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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 21, 2015

Media caught up in festive PR atmosphere of new Hokuriku bullet train

A friend who often goes to Ishikawa Prefecture for family reasons mentioned on Facebook last week that he took the overnight bus from Tokyo and arrived at Kanazawa Station at about the same time of the Hokuriku Shinkansen's inaugural run. When I asked why he hadn't taken the new train, he said it was...
CULTURE / Art / Japan Pulse
Mar 20, 2015

Takashi Murakami + Frisk = super-artsy breath

Pop art in your pocket —u00a0it sharpens it you up.
EDITORIALS
Mar 20, 2015

Dangerous nuclear rhetoric

President Vladimir Putin's recent disclosure on a television program that he was ready to put Russia's nuclear forces on alert during the Crimea crisis in 2014 could end up thwarting nuclear disarmament efforts worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2015

U.S. alienating European allies

Trans-Atlantic relations are worse than they have been in some years, as Europeans widely attribute the new jihadism, the chaos in Iraq, Syria and Libya, the newly proclaimed Islamic State group, tension with Iran, and the sinister turn of events in Israel/Palestine to American irresponsibility and adventurism.
EDITORIALS
Mar 19, 2015

The new Asian bank wedge

The British government's decision to join the new Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank proposed by China has invited other governments to do likewise while opening the door to an embarrassing rift with the United States.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 19, 2015

LDP pushes for higher deposit cap for postal giant before IPO

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party wants to raise the deposit limit at state-owned Japan Post Holdings Co.'s lending arm before a planned initial public offering later this year, according to a lawmaker who is backing the change.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
Mar 18, 2015

Former Japan women's coach Brown still going strong

In a basketball coaching career spanning almost half a century, Herb Brown has built a strong reputation and accumulated a wealth of experience in the NBA and NCAA.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 18, 2015

Komeito agrees to permanent law on dispatch of SDF

The Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner have agreed in principle on a framework for security legislation to expand the scope of the Self-Defense Forces' activities.
Japan Times
BASEBALL
Mar 18, 2015

Jeter, Matsui team up for good cause

When Derek Jeter was asked whom he idolized growing up, he immediately mentioned Dave Winfield, saying the former Yankees player was "larger than life," and that he had a poster of Winfield in his room as a child. Then a wry smile flashed across his face.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 18, 2015

Lawyer for Pakistan doctor who helped CIA find bin Laden shot dead

A Pakistani lawyer under death threats for defending a doctor who helped CIA agents hunt al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was shot dead on Tuesday, police said, and two militant groups claimed responsibility.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Mar 17, 2015

Wild wasabi proves a warrior ingredient in many a dish

The pungent green wasabi is native to Japan, as its botanical name Eutrema japonicum indicates.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 17, 2015

A year after Crimea, Putin is stronger than ever

In the year since he moved to annex Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has consolidated his power and strengthened anti-Western sentiment in Russia enough that he feels safe taking credit for that bloodless invasion.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 17, 2015

Syrian asylum seekers sue for refugee status

Four asylum seekers from strife-riven Syria sued the central government at the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday, demanding that they be recognized as refugees.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2015

South Korea blames North Korea for December hack on nuclear operator

South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday blamed North Korea for cyber attacks against the country's nuclear reactor operator last December following a probe into Internet addresses used in the hacking.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2015

U.N. official to probe reports of North Korean workers exploited as slave labor overseas

The U.N. human rights investigator for North Korea said on Monday that he would probe allegations of an estimated 20,000 North Koreans working in slave-like conditions abroad, mainly in China, Russia and the Middle East.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 17, 2015

Bathroom confession critical in Durst case, legal experts say

New York real estate scion and accused murderer Robert Durst's bathroom muttering that he "killed them all" would likely be admissible evidence in a murder trial, legal experts said on Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 16, 2015

Floating fortress Musashi, symbol of Japan's naval ambitions, now a war grave

The super-dreadnought that once served as the flagship of the Imperial Japanese Navy has been found lying in sections in the dark ocean depths of the Philippines, 70 years after the end of World War II.
CULTURE / Japan Pulse
Mar 16, 2015

Shochiku Kabuki x Uniqlo

Uniqlo's UT curators go deep into Japanese traditions for its latest collaboration.
JAPAN / History
Mar 14, 2015

Cult attraction: Aum Shinrikyo's power of persuasion

Ahead of the 20th anniversary of Aum Shinrikyo's deadly sarin attack in Tokyo, we talk to three people with intimate knowledge of the cult in a bid to find out how it was able to exert so much influence over its followers.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 14, 2015

Failing to rebuild communities in Tohoku

The NHK travel program "Tsurube no Kazoku ni Kampai" ("Tsurube Toasts Families") recently aired a two-parter about the town of Watari in Miyagi Prefecture, which was devastated in the March 11, 2011, tsunami. In the series, rakugo storyteller Shofukutei Tsurube and a celebrity guest visit small towns...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Mar 14, 2015

When nature evolves to be awesome

A few years ago, an anthropologist told me an amazing story about a wild chimpanzee she had observed in Senegal. A bushfire had ignited in the summer heat, and she saw a chimp stand upright on its hind legs, face the fire and perform "a really exaggerated slow-motion display."
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Mar 14, 2015

Japan still building for Premier 12, WBC

Atsunori Inaba knows a thing or two about the highs and lows of international competition.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 14, 2015

South African doctors perform world's first penis transplant

South African doctors have successfully performed the world's first penis transplant on a 21-year-old man whose organ had been amputated three years ago after a botched circumcision.
Japan Times
JAPAN / UN WORLD CONFERENCE ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
Mar 14, 2015

Japan understands threat of natural disasters

An international conference on disaster prevention kicks off March 14 in the disaster-hit Tohoku region and it is aiming to adopt a new global framework to mitigate effects from natural disasters for the coming decade or so.
Japan Times
JAPAN / UN WORLD CONFERENCE ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
Mar 14, 2015

Many disaster-related meetings, exhibitions to be held

While dozens of conferences will be held at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction at the Sendai International Center, in the center of Sendai, many other side events will be held in other facilities in Sendai, other cities in Miyagi...
Japan Times
JAPAN / UN WORLD CONFERENCE ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
Mar 14, 2015

Monuments hint at glory of Hiraizumi's golden age

In the town of Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture, in the Tohoku region, one can still visit the remains of a brief blossoming of culture and architecture that is said to have rivaled the capital of Kyoto in its time.

Longform

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