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Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 4, 2013

Rock group Zoobombs announce split, prepare for sudden farewell tour

This month marks the 20th anniversary of Tokyo rock 'n' roll act Zoobombs. It also marks their demise as the group has announced they will part ways at the end of September.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 4, 2013

'Special Exhibition: Momoyama Ceramic Masterpieces — Shino, Ki-seto, Seto-guro and Oribe Wares'

The ceramics in this exhibition date to the late-Momoyama Period (1573-1615) and all hail from the Mino Province in modern-day Gifu Prefecture. Four kinds of Mino ceramic ware became representative of the Momoyama Period — Shino (thick white glaze with red marks), Ki-Seto (yellow glaze and green blemishes),...
WORLD
Sep 4, 2013

Obama strains to win over public on Syria

President Barack Obama has turned the question of whether to strike Syria into an extraordinary national sales job — seeking to convince skeptics in Congress and among the public that military action would be worth the risk.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 4, 2013

Al-Qaida hopes to sabotage, destroy drones

Cells of engineers are working to exploit vulnerabilities of the weapons system, so far but they have not succeeded, a classified report finds.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2013

Is America now becoming an international outlaw?

When Barack Obama succeeded George W. Bush as U.S. president, the world heaved a collective sigh of relief. How ironic then that Obama risks making the U.S. the biggest international outlaw of our times.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 3, 2013

Google crunches data on munching snacks in the office

Last year Google had an M&M problem. So, as it does with most dilemmas, the Internet giant put its data wizards into action.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2013

A danger in trying to transform Mideast

Big bets in foreign policy should have at least a reasonable prospect of success, but that is not the case in today's Middle East.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Sep 2, 2013

Tin Man's throne: the rise and fall of a Roppongi royal

Gilbert Otaigbe is the current owner of Black Horse bar and nightclub in Roppongi. At the height of his success in the mid-2000s, he owned at least seven bars, clubs and restaurants.
LIFE / Style & Design / ON: DESIGN
Sep 2, 2013

A lesson in line, last of the summer design needs, and Issey Miyake's bright ideas

'Line' is one of the most important elements of design. It defines, separates, decorates and gives life to a structure — and Shinn Asano's Sen furniture series couldn't utilize it any better.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Sep 2, 2013

Housing loans: Nothing is 100 percent easy

The government has yet to confirm the timing of the approved consumption tax increase from 5 to 8 percent. It's slated to take place next April but there is still fear that the economy is too frail to withstand the effect the added tax might have on actual consumption. Consequently, the government is...
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 1, 2013

The Syria questions you were too afraid to ask

The United States is preparing for a possibly imminent series of limited military strikes against Syria, the first direct U.S. intervention in the two-year civil war, in retaliation for President Bashar Assad's suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Aug 31, 2013

Balentien maintains poise, perspective as he chases single-season HR record

Wladimir Balentien flips on the television and takes in a rare moment of relaxation. Instead of his Tokyo Yakult Swallows uniform, which will be worn later, he's clad simply in a red T-shirt commemorating his back-to-back home run titles and yellow shorts from a past NPB All-Star Series.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 31, 2013

It's a kid's world at Festa 2013

Children enjoyed intercultural experiences ranging from Thai vegetable carving to learning Sri Lanka's Sinhala alphabet Saturday in Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / CLOSE-UP
Aug 31, 2013

Naoto Kan speaks out

Naoto Kan took his first steps in the world of politics around 40 years ago as a pugnacious citizen-activist, admonishing those with power as only those without it can. He likes to say he's the same man now, but of course there's an irony in that. After all, in the intervening years he acquired about...
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Aug 31, 2013

Japan's nuclear comedy just goes on and on

What has been will be again,
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Aug 31, 2013

Hope blooms eternal for the Simien National Park

In 1967, Ethiopia was the last African country south of the Sahara still without any national parks — an embarrassment for a nation then entertaining ambitions to assume leadership of the continent.
Reader Mail
Aug 31, 2013

