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Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 5, 2014

The outbreak of the Great War: 100 years on

On New Year's Day 1914, a respected weekly literary publication carried a long article penned by an author referred to only as A Rifleman. Entitled "Letters on War" and published in The New Age, an influential radical magazine in Britain, the three-page piece argued forcefully in favor of military conflict....
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: ARCHITECTURE
Dec 30, 2013

Building on strong foundations in 2013

The end of the year is traditionally a time of review and new prospects, a time to weave memories of the past with plans for the future to form the narrative cloth of a coherent identity.
EDITORIALS
Dec 21, 2013

Japan hits top in use of apps

Japan may have become the world's top country for generating mobile app revenue, but this brave new world poses dangers to unwary customers.
Japan Times
Figure Skating / ICE TIME
Dec 4, 2013

Mao has much at stake in Grand Prix Final in Fukuoka

With only two months to go until the Sochi Olympics, two-time world champion Mao Asada heads into this week's Grand Prix Final as a prohibitive favorite while skating on home ice.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 23, 2013

Nuclear whistle-blower spills secrets the way the media should

Genpatsu Whiteout' continues to climb the best-seller list, propelled by a guessing game over the identity of its author, who seems to know a lot about the nuclear energy business.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Nov 20, 2013

For 'no war' Article 9, any reinterpretation will do

Since the conclusion of the Article 9 debate — that it permits Japan to participate in collective security efforts — is already known, all that is really called for is some kind of excuse that the public can give the nod to before returning to their smartphones.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 12, 2013

Kerry says Iranian side needed to consult with Tehran over nuclear deal

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivered an ardent defense Monday of President Barack Obama as a strong foreign policy leader and "man of his word," whose guarantee that Iran will never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon should be heeded by doubters.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Sep 30, 2013

Construction work at the desk

Get ready for 2014 with new diaries, fun desk accesories and other interior goods
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Sep 28, 2013

Stroll through 1,000 years of history in one Nikko garden

Even before seeing the great sights of Nikko, the visitor cannot fail to be impressed by the luxuriance of the area's moss. Towering cryptomeria trees, allowing filtered light to penetrate ground cover, provide ideal incubation zones and levels of exposure and protection for the flourishing of moss in...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 27, 2013

FYI: Agricultural World Heritage status

After our 3,776-meter-tall friend Fuji-san won the coveted UNESCO World Heritage status this year, many people are wondering what site will win the status next? Only one Japanese site per year can be nominated for the award, and recent reports have said the government is considering a steel works, a...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2013

Shuji Terayama's underground public stage

Thirty years on from the death of Shuji Terayama, Japanese theater's most avant-garde provocateur continues his renaissance with a show of his films, photography and, most importantly, theater works at the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, which follows on from the recent showing of printed ephemera...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2013

Predicting growth from the path of a cricket ball

Inventing new things is hard. Figuring out how to manage their applications in a sensible manner is even harder.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 30, 2013

Experiment allows man to use his mind to control another's movements

Two University of Washington researchers say they have demonstrated, with electronic probes placed against two people's heads, that one person's thoughts can control the other's movements.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2013

Global threat of nuclear deterrence

lmost half a century after the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was signed, the world is still perched precariously on the edge of the nuclear precipice.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Aug 3, 2013

Toyohiro Akiyama: Cautionary tales from one not afraid to risk all

In December 1990, journalist Toyohiro Akiyama made headlines the world over when he blasted off aboard a Soviet rocket to become the very first "space correspondent" in history.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 2, 2013

Curiosity rover's descent to Mars — the story so far

Nestled below the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory outside Pasadena has a surprisingly low-tech feel. For more than 40 years, space missions to the planets have been controlled from its operations rooms, yet the place is still striking for its bucolic charm. Mule...
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 26, 2013

Opposition disparate; foe common

Major opposition groups have been rocked by intensifying internal strife since the Upper House election, and with the secretaries-general of the Democratic Party of Japan, Your Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) launching a nonpartisan policy study group next week, speculation is...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Jul 22, 2013

Police stonewalling over death of U.S. teen in Shinjuku prolongs family's ordeal

The family of Scott Kang had hoped that the release the autopsy report would shed some light on the U.S. teenager's death in Shinjuku in 2010 and bring them nearer to obtaining closure. Instead, it has reopened old wounds and raised fresh questions about the original police investigation.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 20, 2013

Theaters of war and peace in Kumamoto

The pamphlet tells me this is a "castle" — but the structure in front of me defies that description. Granted, my frame of reference is greatly informed by the impressive edifices of Kumamoto, Himeji and Matsumoto that date back to the gory Sengoku (Warring States) Period spanning some 150 years from...
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 18, 2013

Origin of gold found in neutron star bursts

Gold — atomic number 79, element symbol Au and the most widely beloved of the precious metals — might have its origin in extremely rare and violent explosions in the far reaches of outer space.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2013

Kochs use Web to slam critical reports

When environmental journalist David Sassoon began reporting about the billionaire Koch brothers' interests in the Canadian oil industry last year, he sought information from their privately held conglomerate, Koch Industries. The brothers, who have gained prominence in recent years as supporters of and...
LIFE
Jul 13, 2013

Gender bending in Japan

Do our genitals define us? Increasingly, they do not. Is sexuality more complicated than male/female? Increasingly, it is.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 11, 2013

Experiments in the wild

Ten years ago, when a new cultural facility opened in the western Japan city of Yamaguchi, its founders sought to fulfill a role quite different from those museums in the countryside.
EDITORIALS
Jul 9, 2013

'Abenomics' too narrow in focus

The Abe administration's policy of monetary easing must end sometime. Voters in this month's Upper House polls should weigh the policy's effect on jobs and wages.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 30, 2013

Small is beautiful in a Kanazawa garden

It is always heartwarming to come across a historical preservation area where people actually live and go about their daily lives. Such is Nagamachi, one of several older districts of Kanazawa, the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2013

Deepening, revising ties with Southeast Asia

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Japan mark the 40th anniversary of their cooperative relations this year. ASEAN and Japan's partnership, which began with the establishment of the ASEAN-Japan forum on synthetic rubber, has evolved over the 40 years. The two parties have formed close cooperation...
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 22, 2013

Black Cubans still struggle against discrimination

An independent movement for racial equality in Cuba is a refutation of the idea that, after a half-century in power, communism has delivered equality.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Jun 19, 2013

Private money pours into Syrian conflict as donors pick sides

Syrian tanks were closing in on the rebel-held town of Qusair last month when a Kuwaiti sheik named Hajjaj al-Ajmi and his money machine roared into action. In a series of urgent messages on his Twitter account, al-Ajmi appealed for cash to help save the town's defenders.
COMMUNITY / Voices / COMMUNITY CHEST
Jun 18, 2013

Readers' letters: praise for Article 9, scorn for TPP and concerns for education

Some readers' letters in response to recent Community articles:

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami