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Japan Times
CULTURE
Dec 10, 2015

CNN's Paula Newton: The key to covering other cultures is maintaining 'respect'

The topic of cultural appropriation has been a hot one in 2015, with a kimono display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts drawing a small protest and a slew of articles that discussed culturally insensitive Halloween costumes. With this in the background, how easy is it to do a show about experiencing...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 8, 2015

Real beauty lies in rustic reality

French society and culture has always had a fascination with the exotic, going back to the Chinoiserie of the rococo period, the Orientalist fascination with the harems and slave markets of the Middle East, and the Japonisme of the 19th century. One might even suspect that this trait could represent...
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Dec 5, 2015

Germans torpedo Yasaka Maru; Men spending more on booze; Japan, ROK restore ties; South Korea to allow singing in Japanese

100 YEARS AGOFriday, Dec. 24, 1915
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Nov 28, 2015

Can Asian selfies democratize fashion?

'When I was growing up and reading magazines, I didn't see anybody that looked like me," fashion blogger Aimee Song says in a video on her Song of Style blog.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2015

Republican candidates pitch 'Old America'

The Republican presidential candidates are pitching a return to 'the Old America,' when the country was whiter, men were in charge, government was smaller and religion more influential.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 4, 2015

China's five-year plan shows Xi's influence in promoting 'Chinese dream,' pledging to 'purify' Internet

The details of China's new development blueprint, which was officially handed down Tuesday by the Communist Party's Central Committee, leave little doubt as to President Xi Jinping's role in crafting the document.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Oct 21, 2015

Three cases of whine offer lessons in how not to criticize Japan

Novelist John Updike famously declared America to be "a conspiracy to make you happy." I wonder sometimes if Japan is, then, a conspiracy to make you unhappy? Or, if not exactly unhappy, how about uncomfortable, exasperated or confused?
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Oct 21, 2015

Tokyo can feel less than welcoming to food allergy sufferers

Japan needs to improve labeling and education surrounding food allergies, and increase allergen-safe options.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Oct 18, 2015

Kero Kero Bonito blend English and Japanese rap into bouncy pop tracks

Sarah Midori Perry remembers checking MixB, an online bulletin board for Japanese expats in London, almost every day ... and feeling underwhelmed.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 11, 2015

Hoodie Monks mix beats with their Buddhism

The Hoodie Monks bring together two cultures that might at first seem like unlikely partners: Buddhism and hip-hop.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 8, 2015

China uses intimidation tactics at U.N. to silence critics

In a cafe lounge at the United Nations complex in Geneva, a Tibetan fugitive was waiting his turn earlier this year to tell diplomats his story of being imprisoned and tortured back home in China.
Japan Times
JAPAN / KANSAI PERSPECTIVE
Sep 27, 2015

Will bureaucrats stymie Kyoto's bid to lure central government bodies out of Tokyo?

Every decade or so, it seems talk arises in Japan about relocating the functions of the central government outside the capital.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 21, 2015

Welcome back to work, now just do your job

The battle over gay marriage is just the latest round of America's culture war, and it's not over yet.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 19, 2015

Taiji drops anchor on dolphin hunts despite increasing pressure

On the harbor road heading east toward Tomyozaki Point, there is a moss-encrusted monument dedicated to an ill-fated whaling expedition in 1878. Facing fierce westerly winds, the fishermen released their catch, a right whale and her calf, and tied their boats together with nets to bolster defenses, but...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Sep 19, 2015

Publishing in an age of pervasive design: An interview with IDEA magazine's Kiyonori Muroga

In Japan, design is not what it seems. In colloquial Japanese, the loanword "dezain" (design) is used regularly in lieu of the two indigenous terms for the design process: "koan" (design conceptualization) and "zuan" (design actualization).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Sep 9, 2015

Forget Germany — Japan must deal with WWII its own way

The onus is on the Japanese to find their own form of moral atonement — and convey it to the world.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 31, 2015

Katana swordplay exercise is a hit with Tokyo women

Samurai may be known as a man's pursuit, but feudal Japan produced a number of legendary female warriors who took to the battlefield with a sword that still holds a high cultural position today.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Aug 29, 2015

Okinawa: always worth returning to

The island of Okinawa shimmers beneath the wing of our plane, a dark green smudge on the azure seascape. I can't see it well, ensconced as I am in the aisle seat, already subconsciously distancing myself from this visit. But my daughter, on the other end of the row, peers out the window with wide eager...
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 29, 2015

Jury finds former New Hampshire prep school student not guilty in rape case

A former student of an elite New Hampshire prep school was found not guilty Friday of raping a 15-year-old girl days before graduation last year in a case that cast a harsh spotlight on the school's culture.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE
Aug 23, 2015

'Are you serious, God? An Asian dude? Really?'

When I approached Tara Kamiya — a 38-year-old housewife, mother of three biracial kids and self-professed workforce dodger — about being interviewed for this story, explaining to her the goal not only of this series (about black women and their Japanese guys) but of Black Eye as a whole, she was...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2015

English-immersion share house offers cultural experience

On any given weekday some 15 to 20 residents of a four-story apartment building in the Tokyo suburb of Fuchu converge in the Scandinavian-style cafe-lounge at around 9 p.m. to converse in English.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Aug 15, 2015

AKB48 turns to an American studio

AKB48’s  commercial success in Japan is often derided as a sign of the culture’s patriarchal infantilization of women, and the girl group’s inability to appeal to Western audiences a sign of Japan’s increasingly isolated ideas about femininity, sexuality and pop music. Put simply: outside of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Aug 13, 2015

Lena Dunham brings 'Girls' to Tokyo for a fifth season episode

In the fourth season finale of HBO's hit TV show "Girls," a comedy that follows the exploits of a group of 20-somethings navigating New York, Shoshanna (played by Zosia Mamet) surprises her roommate, Jessa, by declaring "I'm moving to Japan," while leafing through a travel book and practicing her chopstick...
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2015

Of kimono and cultural appropriation

Clueless identity politics activists in the U.S. are no friends of Japan's struggling kimono industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 25, 2015

For industry, Nikkei deal to acquire FT raises questions about shift in standards

Despite assurances following the Nikkei's takeover of the London-based Financial Times, some staff are worried about what changes may be coming their way.
EDITORIALS
Jul 23, 2015

Learning from the Toshiba scandal

It remains to be seen if the exit of Toshiba's top executives will change the corporate culture that produced the massive accounting scandal.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 6, 2015

China stresses 'nationalism' in war anniversary propaganda push

China plans to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia, and its fight against Japan, with a stream of movies, concerts, performances and exhibitions, officials said on Monday, in an effort to strengthen "nationalism and culture."
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2015

What would Confucius say about gay marriage?

The U.S. ruling on same-sex marriage has sparked a national discussion on gay rights in China, and the tone, surprisingly, has been generally welcoming.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jul 1, 2015

Getting creative when it comes to finding the motivation to study Japanese

I respect people who possess a high-level of Japanese proficiency the same way I respect people who are well-built. I don't respect the results of the effort so much as the discipline required to attain it. I can't deny that focus and perseverance are character traits I lack and thus envy in others because...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear