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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.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2014

More protests expected after no charges are filed in July New York chokehold death

A police union official on Thursday defended a white officer's role in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man in New York even as protesters planned a new round of demonstrations a day after a grand jury voted not to bring charges.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 4, 2014

'The Power of a Pencil: Susumu Kinoshita and Yoshio Yoshimura'

A special exhibition focusing on pencil works, "The Power of Pencil" features the drawings of Susumu Kinoshita and Toshio Yoshimura. Both artists focus on portraits for this show, though each produces very different works. Kinoshita illustrates models, capturing their lives through the careful observation...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 1, 2014

Campaigns under way but outcome no surprise

Two weeks after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's decision to dissolve the Lower House and call a snap election, campaigning has officially kicked off with more than 1,000 candidates vying for the 475 seats in the Diet's lower chamber.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 1, 2014

Inside Takata, tantrums but little sense of crisis over air bags

Shigehisa Takada, the third-generation head of Takata Corp., shows little sense of the crisis engulfing the Japanese air bag maker at the center of one of the auto industry's biggest safety recalls, according to three people who have met him recently.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 1, 2014

30 years after deadly disaster, Bhopal's toxic legacy lingers on in India

Beyond the iron gates of the derelict pesticide plant where one of the world's worst industrial disasters occurred, administrative buildings lie in ruins, vegetation overgrown and warehouses bolted.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 1, 2014

Afghan forces ill-equipped to fight

Afghan district police chief Ahmadullah Anwari only has enough grenades to hand out three to each checkpoint in an area of Helmand province swarming with Taliban insurgents who launch almost daily attacks on security forces.
Japan Times
JAPAN / AT A GLANCE
Nov 30, 2014

Shinagawa, a gateway to old and new Tokyo

In the Edo Period, Shinagawa was the first "shukuba machi," or "post station town" to be built on the Tokaido, the coastal road linking the bustling Nihonbashi district in Edo, then the de facto capital under the Tokugawa shogunate, to Kyoto, which remained the nominal capital in the west.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 29, 2014

Milton Miltiadous: 'Now is the start of the future, and the end of the past'

Life coach Milton Miltiadous on expensive wine, Santa Claus and ancient Rome
EDITORIALS
Nov 29, 2014

Shameful waste of tax money

Hundreds of billions of yen in taxpayer money was again wasted by the government and publicly funded organizations in fiscal 2013.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2014

Kanze Nohgaku Theater moves back to Ginza

The Kanze Nohgaku Theater in Tokyo's Shibuya district plans to close in March and reopen in Ginza in November 2016, according to the head of the country's largest school of noh.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 28, 2014

A modern annex for an old favorite

I always feel a little inadequate arriving at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, shambling up its gravel drive in my slovenly journalist garb and running one hand over my face to check if I've shaved that day. It's such an elegant venue that I feel I really should be arriving in more style, possibly...
COMMENTARY / Japan / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Nov 27, 2014

Censorship distortion of 'comfort women'

When Toho Studios wanted to turn 'The Life of an Alluring Woman' into a film, U.S. censors stepped in multiple times to demand script revisions.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 27, 2014

Get a taste of Georgian wine at Festivin

In the four years since it started, Festivin has grown from an intimate gathering of natural wine enthusiasts to one of the most eagerly anticipated wine celebrations in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Nov 27, 2014

CNN series 'On the Road' looks at drinks and drums in Japan

CNN journalist Paula Newton is waiting to try the world's best whisky at The Society bar at the Shiodome Park Hotel in Tokyo. Her verdict? "The drink was very good."
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 27, 2014

Shadowy Chinese agency woos Taiwanese to win island back

Ever since a civil war split the two sides more than 60 years ago, China has viewed Taiwan as a renegade province that needs to be absorbed into the mainland. To that end, the Taiwanese businessmen working in China form a beachhead in a war of hearts and minds.
EDITORIALS
Nov 26, 2014

Revitalizing local economies

Can the Abe administrative accomplish what past governments have tried and failed to do, and revitalize Japan's regional economies?
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2014

Will Britain become Europe's most politically unpredictable country?

Investors and businesses in Britain are queuing up for a roller-coaster ride as the country enters a period of political unpredictability.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 26, 2014

Sierra Leone Ebola burial workers dump bodies in pay protest

Burial workers in Sierra Leone have dumped dead bodies in the street outside a hospital to protest authorities' failure to pay bonuses for handling Ebola victims, in the latest strike to hamper the fight against the worst known outbreak of the virus.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2014

As Chinese live longer, Alzheimer's cases rise

The Chinese government should be prepare for a sharp rise in the number of dementia patients as the world's second largest country's population rapidly ages.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo