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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 6, 2014

All-genre focus is the key to Art Fair Tokyo's success

It is difficult to criticize Art Fair Tokyo, the commercial art fair that celebrates its ninth edition at Tokyo International Forum in Yurakucho this weekend. Truth be told, it's a wonder that the event has reached nine editions at all, what with the inherent fickleness of the art market and Japan's...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 6, 2014

Osaka challenges Tokyo with tallest skyscraper

Japan's tallest building will open Friday in Osaka, as Asia's third-biggest metropolitan economy aims to lure tourists and stem businesses from moving to Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 2014

Much more than mere vandalism

Although most of more than 300 copies of 'Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl' and other Holocaust-related publications recently discovered vandalized in Tokyo and Yokohama libraries have been replaced, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department should leave no stone unturned in its effort to find those responsible for the acts.
EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 2014

Move cautiously in TPP talks

Ministers from Japan, the U.S. and 10 other Pacific-Rim countries again have failed to reach broad agreement on terms of their Trans-Pacific Partnership, but that's no reason for Japan to become less cautious about the talks, which have the potential to change the very fabric of Japanese society.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 5, 2014

Nomura's 'Don Quixote' enlists comedy to counter today's real foes

"Whenever I am creating a new play here at Setagaya Public Theatre, I aim for something that's as universal as all those kyōgen (traditional comic theater) or noh classics that are as vivid now as when they were first staged 600 years ago. If it isn't like that, it won't reach an international audience,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 5, 2014

Kishida prods Tehran counterpart on Iran nuclear program

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida met with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Wednesday in Tokyo and urged him to continue making efforts to reach a final agreement with the Western powers on Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 3, 2014

Independent NHK chained to Diet leash

NHK, which is often compared with the BBC in the U.K., has been a focus of public attention and intense criticism in recent weeks. Many people are taking a closer look at the public broadcaster, including its history and whether it has been politically influenced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's right-leaning...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 3, 2014

Why does the LDP prefer the GOP?

What is the justification for the Liberal Democratic Party's strange preference for America's Republican Party over the years? The two parties have little in common.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Mar 1, 2014

Fat men frolic, Jews to be treated equally, U.S. ambassador stabbed, new sales tax a headache

Twenty-five fat members of the House of Representatives with two Government delegates and two journalists, each of whom weighs more than 165 pounds (75 kg), sat at a dinner at the Fukuiro, Yanokura, Ryogoku, on Monday evening.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 28, 2014

Problems with 'Abenomics'

The economic recovery we see in Japan now is almost entirely due to the massive 30 percent depreciation of the yen. We are back to the 'structural reform' vicious circle of the Koizumi years.
Reader Mail
Feb 26, 2014

Cause of Chinese, Korean anger

I quite agree with Michael Hoffman's The Living Past article on Feb. 16, "Once upon a time, China anointed a 'King of Japan.' " Historically speaking, China believes it is the great master, Korea is a first disciple and Japan is a second disciple. Actually, before the Meiji Era (1868-1911), culture or...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 26, 2014

Wind power on verge of taking off

Japan hasn't seen an appreciable increase in wind power in the past few years despite the start of the feed-in tariff system designed to boost renewable energy, but it still has potential and the market will grow in the next several years.
COMMENTARY
Feb 25, 2014

Time to shutter Monju

The long-stalled project to commercialize fast-breeder reactor technology has been kept alive by the Abe administration in its plan for the nation's new basic energy policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2014

Vandalized Anne Frank diaries are troubling sign of the times

It would be an astounding coincidence if the shameful vandalism of copies of Anne Frank's memoirs was not related to the request by a southern Japanese city to have the U.N. World Heritage organization enshrine farewell letters written by World War II kamikaze suicide pilots alongside other historical documents.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 23, 2014

Plans don't make the grade

Don't count on the education ministry's plan to hire more foreign teachers and students to have much effect on its goal of getting at least 10 Japanese universities to place among the world's top 100.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 22, 2014

Media await rightist ex-general's next move

"Thank you, everyone," wrote Toshio Tamogami in his weekly column in Shukan Asahi Geino (Feb. 27). "This has given me great courage toward my next move."
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2014

Abe adviser says WSJ article on military buildup is false

Etsuro Honda, a key economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, denies stressing that one of the main goals of 'Abenomics' is for Japan to build up a more powerful military and stand up to China, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 18, 2014

NHK's neutrality is essential

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's expression of right-wing extremism has not aroused much attention in British media so far, but if the risks of a confrontation with China escalate, memories of the maltreatment of British POWs during the Pacific War are certain to be revived.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Feb 17, 2014

Coastal shipping

Dear Alice,
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Feb 16, 2014

Local startup SoftBank on course to become global player

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son's 2010 speech about his new 30-year plan has proven to be more than a grandiose spiel as it barges into the global telecommunications market.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 15, 2014

Culture and nature vie over ancient hinoki

If you're looking for a fine piece of wood, you'd be hard put to improve on a slab of hinoki (Hinoki cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa) from the Kiso Valley straddling Nagano and Gifu prefectures.
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Feb 15, 2014

A tale of two Abes: PM's rosy view jars with life of toil seen in poison case

Did the frozen-food poisoner have some obscure notion of 'justice' in mind? Might it have been his way of saying to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, 'Japan is not back; Japan won't be back until working for a living does not entail the sacrifice of all human dignity
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 15, 2014

Tokyo firebombing and unfinished U.S. business

Last week in this column, I suggested that Caroline Kennedy, the American ambassador to Japan, would be well advised to get the ball rolling on U.S. apologies for past misdeeds.
BUSINESS
Feb 15, 2014

Sure winners in 2020 Tokyo Olympics? Gangsters

As Japan bets on a big economic boost from the 2020 Olympics, it might be dismayed by what's happening right now in Russia. Moody's doubts the Sochi Games will be much of a plus for that economy.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBL NOTEBOOK
Feb 13, 2014

Change of scenery helps Wakayama's Kawamura grow into all-around standout

Takuya Kawamura has been known as one of the best Japanese offensive machines in the last several years, winning multiple scoring titles in the Japan Basketball League, the predecessor of the NBL.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?