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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO BAR ADVENTURE
Sep 30, 2014

Unleash your inner fetishist at Tokyo's Shag

While the naming of newly opened Shag in Omotesando might cause sniggers among anyone familiar with British innuendo, the name — inspired by Sex, a boutique run by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren in the 1970s — is fitting for a place that touts itself as Japan's first mainstream fetish nightclub....
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 30, 2014

China censors target Hong Kong protests, but don't always succeed

Chinese censors and opponents of the protests sweeping Hong Kong are engaging in a cat-and-mouse game with demonstrators and commentators in a bid to stop news of the unrest spreading online and, in particular, reaching the mainland.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 29, 2014

Abe outlines plans for rural revitalization, sends signal to China in Diet speech

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a key policy speech pledging to prop up declining provincial economies, while apparently signaling his willingness to improve relations with China.
EDITORIALS
Sep 29, 2014

The population downtrend

Japan's demographic woes continue as January-June figures indicate that the number of deaths will likely outnumber births at a pace faster than in the previous year.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 29, 2014

Mount Fuji finds mixed success with tolls

As the Mount Fuji climbing season drew to a close earlier this month, authorities were assessing the success of a new ¥1,000 voluntary climbing fee, which almost half of hikers skipped paying. It was introduced this year following a trial in 2013.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 27, 2014

Shinkansen at 50: fast track to the future

On the 50th anniversary of the iconic bullet train's inaugural run, we examine how developers turned an ambitious dream into a high-tech reality
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 27, 2014

Scotland's independence referendum inspires an Okinawan discussion

As sometimes happens when a news story that has nothing to do with Japan becomes topical worldwide, the Japanese media tried to find a local angle for the Sept. 18 Scottish referendum. The coverage fell into two categories: greater autonomy for Okinawa, and the use of referendums.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Sep 27, 2014

India and its incredible pollution problem

Incredible India! is the Indian government's marketing slogan to attract tourism. And I agree. India is truly incredible in countless ways, both captivating and heartbreaking.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2014

Catalan leader orders referendum on independence from Spain, buoyed by close vote in Scotland

The president of Spain's Catalonia region signed a decree on Saturday calling for a referendum on independence to be held on Nov. 9, putting the local government on a collision course with Madrid, which says such a vote is illegal.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2014

In praise of what looks like China's new norm

Based on the rising share of labor's national income, the decline in global demand, the aging population, rapid urbanization and education dividends from younger workers, China's annual growth rate over the next decade is forcecast to average 7.3 percent — which would still be the envy of the world.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2014

Putting off environmental sacrifice

Are environmentalists who want society to divest itself of fossil fuels hypocrites if they don't adopt a radically reduced carbon lifestyle themselves?
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 26, 2014

Experts unveil plan to end rabies globally via dog vaccinations

Rabies experts on Thursday unveiled a blueprint for eliminating the pernicious disease, which almost always is caused by bites from rabid dogs and kills tens of thousands of people a year worldwide, through a program of mass dog vaccinations in targeted regions.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 25, 2014

New right-wing Sunrise Party aims to 'rebuild Japan's pride'

Conservatives were promised right-wing policies, an army, a new Constitution and the confiscation of voting rights from non-ethnic Japanese people on Thursday as two prominent rightists launched a new political party.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 25, 2014

With canal and hut, India stands up to China on disputed frontier

Earlier this month, Indian troops on a remote Himalayan plateau built a small observation hut from where they could watch Chinese soldiers across the disputed border.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2014

Choosing death when loss of self is imminent

For people who do not want to live on when their mind has gone, deciding whether and when to die is difficult, and likely to meet resistance from loved ones.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2014

Irrational bias for Ukraine

The irrational bias for Ukraine in its standoff with pro-Russia rebels suggests there is something sick in the Western mentality that blocks sensible judgement where Russia is concerned.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 22, 2014

Thousands of Hong Kong students seek to 'grasp destiny' in demand for democracy

Thousands of students braved sweltering heat Monday to demand greater democracy in Hong Kong as they launched a weeklong boycott of classes, underscoring a restive younger generation's determination to challenge the Chinese Communist Party.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EMBASSY AVENUE
Sep 22, 2014

In commemoration of Lithuanian Jews

Sept. 23 is Lithuania's Holocaust Memorial Day that pays tribute to the victims of the destruction of Vilnius ghetto in 1943.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 22, 2014

Kaikoura and Taiji: a tale of two whaling towns

The success of a New Zealand whale-watching eco-tourist destination could hold lessons for the ailing Wakayama port tarred by association with the 'Cove' dolphin hunt.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 22, 2014

North Korea dashes hopes of Japanese parents over abductees' fate

Three times a day, 88-year-old Kayoko Arimoto makes a ritual offering of food to the daughter she hasn't seen for 31 years. On her birthday, it's rice with red beans followed by cake.
JAPAN / Politics / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Sep 21, 2014

Politicians discuss plan B in nuclear power push: underground reactors

With Japan's nuclear power plants nearing the end of their 40-year life cycle, a group of politicians is entertaining the idea of replacing them with underground reactors.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Sep 21, 2014

After Scottish vote, U.K. faces monumental shift in governance — and all that comes with it

When 3.6 million Scots voted Thursday on whether to leave or stay within the United Kingdom, they were answering one simple question: Should Scotland be an independent country?
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 21, 2014

New smartphone app gives sight to the blind

Jonathan Mosen, who has been blind since birth, spent a recent evening snapping photos of packages in the mail, his son's school report and labels on bottles in the fridge. In seconds, he was listening to audio of the printed words the camera had captured, courtesy of a new app on his Apple iPhone.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 21, 2014

Ebola burial team attacked in Sierra Leone despite lockdown

A team burying Ebola victims was attacked in Sierra Leone's capital on Saturday, a member of parliament said in Freetown, as a small group defied a three-day lockdown aimed at halting the worst outbreak of the disease on record.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 20, 2014

Lafcadio Hearn: 'Japanese Thru and Tru'

A small cage was opened at Lafcadio Hearn's funeral, setting birds into the air, the soul of the deceased presumably taking flight with them. His coffin was draped in chrysanthemums and fragrant olive, adorned by a laurel wreath. Seven Buddhist priests read the sutras at Kobudera (now Jishoin Enyuji...

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers