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COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
May 14, 2014

From NHK, an offer you can't refuse

The state broadcaster's approach to separating the Japanese public from its money is legally and ethically troublesome, writes Colin P.A. Jones.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 13, 2014

Macmanaman step up to bat for the live show

"Instrumental post-rock" is probably the worst way to introduce a band, and by this point 90 percent of this article's readers will have probably fled to the sports section.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / NET NEWS WATCH
Apr 21, 2014

Where there's smoke . . . there might be adults giving minors cigarettes

The Kanagawa Prefectural Police on Wednesday sent reports to prosecutors on 33 adults on suspicion of allowing minors to drink and smoke.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 19, 2014

Can a solo career help a mascot stand out?

Several weeks ago Fuji TV's morning news show sent a reporter to the Gunma Prefecture "antenna shop" located across the street from the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo's Ginza district. The store, which sells products made in Gunma, pays ¥64 million a year in rent for the small two-floor space, and an independent...
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 21, 2014

The return of 1980s rhetoric in Russia

Today's Russia may be a wealthier, more open nation than the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, but President Vladimir Putin's propaganda machine is working hard on restoring the stifling moral climate of 30 years ago.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Feb 16, 2014

An endangered liberal voice

What has become of the Liberal Democratic Party's 'liberalism' since the Abe administration took the nation's helm? A lone survivor of that tradition weighs in on the future of 'Abenomics' and Japan itself.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2013

Can social media boast an antidote for bragging?

Social media has conquered the world, racking up more than a billion users and even helping to unseat governments. The one thing it can't topple, though, is human vanity.
Japan Times
WORLD / FOCUS
Oct 22, 2013

Russia eyeing NSA-like surveillance

Less than three months after granting asylum to National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, Russia is preparing to implement the kind of electronic surveillance that Snowden uncovered in the U.S.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Oct 20, 2013

Political winds buffet NHK

An NHK insider warns that the quality of Japan's public broadcasting system is threatened by a poor personnel appointment for which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pulling the strings.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2013

Aso's Nazi-inspired quip rubs Seoul the wrong way

Outspoken Finance Minister Taro Aso causes another international stir by urging Japanese politicians bent on revising the Constitution to learn from the way Germany under the Nazis amended the Weimar charter.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 16, 2013

Miura oldest to climb Everest but some facts overlooked

The government has just established a new public award named after alpinist-skier Yuichiro Miura for "adventurers who challenge themselves to the limit of human potential." Originally the recipients of the prize, whom Miura will select himself, were going to be seniors, but at its namesake's insistence...
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2013

Abenomics vs. bad economics

The good news is that the Japanese economy and stocks are recovering. The bad news is that austerity hawks still view 'Abenomics' as a mere flash in the pan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
May 26, 2013

Xenophobia stretches from the street to the dinner table

The territorial disputes between Japan and its nearest neighbors over the islands of Takeshima (Dokdo in Korean) and the Senkakus (Diaoyu in Chinese) have gradually faded from the front pages; but this does not necessarily mean there have been no repercussions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Apr 28, 2013

An avian flu outbreak in Japan could kill 'Abenomics'

No one has ever fully explained why, in 2002-3, the virulent pathogen known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) ran rampant in mainland China (5,328 cases, 349 deaths) but only infected four people in South Korea, with no fatalities, and none in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 18, 2013

Why well-informed people are also close-minded

A U.S. study finds that if you know a lot about politics, efforts to undermine or dislodge your political beliefs with facts might well upset you and therefore backfire.
BASKETBALL
Mar 31, 2013

Miyazaki Shining Suns in limbo

The cash-strapped Miyazaki Shining Suns have made it known they want to fold the team or defect to the NBDL (the re-launched JBL2) next season, the Miyazaki Nichinichi Shimbun reported Saturday.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2013

For China's Catholics, new pope is a cause for hope

Of the long list of problems the next pope will inherit once the white smoke rises in Rome, few on the diplomatic front can rival the bitter, intractable relationship between the Vatican and the Chinese government.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2013

Japan's step toward normalcy

It's hard to understand why some elements in Japan and overseas argue that the Abe Cabinet is causing Japanese politics to swing dangerously right.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2013

Measurement of hope competes with setbacks

Progress in getting aid to the world's poorest is now measured by one improved life at a time. That kind of news still lacks the visibility of a big setback.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 31, 2013

A question of Chinese sovereignty

China's 'historic rights' claims in the South China Sea have prompted Southeast Asian nations to argue that China is flouting international law.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 20, 2012

Old technology a threat to publishers' bottom lines

People who like reading books are increasingly getting over the need to own them.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 11, 2012

Local media are too vague on Fukushima radiation risk

Earlier this year, NHK rebroadcast a documentary it made in the late 1980s about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. It showed how the Soviet Union and European countries tested people for effects of radiation throughout the region. Appended to the doc was a discussion with experts who compared...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / Japan Pulse
Oct 13, 2012

Some Japanese women crave a rougher cut of man

Nikushokukei danshi are here to save the day . . . and hopefully boost the sagging national birth rate.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 27, 2012

Middle East buildup refutes critics of Obama

Here are some facts that should be considered by those who criticize the Barack Obama administration for "leading from behind" in the troubled Middle East.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 24, 2012

Escaped-animal antics are good for ratings

One of the interesting factoids accompanying the escaped-penguin story that delighted the media for the last three months is that Japan has more penguins in captivity than any other country. Tokyo Sea Life Park, the facility from which the male Humboldt penguin in question made his break, has 135. The...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 17, 2012

Watanabe working to steer Lions in right directions

The Saitama Seibu Lions, often seen in the Pacific League Climax Series in recent years, are currently struggling to move out of the second division in the PL.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jun 14, 2012

Bolt hungry to take star to new level during Olympics

Has anyone, anywhere, had a greater love of the camera than Usain Bolt? Maybe Marilyn Monroe.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years