Logical end to 'scientific' whaling

Regarding Rowan Hooper's Aug. 11 Natural Selections article, "In science terms, Japan has no need at all to kill whales": I favor the discontinuation of such whaling — not because it's unlikely that Japan's claim will be upheld in the International Court of Justice or that Japan's "commercial" whaling...
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 31, 2013

Nearly 50 years after epic win, Mills backs Tokyo for 2020

Billy Mills' rise to prominence began nearly 50 years ago. Now, as he looks back on his highly successful career as a distance runner, author, humanitarian and motivational speaker, he reflects on how significant a role the 1964 Tokyo Olympics played in his life.
WORLD
Aug 31, 2013

Secret documents detail U.S. war in cyberspace

The Obama administration's cyber operations sometimes involve what one leaked budget document calls 'field operations' abroad, commonly with the help of CIA operatives or clandestine military forces, 'to physically place hardware implants or software modifications.'
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 31, 2013

Most on Abe's expert panel approve plan to hike sales tax

The government's expert panel on the planned consumption tax hike wrapped up discussions Saturday with more than 70 percent of its members supporting the plan as it now stands, saying Japan will suffer a much bigger economic blow if the tax isn't raised.
JAPAN
Aug 30, 2013

Japan under increasing pressure to accept outside nuclear help

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, just back from a trip to the Middle East and Africa, where he pitched Japanese nuclear technology, faces mounting international criticism that his administration is not taking the Fukushima crisis seriously.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 30, 2013

Organizer of annual writers' workshop helps others find artistic way

John Gribble gives a part of every day to creating. Whether it's pinpointing the perfect word for a poem or plucking out a ditty on a guitar, his life and livelihood in some way proves creative. As a poet and teacher, Gribble has spent the last 20 years in Japan organizing others to find their artistic...
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2013

Knock down barriers to FDIs

If Japan wants to regain its international competitiveness and recover its innovative capabilities, it must encourage leading foreign firms to come to the Japanese market.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 30, 2013

Cabinet weighs stance if U.S. hits Syria without U.N. nod

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet is mulling how to respond to a possible U.S.-led military strike against Syria without authorization from the United Nations Security Council.
Events / KANSAI: WHO & WHAT
Aug 30, 2013

Foreigners invited to help carry festival shrines

The Nishinomiya City International Association is seeking foreigners who want to carry "mikoshi" portable shrines and board special boats during the Nishinomiya Festival on Sept. 23. Applications must be submitted by Sept. 6. The participation fee is ¥500.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Aug 30, 2013

Cory Booker: hope, hype — and heir to Barack Obama?

If Cory Booker were a television character you might think the writers were over-egging things a bit. Tall, athletic, handsome, he is an ambitious politician with a flair for drama. He rescues a woman from a burning building, saves a freezing dog, chases a scissor-wielding mugger, invites hurricane victims...
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 30, 2013

Smokestack emissions could produce energy

If pollution had a mascot, it would be the smokestack. Do a Google image search for "pollution." What do you see? A bunch of smokestacks with ominous gray clouds billowing out the top.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2013

Once again, U.S. rushing to attack without facts

Assertions that Syrian President Bashar Assad is guilty of chemical weapons use without hard evidence presented to the international community will not do, not after the dodgy dossiers fiasco on Iraq in 2003.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 29, 2013

Tokyo chef who likes a good breakdown

Kamose, a private cooking studio run by fermentation specialist Nobuaki Fushiki, is hidden among the backstreets of Tokyo's Gakugei Daigaku district. Fushiki's special dinner events, which feature an array of fermented ingredients, have a clandestine quality that brings to mind the speakeasies of the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Aug 29, 2013

Weekday organic lunch at ANA Tokyo; Mount Fuji desserts in Hakone; try champion bartender's cocktails

Weekday organic lunch at ANA Tokyo

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