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Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 17, 2014

Silence is golden in art-comedy for all

"I've been drawing pictures for as long as I can remember," Kentaro Kobayashi said when I asked him how he came to be such a versatile and popular entertainer.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2014

Ruble collapse could shake Putin's grip on power

Russia failed to halt the collapse of the ruble on Tuesday, leaving President Vladimir Putin facing a full-blown currency crisis that could weaken his iron grip on power.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS / MAN ABOUT SPORTS
Dec 16, 2014

Selection committee for NCAA playoff system flawed

"Geez, it's not figure skating." — Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher's take on "style points" affecting the college football playoff rankings.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 16, 2014

Rock, J-pop and dance: Albums we liked in 2014

The year-end album charts in Japan have a tendency to prop up the same acts year after year: Exile, anything that ends in a "48," and almost every group from the Johnny & Associates stable of boy bands. Writers at The Japan Times, however, spent the year looking past the charts to find a few gems lurking...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2014

No excuse for tolerating torture

Already 'torture' is fading from the headlines. Anti-torture Americans have been way too polite the past 12 years. They should have shouted down the torturers and apologists, ridiculed them, locked them away.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2014

U.S. soft power takes a hit in wake of report

It's a testimony to U.S. soft power that Washington persuaded so many allies to take part in a policy of torture that they must have known would one day blow up in their faces.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2014

Getting under Pyongyang's skin

North Korea's rant against the impending release of the Sony Pictures satire 'The Interview' could have been predicted. Rather than providing the new film priceless PR, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should have ignored the film as his father did with the 2004 satire 'Team America: World Police.'
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2014

Taiwan's voters say 'hands off'

Taiwanese voters late last month sent an important message to their government and to Big Brother China watching from across the narrow strait — hands off our democracy.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2014

The real history of Putin's Crimean 'Jerusalem'

In his state-of-the-nation speech early this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin put forward an astonishing and 'spiritual' justification for his annexation of Crimea. The actual history is murky.
LIFE / Language / WELL SAID
Dec 15, 2014

There's still more to know about ne, after all

Last week, we introduced the end-of-sentence particle u306d and its uses. The basic meaning of u306d is to show or require agreement.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 14, 2014

Kwansei Gakuin routs Nihon University to win college title

It's been a while since western Japan was regarded as having better American football schools than eastern Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / DECISION 2014
Dec 14, 2014

LDP clinches hollow victory as opposition options elude

The Liberal Democratic Party handily wrapped up the Lower House election Sunday even as many voters said they were driven by lack of choice rather than enthusiasm for the conservative party headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 14, 2014

Pope Francis' reported comments on pets going to heaven weren't his words

It was a heartwarming story for legions of pet owners and animal lovers around the world.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Dec 14, 2014

At America's court of last resort, a handful of lawyers now dominates the docket

The marble facade of the U.S. Supreme Court building proclaims a high ideal: "Equal Justice Under Law."
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2014

Australia looking less prepared for future

As economists debate whether Shinzo Abe can end Japan's long funk, some wonder if another wealthy, seemingly world-beating economy isn't headed for its own lost decade: Australia.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 12, 2014

Casey has fueled rise by Raptors

The Toronto Raptors' climb hasn't been an overnight miracle. But it's been a memorable climb under the steady leadership of head coach Dwane Casey.
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 12, 2014

In Fukui, economy, reactors inseparable in election debate

For most of Japan, the issues of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic policies and nuclear reactor restarts are generally separate debates. But not in LDP-leaning Fukui.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 12, 2014

The high costs of Japan's 'Seinfeld election'

By rewarding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a job not even remotely done, voters are giving him a mandate to continue leading Japan down the wrong path.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2014

A rude awakening for America

The American pivot to Asia was the product of people in Washington who only think in terms of military power — as in trying to annex Ukraine and Georgia to NATO and the EU. There are new ways of thinking in China and even Russia.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2014

Sony PlayStation to make China debut next month as ban ends

Sony Corp. will release its PlayStation 4 console in China next month, following Microsoft Corp. into the world's biggest game market after the government eased restrictions.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 11, 2014

South Korean wealthy no longer above law

The uproar that forced a Korean Air Lines executive to resign after delaying a flight because she was unhappy with the way nuts were served points to growing intolerance of corporate bad behavior in a country dominated by family conglomerates.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 10, 2014

A vision of love through money and migration

At first glance, Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen's "Ilo Ilo" is a familiar tale. A family in Singapore hire a Filipina maid to care for their irate 10-year-old son, an Asian brat extraordinaire. Eventually the boy bonds with the maid, and the two become closer to each other than their real families,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 10, 2014

1,000 Times Good Night: 'Should war and violence be a photo opportunity?'

Aperson can be greedy about a whole lot of things, but Rebecca (excellently played by Juliette Binoche) in "1,000 Times Good Night" is greedy about work.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 10, 2014

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: 'initial exhilaration gives way to fatigue'

On the one hand, we have the fanboys, for whom "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" will be the "Best. Film. Ever.," as director Peter Jackson delivers a ginormously action-packed finale to his second Middle Earth trilogy. Kicking things off with a fire-breathing dragon razing the town of Lakewood,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / DECISION 2014
Dec 10, 2014

DPJ faces uphill battle for swing voters

While the ruling coalition commands a higher number of core supporters, opposition parties are vying for swing voters in an election that is expected to see a low turnout.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person