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Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Apr 16, 2016

Minimalist family 'camping' in the foothills of Mount Fuji

The birds are singing, the wind is rustling in the forest and sunlight is filtering through the treetops. So far, so idyllic — until my 3-year-old releases a primal bird-scattering shriek as she thrusts an axe into a piece of wood.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 19, 2016

The pretext of counterterrorism covers many sins

The Japanese government's track record on respecting civil liberties and the rule of law is suspect, as I detailed in last week's Counterpoint.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2016

Abe's drive to amend Constitution

Voters should strive to understand what government leaders and lawmakers aim to achieve by amending the supreme law.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 12, 2016

Beneath the chaos, an old new order

We are all going to die. Most of us will die miserably — it's in the nature of things. Hopefully none of us, infirm in body and mind, will die falling from an upper story of a nursing care home, pushed to our deaths by a disgruntled care worker. That three people did die in that fashion at one particular...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Mar 12, 2016

Counterterrorism and liberties on collision course

The continuing standoff between Apple and the FBI over data stored on an iPhone that belonged to the alleged perpetrators of the San Bernadino terrorist attacks highlights the frictions between protecting civil liberties and maintaining security. The USA Patriot Act has drawn widespread condemnation...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jan 30, 2016

Bringing Japanese folk dance into focus

As with many cultures, before modernization the Japanese people relied heavily on agriculture, holding a spiritual affinity with and respecting the power of nature. Bountiful harvests were celebrated in festivities that played a significant role in community activities, and the distinctive folk rituals...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 17, 2015

The ripple effect of Tawaraya Sotatsu's waves

'The most important Japanese artist you've never heard of." That is how James Ulak, senior curator of Japanese art at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, describes Tawaraya Sotatsu, the focus of the gallery's current magnificent exhibition. The show presents the first in-depth examination of...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 21, 2015

Androids and the avant-garde: The best Japanese films screening at TIFF

The Tokyo International Film Festival offers a once-a-year chance to see Japanese movies, both new and classic, with English subtitles. Getting tickets, however, especially for the films in the Competition and Special Screenings sections, may not be easy. With that caveat, here are my personal picks...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 16, 2015

SABMiller, AB InBev merger may reignite Japanese brewers' foreign ambitions

The planned $100 billion merger of Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller will be a wake-up call to the overseas ambitions of Japanese brewers, which are struggling to grow at home in a saturated market with a shrinking population.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 26, 2015

Ashes to diamonds and the cost of death

'Where do we go when we die?"
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 18, 2015

Consumer spending recovery hampered by pension payment cuts

More than a year after a consumption tax increase tipped Japan into a recession, efforts to clamp down on soaring pension payments are suppressing a recovery in consumer spending.
LIFE / Digital
Sep 17, 2015

8-4 turns your game's 'Engrish' into English

'Gaming Jesus" is ready to give the 8-4 tour. "It won't take long," he promises. The office that houses his game localization company is quite cozy.
EDITORIALS
Sep 14, 2015

End the nuclear 'safety myth'

The International Atomic Energy Agency's final report on the Fukushima disaster provides a stark lesson on the need to avoid slipping into the same old 'safety myth' surrounding nuclear power.
Reader Mail
Aug 13, 2015

Nuclear waste disposal woes not going away

Regarding the article "Resumption of Sendai reactor highlights absence of waste sites" in the Aug. 12 issue, the idea that Japan can store its nuclear waste in an underground facility long term is just more pie-in-the-sky thinking.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 22, 2015

20th women's conference looks to make history

Gender equality in the workforce is not a simple thing to achieve.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 16, 2015

Museums are the place to be this summer thanks to new dinosaur discoveries

Whether you live with a 4-year-old expert in dinosaurs, or were once one yourself, this summer offers some exciting opportunities for further discovery about the giant animals that long ago roamed the Earth. And best of all, they're all right here in Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Books
Jul 4, 2015

On mountain peaks and tourist trash

Discussing Mount Hayachine, ethnologist Kunio Yanagita observed that it stood on, "a somewhat different plane from the normal world." This could be a description of mountains in general, a landscape where we may experience nature in the raw, and even at times, a numinous presence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2015

Changes to ODA Charter reflect new realities

Japan's strategy for distributing foreign aid has undergone a much-needed revamping to reflect today's realities.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / TRAVEL INSIDER
May 26, 2015

More bags to bring; new routes to Taiwan; Hiroshima gains flights

More bags to bring
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 9, 2015

Sound waves: the music of Okinawa

How is it possible that a people who have experienced poverty, famine and discrimination, outlasted efforts at cultural annihilation and suffered the indignities of occupation can manage to celebrate life in song and dance with a passion and joy that belies everyday reality?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EXPO MILANO 2015
May 3, 2015

'Sake on The Table' with Italian food

As a related event to the Expo Milano 2015, "Milano Sake Week" is set to take place in Milan in July. Under the theme, "Arranging Tables Around the World with Japanese Sake," the event will showcase the taste, history and culture of sake and propose new richness to tables of Japan and beyond by adapting...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2015

Reactor closures to test Abe's green energy pledges

Japan's plan to mothball at least five aging nuclear reactors highlights the challenge Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces as his administration debates how to replace lost electricity generation with power sources that are cheap, clean and safe.
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2015

Battling the low birthrate

Government efforts to increase the nation's birthrate must be sustained over the long-term to be successful.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2015

Fukushima crisis was a hard lesson but one vital to share, groups say

When professional boxer and model Tomomi Takano heard that children in Fukushima Prefecture were becoming unfit and overweight because the 2011 nuclear crisis limited the time they could play outside, she decided to use her skills to help.
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 2015

Wartime slogan should stay buried

The silence of the Abe administration on a the use of the phrase 'Hakko Ichiu' by an LDP lawmaker will only serve to raise suspicions about its attitude toward Japan's militaristic past.
PRESS / Publications
Mar 2, 2015

“Japanese History in Simple English” and “American History in Simple English”on sale now

Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2015

Conflict-zone scribes fear fallout from intrepid journalist's death

The tragic death of Kenji Goto highlights a dilemma that the journalism community in Japan has long struggled with: how much of a risk reporters should take on when working in dangerous conflict zones.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 25, 2014

From tradition to trash: Tokyo's art in 2014

This year has been a memorable one for art exhibitions at museums in Tokyo, with a surprisingly diverse array of shows and events, ancient and modern, foreign and domestic, metropolitan and provincial.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes