Kennedy to pay highly anticipated visit to Okinawa

U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy arrives in Okinawa Tuesday for a highly anticipated visit that will center on the U.S. military presence and the unpopular relocation of a Marine base within the prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Feb 10, 2014

Japan's leather industry, almost as tough as old boots

In his east Tokyo workshop, across the Sumida river from Asakusa Station, Katsuhiko Nakano is surrounded on all sides by bags and tools. He is one of the few leather craftsmen in the city who makes goods by hand.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2014

Myths about economic inequality

True, the gap between the rich and the poor is enormous, wider than most Americans would wish, but this reality has made economic inequality a misleading intellectual fad, blamed for many of our problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2014

A wealthier Africa will depend on health care

One of Africa's biggest challenges to greater GDP growth and personal wealth is inadequate health care. Preventable and treatable diseases plague the population.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Feb 8, 2014

First cracks appear in Abe's PR campaign

Japan stormed back in 2013. Even the staunchest critics of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have had to admit that his administration managed to achieve roaring success in its first year. This success owes much to a shift of perception based on an excellently devised and executed public relations strategy....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / TELLING LIVES
Feb 7, 2014

American tuna trader shares passion born in Tsukiji with the world

'I want to roll together the beauty of the history and culture of Japan into a quality tuna product and export that to the West,' says American David Leibowitz. 'I want the West consuming that and having it become part of them.'
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2014

NHK's credibility at stake

Two of the more recent appointees to the NHK Board of Governors show their stripes so to speak by denying that the 1937 Nanjing Massacre happened, on one hand, and writing an essay in praise of the Emperor as a 'living god' on the other. Might employees for Japan's national broadcaster start to feel pressure to develop programs from a particular perspective?
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Feb 7, 2014

'Cove' to become 'aquatic nook' as Abe takes aim at improper eigo

Some say that Shinzo Abe's latest proposed tax increases, part of the 'fourth arrow' in his popular 'Abenomics' policy, are going a step too far. Dubbed the 'language tax,' the new levy is aimed at word usage.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2014

Securing the Sochi Olympics

Parallel to the Sochi Olympics, another contest is already under way between the terrorists who seek to disrupt the games and the security forces of the Russian state.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 7, 2014

Sony revision spurs credibility crisis for Hirai

Kazuo Hirai, who took the helm at Sony Corp. two years ago to revive the Japanese icon, is losing credibility with investors who think he's not up to the job.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Feb 7, 2014

Plum trees in bloom in Minabe, Wakayama

Nearly 80,000 plum trees are in bloom in Minabe, Wakayama Prefecture, this month and the area will be open to the public until March 2.
BUSINESS
Feb 6, 2014

New boss to steer Keidanren back to politics?

Sadayuki Sakakibara, the incoming chairman of Keidanren, says his priority in leading the nation's top business lobby is to help get Japan back on a growth track, but observers say he may also try to re-establish the organization's influence in politics.
EDITORIALS
Feb 5, 2014

Stalemate in Syria

The first round of Syrian peace talks began in controversy, proceeded in the most formal of terms, then concluded after a week with a whimper. A second round is uncertain.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Feb 5, 2014

U.S. and Japanese apologies for war crimes could pave way for nuclear disarmament

Acknowledging responsibility for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Japan's rampage across Asia could serve as first steps toward a world free of nuclear weapons.
Reader Mail
Feb 5, 2014

Atrocities in the name of tradition

There are hundreds of distressing images of Taiji that are being circulated worldwide in a growing wave of anti Japanese feeling.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 4, 2014

Eadonmm's beats prove black is back

"Black is the new black" always seems like a safe motto when it comes to picking clothes, but in an electronic-music world that is constantly churning out micro-genre ephemera, some would argue that black has gone out of fashion.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 4, 2014

Saving Japan and China from a dangerous new conflict

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had hoped to herald his economic reform program at Davos last week. Instead, his mention of tensions between China and Japan exposed the lack of multilateral institutions like those created in Western Europe after 1945 to settle Northeast Asian disputes.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Feb 4, 2014

Stern retires as pro sports' best commissioner ever

David Stern left his job, his passion really, as NBA commissioner last Saturday after 30 years as the league's top executive.
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Feb 3, 2014

Tokyo: What do you make of the Japan Sumo Association's decision to charge fans $120 to watch live tournaments online?

The Japan Sumo Association has just introduced a pay-per-view system for live streams of top tournaments. Costing $10 per day and $15 for the final day, or $120 for the entire tournament, the concept drew sharp criticism from overseas fans.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Feb 1, 2014

Japan: Why kill whales off Antarctica?

The Japanese whaling fleet — this year just a factory ship, three catchers and what is being called a "surveillance" vessel — left Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture in secret on Dec. 9, 2013 bound for the Southern Ocean and its annual hunt that will keep it away from home through March.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Jan 31, 2014

Japan's cops: keeping the nation safe, in their Keystone kind of way

Most Japanese have a good cop/bad cop view of their law-enforcement services. They see a sinister side — one of smoky back rooms, coerced confessions and trumped-up charges — and they see a soft side: those helpful cops-in-the-box dotted throughout the land.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 30, 2014

Nagasaki lights up for the Chinese New Year

Enjoy the Chinese New Year celebration in style at the Nagasaki Lantern Festival 2014, which kicks off on Jan. 31 and runs for two weeks in the city's Chinatown and surrounding areas.
EDITORIALS
Jan 30, 2014

Calling Abe to account

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito should refrain from ramrodding their proposals through the Diet as they did with the state state secrets bill during the recent extradordinary Diet session.
COMMUNITY / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jan 29, 2014

The confounding case of Japan's creativity crisis

The smartphone demands the attention and occupies the mind of its owner, crowding out the random impressions that — were they observed — might just lead to insights, ideas and novel solutions to seemingly intractable questions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2014

China makes sure Putin knows who his friends are

The scale of a Chinese reporter's pained obsequiousness in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi last week was a visible reminder of just how important Russia has become to Chinese policymakers, and how few risks the Chinese media will take in covering the country.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Jan 28, 2014

Murakami surging toward Sochi with style, confidence

When you work in this business, there is nothing more rewarding than watching an athlete truly come into their own.

Longform

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