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Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 11, 2014

Armies ready for battle in final 'Hobbit' film

There's a scene in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Volume 2" where Michael Madsen's Budd character asks Daryl Hannah's Elle: "Now you ain't gonna hafta face your enemy on the battlefield no more, which 'R' are you filled with: relief or regret?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 11, 2014

'Bishojo: Young Pretty Girls in Art History'

Bishōjo (beautiful young girls) are familiar characters of contemporary Japanese pop culture, featured widely in manga and anime, such as "Sailor Moon" and the more recent "Pretty Cure" series. But Japan's fascination with illustrating cute girls has a longer history than you may imagine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Dec 11, 2014

Perfect combination of burgers, beer; Christmas dinner, room packages; traditional cuisine gets new look

Perfect combination of burgers, beer
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Japan Pulse
Dec 11, 2014

J-blip: Doraemon hard boiled eggs soften your heart

Doraemon, everybody's favorite blue robot cat, could be coming to a salad near you in the not-too-distant future.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 11, 2014

South Korean wealthy no longer above law

The uproar that forced a Korean Air Lines executive to resign after delaying a flight because she was unhappy with the way nuts were served points to growing intolerance of corporate bad behavior in a country dominated by family conglomerates.
EDITORIALS
Dec 10, 2014

Abe takes aim at labor regulations

Changes that the Abe administration wants to make to labor laws will likely increase the number of lower paid irregular workers in the nation's workforce.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 10, 2014

Real-life Japan caricature cuts to the quick

Tomohiro Maekawa, the 40-year-old playwright, director and founder of Tokyo's Ikiume (Buried Alive) theater company, is acclaimed in Japan's theater world for his groundbreaking sci-fi works sometimes bordering on the surreal.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 10, 2014

Prosecutions for CIA torture still seem unlikely after Senate report

Minutes after a U.S. Senate intelligence panel released details of the CIA's torture of terrorism suspects, President Barack Obama suggested the country should move on.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Dec 9, 2014

Jordan could have begun career with different team

This is the second installment from Hall of Fame writer Sam Smith's new book "There Is No Next: NBA Legends on the Legacy of Michael Jordan."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2014

Is Beijing breaching the Joint Declaration?

Thirty years ago this month, Britain and China signed the declaration on the Question of Hong Kong under which London agreed to restore Hong Kong to China in 1997 and Beijing agreed to allow it a 'high degree of autonomy' until 2047. But China's deputy ambassador seems to be asserting that the declaration is now void.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 9, 2014

High-level disorganization still hobbles Japan

Although many Westerners think of Japan as a highly unified, hierarchical nation, it often more closely resembles a squabbling confederation of loosely affiliated gangs.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2014

A test for Taiwan and China

It's been a rough year for Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou. His popularity has been dragged down by sluggish economic growth and doubts about his commitment to Taiwan's sovereignty. And the recent unrest in Hong Kong as well as last month's stunning defeat for the ruling party in local elections have magnified his worries.
JAPAN / History
Dec 9, 2014

Historian seeks to clear embassy of Pearl Harbor 'sneak attack' infamy

Dec. 7 has never been an ordinary day for Takeo Iguchi. On that day 73 years ago, when Imperial Japanese Navy warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor, he was in Washington, the 11-year-old son of Sadao Iguchi, counselor at the Japanese Embassy there.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / Q&A
Dec 9, 2014

'Right to be forgotten' on the Internet gains traction in Japan

The Internet has made fact-checking easy and people routinely use it for this end, for example, to Google client names and personal backgrounds before their first business meeting, or to take a quick glance at a potential new hire's reputation.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 9, 2014

EU presses for accountability, opening rift at U.N. climate talks in Lima

European Union insistence on a right to challenge nations about their plans for fighting climate change, in the run-up to a United Nations summit in 2015, has opened a rift at U.N. climate talks in Lima.
WORLD
Dec 9, 2014

Rockefeller's memory endures at Aleppo hotel as fighting intensifies

The Baron Hotel in the battered Syrian city of Aleppo is packed with memories for owner Armen Mazloumian that bullets and bombs can never destroy.
EDITORIALS
Dec 7, 2014

Yet another extension for Iran

Rather than declare international negotiations to cap Iran's nuclear ambitions failed, seven countries have agreed to extend the talks for another seven months.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 6, 2014

Cultural differences shade reactions to robots

It was only right that Disney's new animated feature, "Big Hero 6," opened this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, and that Disney animation head John Lasseter was on hand to introduce it. Lasseter has often said that his career has been greatly influenced by Japanese anime — in particular the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 6, 2014

On the hunt for Tono's mythical water trolls

Sushi fans will probably know that cucumber rolls are known as kappamaki in Japanese. This is in honor of what is surely one of Japan's strangest mythical creatures — the kappa.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Dec 6, 2014

Oh deer, what a waste of food and fashion

In summer this year, my photographer chum Conan Morimoto brought a fashion-designer friend of his by the name of Teruki Uchise to talk to me and visit our Afan Trust woods outside Kurohime in the Nagano Prefecture foothills of the Northern Alps.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Dec 6, 2014

What's beneath all that latex, fabric and plastic?

In 1910, a man named Otto James was arrested for parading down a busy street in Tacoma, Washington, wearing fancy dress. The charge of "public masquerading" — so quaint to modern ears — was itself nothing new, but the choice of costume was notable: James had gone for a stroll dressed as the main...
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2014

LDP 'too busy' for transparency

This campaign season differs from others in a disturbing way because of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's refusal to meet with the foreign press.
Japan Times
Places
Dec 6, 2014

Day trips from Tokyo

Tokyo has plenty to offer to visitors and residents, but for those times when you need something different, something slower, something roomier, here are few select days trips out of Tokyo.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 5, 2014

What's really behind the drop in home sales?

Thanks to the upcoming snap election, which is being called a referendum for the government's economic policies, everyone is aware that Japan's GDP has worsened since the consumption tax was raised last April. A large portion of this drop is being attributed to declining sales of new houses and condominiums....
EDITORIALS
Dec 5, 2014

Keep safety nets in place

Postponement of the consumption tax rate hike must not be used as an excuse to reduce funding of social security programs for low-income people, children from poor families and child-rearing households.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan