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Japan Times
WORLD
May 6, 2013

The shifting strategy of battlefield preservation

In 1988, Sen. Dale Bumpers of Arkansas pleaded with his colleagues to pass legislation that would prevent a new shopping mall on land integral to the Second Battle of Manassas. He imagined a future in which ever more commercial development encroached on land in Virginia preserved by the National Park...
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2013

Austerity era appears over (for now)

Something remarkable has happened in the last few weeks. It looks like world financial leaders are focusing on too few jobs instead of the risks from government debt.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
May 5, 2013

Our tree dragon fires new hopes for tsunami survivors

Ever since the massive Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and the catastrophic tsunami it triggered, badly hit villages, towns and cities in the Tohoku region of northeastern Honshu have been struggling to recover and rebuild.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2013

Tokyo Rainbow Week

Tokyo Rainbow Week, inaugurated April 27 and financially backed by several corporations, saw events aimed at supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals.
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2013

German chancellor urges U.K. to crack down on tax havens

The coalition's plans to crack down on Britain's tax havens were discussed April 13 at a meeting between British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, amid growing concerns in Germany.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 3, 2013

'Tabidachi no Shima Uta — Jugo no Haru (Leaving on the 15th Spring)'

Goodbyes aren't what they used to be. Kids moving away for school today can be in constant contact with friends and family back home, texting as soon as the train doors close on a waving Mom and Dad.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
May 3, 2013

Custard treats are anything but square

How long does it take a business to achieve cult status in Tokyo? Years or decades in most cases. For Omotesando Koffee it was barely a matter of weeks.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2013

Selective rights, illegal wars

One cannot help thinking these days that the legal, political and even moral blind spots that exist in the United States must always somehow involve Muslims.
WORLD
May 3, 2013

Single motherhood in U.S. rises sharply

More than six out of 10 women who give birth in their early 20s are unmarried, the U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday.
Reader Mail
May 2, 2013

Modicum of remorse isn't there

The recent visits of Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and other Cabinet ministers to Yasukuni Shrine defy common sense. At least one of the ministers said he was making the visit in both a private and public capacity, a blatant contradiction. It is hard to know why these visits are made when the government...
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2013

Ensuring Syria's chemical genie stays in the bottle

Syria's chemical-weapons stockpile is dangerous, but so are the remnants of a North Korean-engineered nuclear reactor buried beneath a base overrun by Syrian rebels.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 1, 2013

Fake school uniforms let some turn back the clock

A 17-year-old high school boy in Tokyo likes to hang out with his friends on weekends sporting a blazer and white shirt, the typical uniform of high school boys — not his casual clothes or his school-designated "gakuran" high-collar jacket.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / JAPAN-CHINA SYMPOSIUM
Apr 30, 2013

Siting for renewables needs bottom-up approach

If post-Fukushima nuclear disaster crisis Japan chooses to fill its energy needs with renewable energy sources, the nation will still face the same NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) resistance to building large numbers of new facilities in the densely-populated country, an American expert said at a recent energy...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 30, 2013

Samurai moms and the art of brood maintenance: a mother from the West's lessons from the East

May in Japan is the perfect month for mothers. Wreathed in the fertile blooms of spring, bolstered by days of absolute perfection, May is also a month of muddy contradiction.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Apr 30, 2013

Tokyo: What are the best and worst things about living in Tokyo?

I love how Tokyo is a big, chaotic mess, unlike my hometown, and I also enjoy getting lost when I am out and about, but the best thing is that I can eat and drink 24/7.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Apr 29, 2013

Indian activists push for clean cities

As more Indians travel the world and their country's growing economy and population gain more global attention, they are increasingly embarrassed about one of India's dirtiest features: its cities.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2013

Bush library revives focus on maligned presidency

George W. Bush returned to the spotlight last week for the dedication of his presidential library, an event that has triggered fresh public debate about his eight fateful years in office. But he has re-emerged with a better public image than when he left Washington more than four years ago.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 29, 2013

Perceptions of brothers don't fit neatly into pre-existing box

Chechen? American? Immigrant? Citizen? Muslim? Boston Marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev may be all of the above, but how Americans attempt to come to grips with the attacks allegedly perpetrated by the brothers has much to do with how Americans identify them.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 29, 2013

China's stealth wars of acquisition

China is waging stealth wars — without firing a shot — to change the status quo of the South and East China seas, its border with India, and international rivers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 28, 2013

A Pacific idyll where some go to escape, others to connect

A woman from western Japan, who calls herself "Amy," couldn't find paradise in Thailand, Cuba, Brazil or French Polynesia, so with the last of her $300 savings she bought a one-way ticket from Tahiti to Rarotonga. Then, claiming to be penniless, she walked from the airport to the police station and...
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2013

Challenge of modern retirement

I have the opportunity to hold seminars for those who have worked in traditional Japanese companies, to give them hints on living a happy life after they retire. In former times, seminar participants tended to be eager to know how far their pension benefits would go and how to practice a thrifty lifestyle...
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 27, 2013

U.S. examines possible use of sarin by Syria

Much as it struggled to understand the weapons capabilities of Saddam Hussein's Iraq over the years, the United States is now bedeviled by a growing body of evidence that suggests Syrians have been exposed to chemical weapons at least twice.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 27, 2013

Poland's young Jews pick up threads of history

It was only after her grandmother's death that Maniucha Bikont discovered the full extent of her secret. Lea Horovitz had decided to escape incarceration in Warsaw's Jewish ghetto in 1940 after overhearing two shopkeepers comment "she doesn't look like a zduva" (a "yid") on spotting the Star of David...
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 26, 2013

Buoyant Abe's true colors emerging

Riding high in the polls, Prime Minister Abe begins to reveal his true colors as a right-leaning historical revisionist, four months into his administration.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 26, 2013

Somalia comes back enough to receive arms

Somalia was a failed state for more than 20 years. But now it has come back enough for the U.N. Security Council to partially lift the embargo on arms sales.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2013

Abe war comment roils S. Korean media

Tokyo is forced into damage control over history issues again after a war remark by Prime Minister Abe triggers big headlines in South Korea.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji