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Reader Mail
Dec 21, 2013

Exactly who do you think he was?

Nelson Mandela was seen and revered not only as a political hero but practically as a living saint. The hagiography surrounding him somewhat disguises his many family tragedies, his policy failures and his political cunning.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Dec 20, 2013

To tap tourist yen, think train-packing, plastic grub and sumo

I think it is time for some up-to-date experiences — ones that the waves of tourists due to flood Japan up through the 2020 Olympics might savor more than those that revolve around traditional Japanese culture.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 19, 2013

Comiket, where otaku come to share the love

The Tokyo International Exhibition Center, better known as Tokyo Big Sight, boasts an area of more than 80,000 sq. meters of exhibition space. It's the country's largest convention center and will host wrestling, fencing and taekwondo during the 2020 Olympics.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2013

'Only Lovers Left Alive'

Most people define Jim Jarmusch by the impeccably cool hipster portraits of his early films in the 1980s, such as "Down by Law" or "Mystery Train." But if you think about it, he's really been moving through a series of genre flicks for the past two decades: a Western ("Dead Man"), a gangster movie ("Ghost...
Reader Mail
Dec 18, 2013

Mindset that bedevils English

Regarding the Dec. 14 front-page article "English education set to get serious": What is all this nonsense? Haven't we heard this all before? Japan's education ministry spends far more money per pupil on English lessons than any other nation in Asia, yet Japanese students continue to lag far behind their...
LIFE / Digital / JAPAN WEB WATCH
Dec 17, 2013

Looking at 2013's Japanese social-media scene

In the Japanese social-networking scene, Facebook still isn't dominating the way it does in the United States and many other countries. There are several other networks in Japan, both old and new, that occupy unique positions, though 2013 was an unusually quiet year, with no big takeovers among social-networking...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2013

U.S. and EU must focus on re-engaging Ukraine

The Obama administration should make clear to Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych that his legacy would be destroyed should he give in to Russian pressure to reduce ties with the European Union.
LIFE / Digital
Dec 17, 2013

Why do governments make such a mess of IT?

This is a tale of two cities — Washington and London — and of the governments that rule from them. What links the pair is the puzzling failure of said governments to manage two vital IT projects. In both cases, the projects are critically important for the political credibility of their respective...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2013

China's problem with Kim Jong Un

Last week's dramatic execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle — the China-friendly Jang Song Thaek — should prompt Chinese President Xi Jinping to all he can to rein in the vindictive, unpredictable Kim.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 16, 2013

Innovations that changed Japan: It's all in the details

"Made in Japan," can be found stamped on products sold all over the world, and as labels always do, it leads to certain consumer assumptions. It's no longer just about location of production, it implies a rich history of innovative manufacturing techniques, many of which are tied to Japanese tradition...
LIFE / Digital / ON: TECH
Dec 16, 2013

Sorting out that battery-life problem

This month saw the launch of the hybrid Arrows A SoftBank 301F, Fujitsu's latest Android 4G LTE smartphone for SoftBank customers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 16, 2013

Barclays sees Nikkei hitting 22,000 if Abe stirs animal spirits

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's focus on reviving confidence to spur economic growth means he will drive the Nikkei 225 stock average toward 22,000 next year, a level unseen since 1996, according to Barclays PLC.
Japan Times
JAPAN / NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Dec 15, 2013

No country for small-time rice farmers

In the suburbs of Tokyo, rice farmer Koichi Yuge is weighing how the government's change of heart on controlling rice prices will impact his 300-year-old family business.
WORLD
Dec 15, 2013

Some Afrikaners unmoved by Mandela death

Dirk Smit's reaction to the death of Nelson Mandela, it would be fair to assume, puts him in the minority of South Africans.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 15, 2013

Anti-apartheid movement recalls struggle

Key figures in the British anti-apartheid movement have spoken of their sadness at the death of Nelson Mandela, whom they described as a reluctant poster boy of a campaign that ended up focusing the world's attention on the horrors of apartheid South Africa.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 15, 2013

Linguists, like, totally clue us in on 'Valley Girl talk'?

Amanda Ritchart is a native speaker of Southern Californian English, the dialect also known as "Valley Girl talk" — you know, the one that's, like, totally full of the word "like."
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Dec 14, 2013

Haruna adds sparkle to a seasonal getaway

As the brilliant red, green and white explosions reflected off the surface of the lake, I turned to my partner with two simple words: "Merry Christmas."
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Dec 14, 2013

2013: A year to clone in Japanese science

In a year when the science news in Japan is still dominated by Fukushima, there have also been plenty of inspirational stories. For this final column of 2013, I have picked a few of my favorites.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 14, 2013

Tsunami debris scuppers expert ecology opinion

The dock arrived almost like a gift, not quite on the doorstep of Dr. John Chapman, but on a beach 8 km from his office at Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center, on the western coast of the United States.
JAPAN / History / THE LIVING PAST
Dec 14, 2013

Why didn't Japan have a revolution like France's?

Why wasn't there a revolution in Japan like the one in France? The suffering was as great in 18th-century Japan as in the realm of ill-fated King Louis XVI, the government here as callous and incompetent as the government there. How did Japan's old order — rotting internally, as its collapse under...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books / ESSENTIAL READING FOR JAPANOPHILES
Dec 14, 2013

Naomi

The best hint of what "Naomi" by Junichiro Tanizaki is about is its Japanese title "Chijin no Ai," ("A Fool's Love"). Written between 1924 and 1925, Tanizaki's classic tale of Japan's roaring '20s is a warning to any man who falls for a much younger woman and is fool enough to think he can control her....
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / MIXED MATCHES
Dec 13, 2013

For Canadian traveler, last-minute meeting led to change of heart and new start in Japan

Michelle Takahashi works as an English teacher at a school for families who hope to raise their children in bilingual and multi-cultural environments. Together with Toru, a systems engineer at an IT-related U.S. company, and their two sons, she now lives in Kodaira, western Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 13, 2013

Cameron eats humble pie in China

British Prime Minister David Cameron was feted by China's leaders during his recent three-day trip to the country, but much of his diet consisted of humble pie.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2013

'Gravity'

Sometimes great results arise out of considering a simple "what-if." For director Alfonso Cuaron and his film "Gravity," the idea seems to have been: "What if you made a cliffhanger ... with no cliffs?"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Dec 12, 2013

Young, dead and dealing with the consequences

A veteran director of feature episodes in the classic "Ultraman" tokusatsu (special effects) series, Kazuya Konaka may not be the most obvious choice for a drama about teen suicide, but a look at his filmography, including 1998's "Nazo no Tenkosei (The Dimension Travelers)" and 2008's "Tokyo Shojo...

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