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JAPAN
Mar 10, 2014

Defense talks with U.S. look at 'gray zone' clash scenarios

As Japan and the United States start talks on how to respond to armed incidents that fall short of a full-scale attack on Japan, officials in Tokyo worry that their ally is reluctant to send China a strong message of deterrence.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 9, 2014

Flexible exchange rates offset tapering effects

Since most major economies operate under a flexible exchange-rate regime, financial market concerns about capital flight from developing countries as the U.S. Fed exits its quantitative easing policy are largely unwarranted.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 9, 2014

Missing Malaysia Airlines jet mystery deepens with stolen passports

Oil slicks signaled that a missing Malaysia Airlines jet may have crashed in the Gulf of Thailand even as the mystery surrounding the plane deepened with the discovery that two passengers used stolen passports.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 8, 2014

Media complicit in normalizing xenophobia

Since Japanese reporters are averse to characterizing domestic right-wing positions as being extreme, those positions come across as being normal, even sensible.
EDITORIALS
Mar 7, 2014

Don't reopen old wounds

If the Abe administration tries to weaken or scrap the 1993 'Kono statement,' the perception is likely to strengthen in the international community that it is bent on whitewashing Japan's wartime behavior and, even today, lacks respect for the honor and dignity of women.
JAPAN / THREE YEARS AFTER 3/11
Mar 7, 2014

Illegal nuclear dumping in Shiga raises alarms

The illegal dumping in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, of 300 tons of radioactive wood chips along a river sets off alarm bells.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 7, 2014

Tunisia lifts emergency rule in force since 2011 uprising

Tunis
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Mar 6, 2014

Scandinavian sampling, Chef's choice course

A taste of Scandinavia
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Mar 6, 2014

'Gloria'

All the lonely people, where do they all come from?" Lennon and McCartney posed the question, and "Gloria" provides an answer. Gloria, played by Paulina Garcia, is a 50-something divorcee whose children have grown up and moved out; she lives by herself in Santiago, Chile, with the occasional company...
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 6, 2014

Happy birthday to Kumamon, Japan's favorite regional bear

You don't have to be from Kumamoto Prefecture to know Kumamon — a cute red-cheeked black bear who was officially introduced as the region's yurukyara (mascot character) in 2010. Since his appearance, he has arguably become one of the hottest yurukyara, along with Funabashi's blue-aproned pear, Funassyi....
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2014

Big power talks on Ukraine crisis make little progress

High-level diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Ukraine made little apparent headway at talks in Paris on Wednesday with Moscow and Washington at odds and Russia's foreign minister refusing to recognize his Ukrainian counterpart.
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.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Mar 5, 2014

'Mt. Fuji, Cherry Blossoms, and Flowers in Spring'

Yamatane Museum of Art is saluting last year's inclusion of Mount Fuji as a World Cultural Heritage Site with this special and classic exhibition of Mount Fuji works.
JAPAN / THREE YEARS AFTER 3/11
Mar 5, 2014

Tohoku finding real recovery hard to come by

Yumiko Onodera is a survivor. She saw her town of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, devastated by gigantic tsunami and ensuing fire from damaged heavy oil tanks at the major fishery port on March 11, 2011.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 4, 2014

A new cold war in the making?

Even if there is no war, the Crimea crisis is likely to alter fundamentally relations between Russia and the West, and lead to changes in the global power balance.
BUSINESS / TRAVEL INSIDER
Mar 4, 2014

SAS business class, keeping safety fun, high-flying patrol

SAS business class
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 3, 2014

West finds its hands tied over crisis in Ukraine

With Western powers coming to the conclusion that Ukraine has lost Crimea to Russia, the U.S. and its allies face few viable options and serious questions over future relations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Mar 3, 2014

When it comes to public space, Atelier Bow Wow barks up the right tree

Atelier Bow Wow uses the framework of art exhibitions to encourage public social interaction in what it calls 'micro public spaces.'
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2014

Underwater gold rush spurs fears of ocean calamity

This is the last frontier: the ocean floor, 4,000 meters beneath the waters of the central Pacific, where mining companies are now exploring for the rich deposits of ores needed to keep industry humming and smartphones switched on.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 1, 2014

Japan's reactionaries waging culture war

The contemporary culture wars that have erupted over Japanese identity and history are undermining the country's national interests and damaging its reputation.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Mar 1, 2014

Many have fallen victim to NPB's 'false spring'

As a high school student back in the early 1960s, I can recall reading a book titled, "A False Spring." It was authored by Pat Jordan, a Connecticut native and a superb teenage baseball pitcher who, according to Wikipedia, was pursued by more than 15 major league organizations in 1959. Interesting, as...
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Feb 28, 2014

Special education series for non-Japanese

The Osaka International House Foundation is seeking foreigners who have just started to learn Japanese and are interested in attending three sessions in March to learn more about Japan.
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Feb 28, 2014

Another nail in the coffin of amateur sumo

Sumo currently exists in two forms around the world. Most famous, of course, is the Tokyo-based professional sport led by yokozuna Hakuho, et al. However, the amateur version, often termed “amasumo” in abbreviated form, is of interest to many in nations that lack direct access to Japanese broadcasts....
PRESS / Events
Feb 28, 2014

The 5th Japan Times Spelling Bee to be held March 22

Tokyo, Feb. 28, 2014 - The Japan Times, Ltd. is pleased to announce that the 5th Japan Times Bee will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2014.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Feb 27, 2014

Hotels' helping hands, Cheers for cherries, Rooms to view the blooms

Kobe hotels offer a helping hand
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 27, 2014

'Walking Dead' explores a world of gore and order

When it comes to crack TV, AMC's massively addictive series "The Walking Dead" reigns supreme. The shorthand description would be "zombie-apocalypse survival thriller," and that's true enough, but it goes deeper too. If you take away law, religion and society — what's left? Can such things as compassion...

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