Search - special

 
 
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2015

Why Putin won't stop fighting

Economic pressure has never stopped Russia from waging wars. Putin will fight on in Ukraine, having convinced himself that the West is aiming to destroy Russia.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 27, 2015

Pommeke makes fries the main dish

Tokyo boasts plenty of Belgian culinary spots, from beer bars to chocolate shops. Chef Bart Sablon even points out that there is a Belgian waffle store right around the corner from Pommeke, a recently opened operation where the 39-year-old works as executive chef. "That's a total coincidence, though,"...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Jan 27, 2015

In praise of Hakuho, from those in the know

In the days since yokozuna grand champion Hakuho pushed ozeki Kisenosato from the ring on Day 13 of the Hatsu Basho at Ryogoku's Kokugikan to claim his 33rd Emperor's Cup, the man from Mongolia has been featured in media around the globe.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2015

Risks to democrats who nod to blurred truth

Democratic societies are faced with the temptation to close one's eyes and ears to inconvenient truths. For example, we do not want to admit that Russian President Vladimir Putin has long since crossed the line into war with regard to Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2015

'Shining lies' and distortion: how the West creates wars

Today 'theology' has taken over from morality in the efforts to construct a new world. Laws, truth and justice are readily sacrificed so that the West's version of good can prevail.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 26, 2015

Survivor detailed camp life in his book

In a little leather book, the kind some men used to use to list lovers, Holocaust survivor Hy Abrams keeps the names that still haunt him: Auschwitz, Plaszow, Mauthausen, Melk and Ebensee.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 26, 2015

Afghan air force ascent slow, imperiling battle with Taliban

Afghanistan's armed forces are so short of combat-ready aircraft that, late last year, they began fitting machine guns and rockets to Russian-made Mi-17 transport helicopters, dubbed "flying tractors," to bolster their air power.
WORLD
Jan 26, 2015

Morocco arrests suspected Algerian militant tied to Frenchman's beheading

Moroccan authorities said on Sunday they arrested a suspected Algerian member of the militant group responsible for kidnapping and beheading French tourist Herve Gourdel east of Algiers in September.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2015

Mass protests occur after Yemen leader quits

Thousands of Yemenis took to the streets on Saturday in the biggest demonstrations yet against the Houthi group that dominates the country, two days after President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's resignation left the country in political limbo.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 23, 2015

Former catcher Furuta voted into Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

When bespectacled catcher Atsuya Furuta was ready to set out on a professional baseball career, he was told by many that pro ballplayers don't wear glasses.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2015

Democrats fine-tune gaffes with homemakers

American Democrats have a knack for saying stupid things about full-time homemakers. And two of President Barack Obama's recent proposals with regard to tax credits reflect this weakness.
JAPAN
Jan 23, 2015

Tepco suspends Fukushima No. 1 cleanup to probe fatal accidents

Tokyo Electric Power Co. has said it will suspend decommissioning work at the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 power plant until it completes safety checks related to two fatal accidents at its facilities in the prefecture this week.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 23, 2015

Sri Lanka to probe hidden foreign assets after Rajapaksa defeat

Sri Lanka's new government is to investigate "black money" transferred overseas by powerful figures in the administration of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a Cabinet spokesman said on Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jan 22, 2015

'Gabriel Orozco: Inner Cycles'

To kick start their 20th anniversary year, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo is showcasing the work of Mexico-born contemporary artist Gabriel Orozco as one of their three special exhibitions opening this week. This will be Orozco's first solo exhibition in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jan 22, 2015

Testing elderly drivers for dementia

The National Police Agency will propose a revision to the traffic law to have drivers at least 75 years old who are suspected of suffering from senile dementia submit a medical certificate to the police indicating whether they should be allowed to keep driving.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 21, 2015

Islamic State likely gave hostage ultimatum knowing difficulty of meeting it

The militant group, which aims to establish an Islamic caliphate, is likely using the hostage situation to generate renewed international attention, according to leading analysts.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2015

What We Do in the Shadows: 'straight-to-camera confessionals intercut with savage bouts of feasting on human blood'

Shortly after the first weekend that box-office returns came in for "Twilight," a swarm of studio suits rushed to their BlackBerrys and proceeded to greenlight every vampire-related script they could find buried under the cobwebs. Six years on, we've been deluged by more undead movies and TV series that...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 21, 2015

Avignon chief sees culture and politics sharing the stage

"The Avignon Festival is not only about shows and theater, but also about thinking, searching and seeking to understand the world and its politics — and offering an opportunity for three weeks' intellectual life experience every year," Olivier Py, the event's artistic director, declared with passion...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 21, 2015

French triumph frees SPAC pioneer to be bolder still

Following on Olivier Py's comment in the accompanying story that "everybody" at last year's Avignon Festival loved Satoshi Miyagi's "Mahabharata — Nalacharitam," which Py, as the festival's director, had awarded the honor of opening the event, I rolled up to Shizuoka Performing Arts Center to find...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 20, 2015

Noma's take on a Japanese menu is bold

After a drumroll of media announcements, a steady drip of social media speculation and the crescendo of anticipation, Noma Japan has finally opened. Denmark's preeminent restaurant has begun its month-long residency in Tokyo, and it's every bit as remarkable as expected.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 20, 2015

Shigge "SunLimeJuice"

Since emerging in the summer of 2013, Fukuoka label Yesterday Once More has made some of the country's most intriguing electronic music in recent memory. The artists hovering around this Internet imprint embraced styles that have been in vogue with the Japanese do-it-yourself dance scene for a while...
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 19, 2015

Japan to co-host Premier 12 baseball world tourney

Japan was the first-ever champion of the World Baseball Classic, lifting the championship trophy on foreign soil in 2006. If Samurai Japan repeats the feat at the inaugural Premier 12, the Japanese will get to do all their celebrating at home.

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