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WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2014

Obama vows immigration executive action amid Republican warning

President Barack Obama, vowing not to delay his agenda as Republicans assume power of both chambers of Congress, said he will seek "lawful" executive actions on immigration before January.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2014

Victorious Republicans face familiar dilemma: fight or cut deals

Victorious Republicans appeared at odds on Wednesday over how to capitalize on their new control of the U.S. Congress. Some lawmakers were eager to use their new muscle to step up attacks on President Barack Obama, while others talked hopefully of compromises that could lead to rare bipartisan legislation....
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 6, 2014

Iraqi tribesmen hid under corpses to escape from Islamic State

Muhammed Hilal and about 100 other members of Iraq's Albu Nimr tribe felt safe hiding from Islamic State militants in tall grass — until the headlights of dozens of cars exposed them.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 5, 2014

Sabotage: 'One of Schwarzenegger's bleakest, most violent films'

I owe Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cinematically speaking, he shaped part of my youth and set the gold standard for what male muscles should look like. "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" was my secret bible. For a while, I was deeply interested in guys who wore leather and rode Harley-Davidsons (preferably a Fat...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2014

Wales minister says nuclear power remains a good investment

While the nation debates the wisdom of restarting its nuclear power plants, the energy source remains central to some nations' investments for tomorrow. The process to construct a new two-reactor facility in Wales has been going as planned, the British province's economy minister said.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2014

Is Ukraine's crisis the U.S. and Europe's fault?

The question at the heart of the Ukraine crisis remains whether Russia should have special right to determine the policies and governments of its neighboring countries.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Nov 4, 2014

Pizza the way they make it in Naples — more or less

With pizza, as with many things in life, simple is often the best. And it doesn't get any more minimal than a true pizza Napoletana.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2014

Qatar cuts its help for Islamists carefully

Qatar has joined the American-led coalition to fight Islamic State, yet the emirate is a haven for anti-Western groups and foreign diplomats have reported seeing cars with Islamic State logos in an affluent bay district.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 4, 2014

The case for a higher consumption tax

If there has to be a tax, the consumption tax may be the fairest.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 4, 2014

Ebola crisis highlights China's philanthropic shortfall

China has contributed over $120 million to fight the spread of the Ebola virus, but its billionaire tycoons — it has more than anywhere outside the United States — have, publicly at least, donated little to the cause, underscoring an immature culture of philanthropy in the world's second-biggest...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / IEC GENERAL MEETING IN TOKYO
Nov 4, 2014

Raising Asian involvement

Asia has been lagging behind Europe and the U.S. in the standardization of electrical technology, and the trend has been that Western countries have set the standards and Asian ones have followed.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / HIT AND RUN
Nov 3, 2014

Tigers can only lick wounds after falling short of goal in Japan Series

For 29 years, diehard Hanshin Tigers fans have waited for the club add to its lone Japan Series title, won in 1985, and for a while it looked like 2014 might mark the end of the drought.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 3, 2014

Paradox of politeness: humbling and exalting at same time

Each year in fall, the Bunkachō (文化庁, Agency of Cultural Affairs) publishes the results of its annual opinion poll on the linguistic state of the nation, officially called Kokugo ni Kansuru Yoron Chōsa (国語に関する世論調査, Survey of the National Language). This time, the survey...
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Nov 3, 2014

Republicans poised to ride Obama's unpopularity to gains in U.S. midterm elections

Republicans are poised to pick up seats and could win control of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday in midterm elections heavily influenced by deep voter dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama's job performance.
Japan Times
JAPAN / GENERATIONAL CHANGE
Nov 2, 2014

Crowdfunding leader wants others' dreams to come true

Bill Gates, the late Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg all hit the big time by persevering for years in the pursuit of their dreams. They continue to be an inspiration to entrepreneurs the world over who dream of one day growing their own companies into the next Microsoft Corp., Apple Inc. or Facebook Inc.,...
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2014

Three elections that offer hope of better times

The results of each of three elections on Oct. 26 — in Brazil, Ukraine and Tunisia — at least offer the hope of better times.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 2, 2014

China's rule by law, not of it

China is embarked on a major reform dedicated, leaders claim, to improving the rule of law, but subject to the will of the ruling Communist Party. This is really rule by law, not the rule of law.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 2, 2014

Errors tarnish the reputation of South Korea's big plastic surgery industry

Kim Bok-soon disliked her nose and fantasized about getting it fixed after learning of the Korean superstition that an upturned nose makes it harder to hold on to riches.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 1, 2014

Debating the merits of lifetime employment

Some years ago I worked for a language-teaching service that offered in-house classes for companies. One client was a major electronics manufacturer, and many of the students were trained engineers assigned to the sales division.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Nov 1, 2014

What's 'weasely' about wonderful weasels?

One of the mammals we're most likely to see in our Afan woods up here in Kurohime in the Nagano Prefecture hills is the Japanese weasel (Mustela itatsi). These wonderful little animals, known as itachi in Japanese, are master hunters that can run, climb trees, swim and dive and take down birds or other...
JAPAN / Media / DARK SIDE OF THE RISING SUN
Nov 1, 2014

The uncomfortable truth about 'comfort women'

Question: How did you view those people (that you infected with bubonic plague and dissected while still alive)? Didn't you have any feelings of pity?
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 1, 2014

Migrants' lives in peril as Italy ends sea rescues

Italy said Friday it will close a sea rescue mission that has saved the lives of more than 100,000 migrants from Africa and the Middle East, a move one rights group warned could lead to a "surge of deaths" in the Mediterranean.
WORLD
Nov 1, 2014

'Plastic' skulls found in Connecticut home are human remains

A pair of Connecticut junk haulers was stunned to learn on Friday that two skulls picked up at the cluttered home of a deceased man on the day before Halloween were human remains, not made of plastic as they had thought.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBL NOTEBOOK
Oct 31, 2014

Off-court distractions create additional challenges for Tsukuba Robots

Usually, the first few weeks of any sports league's season should be happy, exciting times as both the teams and fans had eagerly anticipated its arrival.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 31, 2014

North Korea promises abductee probe will be fair, comprehensive: Suga

This week's abduction talks in North Korea shed little light on the questions Japan wants answered, as Pyongyang offered no new information about what happened to Japanese it kidnapped, the government said Friday.
Japan Times
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Oct 31, 2014

Manchester City struggling to find championship form

By next Wednesday, Manchester City's season could be as good as over, with only the F.A. Cup to keep realistic hopes of silverware alive.

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